GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



THE SMALL BORES ARE O. K. 



Armington, Mont. 



Editor Recreation: It is amusing to 

 read the various opinions of the best rifles 

 for hunting. What seems about the proper 

 thing for one is condemned by another. 

 One advocates a .25 calibre for grizzly- 

 bears, while another wants nothing smaller 

 than a .50. I think the hunter has as im- 

 portant a bearing in this question as the 

 gun. 



A .25 or .32 calibre bullet, properly- 

 placed, will prove more effective than a 

 half-dozen .50's thrown promiscuously into 

 an animal. The man who shoots to hit his 

 game anywhere, thinks nothing short of a 

 .50 will answer, while a hunter who shoots 

 with some regard to placing his bullets in 

 a vital spot will get better results with a 

 gun of smaller calibre. One often hears an 

 argument like the following: "I saw a 

 grizzly shot 8 times before he fell; " or 

 " an antelope 9 or 10 times," etc. One of 

 those shots rightly placed would have 

 proved instantly fatal. 



I have used all calibres, from .22 to .50, 

 and all makes of rifles. If I should be 

 asked what I believed the hardest hitting 

 gun I ever used, I would say a .30-40 box 

 magazine Winchester. This rifle is per- 

 fection, but is larger than needed. I have 

 a full jacketed bullet fired from this gun, 

 which penetrated 5 feet and 5 inches of 

 seasoned cottonwood. This was shot into 

 the end of blocks placed end to end. 



I have owned and used, for the greater 

 part of a year, a Winchester .30-30. This 

 gun suits me better than anything I have 

 yet used. There is no disagreeable recoil, 

 as with a .45-70, .45-90, or .50 calibre, while, 

 in my opinion, it is superior to them in 

 range and killing power. With the soft 

 point bullets it will prove more deadly 

 than any black-powder cartridge, while 

 the arm is quite light. 



I have such confidence in the small cal- 

 ibre, high-pressure smokeless powder cart- 

 ridges with soft point bullets that if I were 

 getting a new rifle it would be a Winches- 

 ter .25-35 carbine. This gun has a 20 inch 

 barrel and weighs but 6% pounds. Yet I 

 believe it would be sufficiently large for any 

 game found on this continent. 



Several hunters are using the .30-30's 

 around here, and I have yet to see the man 

 who is dissatisfied with them. 



I have heard it asked: " Why will not a 

 soft point bullet penetrate as deeply as the 

 full mantled? The bullets weigh the same; 

 the powder charge is the same, and cart- 

 ridges are fired from the same rifle." The 

 reason is, the soft point in expanding has 

 to tear a hole several times greater than 



the full metal patch, which keeps its orig- 

 inal diameter, drilling a hole no larger. 



I think a .25-35 or .30-30 could be made 

 about as satisfactory for the all around 

 gun some of your correspondents talk 

 about, as any gun I know of. One could 

 use the regular cartridges for large game 

 and a light charge of low-pressure smoke- 

 less powder and a lead bullet of 86 to 100 

 grains for short range. 



I have reloaded the .30-30's with 20 

 grains of black powder and 115 grains of 

 lead and have done accurate shooting at 

 100 yards. The gun leaded badly though 

 I used the best powder and lubricated the 

 bullets well. 



For game and shooting up to and in- 

 cluding woodchucks, I can think of no 

 rifle more desirable than a .22-7-45 Win- 

 chester repeater. This is light and ex- 

 tremely accurate, capable of placing the 

 bullets in an 8 or 10 inch circle at 200 yards, 

 sure in manipulation, has few parts and has 

 the advantage over other .22 repeaters of 

 handling inside lubricated ammunition. 

 Some might advise the .25-20 or .32-20 

 model 1892. These are good rifles, and if 

 one prefers loading one's own cartridges, 

 would be preferable to the .22. 



One of your correspondents wishes to 

 know if .45 calibre revolver cartridges can 

 be obtained readily in the West. There is 

 no cartridge that can be had more easily. 

 I prefer a .45 calibre 7 l / 2 inch single action 

 revolver to all others. They are superior 

 to the .38-40 or .44-40's. I have used them 

 all. A. A. Haines. 



HOW TO LOAD PAPER SHELLS. 



I note in Recreation the inquiry of W. 

 B. Cuckler about the loading of paper shot 

 shells. I have loaded shells for my own 

 use for many years and find, with black 

 powder, 2 good wads, well seated, are 

 enough. However, I have discarded black 

 powder, being convinced that its day is 

 past. 



We have a large and enthusiastic club in 

 this city, whose members shoot at the trap 

 weekly, and nearly all load their own shells. 

 The Winchester and U. M. C. shells, for 

 nitro powders, are all good and are mostly 

 used here. We load them as often as they 

 can be made to crimp properly, and invari- 

 ably put enough wads over the powder to 

 fill the shell with shot added, to the crimp. 

 I have had as many as 3 common black 

 edge, a Field and a cardboard wad on the 

 charge; making a thickness of an inch. 

 It is not necessary to use so many wads, 

 when loading heavy charges, or short 

 shells. The main point in loading smoke- 



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