THE. REFERENDUM 
ft. from the muzzle, with soft-point bullet, 
10 boards and with the full point the 
penetration is 18 boards. It has, or rather 
the energy of the bullet in foot pounds at 
50 ft. is, 782 Ibs.” 
I think that this rifle shows good shoot- 
ing qualities, and produces enough shock 
for anything up to a black bear. I do not 
think that the bullet should rebound when 
shot at an oak plank, for even the .22 
automatic will not do that. I think that 
the bouncing back of this bullet was an 
accident in this case, and may have been 
due to some defect in the loading of the 
cartridge and would, therefore, ask Mr. 
Burkett to give the .35 auto-loader an- 
other trial before condemning it. 
Now, as to auto-loaders in general, I 
can see nothing wrong with their shoot- 
ing qualities. I have owned, at different 
times, and shot the .35 auto-loading rifle, 
the .22 automatic, the Browning shotgun, 
the .32, .38 and .45 automatic Colt’s pistols, 
besides three Lugers, two of the .30 
caliber and one 9 m-m. The Browning 
(now the Remington) shotgun with 24 
grains Laflin & Rand powder will do good 
work and shoots well. All of the auto- 
matic, or auto-loading, Colt’s mentioned 
shoot as well as one could wish. My .45 
A. C. P. will penetrate a green 6x6 
cypress post; I think that enough to please 
anyone. As to the Luger, it is also a 
powerful small arm, having a muzzle 
velocity of 1,150 ft. and a maximum range 
of 2,000 yards—how is that for an auto- 
loader? 
As to the auto-loader losing chamber 
pressure by the breech block having to be 
thrown back, I would say that this is, in 
a measure, true, but with our modern 
smokeless powder it amounts to very little. 
I certainly do not mean to say that the 
.35 auto-loader is powerful enough for all 
uses, nor do I mean to say that it has the 
penetration of a .30-40, but I do say that it 
is a very handy gun for deer and black 
bear, plenty powerful enough for both. 
My .30-40 box magazine rifle will, with 
a full point, penetrate a three-foot gum 
tree, as it has often done. We, however, 
do not hunt gum trees, but game, and, 
therefore, use a soft point, losing greatly 
in penetration, but gaining in shock to a 
vast extent. Were I to hunt elephants, 
and desire to penetrate them end to end, 
I would choose a .30-40 or the .30 U. S. 
G. M. ’03 Rimless and not a .35 auto- 
loader. I should like Mr. Burkett to give 
591 
the rifle another trial and let us hear from 
him again. Joun P. Boaent. 
Opelousas, La. 



Foot Pounds and Foot Seconds 
I have taken great interest in the re- 
volver correspondence which has_ been 
going on for some time in your Referen- 
dum columns and thought that the inclosed 
might interest some of your readers. 
I have used the .450 cartridge loaded 
with both ordinary and man-stopping bul- 
lets, and find decidedly less recoil when 
using M. S. bullets. 
Will you kindly let me know what is 
the lightest powder load I could use in a 
38 S. & W. and .45 Colt’s and still use 
the 145 and 255 grain bullets? 
Will you kindly explain the meaning of 
foot pounds and foot seconds and give me 
any further enlightenment on the subject, 
as I have often wondered what they 
meant? Gro. M. CaTHCaRT. 
Glasgow, Scotland. 
[Better shooting may be had in the .38 
S. & W. Special with 20 or 21 grains of 
powder than with less, though you may, of 
course, use any reduced load you deem 
desirable. The .45 Colt’s is loaded with 
either 28 or 38 grains of powder and for 
target work the lighter load has some ad- 
vantage. 
Foot pounds means a force equal to that 
exerted by a weight of as many pounds 
falling one foot. Foot seconds are 
equivalent to the number of feet traversed 
in one second, at the velocity of the pro- 
jectile at the instant specified—Epb. ] 
~ iy i 5 
, 1 , ix 
vs 7p 10 \ Vath Wt. AA hn ee i ee ’ 
Grand for ’Chucks 
I note that P. Walter, of Iver Grove, 
Minn., asks in July RECREATION about the 
“ideal rifle,’ mentioning the .25-35 Savage. 
I have never had a Savage of this caliber, 


