GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



21$ 



largest or the wildest game that lives, be- 

 cause I know that rifle will do the work. 

 If I want to fix some cartridges for hard 

 cases I file a small cross on the point of 

 the bullet, being careful not to file too 

 deep. Let one of these strike a bear in 

 the head and he is my meat. As for the 

 steel jacketed ball, if I want game I go to 

 places that other hunters would find hard 

 to reach. 



E. L. Barratt. 



LARGE BORE RIFLES FOR HIM. 



I have just been reading W. H. Borem's 

 letter in April Recreation. It is all right 

 to jump on Grizzly Pete; he is an unprin- 

 cipled scoundrel, and deserves all he gets. 

 Borem claims to have hunted bear for 30 

 years and does not know that "sow" is the 

 common name among trappers for a she 

 bear. This proves he knows as little about 

 bear as he does about guns. His com- 

 paring a .45-70 with a .30-30 reminds me 

 of a green newspaper reporter talking 

 about military arms. 



Mighty few people seem to know that 

 you can hit a man with the 45-70 as far as 

 you can see him; that when it comes to 

 accuracy the smokeless is not in it with 

 black powder; and that the life of the 

 smokeless barrel is so short that a year or 

 2 of use makes it worthless. I have a .303 

 that after 2 years' service cannot hit a 

 barn at 800 yards, and a .30-30 that plants 

 its bullets all over a 24-inch ring at 100 

 yards after one year's use. Both of these 

 rifles have had good care. 



I have also a .45-70 Sharps that first 

 saw service 25 years ago, and I will shoot 

 it at any distance up to 1.800 yards against 

 any smokeless rifle ever made. Because a 

 rifle kills a head of game dead in its tracks 

 h no evidence that it is the best rifle. I 

 shoot at game all the year round * and 

 know something about what a rifle will do. 

 I have piled up a ton of meat in a heap 

 with a .44-40,1 but that is not saying the 

 .44 is the only rifle in the world. No doubt 

 the new rifles mark the beginning of a 

 new era in firearms, but it is as yet only 

 in its opening stage. Much must yet be 

 done to make the new arms and ammuni- 

 tion equal to the old for hard service and 

 reliability. 



If Percy Selous ever happens to hit a 

 deer in the heart when that organ is dis- 

 tended with blood I think it will drop in 

 its tracks. 



William Wells, Cora, Wyo. 



* How is that ? Do you pay no attention to game laws ? 

 t What did yon do with it ? You certainly would not 

 sell game ?— Editor. 



ROUND BULLETS IN BLACK POWDER RIFLLS 

 Y. M. A., in October Recreation, 

 wants to know about using small charges 

 in a .50-95 Winchester express. He need 

 not be afraid, when using small charges 

 of powder, of having an air space in the 

 shell, for the same quantity of powder as 

 of air would exert a greater strain on the 

 breech of the rifle. I advise him to use 

 round balls for small game and general 

 practice. When properly fitted they work 

 splendidly in all black powder rifles. In 

 the .22, not being able to get a mould to 

 cast such a small round bullet, I used a 

 single drop shot to each shell instead. 

 The main point is to have the bullet a little 

 larger than the caliber, so it will cut into 

 the grooves. The proper size of round 

 bullet is the outside diameter of muzzle of 

 shell. The ball will then rest in mouth of 

 shell without danger of sinking in. The 

 moulds usually made for round bullets are 

 too^ small; consequently they have not 

 sufficient bearing on the rifling to be ac- 

 curate, unless the powder charge is ex- 

 tremely small. American Deadshot pow- 

 der answers admirably in all calibers. For 

 .50-95 would load as follows: Forty grains 

 Deadshot; then 2 sheets of light manilla 

 toilet paper, rolled into wad and gently 

 pressed down on powder. Then insert in 

 mouth of shell a piece of grease a little 

 larger than a hazel nut, and place bullet 

 on top. Two or 3 taps with a light wooden 

 mallet will make the bullet hold, without 

 either driving it in or expanding the shell. 

 Shells so loaded will with care work 

 through a repeater magazine. They shoot 

 well up to 100 yards, and don't smash 

 small game. With such a load there is no 

 perceptible recoil. When tapping the bul- 

 let see that the shell is not resting on any- 

 thing hard. 



Have had great success in squirrel shoot- 

 ing with round balls from a .32-40. I 

 chanced to find some buckshot that was 

 just the size. Loaded as I have described 

 they were wonderfully accurate. 



J. A. Varley, Toronto, Can. 



OOM PAUL'S GUN. 



Once I really enjoyed Recreation. 

 When I read of birds killed with a shot 

 gun at 128 yards and bounding jack rab- 

 bits pierced with rifle balls at 400, I 

 thrilled with pride and said: "Verily, our 

 people can shoot a little bit, and surely 

 there is none like unto us." But, alas, we 

 are outdone! Our little exploits are as 

 naught compared with the deeds of the 

 doughty Boers. Now that I know the 

 truth I turn from the puerile tales of Griz- 

 zly Pete & Co. as the boy in breeches 

 spurns the nippled bottle. 



The Boer of '81 was reputed the best 

 marksman in the world. And, having read 



