GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



THE .30-40 WINCHESTER AND THE SAVAGE .303 

 COMPARED. 



DR. G. T. SMITH. 



I consider these 2 rifles as representing 

 the highest types of American modern 

 arms. Each is possessor of individual ad- 

 vantages and characteristics. Both are 

 powerful, accurate, have flat trajectories, 

 great penetration and wonderful killing 

 power with slight recoil. The sooner 

 sportsmen realize this important fact and 

 discard their archaic black powder and big 

 bore weapons the better it will be for both 

 man and game. 



The .30-40 is considered by authorities 

 1/3 more powerful than the Savage. The 

 30-40 cartridge contains 36 grains oi 

 powder with a 220-grain bullet, either 

 steel jacketed or soft nosed. It has an 

 initial velocity of 2,066 feet a second. The 

 length of barrel is 28 inches, the twist 

 one turn in 10 inches. The magazine is 

 of the box type, with its weight well bal- 

 anced at the breech. The action is smooth 

 and quick; but in my opinion not quite 

 so rapid as that of the Savage which I 

 can work with greater ease. The finger- 

 lever of the Savage does not extend so 

 far down when extracting a shell as does 

 that of the .30-40. 



In this regard I prefer the Savage. 

 Again, the Savage externally shows no 

 presence of any magazine, except the 

 small indicator on the left side of the 

 receiver, for registering the number of 

 cartridges in the magazine, this being an 

 excellent feature of the arm. 



The Savage sporting rifle has a barrel 

 of 26 inches; the twist is one turn in 10 

 inches. The shell contains but 27 grains 

 of smokeless powder, with a 190-grain 

 bullet, thus making a cheaper cartridge 

 for general use. Taking everything into 

 consideration, this is the best rifle for all- 

 around work. The manufacturers have 

 put 6 different cartridges on the market 

 available for all sorts of game. It is 

 further claimed that it will shoot as well 

 at close as at long range. 



The Savage steel jacketed bullet has a 

 penetration of S3 5^-inch pine boards, at 

 15 feet from the muzzle, with a range of 

 2,000 yards, and a point blank range at 

 200 yards. With these high velocity arms 

 the soft nose bullet is the only one for 

 big game. 



It will expand on impact with flesh, and 

 this expansion becomes greater should it 

 meet with more resistance in its course. 

 In the Savage, again, there is the advan- 



tage for those who desire it of having a 

 hammerless arm. This new departure is 

 so well arranged that when the hammer 

 is cocked it can readily be felt when light 

 is obscure, by the projection of the in- 

 dicator above the top of the breech bolt, 

 and when light serves it is readily seen. 

 The arm is exceptionally well balanced. 

 I never had one come to my shoulder 

 better. Both of my rifles are fitted with 

 Lyman rear and ivory bead front sights, 

 which add greatly to the value of these 

 rifles as well as to the convenience of the 

 shooter. On my .30-40 Winchester I have 

 the special Lyman receiver, and on the 

 Savage the Lyman combination rear, a 

 miniature sight adopted for that arm. We 

 all owe Mr. Lyman gratitude for his con- 

 tribution to the modern rifle, through his 

 invention of the famous sights which de- 

 serve such high praise. 



I can not urge too strongly the benefit 

 to be derived from the use of the Lyman 

 sights. They constitute one of the es- 

 sential factors pertaining to successful 

 shooting. The best front sight on a sport- 

 ing rifle is the ivory bead. I prefer the 

 jack bead to the small ivory one, because, 

 as it often happens, the hunter secures 

 his best shot either early in the morning 

 or at dusk, and unquestionably this sight 

 would be the best at such times. I find 

 it not a bit too large, so recommend its 

 use on all sporting arms. 



So convinced am I of the marvelous 

 power of these guns that with one I would 

 have no hesitancy in facing a grizzly in 

 his fiercest mood. So armed, any one 

 may confidently expect succcessful re- 

 sults, provided he displays the requisite 

 coolness and courage. 



Although the power of the .30-40 Win- 

 chester is greater than that of the Savage, 

 I doubt if its immediate effect on game 

 surpasses that of the latter. I think the 

 killing effect of the 2 arms differs but little. 



They are both magnificent specimens of 

 the riflemaker's art, and no one could go 

 amiss in selecting either. The weight of 

 the Savage is 7 pounds, 5 ounces; of the 

 Winchester, 8 l /l pounds. Both are 6 shot, 

 5 in the magazine and one in the barrel. 

 The penetration of the .30-40 steel jack- 

 eted bullet is 58 7/^-inch pine boards at 15 

 feet from the muzzle. 



The accompanying drawing demon- 

 strates well the power of this rifle. These 

 shots were fired at distance of 200 feet. 



The piece of steel was Y% inch thick, and 

 the ball pierced it as -if it had been 

 cardboard, The diameter of the entrance 



378 



