GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 
HOW TO LOAD SMOKELESS POWDER. 
In nearly every issue of RECREATION 
appear letters asking for information 
about reloading smokeless rifle ammuni- 
tion. As the different factories have not 
seen fit to answer such inquiries I will 
give your readers my experience. Having 
been identified with the gun business for 
many years, I have had excellent opportu- 
nities to study and experiment with 
smokeless powders. 
The shooter with an experimental turn 
of mind has done more to bring smoke- 
less powders and smokeless powder rifles 
into disrepute than anyone else. 
A large percentage of the shooters can- 
not understand why a smokeless powder 
which gives good results in a shotgun 
should not do equally well in a rifle. 
The experimenter often loads a rifle 
cartridge with a load of smokeless shot- 
gun powder and fires it in a rifle. Wheth- 
er the arm was built for smokeless or 
black powder makes very little difference 
in the results. If a small load is used 
the barrel is likely to be swelled, the 
breech action jammed so that it cannot 
be opened, the stock split, and the arm 
practically ruined. Should the experi- 
menter be one of those people who have 
an unusual amount of self-assurance, he 
will use a shell ftll of powder for his exper- 
iment, with result that about 6 inches of the 
breech end of his barrel will be blown 
to atoms, the receiver or frame split or 
broken, the bolt more or less disfigured, 
according to the make of rifle used. The 
broken end of the band will have a 
bright, crystallized appearance, and none 
of the turned up, torn appearance which 
occurs from a wreck caused by black 
powder. 
One man returned a rifle to the maker 
with an affidavit from 6 men to the effect 
that the rifle was wrecked while shooting 
factory ammunition, as they never re- 
loaded their cartridges. 
The magazine was loaded, and on 
cutting it open to get the cartridges 
out, they were all found reloaded. 
On drawing the loads the shells were 
found full of the most dense and _ vio- 
lent shotgun powder made. Over 6 
inches of the breech end of the barrel 
was blown to atoms. The receiver was 
split, the empty shell forced against the 
bolt so hard that the primer pocket was 
nearly flat and the head of the shell 
was considerably larger than its original 
size. Still this man had the nerve to 
send in an affidavit that he was using 
“factory ammunition.” The 6 men who 
swore to it are to-day liable to imprison- 
ment for perjury. 
Another rifle came back in about the 
same condition. It was a complete wreck 
and the letter which accompanied it was 
remarkable. Here is an extract from it: 
“This powder shot so well in my shot- 
gun that I thought I would try it in my 
rifle. I only fired one shot. Please fix 
the rifle as cheap as possible.” 
He got a new rifle, for all that could 
be used of the old one was the front 
sight, butt plate and some parts of the 
lock. The bolt was uninjured, but the 
extractor and cartridge guide were blown 
out of it. This is the only instance of 
the many which have come under my ob- 
servation where the experimenter owned 
up, without any apology or excuse, that it 
was his own fault. 
Now let us see what is the cause of the 
marked difference in the action of smoke- 
less powder in a shotgun or in a rifle. In 
the first place, the conditions are entirely 
different. In a shotgun we have soft felt 
wadding to confine the gas, with a loose 
body of small pellets of shot to be moved 
by the gas, and a top shot wad well 
crimped, to hold the shot until there is 
gas pressure enough to start it at a high 
velocity. Did you ever try to shoot a 
smokeless shotgun shell that was not 
crimped? If so you found that you had at 
least 25 per cent. less pattern or penetra- 
tion than you would get with the same 
load well crimped. Shotgun smokeless 
powder burns quick and imparts a high 
velocity to the charge of shot. Too high 
a velocity breaks up the pattern. 
In a rifle, the conditions are these: A 
metal jacketed projectile with a lead core, 
which not only fits the bore of the rifle 
but is I-1000 of an inch larger than the 
diameter of the barrel at the bottom of the 
grooves. While the friction of the wad- 
ding and shot is comparatively little in a 
shotgun, the resistance of a jacketed but- 
let in a rifle barrel is very great. When 
the gas pressure forces the bullet out of 
the shell, the bullet must be driven into 
the rifling of the barrel. When once 
seated in the rifling, the friction is com- 
paratively uniform until the bullet leaves 
the muzzle. 
Let us suppose an experiment. Should 
you load a shotgun shell with 3 drams of 
smokeless rifle powder, wad, shot and 
crimp it, and fire it in a shotgun, the shot 
might travel 40 yards; but more likely it 
would roll out of the muzzle of the gun. 
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