374 



RECREA 770 JV. 



have had an opportunity to use your old 

 .40-90 Sharp, and secure the noble head 

 that now adorns your office. I have yet to 

 see the hunter or trapper who has used a 

 .30 calibre smokeless rifle, and condemned 

 it. They always want to sell their old rifle, 

 and get one of the .30's. 



I use only the full jacket bullets. A .30- 

 30 full jacket bullet has 4 times the killing 

 power of a .50 calibre lead bullet with 

 black powder. I use my guns on big 

 game, and will pay my little $28 for a .30-30 

 Winchester, take-down rifle, rather than 

 accept any black-powder, lead-bullet rifle 

 as a gift. I have tried all of them, from 

 .22 to .58 calibre. 



Another «good point in the smokeless 

 guns and ammunition is their light weight, 

 and freedom from excessive recoil and 

 noise. 



Mr. Hambledon, bring on your grizzlies. 

 I'll use a .30, and promise to get them all 

 without going up a tree; and I admit I did 

 go up a tree when I used a black powder 

 gun. Mack W. Miner. 



SOME GOOD THINGS. 



Ouray, Col. 



Editor Recreation: No one who appre- 

 ciates his gun can afford to be without the 

 Ideal Handbook. I should probably have 

 stumbled along for years before gaining all 

 the tricks of the trade if I had not had one. 



Their No. 3 tool is a beauty and truly 

 the rifle crank's very own. I was skeptical 

 as to its worth but since using it would not 

 be without it. Before using it I lost 20 out 

 of 60 shells from splitting and blowing off 

 the muzzles in firing 300 shots. Since 

 using the No. 3 tool I have not lost a shell 

 from the above causes and I have fired some 

 of my shells fully 40 times. 



I also find greater accuracy by using size, 

 for it insures the bullet's entering the rifle 

 straight. On account of the difference in the 

 temper of shells I find it necessary to size 

 some shells farther back than others. 



I use U. M. C. shells and think them 

 superior to any other make. I use a Marlin 

 '93 model, .30-30, half magazine. For full 

 charge I use Dupont's. 30 calibre powder and 

 the 170 grain soft nose bullet. I have also 

 used 27 grains Dupont's .30 calibre and the 

 150 grain No. 3086 bullet 1-10. It gives a 

 little flatter curve than the above and by 

 casting split point is very destructive as well 

 as accurate and clean. No leading and no 

 pumping. 



For low pressure loads I use 13^ grains 

 Dupont's No. 1 smokeless and the No. 

 3086 150 grain bullet 1-10 split point. This 

 is a very accurate load and good for deer up 

 to 300 yards. 



For short range I use 10 grains Dupont's 

 No. 1 and the 100 grain No. 3086 bullet 1-10. 

 This is an accurate load up to 200 yards, 

 little noise, no smoke, no recoil, clean and 

 inexpensive for practice work and small 



game. I have placed 10 consecutive shots 

 in an inch square at 50 yards many times. 

 I use no wadding in any of the above loads, 

 simply placing the powder loose in the 

 shell. One beauty about all the above loads 

 is the fact that the sights remain the same 

 for their respective distances., making them 

 especially valuable loads in hunting. 



I have experimented some in priming with 

 black powder and have gotten very good 

 results, but I find it tedious loading. With 

 No. 2 U. P. measure it would certainly be 

 much easier. 



I work all my cartridges through my mag- 

 azine without crimping, and have never had 

 one recede into the shell. 



I have used several different bullets, and 

 find the No. 3086 best suited to my purposes. 

 Of course this bullet will not work' through 

 the Winchester magazine if seated full depth. 



I have tried many powders, black, smoke- 

 less and semi smokeless, but Dupont's leads 

 them all. J. M. Henderson.. 



SMALL BORE LOADS. 



New Haven, Conn. 



Editor Recreation: Being a small bore 

 rifle crank I take great interest in the letters 

 on the subject in Recreation. For a num- 

 ber of years I used a Marlin .22 rim fire 

 repeater, with long rifle cartridges. This 

 was accurate in calm weather up to 200 yards 

 and sufficiently powerful to kill game up to 

 and including deer; provided they were hit 

 in a vital part. On one occasion I killed a 

 full grown hog over 200 yards away. I 

 found, however, this cartridge was not to be 

 depended on in squally or windy weather, 

 and that a great deal of game managed to 

 get away even when badly hit by it. This 

 was particularly the case with woodchucks. 



I next used a Winchester single shot .22 

 c. f. This was accurate and a good killer, 

 especially when loaded with smokeless pow- 

 der. Yet the ball would drift in a wind, and 

 woodchucks still managed to get down their 

 holes unless shot through heart or brain. 



Last year I had my Winchester rebored 

 by Stevens, to the .25-25 c. f., and I now 

 think I have the perfection of small bore 

 rifles. For ranges up to 100 yards I use 15 

 grains (black powder measure) King's semi 

 smokeless F. F. G. and a 67 grain ball. For 

 longer range or windy weather I use 24 

 grains powder and an 86 grain ball. Either 

 of these loads is extremely accurate, and 

 9 times out of 10 will kill woodchucks stone 

 dead. In several instances, however, I have 

 hit these- tough little fellows with the 86 

 grain ball and had them, run 30 or 40 yards. 

 On one occasion a woodchuck I had hit 

 in the head ran 50 feet and crawled over a 

 stone wall before dying. I found on exam- 

 ination the bullet had entered the cheek and 

 passing upward had torn off the whole top 

 of the skull, leaving the brain exposed and 

 one eye hanging out of the socket. Another 

 one was hit in the belly and, although I 



