38o 



RECREATION. 



out wad, and with nitro primer. Whoever 

 uses Troisdor powder in a shot gun will 

 make no mistake. These 2 results I ob- 

 tained without changing focus of glass, 

 which was focussed to give best vision at 

 200 yards. The short range work can be 

 done by lamplight or twilight as well as by 

 sunlight. I have shot less than 10 scores 

 at 200 yards to count on the standard 

 American target, strictly O. H. All told 

 they average above 80. Trie first was 87. 

 Once I got 91, and once 83 in 9 shots; so 

 you see they are good for something in 

 O. H. shooting. After becoming used to 

 a telescope one can tell within an inch of 

 where his bullet strikes a woodchuck any- 

 where up to 65 or 70 yards. 



Mr. Hoagland asks especially whether 

 telescopes are of use on cloudy or dark 

 days. To illustrate, I will tell of one inci- 

 dent: I was in dark, heavy timber, about 

 sundown, facing the West. I caught a 

 glimpse, against the sky, of a squirrel run- 

 ning up the side of a hemlock tree about 

 8 rods off. I looked several minutes for 

 him with the naked eye and from some 

 movements he made I finally located him 

 curled up on a knot, facing me. I could 

 barely make out that he was there. No 

 man could have seen him by looking 

 through or over any steel sights that were 

 ever made. With the 'scope I could make 

 out that it was a red. I could see the 

 white spot on his breast, his eyes and his 

 general outline. As I always make it a 

 point to shoot the little pests I tried the 

 virtue of a telescope in the dark. The bul- 

 let struck the white spot fair, at O. H., 

 too. That was the regular target model 

 'scope. For such work the hunting model 

 of 3 to 5 power would be much better. 



W. E. Stoddard, Montpelier, Vt. 



THE SAVAGE IS ALL RIGHT. 

 I am a new subscriber, and I have 

 found in Recreation what I have long 

 looked for. I have already learned sev- 

 eral useful items regarding rifles and 

 photography in the 2 copies of the 

 magazine I have seen. I have been 

 trying to determine the best hi-gh velocity 

 smokeless gun to buy, and had almost de- 

 cided on a Savage, but at the last moment 

 a friend told me they were not to be re- 

 lied on, as the coil hammer spring gets 

 weak and causes misfires. Would you 

 recommend a '95 model box magazine 

 Winchester, using the .303 British shell? 

 I have a fine old reliable .40-82, '86 model, 

 W. C. F., which is a capital gun for ranges 

 up to 150 yards for moose or elk, but in 

 hunting black tails and jumpers and white- 

 tail deer I wound and lose too many to 

 suit me at ranges over that distance. I 

 find the split bullet, as mentioned in the 

 Ideal Hand Book, cast with paper across 



point of mould, much more effective than 

 a hollow point ball in my gun. The bullet 

 properly cast mushrooms to the base. 



I generally spend the winter back in the 

 mountains North of here, trapping and 

 hunting. Moose, elk and deer are plenti- 

 ful. I saw about 30 mule deer in a 10 days' 

 hunt and got capital sport, but one wants a 

 long range rifle, as the deer are hard to 

 stop at ranges over 150 yards with an old 

 black powder gun. 



T. Bickford, Binscarter, Manitoba. 



ANSWER. 



Your friend who told you the Savage 

 rifle is not reliable is away off the trail. I 

 have had hundreds of letters from men 

 who have used and misused these rifles; 

 who have submitted them to severe tests 

 in the mountains and woods in all kinds 

 of weather, and have never before heard 

 of one failing to work to the entire satis- 

 faction of its owner. I have published 

 several of these letters and have several 

 others in hand for future publication. — 

 Editor. 



FOLLOW DIRECTIONS IN USING SMOKELESS. 



1. Does a rifle have to be specially made 

 to use smokeless or semi-smokeless pow- 

 der? 



2. Does vinegar harm a rifle? It cleans 

 excellently. 



3. What kind, if any, game is found 

 around Holyoke, Mass., and when can it 

 be shot. L. R., Brooklyn, N. V. 



ANSWER. 



1. A smokeless powder which is made 

 for black powder rifles does not require 

 that the rifle shall be made specially for it, 

 but in all cases the directions for loading 

 the smokeless powder, as laid down by the 

 manufacturers, should be carefully fol- 

 lowed. Where it is desired to use a smoke- 

 less powder designed to give a muzzle 

 velocity of 1,900 to 2,000 feet a second, a 

 rifle made specially for this class of pow- 

 der is required; and such rifles will not 

 do good work with black powder. 



The high velocity which is attained' by 

 the use of a high power .30 caliber or sim- 

 ilar rifle cannot be attained in any rifle 

 built for black powder. 



2. Acids should never be used in clean- 

 ing a rifle. If necessary use a brass wire 

 scratch brush made for the purpose. It 

 will not injure the rifling. 



3. There are a few quails, squirrels and 

 ruffed grouse about Holyoke, Mass., but 

 only a very few. Write the U. M. C. Co.. 

 315 Broadway, N. Y., for its book of game 

 laws. It gives the laws of all States and 

 costs nothing. — Editor. 



REPEATER LESS EXPENSIVE. 



G. R. Rucker asks what advantage the 

 repeating shot gun has over double guns. 



