GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



THE SAVAGE RIFLE. 



Fair View, B. C. 

 Editor Recreation: 



I read your valuable magazine eagerly 

 every month, turning first to the Guns and 

 Ammunition department. 1 am greatly 

 amused at the big and small bore cranks, 

 and the varying and contradictory state- 

 ments made by different writers. I first 

 had a .44-40 which was a good, accurate 

 little gun for its range. Then I got a .38- 

 55, '94 model, which is about as good a 

 rifle* for deer as any man wants in any 

 country. It has a great deal more force 

 and concentration than most people give 

 it credit for. I have shot deer with it at all 

 distances up to 300 yards. At that dis- 

 tance it smashed a deer's back to atoms. I 

 lately got round bullet moulds for it, put 

 a little tin in the lead, and use about l /\ 

 of the usual quantity of powder. It will 

 only bore a round hole and will not tear 

 the game. A more accurate shooter one 

 could not get, at short or long range. I 

 have a Lyman combination sight and can 

 use either the white or dark sight. I have 

 the usual buckhorn breech sight, and the 

 Lyman peep sight in the rear. These 

 make a perfect combination. I can use all 

 3 or only 2. I put the slide on the buck- 

 horn down one notch, so it is out of the 

 way in using the peep. If it is dusk I turn 

 the peep down and raise the buckhorn up 

 to the first 50-yard notch, which makes 

 point-blank range. I reload my own cart- 

 ridges, with entire satisfaction, and if it is 

 properly done they are equal to the factory 

 cartridges. 



Having heard so much about the small 

 bore smokeless powder rifles, I deter- 

 mined to try one. While in Vancouver a 

 year ago I went to Mr. C. E. Isdall's gun 

 store, where a large stock is kept of all 

 the best makes in America and England. 

 I selected a Savage, it being in my opinion 

 the handsomest, most symmetrical and by 

 far the best finished gun for the money. It 

 is well balanced, and being hammerless, is 

 a fine gun for horseback work or for boat- 

 ing and any bush work. There is nothing 

 about it to catch on any projection. The 

 magazine is a simple, strong and beautiful 

 arrangement and perfectly safe and re- 

 liable. The rifle costs a. few dollars more 

 than the Winchester, but it is a beauty 

 compared to one of the ordinary price and 

 finish. Its shooting qualities are all that 

 can be desired for either short or long 

 range. The caliber is .303 British, and it 

 Will both bleed and kill. I have read some 



funny stories in Recreation about the ef- 

 fects of those bullets on game. The Sav- 

 age is a deadly arm with the soft-nosed 

 bullet. I see Mr. H. I. Hill, of Spring- 

 field, Mo., compares them to .32-40. I 

 compare their effect on a deer to a .45-90 

 or a Martini-Henry, and the wounds on 

 deer are all about the same up to 150 or 200 

 yards; but after that the superiority of the 

 Savage appears, as the trajectory is so flat 

 it is not necessary to raise any sights up 

 to 250 yards, but to only take a full sight 

 at that distance. The longest shot I ever 

 made was at 300 yards. I raised the first 

 leaf of my rear sight. The deer was standing 

 corner on and I hit him abourthe middle 

 of the neck. The bullet came out through 

 the shoulder and smashed both it and the 

 neck. I have shot 5 or 6 deer in different 

 places, and never had one go over 100 

 yards. I have never seen a bullet after it 

 hit a deer. They will pass through a deer 

 from end to end and keep going. The 

 shocking and paralyzing effect is great. 

 and no man who has confidence in himself 

 and is a good shot need be afraid of the 

 biggest grizzly bear that ever walked, for 

 a shot from a Savage will smash his head 

 to atoms at short range. 



One of my friends, who had a Martini- 

 Henry, shot a bear last spring. It was 

 coming down hill. When within 30 yards 

 my friend took him just back of the head. 

 The ball broke the bear's neck, passed 

 down through the chest and lodged against 

 the skin of the abdomen. Last month this 

 friend sold the Martini and bought a Sav- 

 age with a 22-inch barrel. A prettier, 

 handier little gun for horseback work or 

 prospecting could not be found. I fancy 

 I see the big bore cranks smile at this. "A 

 nice little toy," they will say; but as my 

 friend is an old bear hunter and has seen 

 what my Savage will do, he knows what he 

 is doing. Tests made at long and short 

 range proved very satisfactory with both 

 the regular cartridge and light or miniature 

 loads. This man has used many rifles, of 

 different calibers, the .30-30 Winchester 

 included, and he wants no more black 

 powder guns. Some time ago I got a 

 miniature reloading kit for my Savage, 

 but have not had time to thoroughly test 

 the gun at different ranges. Have shot 

 a few grouse up to 30 yards. I have 

 the same combination of sights as on the 

 •38-55, and I think they are hard to beat, 

 only my middle sight on the Savage is a 

 3-leaf folding sight. As most readers are 

 aware, it is not the size of the bullet that 



