THE REFERENDUM 
The fight is not so much on the repeater as a 
“slaughter gun” as it is against it being a low- 
priced high-grade gun. The manufacturers of 
the $50, $75 and $100 double-barreled guns no 
doubt are very anxious to see the repeater go, 
as they do not feel like cutting their prices to 
$20. 
I am a carpenter and have hunted game big 
and small for thirty years, and have never sold 
a bird nor an animal, and never had one spoil 
in my larder. I have had an extensive ex- 
perience trapping fur-bearing animals, and 
have noticed from careful study of all game 
birds that some of the so-called sportsmen of 
this country would do more for game protection 
if they would provide proper cover for shelter, 
brooding and mating, and do less shouting 
about stricter game laws and more antiquated 
firearms. L. E. BURKETT. 
Ellwood City, Pa. 

Not a Treasure 
I have a Col. Samuel Colt’s six-shot muzzle 
loading revolver. It was patented September 
10, 1850. Length of barrel is eight inches, and 
detachable. The gun is in good condition. 
Are these weapons very numerous? What 
value has it as a relic, and where might I get 
a good price forit? Was it ever a Government 
arm? When was an improvement over this 
arm first made? E. G. ARGRAVES. 
Muskogee, Ind. T. 
(The weapon is of very small value. Colonel 
Colt patented his revolver in 1835, so that your 
pistol is not one of the earliest by a good deal. 
The model you have was never adopted by the 
United States military authorities —ED.] 

Write to Liege, Belgium 
Can you give me the address of the Pieper 
Arms Co.? Also, do you know anything about 
the Pieper gun? What standard are they; are 
they a high-grade gun? If you can tell me 
anything about the gun and can give me the 
address I shall be thankful to you. 
J. W. SHANE. 
Toronto, Ohio. 
[The Pieper factory is one of the largest in 
Liége, Belgium. The guns vary in quality 
according to price. The better grades are 
strictly reliable, serviceable guns. We think if 
you will write as above, and mention REGCREA- 
TION, Messrs. Pieper will send you a catalogue, 
and refer you to their agents in the U.S.—Ep.] 

For a New Auto-Loader 
While the new auto-loading rifles put out by 
the Winchester ue are very pleasant little 
289 
weapons, for big game shooting something 
more powerful is demanded. I think a rifle 
less than the .30 U.S. caliber and yet more of 
a gun than the .30-30 would meet ‘‘a long-felt 
want.” 
Suppose we decide that it should have an 
energy of about 1,850-1,900 foot-pounds, with 
a fairly large cross section? We shall find that 
this will be given by a bullet of 300 grains, 
traveling at about 1,800 foot-seconds. This 
is shown by the formula: 
300 X (1,800)? 
2G. 
—=1,885 foot-pounds. 
So that the rifle we require could well be 
made .40 caliber—as a 300-grain bullet would 
shoot well out of such a bore, provided the 
pitch of the rifling and its depth suited the 
projectile. 
There might be a good demand for such a 
rifle, especially in the North and West. 
H.W. V. 
St. Paul, Minn. 

Has a Good Ithaca 
I notice frequent requests by readers of 
RECREATION for other readers to give their 
experiences with their favorite shotguns for this 
or that kind of shooting—one such being from 
“Black Duck,” in the January issue. 
“Black Duck’ desires a good gun for duck 
shooting; and I, for one, would strongly advise 
the selection of a 12-bore, hammerless Ithaca. 
I should suggest 30-inch barrels—both to be 
full-choke, or left full and right modified— 
gun to weigh a trifle under eight pounds. As to 
the grade of gun to buy, the No. 2, $60 list, is 
one of extraordinary value, and as regards 
shooting power, strength and durability, it is 
probably very nearly the equal of any shotgun 
of the same gauge in the world regardless of 
make or price. 
I have bought a good many guns of different 
sorts, four of them being Ithacas, and have 
always found it a good one to swear by and one 
you rarely swear at. I now use a $200 list, 12- 
gauge Ithaca, which I had made nearly six 
years ago, and it shoots fully as close and hard, 
so far as I can determine, as it ever did; in 
fact, it is about as good in every respect as when 
new. It has never failed to explode a good 
primer, and it is to be remembered that the 
springs of a hammerless are at full tension 
during all the time the gun is in use. 
This gun weighs but little over seven pounds, 
and light barrels have to be very hard and 
strong to hold the choke ae through 
years of hard usage. 
