GUNS AND AMMUNITION 



375 



found several feet of his intestines outside 

 the hole, he managed to eseapc. 



Partly out of humanity and partly to lose 

 fewer woodchucks I tried mushroom and 

 explosive bullets. I find the latter partic- 

 ularly good. For these I use the 75 grain 

 hollow pointed ball, and fill cavity with ex- 

 plosive composed of one part sulphur flour 

 and 2 parts chlorate of potash. A chuck hit 

 with this bullet will never get away. 



A. H. Verrill. 



THEY LIKE THE .30-40. 



Recreation's department of Guns and 

 Ammunition appealed forcibly to us when, 

 in the summer of '97, we were planning our 

 first trip to Maine in quest of deer. After 

 arguments innumerable and careful perusal 

 of the many articles written on this subject 

 we decided to use the .30-40 Winchester. 

 On the 10th of November we started on our 

 long anticipated trip- to Maine, a jolly quar- 

 tet, 2 of us from Wilkesbarre and the other 

 2 typical Pennsylvania Dutchmen. 



Three of the 4 were green, never having 

 pulled trigger on anything larger than a 

 rabbit or woodchuck; but one, the " May- 

 or " of Wilkesbarre, was an experienced 

 hunter, it being his 3d trip to Maine, besides 

 a deer hunt in the Northwest. He was 

 armed with a .44 Winchester and had a 

 notion that our " bean-poppers " were only 

 good for chucks and squirrels. He numbers 

 among his trophies of former hunts, a 

 moose, a caribou, and 6 deer heads, besides 

 any number of fox skins and smaller ani- 

 mals; so his opinion carried not a little 

 weight. He had ample opportunity to 

 change his mind during our stay in Maine. 



Our scene of action lay Northward of 

 Moosehead lake, 40 miles from the railroad 

 and 30 miles from Ox Bow plantation. So 

 Camp Wilkesbarre, on beautiful Munsun- 

 gun, was thoroughly isolated from civiliza- 

 tion. Joined to this was the genial host 

 and guide, old Commodore Keating, with 

 his 3 stalwart sons, and you have a combi- 

 nation hard to beat. 



On taking account of stock of the work 

 of the 3 .30-40's we found we had 6 deer and 

 one moose. Two of the deer were shot in 

 the head, their skulls being literally pulver- 

 ized, and they dropped dead in their tracks. 

 Two were shot through the body, one 

 through shoulder, and one through the neck. 

 The latter ran about 500 yards and was found 

 dead with every drop of blood pumped out 

 of him. The .30-40 did everything claimed 

 for it. H. E. C, Wilkesbarre, Pa. 



A DOUBTING THOMAS. 



Some of the notes in Recreation lead me 

 to believe that Mr. Munchausen was not 

 much of a liar after all. An erring brother 

 in California told us he killed 15 to 20 geese 

 at a shot, at 150 yards. Another brother 

 in Texas writes of killing jack rabbits at 

 97 yards, and of getting a killing pattern 



on a goose at 127 yards with No. 2 shot. 

 This reminds me of a man in Minnesota, 

 who often told me " on honor," that with 

 his old hammer Parker he could kill a chick- 

 en, every shot, at 165 yards. I offered him 

 $100 for his old gun if he could even hit a 

 chicken at 165 yards, once in 25 shots. He 

 still owns the gun. When our friend C. H. 

 Morrill wrote that story about 51 bass in 97 

 minutes, I knew at once it must be true: 

 First, because I know Charlie quite well, and 

 second, because he said their average was 

 524 pounds. A St. Paul fishing club has 

 offered a prize to anyone bringing in a 6 

 pound bass. 



John H. Vernon, Le Mars, la. 



A PLEA FOR THE SINGLE-SHOT RIFLE. 



The magazine gun was a good enough 

 arm in days when game was plentiful. Then 

 men did not care how many wounded ani- 

 mals escaped from them to die a lingering 

 death, being sure, in any case, of getting all 

 the game they wanted. When using a gun 

 with which he can fire a dozen shots in as 

 many seconds, a man is apt to be reckless 

 in stalking game. He shoots hurriedly and 

 takes big chances, relying more on the car- 

 tridges in the magazine than on the one he is 

 firing. Therefore he wounds more game 

 than he kills and misses more than he hits. 

 The black powder magazine gun was bad 

 enough, and the smokeless powder arms, 

 because of their long range, are worse. 

 When an animal is over 300 yards away not 

 more than one man in 100 can hit it where 

 he wants to. So I think the single shot 

 is the proper gun to use nowadays. With 

 it fewer animals would be killed, and more 

 secured. Its use would discourage careless 

 shooting and prevent much useless slaugh- 

 ter. Albert Collins, Jackson's Hole, Wyo. 



SMALL SHOT. 



The Stevens is one of the most accu- 

 rate rifles made. It will do excellent shoot- 

 ing up to 200 yards. I have the Beach com- 

 bination front sight and midrange Vernier 

 peep sight on my Stevens rifle. This is an 

 excellent combination. I have Lyman's 

 patent ivory front sight and combination 

 rear sight on my .38-40 Winchester Model 

 '92 repeater. I prefer these to any other 

 sights I have used. I also have an Ithaca 

 hammerless, 16 gauge, y]/ 2 pounds. 



C. L. Andrus, Belvidere, 111. 



We have organized a rifle club, and called 

 it Recreation Rifle Club, in honor of your 

 valuable magazine. 



The officers elected are : President, T. J. 

 Buchanan ; vice-president, Herbert O. 

 Bridge ; secretary and treasurer, Amos 

 Adams ; game warden, Carl Edgington. 



Thomas J. Buchanan, Huntington, Ind. 



I should like to know if the German or 

 Belgian hare will increase if liberated in the 



