‘\ 
90 RECREATION 
cent. lead would probably give better results, 
but in out-of-the-way parts of the world anti- 
mony is hard to obtain, and very expensive if 
shipped by express or freight in small quantities. 
With a gas check, almost any old mixture 
would do, and a great variety of loads could be 
used. 
Some time ago I obtained, through a dealer, 
500 metal-jacketed, soft-point factory bullets, 
but they are not listed in the Winchester cata- 
logue now, and ‘I don’t think they are obtain- 
able. 
Can any ‘“‘Recreator” tell me what kind of 
powder is used in the .405 factory cartridge? 
I asked the Winchester people, but they replied 
that the cartridges were not reloadable. The 
cartridge contains 58 grains of a powder 
similar in grain: to the Laflin & Rand W. A., 
but of a different color. I have tried up to 58 
grains of W. A., which is all the shell will hold, 
without pressure, and with this load have to 
set the rear sight, a Lyman receiver, .o5 of an 
inch higher than with the factory cartridge. 
Some of the shells have been loaded fifteen 
times with high-power loads and not a single 
one has split or swelled. I consider the .405 
the best of all the high-power calibres. The 
300-grain bullet will knock a deer down and 
out at very long range, if you hit him, whether 
it expands or not, while for dangerous game it 
is far more powerful than any other repeater 
made. 
With the mid-range loads mentioned, which 
are very suitable for practice, the recoil is less 
than with the .38-55 black powder cartridge, 
and when shooting game I never notice the 
recoil from the high-power load. The straight 
shell is particularly adapted to reloading. The 
Ideal people have my name down for the mould, 
and I think fifteen or twenty more names 
would induce them to bring it out. ‘.405.” 
San Pedro de Ocampo, Mexico. 

Many Men—Many Minds 
In the April number of REcREATION I read 
an article about the ‘improved six-shooter,” 
written by Mr. Walter Kelly. Now, Mr. Kelly 
seems to know ‘“‘a little’? about revolvers— 
and no doubt he does; but he has to learn one 
thing—be up-to-date. The .45 Colt S. A. was 
a good gun in its days, when it was first put 
on the market, but, like many other things we 
once admired, it has had its time. 
‘ I have owned two Colts S. A., one .45 and 
the other .32-20 calibre. The .45 was completely 
worn out after 3,000 shots; the .32-20 did not 
last 2,000 rounds. The barrels of both guns 
were as good as ever, but the actions were 
worn out. What we want to-day is a gun well 
* 
made, with the old Colt grip, and we have it 
in the .38 S. & W. special. 
With this gun I have made 57 out of a 
possible 60, on the standard American target, 
50 yards, using 3 grains Laflin & Rand’s 
Bullseye, and a bullet tempered 16 to x. I 
have also tried this gun “against time,” at 15 
yards. I fired 6 shots in 6 5-10 seconds, and I 
managed to keep them all inside’a 6-inch 
circle. I have often tried this with a Colt 
S. A. but never did as well. I have lived in the 
West myself, but I never saw any wonderful 
performances with a gun without target sights. 
The real gun crank is the one who expects to 
hit and make every shot count. The bad man 
of the West uses a gun without sights and no 
trigger, and, of course, wastes a lot of ammuni- 
tion; but how often does he hit? If this escapes 
the waste basket you will hear from me again, 
and the .38 special for mine. 
New York City. 
Soft-point with Black Powder 
Kindly inform me if I am at liberty to ask 
any questions through RECREATION pertaining 
to guns and ammunition. If so kindly tell me 
what the results would be of a soft-point and 
metal-patch bullet in a .25-20 Winchester 
repeater, with black powder. 
CuHaAs. NELSON. - 
B.44- Cc: 
Springwater, N. Y. 
RECREATION is at all times willing to answer 
any reasonable questions as to weapons and 
loads. 
As far as the barrel goes, the use of a bullet 
with a whole or partial jacket would not cause 
trouble, except that the fouling would cause 
great friction and tend to wear out the barrel 
before its time. The bullet with a full metal 
patch would have more penetration than one 
of plain lead. The behavior of the soft point 
bullet would depend upon the charge of black 
powder. With sufficient powder it would ex- 
pand on impact.—ED. 

The Ideal Rifle 
For a long time I have been scanning the 
gun and ammunition letters for some article 
about the .25-35 Savage. This looks to me 
to be about as near the ideal rifle for smal 
game and target practice as any on the mar- 
ket, provided it will do the following: 
1st. How would paper-patched bullets work 
with a full charge of black powder? 
2d. How much high-power smokeless would 
they stand before leaving the rifling? 
3d. How often can shells be reloaded ? 
4th. What kind of accuracy and about what ~ 
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