
THE ART OF CAMPING 
shooting on this continent, though it may 
be just the thing for India. Their trajec- 
tory is high, their accuracy poor, their 
recoil heavy, and as to penetration, bullets 
therefrom have been known to barely 
lodge in the shoulder of a bull moose at 
seventy-five yards. 
When buying a rifle, ask yourself where 
you are to use it, and upon what probable 
game. If going to the Rockies and Alaska, 
nothing will beat, in my estimation, a 
405, .35 or the new .30 rimless U. S. G. 
For eastern Canada, the last named, the 
32 Special or the .33 Winchester is heavy 
enough for moose and caribou, and for 
deer nothing more powerful than the 
.30-30 is necessary. After twenty years’ 
experience I have decided that the .30-30 
is good enough for moose, and, personally, 
desire nothing better, but many think such 
a rifle too weak, and so for them a more 
powerful arm will be better, as you must 
have confidence in your rifle if you are 
to do good work with it. But had you seen 
the results of a steady shot with the .30-30, 
you would never doubt its power. I have 
seen a big bull moose drop to one shot at 
a range of eighty yards, which is quite a 
fair distance in the bush, and have never 
known one to get away through any fault 
of the rifle. 
As a result of a careful canvass of the 
trade I find that more rifles of the .38-55 
high velocity are sold in the backwoods 
districts of Maine and Canada _ than 
any ofhers. This is now the favorite arm 
of the up-to-date hunter, having taken 
the place of the old .44 Winchester, that 
is even yet beloved away back in the 
Hudson Bay regions. Next in demand 
is the .303 British or the .30-40; then 
follows the .30-30. Now, practical men 
are the best judges, and it is safe to follow 
their lead. When some great hunter tells 
you that he must have at least a .50-110 
or a .405 for moose and caribou, make up 
your mind that either his experience is 
limited or his shooting execrable ; I could 
introduce him to men who have been 
shooting all their lives, who having shot 
hundreds of moose and other big game 
would not be at the pains to tote around 
a heavy caliber for the value of a farm. 
Having decided upon your rifle, be very 
335 
sure to shoot it enough to become accus- 
tomed to it before trying a shot at big game. 
The sighting may not suit you, and the 
time to find this out is during preliminary 
practice. For young eyes, without any 
presbyopia or astigmatism, nothing can 
equal the open sight—a plain notched rear 
and elongated bead fore. All American 
rifles have the rear sight too near the eye, 
why I do not know, but it is undeniable 
that European makers understand these 
matters better. No rifle requires more than 
18 inches between sights, and the proper 
distance for the rear sight from the heel 
of the butt is 23 inches. If you realize this 
you will not rest content until you have 
had the rear sight of your rifle moved 
farther forward. This is most impera- 
tive in the case of the middle-aged sports- 
man, but it will be found of benefit even 
to the lad, whose powers of accommodation 
are as yet unimpaired. The great military 
nations of Europe discovered this long ago, 
and you will not find any of their service 
weapons with the rear sight jammed up 
close to the eye, as is the case with American 
factory rifles. 
The peep sight is, in many respects, 
an improvement on the open sight. It 
aids the shooting of those whose eyes are 
not as good as they might be, but it has 
one defect—in a poor light it may not be 
possible to use it, and as many shots are 
taken at big game when the light is very 
bad indeed, you should have a folding 
leaf sight on your rifle as well. This sight 
folds down flat when not in use and so per- 
mits an unobstructed use of the rear peep. 
A sling is occasionally useful, but it is in 
the way when you wish to use the lever 
rapidly, and on the whole is somewhat 
of a nuisance. 
So few men use the single shot that, 
practically, every American hunter is the 
owner of a repeater, yet in many respects 
the single shot is the better weapon. 
While not really much if at all more accu- 
rate than the repeater, the fact that it has 
no second shot in reserve tends to make 
a man cautious, so that the percentage of 
wild shots is naturally less ; then it is not 
so complicated, is better balanced, and 
cheaper. But, against this is the undeniable 
slowness of reloading, and both the double- 
