336 
barreled and single-barreled rifles have 
given place to the repeater in one of its 
many forms. The military rifle is usually 
of bolt action, but for sporting purposes the 
consensus of expert opinion is overwhelm- 
ingly in favor of the lever action. 
Twenty years ago one met many good 
wing shots afield with a 10-bore; to-day 
the weight of public sentiment is against 
such ponderous pieces, and no sportsman 
who values the good opinions of the fra- 
ternity carries anything bigger than a 
12-bore when out for upland game. In 
the marsh it is different ; a 10-bore will do 
undeniably better work with large shot 
than the smaller caliber, and is, therefore, 
the proper weapon; for wild fowl require 
hard hitting, and it is not the part of 
mercy to send a lot of wounded birds 
adrift to become the prey of the smaller 
vermin and predacious hawks and owls. 
For a general purpose gun the weight 
need not exceed seven and a-half pounds 
and may be as light as seven pounds; 
the right barrel should be cylinder bored 
and the left full choke. Most modern guns 
are hammerless; the hammer guns have 
gone like black powder to that limbo which 
already contains the harquebus and the 
flintlock. ‘The hammerless gun is an im- 
provement upon the hammer gun in every 
style of shooting, but perhaps more espe- 
cially so in boat work, many accidents 
having happened through the hammers of 
the older guns becoming mixed up with 
the gunwale or the oar handle and then 
slipping off, so as to fall upon the striker 
with sufficient force to explode the car- 
tridge. 
How we could ever have endured the 
noise, recoil and filth of black powder 
is one of the mysteries unfathomable. 
Yet, but a few years ago, princes, presi- 
dents and potentates banged away with the 
old black mixture, and dreamed not of 
anything better. Now, we have the choice 
of half a dozen powders that are far and 
away ahead of the best black that was ever 
put into a barrel. I care not which of the 
RECREATION 
best bulk smokeless powders I use, it is 
six of one and half a dozen of the other; 
atid I am very sure, if I hold straight and 
the bird is within range, that the powder 
will not play me false. Dense powders, 
however, I do not care for, nor do I see 
their use. Concentrated explosives are 
more dangerous to load, as a slight mistake 
in the charge means more than with bulk 
powders, and then you require a special 
high-base shell—which to my mind is a 
disadvantage. (Now please, advocates of 
dense powders, do not jump upon me for 
having thus freely expressed my opinion. 
Remember that it is but the voice of one 
man, and I know full well that an alarming 
array of silver cups, medals and large 
amounts of specie have been won by the 
small army of men who shoot nothing but 
dense powders.) 
The “best revolver” has been so thor- 
oughly discussed in RECREATION during 
the past year that little need be said. In 
few places may the revolver be looked 
upon as a necessity, and where it is so 
the practical man has long ago found out 
just what he needs for quick and successful 
homicide, and is little likely to be swayed 
by what he sees in print—if he ever does 
see anything there, for most-frontiersmen 
are not literary in their tastes. If you are 
going into camp in Maine or Canada you 
will want a good pocket knife much more 
urgently than a revolver ; if, on the other 
hand, you expect to prospect among the 
Yaquis of old Mexico, nothing but the old 
fashioned and thoroughly trustworthy .45 
S. A., with a five and a-half-inch barrel, 
should, in my opinion, be relied upon. 
To use an Hibernianism: it never gets 
out of order, and when it does it will 
shoot nearly as well and just as viciously. 
If you should deem the proper use for a 
revolver the decapitating of overtame 
grouse, or the breaking of bottles that have 
fulfilled their missions, then by all means 
choose a target revolver, to shoot either 
the .32 or .38 cartridges ; only, perhaps 
a single shot pistol would do even better. 
(To be continued.) 

