;a6 



RECREA TION. 



bone, went through one lung and out be- 

 hind his shoulder, leaving a hole I could 

 put my finger in. I shot one grouse and 

 almost cut its neck off. I also shot some 

 quails with the .22 and it knocked them over 

 every time. The meat of the breast is 

 blackened some if the bullet goes through 

 it. I use U. M. C. and Winchester. Shoot 

 short cartridges, as I cannot get the long 

 rifle here. I used one box of flat-pointed 

 bullet cartridges. They are better to hunt 

 with than the conical bullets, as they tear a 

 larger hole. Can long rifle cartridges be 

 had, with flat-pointed balls? 



Howard Bratten, Kishacoquilla, Pa. 



TRYING A .30-40. 



Last December a young farmer called at 

 Ware Bros.' gun store, and asked to see a 

 .30-40 box magazine Winchester. On be- 

 ing shown the gun, he inquired how it was 

 loaded. Mr. Ware reached down a box of 

 cartridges, and proceeded to load the gun, 

 after which the cartridges were carefully re- 

 moved, and replaced in the box. Another 

 customer came in, and Ware stepped to one 

 side to wait on him, leaving the fellow with 

 the .30-40 to pursue his investigations alone. 



When he again turned to the sale of the 

 gun, the fellow was still monkeying with 

 the magazine. The muzzle was pointed at 

 the gun-dealer, and, from habitual caution, 

 though not dreaming of any real danger, 

 he stepped to one side. 



With hands in his pockets, he slowly 

 moved out of direct range. The country- 

 man slammed the lever, the gun was dis- 

 charged, and a bullet passed between 

 Ware's arm and his body. Striking the 

 edge of a shelf, 14 inches wide, it passed 

 through this, and through a 6-inch parti- 

 tion into a grocery store. There it opened 

 8 cans of peas, scattering the contents all 

 oyer the store; went through 16 inches of 

 paper sacks, and buried itself in the counter 

 just in front of a clerk. The farmer didn't 

 know it was loaded. Mr. Ware says it's all 

 right about the penetration of the .30-40, if 

 the bullets don't come his way. 



W. H. Wright, Spokane, Wash. 



TWO WINCHESTERS. 



Last fall I had my choice of gun to take 

 into the woods, and my selection was a 

 Winchester, .38-72. It was made with 

 round barrel, shotgun butt, pistol grip, and 

 box magazine, and is the handsomest gun I 

 aver saw. My hunting partner selected a 

 Winchester, .30-40, made in the same way, 

 and we sallied forth into the wilds of Maine, 

 as usual, to have our deer hunt. 



My partner, Mr. C. E. Prescott, of Hud- 

 son, Mass., had read stories of wonderful 

 performances by the .30-40, and decided it 

 was the gun to own. He killed 2 buck 

 deer, distant about 100 yards. His first shot 

 was a standing one, and, to note the effect 



of the bullet, he fired at the shoulder. The 

 ball took an upward course, breaking the 

 shoulder, also every rib on one side, crossed 

 oyer, broke the back-bone, and came out 

 high up on the flank, making a hole the 

 size of a silver dollar. The deer turned, 

 ran about 75 yards, and dropped. When 

 we got to him he was dead. The second 

 shot, Avhich killed deer No. 2, passed 

 through the neck, making a hole the size of 

 a 25-cent piece, and killing the buck in his 

 tracks. We both used soft nose, metal- 

 jacket bullets, and smokeless powder. 



Urban Bowers, Hudson, Mass. 



PETERS' AMMUNITION. 

 " When you see a good thing push it 

 along." That's what everyone will do who 

 shoots a .22 calibre rifle or pistol and uses 

 the new smokeless .22 calibre cartridge man- 

 ufactured by the Peters Cartridge Co. 

 Since I returned we have been giving 

 them an every day test in our Stevens pock- 

 et rifle. We find the penetration at 50 

 yards one-third greater than black powder 

 cartridges of other makes. But what pleases 

 us most is the entire absence of dirt. 

 After firing. 25 shots the barrel is fouled less 

 than from 2 shots with black powder car- 

 tridges. We should use them on that ac- 

 count alone, even if penetration was the 

 same. We will take a 6 months' supply 

 with us for our summer's prospecting trip 

 in the mountains. My partner, Lyons, is 

 using the Peters shot shells in his Reming- 

 ton and says they shoot as well as any other 

 shells and are the cleanest he ever used, 

 leaving no dirt caked in the barrel. I hope 

 they will soon include .25 and .30 calibre 

 cartridges in their list, for what they now 

 make are strictly all right. 



M. W. Miner, Enterprise, Idaho. 



THE SOFT NOSED IS BEST, 



Editor Recreation: John J. Adams, in 

 a recent number of Recreation, wrote as 

 if he thought the high velocity and great 

 penetration of the .30 calibre would not 

 prove effective on big game; for the ani- 

 mal would not get the full force of the 

 powder, the bullet passing through. I 

 think he has in mind the full metal patched 

 bullet. If so he has a good argument. In 

 using the soft point bullets this will not 

 occur, except, perhaps, in rare instances. 

 These bullets will expand in every instance 

 on striking flesh, and 9 times out of 10 will 

 stop in game, such as bear, elk and moose. 

 When bone is struck, the .30-30, full metal 

 patch, will invariably expand, but the .30- 

 40, I think, would not as it has a patch of 

 steel. 



The soft point bullets have not the pene- 

 tration of the full metal patch, but a kill- 

 ing power several times greater. I think 

 the shock imparted to an animal from one 

 of these soft point bullets, driven by the 

 high pressure smokeless powder, would 



