208 
get another 16 gauge but several sports- 
men friends have tried to convince me 
that the 16 is a toy when compared to the 
12 in killing powers. I have been satis- 
fied with the 16 gauge for upland shoot- 
ing but have never had an opportunity 
to try it on wild fowl. 
Jc Eo Mot Slate El Parasaysutne of0 
has more penetration, and consequently 
greater killing range than either the 10 
or 12, and claims this has been often pro- 
ven in wild fowl shooting. 
De TY. Puthilk oft Orient Point, 9 N-> YY. 
claims that ‘“4o years’ experience has 
taught him that the bigger the gun (other 
things being equal) the better the re- 
sults’? He- claims that -ayro.at'35° yards 
should put No. 4 shot through a one- 
inch pine board and that he has never 
seen a 12 that could do it. On top of all 
this some man who does not sign his. 
name writes from Rossland, B. C., and 
claims the 28 as the gun of guns, that he 
8 or 9 years ago fought a battle with his 
little 28 “against 12 or any other bore”; 
“and at last won, though every sports- 
man in England began by calling him 
‘fool’.”” He claims that we are all wrong 
in studying guns when we should stu.y 
loads. I, for one, am studying guns yet, 
and believe that if all Mr. says of the 
28 is true, I will be content with a 20 
gauge, poor marksman as I am. I write 
for information and should like to have 
the experiences of others. 
W.. 1 Blinn, Rocktord, -I1, 


GRIZZLY PETE AND THE SAVAGE. 
I should like to say a few words in 
answer to “Grizzly Pete.” I am a West- 
ern man, and somewhat familiar with the 
type of citizens Grizzly Pete represents, 
and at one time was disposed to back the 
old .45-70 against all comers on big game, 
but I have come in out of the smoke. 
I will make this proposition to Pete: I 
will bet him $50 that I can shoot through a 
grizzly endwise with my 303 Savage, and 
that he can not do the same with his .45- 
70. Further, I can knock away more of a 
grizzly’s head in one shot than he can 
in 10 with his .45-70. 
“Four bears at 3 shots!” Pretty good, 
Pete. If I hadn’t unbounded faith in the 
veracity of Western men, and bear hunt- 
ers in particular, I’d swear that you were 
using an old muzzle-loading shotgun load- 
ed with bear stories, at that time. You 
would better sell those elk skins, and your 
old .45-70 to the Injuns and get a white 
man’s gun. Then you could clean up a 
whole band of elk at once, earn a big brass 
ring for your snout, and graze around in 
“Coquina’s” hog pen. According to my 
belief the Savage 303 is unexcelled. I 
have arrived at the above conclusion 
RECREATION. 
through a large experience with the high- 
pressure rifles, on the large game of the 
West. 
“If -“Grizzly Pete” will call on me I 
will “lock horns” with him upon this sub- 
ject, and demonstrate my assertions to his 
entire satisfaction. My latch-string is al- 
ways hanging on the outside, Pete, and 
we will “labor together.” And after the 
pine needles and dust have settled we'll 
fill our pipes and scan the result for a new 
idea. ; 
E. E. Jones, Townsend, Mont. 

AN ADMIRER OF THE 16 BOREITHACA. 
I have used shotguns 20 years or more 
and have had a wide experience with dif- 
ferent weights and gauges. : 
My first gun was a double muzzle-load- 
er, I4 bore, weighing about 7 pounds. It 
was the greatest meat gun I ever owned 
and its pattern was as good at 60 yards as 
at 20. When the rest of the boys got 
breechloaders, of course, I had to have 
one. I sold the little gun, and got a g 
pound, 10 bore, full choked English gun. 
With 30 shells it made a big~load to 
carry, and it required at least 4 drams of 
powder to do any execution. 
Since then my gun. have grown smaller 
and lighter until the ' is a 26-inch, 16 
bore, 6 pound, No. 3 grade Ithaca ham- 
merless. I wanted to use it at the traps, 
so had it made full choked, and it will put 
300 pellets out of an ounce of No. 8’s ina 
24 inch circle at 35 yards. An ideal gun 
for a man not able to carry a I2 bore 
would be a 28-inch, 16 bore Ithaca ham- 
merless ejector, weighing about 6% 
pounds. As many targets can be broken 
with it as with a 12 bore; while for game 
at distances of 35 to 50 yards it is as ef- 
fective as any 12, These remarks are_ 
based on my experience with guns made 
by the Ithaca company. They are fine 
people to deal with and they make a great 
gun. : 
As regards loading, I think most people 
use too much powder. In my 16 bore I 
use 23g drams of Schultze, 1 card, 3 black — 
slugs, another card, 1 ounce shot, thin wad 
and good crimp. I lave used Blue Rival 
shells with above load with good results 
but prefer a better shell. 
C. M. Snell, Danbury, Conn. 

I have used a ’93 model Winchester 
shotgun for 5 years. For all sizes of shot, 
including buck, it is as good as any gun 
nace. I prefer King’s smokeless pow- 
er. 
using tight-fitting wads on powder. Then 
put in 3 No. 3 buck shot and fill spaces 
with fine shot; then one card wad and an- 
other layer of buck filled in with fine shot. 

For buckshot I load with 4% drams, 
