GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 
I am in the habit of reading RecrEATION 
from cover to cover. It is no disparage- 
ment to its other departments for me to say 
- that Guns and Ammunition always interests, 
frequently instructs, and sometimes amuses 
me. I have read a number of letters con- 
~ demning a certain rifle and a certain, or per- 
haps I should say uncertain, brand of am- 
munition. If what I have read and heard 
spoken is true—if half be true—you ought 
to be glad that these goods are not adver- 
tised in RecrEATION. You will pardon me 
if I say that you ought not under any cir- 
cumstances to publish advertisements of 
such inferior articles. Readers of REcREA- 
TION are, as a rule, gentlemen sportsmen. 
Should there be any who are not such your 
aim is to educate them up to that standard, 
and I contend that the advertisement of an 
article in RECREATION should be a guaran- 
tee of its honest worth and quality. 
I have never used either the rifle or the 
ammunition referred to and, therefore, am 
not qualified to pass judgment on them. 
It seems to me, however, that the with- 
drawal of their ad by the manufacturers 
was an admission of guilt. If they were 
the objects of criticism which was unfair 
and unjust, why did they not put up a 
defence ? 
I have been many years engaged in manu- 
facturing. We advertise in trade journals 
in common with our competitors, and com- 
petition is strong. If the style or quality 
of our goods is criticised do I pout and 
withdraw my advertisement? Not on your 
life! I defend my own, which is not only 
my right but my duty. 
This reminds me of the Winchester inci- 
dent as detailed in Recreation. At the 
close of your statement you inquire, “What 
do the readers of REcREATION think of such 
business methods?” Answering for myself, 
and speaking from an experience of more 
than 30 years, I never saw or heard of any- 
thing so silly from a business point of view. 
It was childishly foolish and petulant; no 
business about it. I am amazed at such 
conduct. I cannot comprehend it. 
How many people could have followed 
Dr. Conyngham’s suggestions that they 
“load their own shells”? Not one in a 1,000. 
Suppose some old time gunsmith should 
say, in print, “Don’t buy factory made rifles 
or shot guns.” I suppose the Winchester 
people would immediately go out of busi- 
ness. Such action would be in logical se- 
quence to the precedent they established 
when they withdrew their ad from REcRE- 
ATION. 
There is one thing, however, for which 
you should give the Winchester people 
credit. When Mr. Bennett wrote you that 
the printing of the objectionable 5 lines in 
Doctor Conyngham’s letter, would “work 
serious detriment to their business,” he 
299 
paid a magnificent tribute to RECREATION 
as an advertising medium. 
L. A. S., No. 3614, Scranton, Pa. 
HIGH POWER RIFLES FOR HUNTING. 
In the delightful stories of the woods by 
J. Fenimore Cooper, there is a world of 
information of value to anyone who will 
read between the lines. Nattie Bumpo, the 
scout and hunter, was a myth; but his fa- 
vorite rifle, “Killdeer,” stood for a type of 
excellence that had been acknowledged and 
adopted by men whose names are familiar 
and whose deeds are part of our country’s 
history. The crafty red man and the wild 
beasts gradually fell back before these pio- 
neer hunters, such as Kit Carson and Davy 
Crockett. 
In days gone by the settler carried his life 
in his hand. Examine one of these old 
pieces, for they are yet to be found in col- 
lections. Only recently one was exhibited 
in the store of a prominent merchant in this 
city, with bullet pouch, powder horn, charg- 
er and bullet mold. The barrel is 33 inches 
long, the bore about .40 caliber, the bullet 
spherical. This gun, which came from the 
West Virginia backwoods, had been in one 
family several generations, and is now in 
the hands of a gentleman here who is an 
enthusiast in protecting game. He says 
the accurate range of the weapon is about 
140 yards, and its penetration at 75 yards 
about 3 inches of dry pine. This gun was 
good enough years ago, and now, with no 
savages in the woods, and few dangerous 
animals, the hunter of to-day plunges into 
the forest to slam bang the lead all over 
the scenery with a murderous high power 
small bore repeating rifle. It will take 
years to abate this condition by law, but 
can not the sportsmen of to-day be brought 
to their senses before all the game has been 
killed? 
It is certainly time for the floodtide of 
common sense to set in and show him the 
error of his ways. Let us stop and think. 
There is not an animal in the woods East 
of the Mississippi river that at a distance of 
75 yards can not be killed with a 25 caliber 
rifle. Some may say 75 yards is a short 
distance. As to this I quote from “The 
Rifle and Hound in Ceylon,” by Sir Samuel 
Baker, a sportsman known the world over. 
He says: 
“T consider the man a good shot who can 
bag a deer, running, at 50 yards and stand- 
ing sat 80 yards. Not hit, mind you, but 
ag.” 
That is, kill; and this is indeed a con- 
servative statement. It may be truthfully 
said that there are many 22 caliber rim fire 
rifles extant which if properly held would 
conform to the standard of Sir Samuel. 
Let us reason together, fellow sportsmen, 
along the lines of Lord Bacon’s famous 

