37* 



RECREATION. 



The man who can afford to buy but one 

 gun and expects to shoot any kind of big 

 game should get a rifle of either 33 or 35-40 

 caliber. The former is a particularly handy 

 gun for hunting, being light. Made in take 

 down style, with a 24 inch barrel, it can be 

 readily packed. It is almost as powerful 

 as the 30-40 or .303 British and the fact of 

 its*being a larger caliber is a decided ad- 

 vantage in its favor. 



James C. Stirk, M. D., Oakland, Cal. 



SMOKELESS IN BLACK POWDER GUN. 



I note B. L. Dingley's inquiry in regard to 

 using the smokeless shot gun powders in 

 an old black powder gun. I have been do- 

 ing just this thing the last 6 months and in 

 an experiment charge have used 28 grains 

 Laflin & Rand's Infallible and if£ ounces 

 chilled shot with no ill effects. My gun is 

 a Parker hammer gun. I have used it 10 

 years, so I judge it was made for black pow- 

 der. It has ordinary stub twist barrels and 

 was a $60 grade, I think. The manufac- 

 turers could give us the facts about the 

 strength of the black powder guns if they 

 would, but, of course, it is to their interest 

 to create a feeling of doubt when this ques- 

 tion came up. In reloading 32-20 rifle shells 

 with a dense powder to be used in a repeat- 

 ing gun instead of indenting the brass shell 

 to prevent the bullet from dropping back 

 on the powder I have enlarged my Ideal 

 bullet mould so that when the bullet is 

 pressed home by the reloading tool the brass 

 shell is crimped into the lead. This pre- 

 vents the bullet from dropping back. 



Dr. C. D. Crooks, Philadelphia, Pa. 



May Recreation contains an inquiry 

 from B. L. Dingley, Meadville, Pa., as to 

 the safety of using nitro powder in a lami- 

 nated steel gun made 10 or 12 years ago. I 

 have a Westley Richards, side lever gun 

 that is over 20 years old, and am using 

 heavy charges of nitro powder in it. With 

 U. M. C. Arrow and Nitro Club, and Win- 

 chester Leader shells it shoots to perfection 

 ard shows no sign of becoming loose. Bar- 

 rels are laminated steel. 



In my opinion the 32 Special is the best 

 all purpose rifle on the market. The black 

 powder load is all right for deer and small- 

 er game, while the high power cartridge 

 should be ideal for big game. 



W. S. Mitchell, Easby, N. D. 



Will say to B. L. Dingley that if the bar- 

 re!.! of his gun are smooth and bright in- 

 side, he can use reasonable loads of nitro 

 powder with safety. 



Double hammer guns of to-day, costing 

 $12 to $20 are, if taken care of, as safe 

 with nitro powder as more expensive ones. 

 I have a double machine made gun, bought 

 in '98, in which I have shot hundreds of 



black powder loads. The past 2 years I 

 have used nitro only, and the gun is as 

 tight and bright as when it left the shop. 

 Do not use nitro powder in a dirty gun 

 unless you are tired of life. 



W. C. H., Augusta, Mich. 



B. L. Dingley, Meadville, Pa., does not 

 say whether his gun is hammer or hammer- 

 less. If this is a hammer gun and is not 

 fitted with nitro firing pins, I advise him . 

 not to use nitro powder. Gas escapes 

 back of the shell and passes out around the 

 firing pin and might injure the eyes. 



W. E. Brown, Seneca Falls, N. Y. 



TO LOAD BUCKSHOT. 



Will Mr. Lang or some other reader of 

 Recreation tell how to load buck shot for 

 deer. My gun is an Ithaca, 10 guage, 

 choked. What size shot should be used ? 

 Would chilled shot be better than soft and 

 is there any danger of bulging the gun at 

 the muzzle? 



For long range duck shooting with this 

 gun will DuPont's Choke Bore or Eagle 

 duck powder give better results than Du- 

 Pont nitro or factory loads of black pow- 

 der? 



J. B. Scott, Benton Harbor, Mich. 



ANSWER. 



The following instructions, reprinted from 

 a former issue of Recreation will doubtless 

 give the information you wish : 



First, select buckshot of a size that will 

 chamber at the muzzle of the gun. This 

 will depend on the choke and the gauge. 

 If shot about 3-10 of an inch in diameter 

 are used, 4 will chamber in a 10 gauge and 

 3 in a 12 gauge gun. Three layers are 

 enough for a load. This makes a 10 gauge 

 load contain 12, and a 12 gauge load 9 shot, 

 respectively. For distances under 60 yards 

 good results may be obtained by loading the 

 shot in layers packed in sawdust, to make 

 them stay in place while passing through 

 the barrel. Each layer should be packed 

 separately and carefully. A card wad should 

 be placed on top and the shell crimped as 

 usual. 



For a 10 gauge take a short piece of 12 

 gauge paper shell -and put a card wad in 

 one end to form a cup, or case. Then load 

 the buck shot in this as described above and 

 place this case in the cartridge so that case 

 and all will be discharged from the gun. If 

 the case be made-up with a wad placed over 

 all, in the cartridge, it will generally fly 

 like a ball up to 100 yards, and will bore a 

 7/i inch hole through the target. Some- 

 times one or 2 shot will escape and be 

 found a few inches from the large hole. 



To make the shot scatter more put no 

 wad in the top of the case, but put a card 

 wad in the cartridge over the case. By this 



