guns and ammunition: 



299 



rifles, but prefer a plain wide V, or a bar, 

 made by cutting off the buckhorns on the 

 ordinary sight. I never saw a first-class 

 rifle shot use a Lyman sight. Many use 

 them who think themselves good shots be- 

 cause they can hit a small mark at known 

 distance ; but put the same persons in the 

 brush, where they have to snap-shoot, and 

 their per cent, is low. Again, those sights 

 do not fit all eyes, and this must be taken 

 into consideration. My hunting partner 

 cannot kill with them, but with open sights 

 is a good shot — can hit a deer 6 times out of 

 8 shots, running — yet if he got in one shot 

 with the Lyman he'd be lucky. 



Oscar Bike has gone to Alaska, where he 

 will join his old partner Jones. Bike was 

 the most gentlemanly guide I ever met. 

 I hope he will make a fortune. E. F. C. 



I have owned and used several different 

 makes of guns, and was once of the opin- 

 ion a big gun was the thing. While of 

 that opinion I bought a 10 bore, 32 inch, 

 10 pound, full choke, for an all-round gun. 

 Soon I found I was sadly mistaken. I 

 would invariably shoot behind my cross- 

 ing birds and would become completely 

 tired out during a day's hunt. It was all 

 right for deer, bear, and other big game, 

 but not an all round gun. 



My next and present arm is an English 

 gun, 6^4 pounds, 30 inch, 12 bore, left 

 barrel choked, right cylinder. It has a 

 better record of game killed, and fine 

 shooting qualities, than any gun in this 

 section. Besides smaller game, I killed a 

 large wild turkey gobbler, using my stand- 

 ard load, 3/4 _I /^> but this is sometimes 

 increased to 3^ drams of powder. 



C. L. Sperry, Sparta, Tenn. 



In a recent number of Recreation 

 there was a communication entitled " What 

 About the Drift? " in which the writer says 

 a bullet will fly to the right because the 

 rifling twists that way. I wish to take ex- 

 ception to this. If you only consider the 

 upper surface of the bullet in flight, it of 

 course is moving toward the right; but 

 if you consider the lower surface, that is 

 moving toward the left. Likewise the sur- 

 face on the left side of the bullet is moving 

 up and that on the right side down. If it 

 were possible for one of these motions to 

 take place, while the other 3 were at rest, 

 the tendency of the bullet would be to fly 

 in that direction; but as this is obviously 

 impossible, and the whole surface of the 

 bullet is moving at the same rate of speed, 

 the tendency is to fly in a perfectly straight 

 line. 



Le Wyk Wager, Philadelphia, Pa. 



scriber " want a gun entirely for small 

 game, I would suggest a Winchester 

 Brush gun, 26 inch barrel. I prefer a choke 

 bore, for I use my gun for duck shooting. 



I have several companions who have 

 pinned their faith to Winchester repeating 

 shotguns. I know some claim the man 

 who uses a repeater is a game hog, but 

 there is no reason for this. It is not the 

 gun that makes the game hog, but selfish- 

 ness. 



I hope we will see the day when men will 

 go out and kill just what they need and no 

 more. T. A. Harrison, Burnet, Tex. 



O. A. F., of Tioga, Pa., asks in June Rec- 

 reation which is the best and strongest of 

 the Winchester shotguns, the lever or the 

 sliding action? 



I have owned both models of guns, and I 

 can detect no difference in their shooting. 

 Either one is as good and close a shooter as 

 any man could wish for. I have used them 

 for hunting and for trap shooting, and know 

 they will do as good work as many of the 

 high priced guns. 



The sliding action has an advantage over 

 the lever in quickness of action, but requires 

 more care to keep in order. 



For all round purposes I think the sliding 

 action is as good a gun as one would care to 

 own, and with proper care should last for 

 years. B. F. Hurd, Star Prairie, Wis. 



Mr. Conyngham considers it one of the 

 demerits of the .30-40 that " they are a 

 nuisance to clean." He could dispose of 

 this objection by using a cord and plummet 

 " field cleaner " — a copy, on a smaller scale, 

 of those used for shotguns. 



I cannot agree with Mr. C. that the Sav- 

 age rifle " magazine is so placed as to make 

 it awkward to carry," and I think the lock 

 is well protected from water and dust. 



Will someone inform me, through Rec- 

 reation, what ammunition, not more ex- 

 pensive than the long rifle, .22 calibre car- 

 tridge, will give greater range and penetra- 

 tion, and what rifle is best to use same? 

 Can I get some reloadable cartridge in .22 

 or .25 calibre that will answer my purpose? 

 Q., Battle Creek, Mich. 



I have owned 3 Winchester shotguns, 

 one a lever action, one model 1893 and the 

 other a '97 model, all full choked. I do 

 not want anything better. Should " Sub- 



I am glad to again see the Baker adv. in 

 your columns. They publish a very inter- 

 esting paper, in which they tell all about 

 the make-up of the Baker gun, hammer and 

 hammerless. I have used a number of dif- 

 ferent guns, but honestly the Baker ham- 

 merless takes the cake. The Remington is 

 a good one, but it has no such safe appli- 

 ance as the Baker. Fulford shoots a Rem- 

 ington but he is down on safes on guns. 

 Some of the English guns have the double 

 safe, like the Baker. No loaded gun can 

 be safer than the Baker, and it is " Amer- 

 ican." 



Daniel T. Tuthill, Orient Point, N. Y. 



