294 



RECREATION'. 



try others to see if I can improve on it. In 

 regard to length of barrels, I think a 26- or 

 28-inch barrel will shoot as well as a longer 

 one, and is much more convenient to handle 

 in the woods. Mooselookmeguntic. 



A REPLY TO HAMBLEDON. 



Lander, Wyo., July 10, 1898. 



Dear " Coquina " : I was much inter- 

 ested in the valuable contribution of Mr. F. 

 W. Hambledon, of Colorado Springs. It 

 disabuses my mind of some false impres- 

 sions I have heretofore held in regard to the 

 shooting qualities of the small bores, as 

 compared to the .45-75, and the army mus- 

 kets of 30 years ago. I am sure all users 

 of small bores will be grateful *to Brother 

 Hambledon when they read his article, as 

 they have had the idea that there has been 

 some little improvement in the manufacture 

 of arms and ammunition during the past 

 quarter of a century, and they will be glad 

 to know how much mistaken they have 

 been. 



Some of the " oldest hunters " in this 

 country are the loudest in their praise of the 

 " fancy .30 calibre," as he is pleased to call 

 it, and in a contest against him and his 

 army musket could give him " cards and 

 spades," and then beat him, hands down. 

 As a clincher to his argument in favor of 

 the large bores, he says that in the days of 

 the buffalo large calibre rifles were always 

 used. " But," says the man with the .30 cal- 

 ibre gun, " so did our ancestors use feathers 

 sharpened to a point before steel pens and 

 typewriters were invented." Mr. H. also 

 takes it on himself to speak for " all the 

 old hunters and frontiersmen from Texas to 

 Montana," and solemnly declares they all 

 prefer the .44 and .45. He might have said 

 something like this : " Most of the old 

 hunters and frontiersmen, who have never 

 seen nor tested the .30 calibre rifles, still 

 use the large calibres." Then he might 

 add, and this would be the fact : " But where 

 they have had an opportunity to test the 

 small calibre guns, they have forever dis- 

 carded their old .44' s, .45-70's, and .45-90's." 



It is all right for a man to think he knows 

 it all, and to call others names when they 

 don't agree with him ; but when he gives 

 us such a " load " as Brother Hambledon 

 does in that letter of his, he only makes him- 

 self ridiculous in the eyes of that great body 

 of sportsmen who know the days of the old- 

 fashioned large bores are nearly over. 



H. E. Wadsworth, Lander, Wyo. 



GRIZZLY PETE'S EXPERIENCE. 



Buffalo River, Wyo. 

 Editor Recreation : As I am a great 

 admirer of, and bank on, the old .45-70 

 Winchester, I am going to stick up for it 

 as against every confounded new gun ever 

 invented, .30-30's and .30-40's not ex- 

 cepted. I am going to prove to every 

 small-bore crank, and M. P. Dunham in 



particular, that, for killing power and good 

 safe work on big game, the old .45-70 will 

 outdo them all. The little old pop-and-spit 

 fizzle may be all right for an old woman, or 

 a sick tenderfoot, but for me and other first- 

 class hunters it won't do. 



Last year I was on my annual Bruin 

 round up, and ran on to an old sow, a 2- 

 year-old, and 2 yearlings, all grizzlies. Af- 

 ter looking them over with the glasses, I 

 saw their hides were worthless, and con- 

 cluded to let them go. Then, remembering 

 that my old woman and kids were itching 

 for a bait of bear paws, I commenced to 

 bang away, and, with 3 well-directed shots, 

 had the whole family of bears down. Then 

 I cut off their paws, and went home. How 

 is that for a .45-70? That is what I killed 

 them with, and shot them all through the 

 head, too. 



Last winter I stood in my dooryard, and 

 killed 9 cow elk with 10 shots.* The tenth 

 one was shot through the paunch, and the 

 Lord only knows how many legs I broke in 

 the bunch. All this with the old .45-70. My 

 neighbor, Sleek, didn't do nearly so well 

 with his .30-30 smokeless. I don't think he 

 killed 50 elk all the year.t To brag up those 

 little guns is simply preposterous. Every 

 tenderfoot buys one, of course. Dealers tell 

 him they shoot a long way, and that's the 

 reason he wants them, so he can shoot into 

 the bunch of elk as far as he can see them. 

 But, when it comes to meat in camp, take 

 down the old .45-70, and push them over 

 every time. 



Talking about game hogs reminds me 

 that a judge and a game warden came to my 

 ranch the other day. They are always com- 

 ing around when I don't want to see them. 

 I broke them up by taking them to an old 

 beaver pond to spear suckers, while the old 

 woman hid the dynamite and fuse. When 

 they got hard at it, they accidentally speared 

 a 4-pound trout, and made excuses, of 

 course, but I kept them at it until they 

 speared 25 big trout. The old woman 

 cooked them up brown for supper. The 

 judge ate 13, and the game warden 11. What 

 do you think of those 2 fellows for fish 

 hogs? t 



Any time you hear a fellow saying any- 

 thing about the small-bore guns, you send 

 him to old Grizzly Pete, of Buffalo river, 

 and he will labor with him. Pete. 



ANSWERS TO SEVERAL OF THEM. 

 In answer to O. R. Hartel's query I 

 would say the rifle for him is a Stevens 

 " Favourite " bicycle rifle, 25 calibre, rim- 

 fire, with 20 inch barrel. I have a Stevens 

 " Favourite " with 22 inch barrel for this 

 cartridge, and it is perfection for small 



* Why did you kill so many? Were you shooting for 

 a place on the swine herd ? 



+ If he had killed one fifth of that number he would 

 deserve a place in the hog pen. 



$ They wear the bristles, all right. — Editor. 



