GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



217 



firing was effective. Two regiments were 

 to attack the town of Coamo, while 2 bat- 

 talions of another regiment executed a 

 flank movement. The first battalion below 

 and about 700 yards from the Spanish em- 

 bankment was in plain sight of the enemy 

 and, of course, drew their fire. The second 

 battalion, higher up and farther to the 

 rear, commanded the situation, though its 

 position was not known to the enemy, 

 who supposed all the firing came from the 

 other battalion. , The Spanish officers, 

 thinking themselves sheltered by the em- 

 bankment from the fire of the American 

 troops nearest them, rode up and down 

 behind their men. Doing so, they became 

 exposed to the fire of the hidden battalion, 

 and each in turn was saluted with a volley. 

 The commander fell with 17 bullets 

 through his head, and most of his officers 

 were killed in the same way; no one of 

 them was fired at more than once. The 

 distance was estimated at 1,000 yards, no 

 range finders being used, and the shoot- 

 ing was done with smokeless powder. 



Jay Bee, Eau Claire, Wis. 



HIGH POWER RIFLES INACCURATE. 

 I had some experience with high power 

 firearms during the Spanish-American 

 war, and know that for accuracy they are 

 not equal to any black powder rifle except, 

 possibly, t v e .45-90, which shoots as wildly 

 as a bell-muzzled shot gun. No high 

 power rifles are fitted, like the .45-70 

 Springfield, with sights that will compen- 

 sate the drift; for the reason, I suppose, 

 that they do not drift twice alike. I can 

 see no reason for using in the woods a 

 rifle that will shoot 300 yards without 

 changing sights. Nine-tenths of the deer 

 killed here are shot within 50 yards. They 

 cannot be hit nor even seen, ordinarily, at 

 a greater distance, on account of the under- 

 brush. A .44-40, with smokeless powder 

 and full cased bullet, will shoot through 

 any buck in Wisconsin, and open a large 

 "lole for him to bleed through. The bul- 

 let will not drop an inch in 75 yards. 

 lS for accuracy, everyone knows the best 

 recorded score at 100 yards was made 

 with a .44. On the plains, where long 

 shots are the regular thing, it would be 

 lifferent, but here I will stick to the .44. 

 Jay Bee, Eau Claire, Wis. 



SMALL SHOT. 

 My gun is a 12 gauge Ithaca hammer- 

 ess, No. 2, $60 list, Damascus barrels, 30 

 inches, full choke, drop of stock 2^ inches. 

 I had it made to order. It is one of few 

 of its kind. I had it built with 12 gauge 

 barrels on a 10 gauge stock, barrels Y\ inch 



i*hick at breech. It weighs g%. pounds, 

 >ut is so perfectly balanced I do not find 



(he weight burdensome. Stock delicately 

 built, yet strong enough for any gun. It 

 is an ornament to a parlor. Shooting 

 qualities first class. I have killed ducks 

 and rabbits at 60 yards with No. 6 soft 

 shot. No. 8 shot will kill quails and other 

 small game. I have put "B B" shot 

 through 1 1-3 inch soft pine at 50 yards. 

 Before buying a gun look at the Ithaca. 

 It will pay you. 



Norman Peterson, Carpentaria, Cal. 



These 2 remarkable scores of 10 

 shots each were made by Mr. Fred O. 

 Young, of San Francisco, Cal., with a 

 pistol, using Peters .22-caliber cartridges, 

 loaded with King's semi-smokeless pow- 

 der, on a 50-yard range, strictly off hand, 

 Columbia target. The count in No. 1, the 

 figures representing the diameter in 

 inches, is: 3. 2, 4, 3, 3, 2, 4, 3, 2, 11—37, 

 an average of 3.7 inches. In No. 2 it is: 

 5, 5, 3, 2, 3, 3, 4, 2, 3, i—3}, an average of 

 3.1 inches — just two points above the 

 record for the target. Taking the first 

 9 shots of No. 1 and the last 8 of No. 2. 

 Mr. Young's remarkable scores average 2.7 

 inches for the 17 shots. 



What results can be obtained by reload- 

 ing Savage cartridges, and what are the 

 best tools for the purpose? If some user 

 of a Savage will please tell me I will be 

 greatly obliged. I notice that the boom 

 for the .30-30 still continues, and I would 

 like to say to all users of small bores that 

 I consider the Savage .303 as superior to 

 the .30-30 as that is to the obsolete .45-60. 

 I had a .30 before I got my Savage, and 

 trials with both show the Savage has more 

 penetration, lower trajectory, and 150 to 

 200 yards farther point blank range. I 

 never think of raising my sights for shoot- 

 ing up to 600 yards. The Savage is 

 handier, safer, lighter, and has fewer parts 

 to take care of. 



Ned Cady, Susanville, Cal. 



I think both the .32-40 and the .30-30 

 more capable of wounding game than of 

 killing it. F. E. D. says that no game hit 

 fairly with a .30-30 can get away if the 

 hunter knows his business. Maybe so; but 

 how many rifle users know their business? 

 How many are woodsmen? How many 

 can trail a deer over hard ground? Those 

 who cannot will get more deer with a .38- 

 55, a .44-40 or, better than all, a .45-70-330. 

 At the same time they will run less risk 

 of killing some other hunter than they 

 would with a .30. I hope I may never 

 again hear of so many deer being wounded 

 by small bore guns, only to be lost, as I 

 did last fall. 



Ammonoosuc, Littleton, N. H, 



