GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



217 



o'clock, camping in a jungle, with some 

 open country near, we killed a spotted 

 buck, a doe and 2 buffaloes. 



How any one in his senses would advo- 

 cate any 303 as a weapon for use on an 

 animal of such strength and vitality as the 

 Indian and Ceylon buffalo I can not under- 

 stand; but we came on them suddenly and 

 could not resist the temptation to shoot. 

 At 60 yards my friend plugged his buffalo 

 in the point of the shoulder, broadside 

 on, with a soft nosed bullet, and dropped 

 it in its tracks: Both shoulders were 

 broken. 



At the shot, out rushed 5 or 6. cows. 

 One huge beast, with an enormous spread 

 of horns stopped, snorting and grunting 

 over the fallen animal. This was too 

 much for me so I let drive, at about 90 

 yards, and broke its left shoulder. It ran 

 off about 20 yards, turned and bellowed; 

 so I gave it 2 more. Then it ran off to the 

 jungle. I followed and found it down, 

 but it got up again. I gave it another 

 and dropped it. It was not dead, so I 

 went in front and sent a ball through its 

 brain. A marvelous proof of the power 

 of the weapon, but a risky performance, 

 not to be recommended. 



In 2 short trips, aggregating about TO 

 days' shooting, I have killed with the 

 Savage, 6 spotted deer, including 4 good 

 stags; one buffalo, one small red buck, 

 and 2 wild boars. 



I have been long in search of an ideal 

 rifle and believe I have now found it. 

 The lightness, balance, accuracy and per- 

 fect trigger pull of the Savage render it, 

 to my mind, a perfect sporting weapon. 

 Fitted with back foresight, middle leaf 

 sight', for checking purposes, and com- 

 bination rear aperture sight, it is the 

 weapon for a jungle country like Ceylon. 

 All the men I know here who are using 

 the Savage have lengthened the stocks 

 about iy 2 inches by a butt piece. 



A. V. Storey, Island of Ceylon. 



THE MAUSER RIFLE. 



In April Recreation I notice a warn- 

 ing by Harry D. Fogg, Providence, R. I., 

 not to try Mauser rifles. Having been 

 employed in Germany making those guns 

 I know what a Mauser rifle is. It is a 

 splendid weapon, but must not be judged 

 by wrecks of guns that are sold here as 

 trophies from the Spanish-American war. 

 I can tell Mr. Fogg, if he cares to know, 

 where to get a genuine Mauser. He will 

 have to pay a good price, $30 at least, but 

 the gun will be worth the money. Those 

 $10 Mausers are not worth $2, except for 

 the materials they are made of. For 

 sporting purposes f should prefer the Sav- 

 age every time, yet I know that so far as 



safety, accuracy, balance and high power 

 are concerned, the Mauser is second to 

 none. The Mauser people have adapted 

 their latest rifle to the Mannlicher .315 

 cartridge, the best high velocity cartridge 

 ever made on the other side. It certainly 

 equals our 30-40 and excels the English 

 .303 by far. For military purposes the 

 Mauser is generally classed among the 

 best, to say the least. It has been greatly 

 improved since the late war. 



Fred'k J. Grube, Wilmington, Del. 



30-40 AND .303 AHEAD 



Will you kindly inform me how the 38- 

 72 Winchester Smokeless, model '95, com- 

 pares as a game gun, in killing power, 

 with the 30-40 or the Savage 303. 



Vindex, Pittsburg, Pa. 



ANSWER. 



In accuracy, at medium ranges, the 30- 

 40, 303 Savage and the 38-72 Winchester 

 are not far apart. The 2 former, however, 

 have somewhat the best of the argument. 

 At extreme ranges the 30-40 is markedly 

 superior. The 38-72 Winchester smoke- 

 less is loaded with a low pressure nitro 

 powder, and consequently is superior to 

 the ordinary black load in cleanliness, 

 lack of recoil and noise, and a slight in- 

 crease in velocity, with consequent flatter 

 trajectory. The 30-40 and .303 Savage 

 have much greater velocity than the 38-72 

 Winchester, about 25 per cent, approxi- 

 mately; much flatter trajectory, and by 

 far the greater shocking power. Either of 

 the high pressure loads will, with soft 

 point bullets, kill cleaner and quicker than 

 the 38-72.- — Editor. 



SMALL SHOT. 



Most sportsmen make a mistake in clean- 

 ing their guns as they do. Factories rec- 

 ommend water, but water if not wiped dry 

 will rust; good oil will not. Oil answers all 

 purposes. Those using high power 25 and 

 30 caliber rifles should make frequent use 

 of a field cleaner with a well oiled cloth. It 

 helps the metal jacket to follow the rifling. 

 If plenty of oil is used'in the chamber you 

 will have no trouble with sticking shells. 

 In reloading size your shells and then ex- 

 amine them closely for cracks; you can feel 

 those you cannot see. Another good plan 

 is to wipe all loaded shells with an oily 

 cloth. A bottle of vaseline to one-fourth 

 that quantity of the best oil is a good lu- 

 bricant and is heavy enough not to run. 

 My Savage, after hard use with both full 

 and miniature loads over a year, is as 

 bright as new, and my shot gun, with 5 

 years' hard use and the above treatment* 

 has not a spot on it. 



W. R. Duerr, Clinton, Mo. 



