THE REFERENDUM 
powder to use, and how hard to ram the load 
home. 
Guns, like women, must be managed and 
mastered through careful study and association 
to know their little eccentricities and failings, 
and know also their faithfulness and reliability. 
Whenever I am asked for my opinion re- 
garding a good, trustworthy shotgun, I mention 
the Winchester repeater. I have one of the 
first slide-action repeaters made, not the very 
first, as its number is 443, but I bought it soon 
after they were put on sale, now almost twelve 
years ago. I have tried it on many kinds of 
game, and in many kinds of weather. I have 
fired as many cartridges out of it as most of the 
amateur sportsmen would who do not belong 
to clubs. Thus far I have been to the expense 
. of replacing one wornout extractor, costing, I 
think, twenty-five cents. Not a very large 
repair item, is it? 
At first I could do nothing with it. The 
stock was so straight I invariably shot high. 
By faithful perseverance, I am more than 
satisfied. It does not always shoot the same, 
but I lay that to the ammunition. The weather 
must have something to do with it also. I have 
made thirty-five and forty-yard killings of 
ducks with it, while using No. 9 shot. I have 
crippled ducks at that distance with larger shot; 
which does not necessarily prove my statement 
above that as much is at stake in the ammuni- 
tion as in the guns, other conditions being equal. 
In choosing a gun I would advise the 
beginner to try a good repeater and a good 
double-barrel. Some men will not use a 
double-barrel, while others will use nothing 
else. There are several standard makes of 
either kind. When the party decides on either 
a single- ora double-barrel, he should get one 
that fits, that comes up readily and is well 
balanced. The gun that fits you may not fit 
one in ten; when you buy shoes you buy them 
to fit you, whether Brother Tom wears them 
or not. So get a good fit when you choose your 
gun. 
Then, by testing different loads of different 
powders, decide on one or two loads that give 
the best pattern and penetration. Having 
settled these points, stick to your gun. Practice, 
practice, practice. No one can even play a 
piano without practice. Perseverance will 
accomplish wonders. Shooting is an art, and 
he who would succeed must study and practice. 
Then, when you have mastered the ins and 
outs of your gun, that make will be the only 
kind for you. 
I believe that the man behind the gun has 
as much as anything to do with the way that 
particular gun behaves. The man behind the 
un has been vividly exemplified in our war 
187 
with Spain, and between Russia and Japan. 
The efficiency of the successful man behind the 
gun was gained by practice. Spain and Russia 
had their men behind their guns, but they were 
not well disciplined in the manipulating of 
them. 
Therefore, let me suggest again—to become 
successful in shooting—practice, and the gun 
you use will be the ideal gun for you. 
L. M. PAcKaRD. 
Los Angeles, Cal. 

No Use for a Small Bore 
In regard to the letter from W. F. S., I will 
say that he might just as well tell me that an 
800-pound horse can pull the same load as one 
weighing 1,600 pounds as to say that a 16- 
gauge gun will kill a duck as far as a 10-gauge 
will. What would be the use of the United 
States Government going to the expense of 
building and mounting large, clumsy guns that 
shoot tons of ammunition when a common 
squirrel rifle would sink a gunboat just as well ? 
The more shot in a charge the more chances. 
I can take a No. 10, properly bored, and killa 
duck which he would not think of shooting at 
with his little popgun. 
Let W. F. S. take his little sixteen and select 
an object about 150 yards distant from him on 
the water, hold right on the object and shoot, 
and he will see his shot hit the water about two- 
thirds short. Then take a No. to with a proper 
load and he will see the shot splash all round the 
target and even some distance beyond. 
Do not understand me to say that a No. 10 
will kill a duck at 150 yards. I am merely 
illustrating the superiority with which a No. 10 
throws its charge. 
The velocity of a charge of shot from a to- 
gauge is very many feet greater than from a 
12 or a 16-gauge. 
W. F.S. says after all the big guns get done 
shooting then he gets his birds. When I hunted 
with a 1o-gauge I used to kill ducks a great deal 
farther than I do now with a 12-gauge and I 
have got as good a 12-gauge as ever burned 
powder—a Baker hammerless, with 30-inch 
barrels—yet I would trade it for an Ithaca r1o- 
gauge, 30-inch barrel. That shows how much 
I think of a 10-gauge. J. M. Kine. 
Lockwood, Mo. 
[Greener gives some figures that may be of 
interest to our correspondent, as they are the 
result of numerous experiments: 
A 16-bore gun, loaded with 2} drams of 
_ black powder and 1 ounce No. 6 English shot 
(270 pellets to the ounce), gave an average 
velocity of 780 feet. A 12-bore with 3} drams 
