G?7XS AND AMMUNITION. 



301 



il on a big black bear in Wisconsin last 

 season, and it only took one shot to get 

 him. This Remington shell is 2^4 inches 

 long and will reload with 60 grains of 

 powder and with 217 grain Winchester ex- 

 press bullet. I have a medium shell, which 

 is large enough for anything on the conti- 

 nent. The success of any shot depends on 

 where it is placed. The same results will 

 happen with a cannon. I use an Ideal 

 loading flask, with Laflin & Rand's Special 

 r black powder. I have found it the 

 finest thing in the business and good 

 enough for me as long as it is made. I 

 never have any misfires, and that is im- 

 portant, for when you need a gun. in a 

 tight place, confidence is half the battle. 

 Geo. C. Edgeter, Dayton, O. 



During the past summer I canvassed 2 

 big mail-order houses in Chicago and 3 

 sporting-goods houses in Washington, D. 

 C, for the best gun on earth at the most 

 reasonable price. I was not satisfied. 

 These firms did not love me as they did 

 themselves. 1 at first thought it was be- 

 cause a firm could have no soul: but I 

 took up my September Recreation and 

 ran over the ads till I came to Cornwall & 

 Jesperson's. I wrote them, told them I 

 was a subscriber to Recreation and asked 

 them for prices. They sent me their cat- 

 alogue, and I bought from them an Ithaca 

 hammerless with Damascus barrels — the 

 best gun on earth. Cornwall & Jesperson 

 have convinced me that a firm can have 

 a soul, and that they at least practice the 

 golden rule. I hope they will stay with 

 you, Mr. Editor, for I am sure the boys 

 will patronize them when the name be- 

 comes familiar in Recreation. 



R. W. Stout, Poolesville, Md. 



[s a 16-bore sufficiently powerful for an 

 all around gun? Some manufacturers are 

 now making a 16 shell of extra length, 2% 

 inches, which holds just as much as the 

 ordinary 2%, 12-gauge shell. Would not 

 the former be as effective in range and 

 penetration as the other? I want a gun 

 exclusively for game shooting, chiefly 

 birds, and mostly at short range. Will 

 some fellow sportsman kindly tell me if I 

 am likely to find what I want in a gun of 

 the following description: Seven pound. 

 1 6 gauge, double hammerless; chambered 

 lor 2%-inch shells, 30-inch barrels; left, 

 modified choke: right, cylinder. Will 

 such a gun give a closer pattern than a 12- 

 gauge of same specifications, using a 2^ 

 shell? Would the cylinder barrel shoot a 

 round ball with fair accuracy? 



M. F. Jones. Slate Hill, Pa. 



a hammerless gun. 1 see he classes it 

 among good hammer guns, but does not 

 speak of it as a hammerless. I am the 

 owner of a B grade hammerless, and would 

 not trade it for the highest priced gun in 

 this place, because of the firing pin safety, 

 which makes the firing of the gun impos- 

 sible without pulling the trigger. The 

 shooting qualities of the gun are as good 

 as any. I shot 4 brant at 4 shots with No. 

 6's last fall, and the 2 last were over 50 

 yards away. I quit right there, although I 

 had not been out 30 minutes and could 

 have got more birds. 



C. B. Cushing, The Dalles, Ore. 



1 have read Recreation and have kept 

 quiet. But an article by A. A. Haines, en- 

 titled "Suggestions for the Winchester 

 People," makes me want to say some- 

 thing. No back countryman need think 

 he can tell the Winchester Co. how to 

 make guns. The man is daft who can not 

 see that putting a small caliber barrel, such 

 as a .32, into a heavy .44 revolver frame 

 reduces its liability to jump, and therefore 

 makes it a better shooting weapon. But 

 on one point I agree with Mr. Haines; I, 

 also, never saw a Marlin repeater that 

 would repeat. 



Frank Brewer, Saratoga, Wyo. 



Walter Diehm, in December Recrea- 

 tion, asks about the miniature and 

 rifle. Last summer I bought a reloading 

 paper patched cartridges for the Savage 

 outfit for miniature cartridges. Loaded 

 with smokeless, those cartridges have 

 given me great satisfaction, but not so with 

 black powder. I load with 8 grains of 

 Dupont's smokeless and a bullet composed 

 of 12 parts lead to one part tin. This load 

 will kill any small game up to 100 yards. 

 A friend tried the factory loaded paper 

 patched cartridges, but did not like them. 

 He said they leaded his gun badly. 



Fleming Robinson, Fairview, B. C. 



T should like to ask W. P.. Westfield, 

 Pa., what is the matter with the Baker as 



The repeating shot gun has but one ad- 

 vantage over the double barrel. For a 

 flock of geese you could ask for nothing 

 better; but for duck shooting I prefer a 

 double gun. Nor has it been my experi- 

 ence that the repeater is altogether safe. 

 I once shot with one at a squirrel and 

 missed. I pumped, and each time the gun 

 was discharged. Examining it. I found the 

 trigger caught. When I pushed it down 

 the gun was all right again. On several 

 occasions I have had shells jam in my gun. 

 I have known a repeater to freeze up. 

 through rain or snow getting in the ac- 

 tion, and refuse to work until thawed out. 

 Ralph Barber, Bellaire, O. 



J hope some day to buy a .30-30, either 



