GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



459 



I wish to have my say in regard to the 

 Peters Cartridge Co.'s shells. Last fall 

 while on a trip to Virginia, I used Peters' 

 shells. In one day I had no less than 20 

 misfires. At that time I blamed my gun, 

 but have since found out it was the shells. 

 I sold the gun and got a Baker, which for 

 shooting can not be excelled. 



R. B. Schroeder, 

 Mechanicsburg, Pa. 



The Peters Co. make a great mis- 

 take when it refuses to advertise- 

 in Recreation because an occasional 

 user of their shells does not like them. 

 Recreation is the most popular magazine 

 published in the interest of the lovers of 

 the rod and gun. Uncle Dan, 



Orient Point, N. Y. 



I think the Peters Cartridge Co. must be 

 in their second childhood. You may be 

 sure they will get none of my trade. 



Harry Cook, Bon Ami, La. 



LAFLIN & RAND SMOKELESS ALL RIGHT. 



Jersey City, N. J. I 

 Editor Recreation: 



I note in April Recreation Mr. Davis 

 says he can not get good results with, 

 buckshot in the 30 U. S. over 8 grains of 

 Laflin & Rand smokeless. The reason is 

 plain. He uses too much powder. If he 

 would try a Tatham or Leroy O buck- 

 shot set in the muzzle of the shell, with 

 6y 2 grains of Laflin & Rand's Sporting 

 Rifle smokeless, I will answer for the re- 

 sults, unless his rifle is defective. The O 

 Tatham or Leroy buckshot is 32 in di- 

 ameter and consequently fits so tightly 

 that it must be knocked into the shell 

 with a mallet, perfectly flush with the 

 muzzle. Run any good bullet lubricant 

 around the edges of the shot and you 

 will have a load fully as accurate as, and 

 much less powerful than the 32 shot. The 

 short range cartridge, as loaded by the 

 factories with their special bullet, is most 

 inaccurate; in fact, it would be difficult to 

 devise a much worse combination. 



B. B., of Rockford, 111., asks what rifle 

 would be most* desirable to take into the 

 Northwest. If he wants a modern small 

 bore. the Remington-Lee ; Sporting 

 model is, in my opinion, superior to any 

 other. .Its action is simple and strong, it 

 is fully as accurate as any magazine rifle 

 shooting the same cartridge, and it is 

 much lighter, weighting only 6->4 pounds 

 with 26 inch barrel. 



Mr. Brown requests information about 

 the Davis, Syracuse and Baker hammer- 

 less guns. The first I know nothing 

 about. The second is as good as any gun 

 in the world for the money, and Mr. 

 Crosby's scores at trap answer for the 

 third. 



One of your correspondent's advises 

 shooters against using Peters' shells in the 

 Winchester shot gun. I have never seen 

 any trouble caused by them. In fact, 

 Peters' Ideal 3^-1^-7^ hb. and a Win- 

 chester shot gun worked entirely too well 

 one day to suit me. I shot a 50 target 

 race, my opponent standing at 16 and I at 

 19 yards. I was beaten by 2 birds. I 

 shot my Pidgeon gun and load, but with 

 No. 7>4 Tatham bh. shot. Would have 

 used my regular target load but as the 

 wind was bad and my position was 3 yards 

 behind the regular distance, I thought the 

 extra y 2 t drachm of Dupont desirable. 



I wish to say a word for H. C. Squires' 

 hand loaded shells. I had some of them 

 loaded with my pidgeon charge and sent 

 to th. Dupont Powder Company, to have 

 velocity taken. They showed an average 

 velocity of 900.6 feet a second at a dis- 

 tance of 40 yards from muzzle, with an 

 average variation of only 10 feet a sec- 

 ond and a pattern averaging only 5 pel- 

 lets variation. The variations are the 

 slightest I have ever heard of, and the 

 velocity is most wonderful at 40 yards 

 with No. 7 shot. The load I described in 

 my article on shot guns in April Recrea- 

 tion. 



Jack Pattern. 



OTHER ADS. FOR MARLIN. 



Since I have been up here I have read 

 some amusing things in Recreation. 

 Among these is a report that Marlin had 

 brought a suit against you for publishing 

 articles that said mean things about their 

 rifles. This is the most foolish thing they 

 ever did. It seems to me if you would re- 

 quest professional hunters, in the West, by 

 which I do not mean tenderfoot hunters 

 who never killed anything but a deer or 2, 

 to give their experience with the Marlin on 

 all kinds of game, it would be the worst 

 advertisement Marlin ever got. They 

 would better keep still about their rifles 

 and let those buy them who will. As far 

 as I am concerned, I think the Marlin is 

 the poorest thing ever made in the shape of 

 a repeating rifle, and they ought to be pros- 

 ecuted for turning out such a fake. I ought 

 to have brought suit against them 15 years 

 ago, when I was almost killed because of 

 one of their old 40-60 model rifles. I got 

 into a fight with a big grizzly, and 

 after the third shot the carrier threw, a 

 cartridge up through the carrier spring, 

 and I could not get it in or out. I was 

 using U. M. C. factory cartridges. I had 

 my jaw, leg and arm broken in the deal 

 and finally succeeded in killing the bear 

 with a knife. I have used every model and 

 sized rifle Marlin ever made in a repeater 

 and none of them is worth a cent. They 

 will s^oot fairly well if you can get them 



"W 



