GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



373 



either the full metal jacket, 160 grain bul- 

 let should be used, or (assuming the rifle 

 to be of the " take down " pattern) a bar- 

 rel for the .25-36-117 cartridge with soft 

 nose bullet be substituted. 



In reloading these shells with full 

 charges of black powder and lead bullets 

 care must be used not to make the charge 

 so excessive as to lead the barrel. The 

 rifling of barrels made for smokeless car- 

 tridges is of a sharp twist, but with the 

 metal jacketed bullets leading is avoided. 

 Careful experiment alone will determine 

 the limits of practice in this, but I believe 

 the figures above given are safe. Care 

 must be taken also, in reloading shells 

 with small charges of powder, to crimp 

 sufficiently to keep the bullets from work- 

 ing back into the shell. 



For convenience in making these various 

 sized bullets nothing is superior to the Per- 

 fection mould made by the Ideal Mfg. Co. 

 Their tools or those of the Winchester Co. 

 will be satisfactory if used according to di- 

 rections. Do not try to squeeze more pow- 

 der into a shell than it will hold without 

 crowding. If it is desired to use a hunting 

 rifle (repeater) for target work, get a special 

 loading tool without crimping shoulder, 

 simply seating the bullets " friction tight," 

 and use the gun as a single loader. This 

 will materially increase the accuracy of a 

 repeater for target work. 



_ Never use high power smokeless cart- 

 ridges in rifles not made of special steel to 

 withstand the severe strain of such powder. 



As to style of repeating rifle, the " take 

 down," pistol grip, with half or short mag- 

 azine, half octagon barrel, and shot gun 

 butt with rubber butt plate and fitted with 

 Lyman sights, is the handiest and best in 

 every way. Barrel not over 24 inches long, 

 preferably I should say not over 20, and 

 magazine carrying not more than 3 cart- 

 ridges. Weight not over 6]/ 2 pounds. Of 

 the various well-known makes I prefer the 

 , Marlin, on account of its simplicity, ease 

 of repair anywhere, and its solid top, side 

 ejecting receiver. In the matter of accurate 

 shooting, a choice is not so easy among 

 the strictly hunting rifles. Any of them 

 with proper care and ammunition will 

 shoot as well as any hunter will give them 

 a chance to do in ordinary service. As a 

 rule, when g?me is missed, it is the fault 

 of something else than the rifle. 



In the matter of accuracy as compared 

 with target rifles, few, if any, hunting rifles 

 can be depended on, either with factory 

 ammunition or reloaded crimped shells, to 

 keep 10 successive shots in less than an 8- 

 inch ring, at 200 yards. Few will do as 

 well, and any rifle that will come up to 

 this, using cartridges heavy enough for 

 big game, should be valued as a prize by 

 the lucky owner. 



Yet the .32-40 cartridge with 185 grain 

 bullet, fired from a rifle in which every- 



thing is sacrificed to the one item of ac- 

 curacy, will keep 10 successive shots within 

 a 4-inch ring easily. But the rifle with 

 which such close shooting can be regularly 

 done is not at all suited for a hunting arm 

 either in shape, weight, or ability to with- 

 stand rough usage. If from a mechanical 

 standpoint it were possible to fit a hunting 

 rifle with the accessories which enable the 

 target rifle to demonstrate the possibilities 

 of rifle shooting, it would be useless or 

 even a source of danger under the condi- 

 tions incident to hunting. 



Among hunting arms the .22 calibre rifles 

 using rim fire cartridges form a class by 

 themselves, and for certain work are par- 

 ticularly valuable weapons. They have 

 been too little appreciated, but of late they 

 are coming to the front as practicable fire- 

 arms. 



Having procured a rifle, test it until you 

 know exactly what may be expected of it, 

 and when in the field or woods use it with 

 discretion and care. Don't shoot at every 

 living thing you see. Shoot only at game, 

 and quit when you get enough. 



AN OLD HUNTER'S OPINION OF THE. 30. 

 Bear Valley, Idaho. 



Editor Recreation: Replying to M. P. 

 Dunham, in June Recreation, regarding 

 heart shots; I never but once knew an ani- 

 mal thus hit to drop on the spot. I shot 

 one big mule deer buck with a .50 calibre 

 Winchester express. The bullet entered 

 the point of his shoulder, and ranged back 

 through his heart. Both shoulder and 

 heart were literally hashed. He sank in 

 his tracks without a jump. The wound 

 much resembled that now made by my .30- 

 30 smokeless. 



Last summer I shot a sage hen with my 

 .22 target pistol. It flew over half a mile, 

 then dropped on a bald, rocky knoll, where 

 I found it. On dressing it I found the 

 bullet had passed clear through the bird, 

 and torn the upper half of its heart to 

 atoms. 



I remember once shooting at a flock of 

 prairie chicken, on the wing. They passed 

 on apparently unharmed, but half a mile 

 away one dropped on the snow. I followed, 

 and found it. I also found one No. 4 shot 

 had penetrated its heart. •. 



Shots in the neck at close range, or in 

 the shoulders at any range, are the ones 

 that get the meat without a chase. I never 

 would trust a heart shot to knock an ani- 

 mal down on the spot; though it may be 

 awfully killing with the dudes among the 

 sweet, dimpled, little dears in New York. 



I think Mr. Hambledon, of Pueblo, CoL, 

 needs " fixin'." It's plain he never used a 

 .30 on game. If the buffalo hunters had 

 been armed with the .30-30, or .30-40, 

 smokeless rifles, buffaloes would have been 

 extinct on the ranges 10 or 15 years soon- 

 er ; and you, Mr. Shields, never would 



