
GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 227 
be answered in the affirmative. In fact, a 
distinct form of the shell for use in repeat- 
ing guns is now on the market. 
I tested the appliance at all ranges be- 
tween Io and 100 yards, inclusive, firing 500 
32-caliber short smokeless cartridges in it. 
Its work may be described as being about 
equal to what a good revolver would do. 
At 75 yards I was able to get about one- 
third of its shots into a 12-inch circle, and 
by using an improvised detachable rear 
sight V-shaped, it did a little better. At 
shorter ranges its accuracy was, of course, 
greater in proportion. That its accuracy is 
no greater than this is due to the fact that 
it does not fit the gun barrel perfectly, and 
if it did fit any tighter than it does it 
would play havoc with the extractor. A 
surprising thing about the work of this shell 
is the penetration secured with the above 
named cartridge. At 75 yards the bullets 
penetrated an inch of oak, which is cer- 
tainly good for so short a piece of barrel 
as it offers. I never had any trouble with 
kelholing. For an occasional shot at short 
ranges this shell would prove satisfactory, 
but I warn Mr. Earll that in its use there is 
a sidewise blast of gas at its muzzle when 
the bullet leaves it, that is destructive to the ~ 
inside of the barrel in which it is used. 
P. B. Jenkins, Kansas City, Mo. 

AN EXPERT ON DRIFT. 
In November RECREATION are some re- 
marks on drift which are slightly in error. 
Until a few years ago it was believed by 
expert artillerists that the axis of a pro- 
jectile remained throughout its flight par- 
allel to its original position in the gun; 
and this would indeed be the case but for 
the resistance of the air. 
When sea coast mortars were first pro- 
posed to throw elongated projectiles just 
as rifled guns do, the objection was made 
that such projectiles would fall on their 
bases instead of on their points. Experi- 
ment has shown, however, that such is not 
the case. We have many 12-inch mortars 
now mounted along our coast, which throw 
projectiles 3 to 4 feet long. These may be 
plainly seen during flight and they invari- 
ably fly like arrows, point first, changing 
direction by as much as 90 degrees from 
their original position to that of impact. 
But while the old theory has fallen to the 
ground the theory of drift is still undis- 
puted and is borne out by actual results. 
Projectiles having right hand rotation gen-, 
erally drift to the right. I say generally 
because it has been found that projectiles 
thrown with extreme velocity sometimes 
drift to the left, although they rotate in a 
right hand direction. It is easier to theo- 
rize regarding this phenomenon than to 
satisfactorily explain it, The sights of the 
army rifle are experimentally adjusted for 
drift. 
R. R. Raymond, 
Capt. Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., 
Fort Riley, Kans. 
SMALL SHOT. 
C. B. H.’s comment in October Recrea- 
TION concerning pump guns is amusing. 
I have used a pump gun many years, have 
hunted with others using pump guns, and 
I know that it takes a man of exceptional 
skill and quickness to kill 3 birds out 
of a flushed covey. Mr. H. evidently be- 
lieves a man with a pump gun can get in 5 
or 6 shots at a covey, a feat I have never 
seen accomplished. Birds are crippled by 
poor marksmanship at short range as well 
as at long range. In a scattered covey, 
occasionally 2 birds will rise in quick suc- 
cession, and if, a few moments later, a 
third bird should rise, the man with a re- 
peater is ready to shoot it, thus having a 
distinct advantage over the man with a 
double barrel, whose gun was emptied in 
shooting at the first 2. The principal ad- 
vantage, therefore, of the pump gun is in 
being ready to shoot at 3 or more birds 
which unexpectedly rise at quick intervals 
in a scattered covey. 
C. W. Murphy, Salem, Ind. 


It seems to me that in November REcreE- 
ATION a great injustice is done to Robin 
Hood powder. I have used shells loaded 
by that company for 3 years and find they 
compare favorably with other smokeless 
ammunition. C. H. Bentley hints that the 
powder should be called semi-smokeless. 
Anybody who has ever used Peters so-called 
semi-smokeless ammunition would look on 
this as an insult to the Robin Hood Com- 
pany. H. W. B. complains of the shells 
splitting and of the heads blowing off. Prob- 
ably his gun has an expanded chamber. 
Another man says that the crimp is bulged, 
so as to make the shell stick in the chamber. 
This may have been true of a small lot of 
shells, but why state it as a general fact? 
I have had the same trouble with Winches- 
ter ammunition, but I do not make the 
charge that all Winchester shells have a de- 
fective crimp. 
H. S. Hill, Washington, D. C. 

I am a regular reader of your valuable 
magazine and note with interest the dif- 
ferent opinions on guns and ammunition. 
I own a 30-30 Savage and succeeded in 
getting a large buck last fall in the upper 
peninsula of Michigan. There were 32 
hunters camped within a radius of 2 acres 
where we were, and most of them had 
30-30 rifles of different makes. I saw many 
deer killed by them. In almost every case 
the hunter had no trouble in finding his 
