GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



Anybody can shoot all day, but a gentleman will quit when he gets enough. 



DEFENDS THE REPEATER. 

 I feel it my duty to answer Double Bar- 

 rel. I can not understand why so many 

 men think all others who do not think and 

 feel as they do in regard to any subject 

 are fools ; or, to say the least, are mis- 

 taken. Every man has a right to his opin- 

 ion, though frequently it is well to keep it 

 to himself. If Double Barrel thinks his 

 style of gun superior in every way to the 

 pump gun, well' and good. He writes as if 

 he did not exactly understand his subject, 

 and possibly he never used a pump gun. If 

 so, he is the first man, to my knowledge, 

 to speak evil of them. Mine is a Winches- 

 ter brush gun, 26-inch barrel, full choke, 

 and it is the best I ever shot, although I 

 have used most of the standard makes of 

 this country. It is not a first class bird 

 gun, as it shoots too close, but for ducks 

 and all around shooting it is good. A 

 score or more of game hogs in my county 

 all use double guns. Of course the gun 

 has nothing to do with making hogs of 

 them. Harm can come from any custom 

 or instrument used and made to promote 

 the comfort and welfare of man ; but how 

 they can or will be used depends on the 

 man. If Double Barrel thinks the pump 

 gun man can exterminate a covey of birds 

 when they rise, let him try it some day. 

 In using black powder I seldom get more 

 than 2 shots on the rise ; with smokeless, 

 3 or 4. I always pick my birds and never 

 fire into the covey. Frequently I have 

 killed 3 birds on the rise; once I got 4, 

 wounding one. If possible, I shoot at one 

 bird until it is dead or out of range. A 

 sportsman always lets his bird get at least 

 20 yards distant before firing. Then they 

 are soon out of range, and only with 

 smokeless powder is it possible to get more 

 than 2 shots. When Double Barrel says 

 we fire 5 to 6 times on the rise and kill 

 2-3 of our birds, it may sound easy, but 

 is impossible. 



As to the automatic gun, I do not see 

 how it could be of any value, for of what 

 use is it to fire without aiming? For in- 

 stance, fire at a flock of blackbirds, and 

 frequently one will get 2 or 3 birds. Had 

 1-10 of the shots fired in the civil war 

 taken effect, no men would have been left 

 on either side. 



Pump Gun, Dublin, Va. 



An article in Recreation, headed "Con- 

 demns the Repeating Shot Gun," is a good 

 story, but: the writer should have put in a 

 few facts. He is evidently a game hog and 

 is afraid someone will kill more birds than 



he does. If he will carefully investigate 

 he will find there are more game hogs 

 using double guns than repeaters. If 

 Double Barrel is in for game protection, 

 why does he condemn the gun which most 

 game hogs use and then go after the re- 

 peater? If the present laws can not be en- 

 forced, how can he expect to enforce a law 

 prohibiting the use of certain guns? Most 

 States have more laws now than they can 

 enforce properly. If a man wants to be a 

 hog he will be one, no matter what kind of 

 a gun he carries, or if a man wants to be 

 a sportsman he will be one, if he has a gun 

 that never stops shooting. 



Double Barrel says you can buy a good 

 gun from $16 to $25. True ; but, for close, 

 hard shooting they are not in it with a re- 

 peater, which is made to shoot hard and 

 close. A game hog wants something that 

 he can point at a flock of birds, pull the 

 trigger and get the whole bunch. That is 

 probably why most of the game hogs use 

 double barrels. A man with a repeater 

 does well if he gets 2 birds the first 2 shots, 

 and when he shoots the 3d time the birds 

 are out of reach. When a bird is hit by a 

 shot from a repeater it is your bird. A 

 repeater does not, as Double Barrel says, 

 make more wounded birds than could pos- 

 sibly be made with a double barrel. 



Last fall B. S. and I went for a duck 

 hunt. One rowed the boat until the other 

 got a shot at ducks and then we changed 

 places. During our trip of 2 days we killed 

 7 ducks. I killed one of his that would 

 have got away, as it was out of his reach. 

 Twice he brought down 2, one getting 

 away each time. I had none get away and 

 only brought down one at a time. 



Repeater, Vicksburg, Mich. 



ROBIN HOOD POWDER. 

 Answering A. W. Crampton, in April 

 Recreation, regarding Robin Hood smoke- 

 less : My experience with that powder has 

 not been altogether satisfactory. Have 

 used it 2 seasons, shooting Laflin & Rand 

 and Robin Hood alternately. Robin Hood 

 makes entirely too much smoke, especially 

 on a damp day. It should, in my estima- 

 tion, be called a semi-smokeless powder. 

 With a little wind on a clear day the smoke 

 is not so noticeable. I usually load my own 

 shells for duck shooting. Have used Robin 

 Hood in that way, also in factory load- 

 ed shells. The shell made by the Robin 

 Hood people is about as poor as any I have 

 ever seen, both as to quality and loading. 

 The brass base is of inferior quality and 



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