464 



RECREATION. 



sissippi was alive with ducks and geese 

 each spring and fall. 



Coming to California in 'j$, I aspired to 

 a breech loader, and a Bonehill was 

 purchased. I know now it was a very or- 

 dinary gun, but by carefully selecting the 

 loads to which it was adapted it did good 

 work. A young farmer brought me his 

 $100 Lefever to exchange for the old gun. 

 After I had given it 6 years of hard usage, 



1 tried to tell him he was getting a gun 

 worth probably $35 for his fine new wea- 

 pon; but the old gun was what he wanted. 



About that time I read of smokeless 

 powder and imported some of it; also 

 some paper shells with strong primers. 

 That same Lefever, with smokeless powder 

 and No. 6 shot, would pull down ducks, 

 geese and swan until the boys wanted to 

 know how it was done. 



As it was rather straight in the stock 

 and weighed 9 pounds, I decided to get 

 a lighter gun and one to fit the man. The 

 Lefever was raffled at full value. Two of 

 the boys won it, but could not decide who 

 should keep it. They put it up and again 

 raffled it, that ti le for twice its cost, and 

 it is to-day rated one of the strongest 

 shooting guns in Sacramento. 



A 12 bore, 8^4-pound gun was ordered 

 from the Ithaca Co., but they were unable 

 to make it in time. So they selected a No. 



2 grade from stock, bored it to order, and 

 sent it to me. That gun was remarkable 

 in several particulars. It was a choke bore 

 with thin muzzles, and after 7 years of 

 hard usage shot closer than the day it was 

 bored. It shot all sizes of pellets from 

 No. 9 to B. B. equally well. It was the 

 only gun I ever handled that was without 

 a flaw in construction or metal. Its maxi- 

 mum load of powder was zVa drachms, 

 and, while it shot all standard loads well, 

 it required less ammunition for long range 

 shooting than any gun I have owned. I 

 lost it by foolishly setting a price on it, and 

 it is now in Peru, undoubtedly doing good 

 execution. 



After that experience I concluded 

 there are several best guns, but that 

 they are all of American manufacture. 

 Get an Ithaca, Lefever, Parker, Baker or 

 Remington, and you have the best gun 

 that money will buy or brains produce. 

 Study it, learn the load it shoots best, 

 and take good care of it. There may be 

 others, but as they don't advertise in Rec- 

 reation they are back numbers and not to 

 be considered. \V. Coyne. 



TELESCOPIC SIGHTS. 



Chicago, 111. 

 Editor Recreation: 



Although several makers of telescopic 

 rifle sights advertise in Recreation, I see 



little discussion of these sights in its 

 columns. 



A sportsman will buy 4 or 5 rifles, of 

 various styles and calibers, yet he looks 

 on an investment of $25 in a telescopic 

 sight as wild extravagance. In most cases 

 2 rifles and a good telescopic sight would 

 be more effective in the field and at the 

 target than a greater number equipped 

 only with open or peep sights. 



A high grade modern telescopic sight of 

 low power and large field will facilitate 

 aiming at any kind of game under nearly 

 all conditions and at almost every range. 

 Its user can find and hold on squirrels 

 among the leaves and deer among the 

 trees or brush, where with peep or open 

 sights he could see nothing. A telescopic 

 sight will enable the rifleman to hold on 

 game or target with certainty when the 

 light is too dim to permit the use of other 

 sights. It will also prevent the blurring 

 and dimness of vision which inevitably fol- 

 low the use of open or peep sights. 



A most absurd custom yet in vogue at 

 the ranges of many rifle clubs whose mem- 

 bers are practical sportsmen is the ruling 

 out of the telescopic sight in offhand rifle 

 contests. Years ago, before the telescopic 

 sight was brought to perfection, it was of 

 little aid to the rifleman, because of the 

 small, dark field which limited its use to 

 moderate ranges. At present, however, 

 telescopes may be bought for little money 

 which, with a magnifying power of 3 or 4 

 diameters, show an area 40 to 50 feet in 

 diameter at 200 yards. With a sight of this 

 kind good holding may be done on mov- 

 ing objects at ordinary hunting ranges, 

 and as the sight apparently illuminates the 

 mark it is of great assistance. 



Considering its present adaptability, it 

 would appear that the objections to its 

 use in range contests, which were based 

 on its former unfitness for practical field 

 use, should be withdrawn. Many sports- 

 men who are good field shots, but who 

 can not, owing to some defect of vision, do 

 good work on the regulation bull's-eye 

 at 200 yards, would become enthusiastic 

 target shooters if permitted to use tele- 

 scopic sights. Ordinary spectacles are not 

 barred from the contests, and yet in the 

 field they are much more impracticable 

 than the telescopic sight and a great nui- 

 sance. 



Some years ago only rifles of 10 pounds 

 or less, with minimum trigger pulls of 3 

 pounds, were looked on with favor at the 

 ranges. Now 12-pound rifles with fine 

 double set triggers are found on almost 

 every range. 



Every practical device which is of assis- 

 tance to the hunter and the soldier should 

 be permitted in regular offhand contests; 

 and under no circumstances should a use- 



