296 



RECREATION. 



has 4 locking lugs on the breech bolt. I do 

 not think that charge would have injured a 

 Mauser, although I understand the 220- ' 

 grain would increase the breech pressure. 

 In 1898, in a series of experiments at 

 Frankford Arsenal, with a 7 mm. Mauser 

 rifle and German ammunition loaded with 

 Troisdorf powder, a breech pressure of 

 over 60,000 pounds a square inch was de- 

 veloped in the powder chamber, the veloc- 

 ity being about 2,300 feet a second. Du 

 Pont .30-Caliber powder gave the same 

 velocity and a pressure of 44,000 pounds. 

 The sergeant says the rimless shell is to 

 to be adopted for the new rifle. This is 

 essential for heavy charges of smokeless 

 powder. I have fired hundreds of 7 mm. 

 Mauser shells and never knew one to burst 

 in the middle, leaving a part in the cham- 

 ber. The second time I fired a new Sav- 

 age rifle the shell broke in the middle, part 

 of it remaining in the chamber, rendering 

 the gun useless for the time being. This 

 is not peculiar to the Savage, but is char- 

 acteristic of any rifle using rim headed 

 cartridges, loaded with high pressure pow- 

 der. A theory of mine is that the cartridge 

 is held by the rim and unless the shoulder 

 of the shell fits the shoulder of the cham- 

 ber snugly, the strain is so great that the 

 shell is pulled apart. With the rimless 

 shell the breech bolt presses firmly against 

 the base of the shell and forces it against 

 the shoulder of the chamber, so that 

 stretching is prevented. I have, however, 

 known these shells to give out at the muz-' 

 zle. The 7 mm. cartridge is my favorite. 

 Out of 26 small bore rifles in use, in only 2 

 does the total weight of cartridge exceed 

 that of the 7 mm. cartridge, the Martini- 

 Metford, 287 grains, and the 8 mm. Mann- 

 licher, 286 V2 grains. The bullets of these 

 rifles weigh about 225 grains and 7 mm. 

 175 grains, a difference of 50 grains 

 in the bullets and only 5 and 4^ respec- 

 tively in the whole weight of cartridge. As 

 the difference is largely in the powder 

 charge, it can readily be seen where the 7 

 mm. rifle gets its tremendous velocity and 

 penetration ; and, when soft point bullets 

 are used, its shocking and killing power. 



L. H. Higgins, 

 Master S. S. Admiral Sampson. 



THE SAVAGE ABOVE ALL OTHERS. 



Reading Recreation regularly and being 

 somewhat of a gun crank, I take great in- 

 terest in the guns and ammunition depart- 

 ment. Like many others, I have gained 

 good information from that department, 

 but in it occasionally see things to which 

 the majority of fair-minded sportsmen 

 must take exception. W. A. Cone's article, 

 in March Recreation, "Jammed the Sav- 



age," especially provokes me. The point 

 in his case seems possible but improbable 

 and highly incredible. Have handled a 

 great many shells of the bottle-neck va- 

 riety, and as the body of the shell tapers 

 from the head toward the bullet and the 

 bullet itself is of a yielding nature, I doubt 

 whether the cartridge could not be extract- 

 ed more easily than jammed, even if it 

 were possibly larger than the chamber in 

 the barrel. 



Moreover, the shells used by Cone were 

 probably drawn up with the regular set of 

 dies, and it being impossible for any great 

 variation to exist in the size of the finished 

 shells, I am tempted to regard his expe- 

 rience as caused by circumstances which 

 he has failed to state properly. 



Never yet has it come to my knowledge 

 that a bottle-neck shell, whether manufac- 

 tured by the Savage, Winchester, U. M. C. 

 or any other reputable concern, jammed 

 unreasonably in the chamber for which it 

 was intended. On one occasion, in display- 

 ing the rapid action of my Savage .303, I 

 jammed a Winchester .30-30 quite hard in 

 the chamber, but pushed it out easily in a 

 few minutes with a wooden cleaning rod 

 without visibly upsetting the soft lead 

 bullet. 



The Winchester is a good and efficient 

 rifle ; so are others ; but the Savage is above 

 them and has no points in common with 

 them. We would not compare a shot gun 

 with a Maxim-Nordenfeldt machine gun, 

 or in a lesser sense compare a hammerless 

 safety or bolt-action rifle like the Savage, 

 Mannlicher, Mauser, Lee-Remington or 

 Krag-Jorgensen with the antiquated ham- 

 mer variety, of which the Winchester is a 

 prominent type. A number of guns are 

 good enough ; the part of the combination 

 lacking quality usually is the man behind 

 the gun. I use a Savage .303 and I have 

 no fault to find with it. 



I was also interested in Mr. Cone's ac- 

 count of his hunting trip to. Nova Scotia 

 after moose. Passing the question of ne- 

 cessity or advisability in locating 38 miles 

 from any settlement before trying his 

 new rifle for range, accuracy, etc., I ask 

 whether it is a custom among pilgrims to 

 that section to select such remoteness, and 

 if so, what about the trials and tribulations 

 in toting moose or deer 38 or 40 miles 

 through such country as Northern Maine 

 and adjoining provinces? 



J. D. Tymon, Salem, Mass. 



THEY LIKE ROBIN HOOD POWDER. 



In the gun and ammunition department 



of April Recreation, I note 2 inquiries 



which interest me. One is from A. W. 



Crampton, St. Albans, Vt., the other from 



