458 
With some makes of rifle powder, the 
wads will not be driven out of the gun 
barrel, é 
You ask why? Because there is not 
enough resistance to the wads and shot to 
cause the powder to exert its full energy. 
Another reason is that the volume of gas 
liberated in the 12 gauge tube has too 
much space to expand, as it was intended 
to be fired in a tube 1-30th of an inch in 
diameter instead of in a tube 34 of an inch 
in diameter. 
While the rifle powder is too slow for 
a shotgun, the shotgun powder is too vio- 
lent for a rifle, although the rifle is built 
to withstand many times the bursting 
strain required in a shotgun. The modern 
smokeless rifle is subjected to a bursting 
strain of 65,000 to 75,000 pounds to the 
square inch, every time it is fired. This 
enormous strain and the intense heat have 
a peculiar effect on the inside of a smoke- 
less rifle barrel, never observed in a black 
powder rifle. The lands and grooves of 
a smokeless rifle barrel become hardened 
from firing it. In cutting off a barrel that 
has been fired many times you will find 
that a hacksaw will cut very nicely until 
you get nearly to the bore of the barrel; 
but it will not touch a thin ring of metal, 
perhaps 1-16 of an inch thick, which forms 
the bore of the barrel. This hardening 
is more apparent at the breech than at the 
muzzle, and begins to show at the breech 
after the first few shots have been fired. 
After a few thousand shots this hard wall 
becomes from I-16 to I-32 of an inch 
thick at the breech and muzzle, which 
seems to be about the limit. 
When the great 13-inch guns were made 
for the United States battleships the life of 
the guns was estimated at 20 shots; but 
after 200 shots they are still as good as 
new and show no signs of wearing out. 
Doubtless the same action has taken place 
in the 13-inch cannon as in the smokeless 
rifle. This hardening of the inside of the 
rifle barrel adds materially to the life of 
the barrel. 
Much has been said about the life of a 
barrel when used with smokeless powder 
and jacketed bullets; but I am not able 
to say just how many shots can be fired 
before the barrel will be worn out. 
One barrel I know of has fired over 
5,000 shots with full loads, and will still 
make a 2-inch bunch of 10 shots at 75 
yards. One afternoon I fired 1,000 full 
jacketed bullets through a barrel without 
cleaning, anu then made a 2% inch group 
at 75 yards. While firing the 1,000 shots 
I poured water through the barrel fre- 
quently to keep it cool enough to handle, 
and when the barrel was cleaned out final- 
ly, there was no more dirt or residue in 
RECREATION. 
it than there would be after a single shot. 
Many complain of their barrels getting 
“gummy,” but of all the many thousand 
cartridges I have fired with Savage powder 
I have never seen anything of the kind. 
Some powders leave a gummy deposit in 
the barrel, while others leave a metallic de- 
posit which is as firm as if it were electro- 
plated on the inside of the barrel. 
As to reloading: I have shot one shell 
30 times in one afternoon with full loads, 
merely resizing when it was too much ex- 
panded to go into the chamber readily. A 
shell that has been fired and laid away a 
month or so will not stand more than one 
or 2 shots without splitting or breaking. 
New shells with the primer snapped in 
them, and used for dummies, will soon 
split, and have all the appearance of a 
shell burst from firing. Old empty shells 
become brittle, having lost all life or elas- 
ticity from the fulminate of the strong 
primer, and excessive breech pressure. 
This proves conclusively that the bad 
effect on the shells of a smokeless rifle is 
caused by the primer and pressure com- 
bined; because a moderate load, say of 15 
or 20 grains, will stand reloading many 
times, provided you commence with new 
shells and not those which have been 
fired with full charges. A load of 20 grains 
will do good work and is plenty strong 
enough for all ordinary shooting. The 
Savage miniature load does splendid work 
up to 100 yards, and the shells can be re- 
loaded many times; but great care must be 
exercised in reloading to get uniform re- 
sults. The powder is clean, but the barrel 
must be cleaned thoroughly as soon as you 
are through shooting. The best way to 
prevent rust from miniature loads is to 
shoot one or 2 full loads after using them. 

MORE ABOUT SMOKELESS POWDER. 
Will some one who is capable of an- 
swering a hard question reply ‘to this: 
_ Why cannot Savage powder be used™ 
in a shotgun or in a .22, or .38-55, or .50- 
110 as well as in a .30-30, if used in same 
quantity as black powder? 
Why cannot any other smokeless pow- 
der be used, same quantity, by measure, 
as black powder? Most makers of smoke- 
less powder claim their products contain 
no nitro glycerine. Smokeless powder 
burns slowly, as compared with black pow- 
der, when exposed to open air. Does it 
burn more rapidly when confined than 
when not confined? If so, why? When 
smokeless powder is uniform it burns slow- 
er;norecoil;no smoke and not much noise. 
Why then will it burst a gun or knock 
out the breech worse than black powder? 
All smokeless steel barrels are lighter than 
those in guns made_for black powder, 
and the makers claim they use the best 


