GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



THE RIFLE QUESTION. 



ANGUS BALLARD. 



As an admirer of the rifle as a hunting 

 arm and an implement of clean, healthful 

 sport, I have been pleased to note the 

 promise of greater interest in rifle practice 

 among readers of Recreation. Questions 

 have been asked as to what rifle a beginner 

 should buy. This is a hard question to 

 answer point blank, but it is possible to 

 give some general information which will 

 start the novice on the right track. With 

 the almost endless variety of models, am- 

 munition, and small paraphernalia neces- 

 sary in a rifle outfit, it is not strange that 

 anyone should be puzzled in selecting a 

 gun to meet his " all-around " wants. 



Too few, even among those who have 

 used rifles for years, know what is and 

 what is not possible with a given rifle and 

 ammunition. 



Rifles, from their system of construction 

 and relative degree of accuracy in shooting, 

 are divided primarily into 2 classes — hunt- 

 ing arms and target rifles. The same may 

 be said of ammunition, a fact too often 

 overlooked, and yet one which has an im- 

 portant bearing on the performance of a 

 rifle in any service. 



By " hunting arm " I mean a rifle suffi- 

 ciently accurate and powerful for game 

 killing, of a design calculated to withstand 

 the hard treatment incident to field or camp 

 use, and light enough for convenient pack- 

 ing and easy carrying on an all day's tramp. 



By " target rifle " I mean an arm spe- 

 cially designed to show the possibilities 

 of rifle shooting, one in which every re- 

 finement of construction tending to ex- 

 treme accuracy is incorporated, and in 

 which any feature which can impair ac- 

 curacy is, so far as possible, avoided. 



The 2 types, each carried to its highest 

 development, result in arms varying widely 

 from each other. I do not mean that a 

 hunting rifle may not consistently be used 

 for shooting at a mark, or that a target 

 rifle is unfit to kill game with, but father 

 that one must not expect of one type of 

 arm, work for which another is pre-emi- 

 nently adapted. 



As a rifle cannot be considered apart 

 from the matter of ammunition, it is im- 

 portant that one should understand the 

 qualities and capabilities of the various 

 cartridges on the market or which may be 

 made up to suit the convenience of the 

 shooter. Owing to the recent introduction 

 of smokeless powder, the whole matter of 

 ammunition for rifles is evidently in a state 

 of evolution, the end of which no one can 

 forecast. Rifle construction has come 

 nearer to perfection than has ammunition 



making, and future improvements in rifle 

 performance will come more from better de- 

 signed and properly prepared ammunition 

 than from any improvement in guns. 



There seems to be a demand for an all- 

 aronnd hunting rifle, one which, without 

 either excessive cost, danger, or inconven- 

 ience, can be used for everything from squir- 

 rels to deer, or even for bear and moose. 



Five years ago such an arm could not be 

 found, but, thanks to smokeless powders, 

 metal jacketed bullets, and the use of spe- 

 cially made steel for barrels and actions, 

 such rifles are to-day obtainable. 



The rifle which, to my mind, most nearly 

 fills this difficult and broad specification is 

 the Marlin .30-30, 1893 model, or .32-40, 

 1895 model, as now made of " special 

 smokeless " steel. 



By the use of properly reloaded car- 

 tridges, one has in either of these arms an 

 outfit suitable for any class of American 

 game. 



My choice of. these 2 rifles would be the 

 .32-40, with 165 grain lead and tin alloy 

 bullet, using 40 grains black powder or its 

 equivalent in strength of smokeless pow- 

 der. This cartridge is one of extreme ac- 

 curacy when properly loaded and can be 

 had at any gun store. It is amply large 

 for any game up to and including deer. 

 By reloading this shell with about 20 

 grains of black powder and a 115 grain bul- 

 let, a cheap and accurate cartridge for 

 shooting small game is obtained. This 

 load does well up to 100 or 125 yards. For 

 ranges beyond that the regular .32-40 load 

 should be used. For large and dangerous 

 game I recommend the .32-40, with soft 

 nose metal jacketed bullet and full charge 

 of high power smokeless powder, as now 

 furnished by the Marlin Co. I do not ad- 

 vise attempts to reload these high power 

 cartridges or even to make them up from 

 new shells and bullets, though the shells 

 may be reloaded with light charges. 



The Marlin .30-30 cartridges can be re- 

 loaded on about the same lines as the .32- 

 40. The factory cartridge for large game 

 carries 33 grains of Dupont's No. 2 smoke- 

 less powder and a 170 grain metal jacketed, 

 soft nose bullet. This shell, reloaded with 

 15 grains of black powder and a 75 grain 

 bullet, makes a good cartridge for squir- 

 rels or woodchucks at short range. Re- 

 loaded with 30 or 32 grains of black pow- 

 der (or equivalent in smokeless) and 150 

 grain lead and tin alloy bullet (10 to 1) 

 it is excellent for long range woodchuck 

 shooting and for the more easily killed 

 larger animals. 



For deer shooting the .30-30 smokeless 

 with 170 grain soft nose bullet is by many 

 regarded as too powerful. For this use 



37 2 



