GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



Anybody can keep on shooting ail day, but it takes a gentleman to quit when he gets enough 



THEY DEFEND THE SAVAGE. 



New York City. 

 Editor Recreation : 



I do not agree with M. L. Parshall, of 

 Chesaning, Mich., as to what he says about 

 the Savage rifle. I will give you the ex- 

 perience of the last 2 notches on my Sav- 

 age stock. My guide and I were going 

 up Fish river, Me., in a canoe, and as we 

 came around a bend we saw 2 deer, about 

 75 yards from the boat. I fired, and the 

 puide remarked that I had missed, as he 

 had seen the splash of the bullet in the 

 water on the opposite side of the deer. 

 The deer turned and ran into the woods. 

 We paddled up to where the deer had en- 

 tered the woods and got out. At the 

 place where the deer was standing when 

 shot was a lot of the contents of his en- 

 trails scattered on the ground. Neither 

 of us knew at that time whether my bullet 

 or the deer had dropped the contents. 

 About 10 feet farther we found blood 

 and commenced to trail. At 40 feet we 

 found a part, if not the entire, entrails 

 hanging on a bush 2 or 3 feet from the 

 ground, and at 75 yards we found the deer, 

 lying down to die. The deer was about 9 

 months or a year old. The spots were 

 just going off. The bullet, a soft nose, 

 went through the belly without touching a 

 bone, making a hole that let the entrails 

 out, and in which I could have put my 

 wrist. The bullet went clear through, 

 striking the water, which the guide had 

 seen. 



Second notch : I shot a doe. The ball 

 struck in her hind quarters about 3 or 4 

 inches from the top of her back. She 

 never moved from her tracks. On inspec- 

 tion, I found the ball had struck the back 

 bone, shot from the side, and instead of 

 the bullet "flying into bits," as Mr. Parshall 

 says, the bone flew into bits, and the bullet 

 kept going until it went through and out on 

 the other side. 



The flesh of both of the deer was lac- 

 erated 4 and 5 inches around the bullet 

 hole, like jelly. The last deer was old 

 and tough. In fact, we were unable to 

 eat the meat on account of its being so 

 tough. Of course I did not know that or 

 I should not have shot her. In camp one 

 of the guides wanted to know what I had 

 done to the meat. The guide who was 

 with me was not a believer in the small 

 bore until he saw these 2 deer shot. When 

 we came out with the first deer, knowing 

 then that we had struck it, we examined 

 the contents scattered on the ground, and 

 satisfied ourselves that the bullet had 



knocked them out. There was an experi- 

 ence in both flesh and bone. 



Terry Smith. 



Ironwood, Mich. 

 Editor Recreation : 



Recreation for October contains an arti- 

 cle entitled "A Fault of the Savage Rifle," 

 written by M. L. Parshall, of Chesaning, 

 Mich. My experience with the Savage, as 

 well as with other rifles, has been con- 

 siderable, and I have met with the best of 

 results with the Savage. Judging from 

 what Mr. Parshall says, I suggest that per- 

 haps the cartridge used was at fault, rather 

 than the gun. He admits the velocity and 

 trajectory of the Savage are all that can 

 be desired, but adds that its penetrating 

 power will not even compare with that of 

 a 38-40. 



Standing at a distance of no yards, I 

 have shot both soft nose and wire wound 

 bullets through a 6-inch, dry maple plank, 

 with the Savage. Like Mr. Parshall, I 

 have seen a deer shot squarely in the 

 shoulder; but instead of the bullet flatten- 

 ing against the bone, it came out on the 

 opposite side, leaving a hole which meas- 

 ured fully 7 inches across. In another in- 

 stance, the bullet entered the back of the 

 head and came out between the eyes, bring- 

 ing most of the front of the head with it. 

 I have also seen a deer shot in the back, 

 just over the hips. The bullet followed 

 the back bone a sufficient distance to 

 splinter 7 or 8 vertebrae ; drove some of the 

 pieces of bone through the hide, and came 

 out on the top of the shoulder. Soft nose 

 bullets were used in the instances given. 



Experience has taught me that where 

 there is sufficient velocity, penetration will 

 depend on the weight of the bullet. If the 

 bullet flies to pieces on coming in contact 

 with a hard substance, the fault is with 

 the carriage rather than with the rifle. 

 I have used both Winchester and U. M. C. 

 cartridges in the Savage with good results. 

 The wire wound bullets manufactured at 

 the National Projectile Works are good, 

 and leave the gun clean ; but should they 

 rub one against another when being car- 

 ried, the silk on the wire frays out, dust 

 accumulates in it, and the bullet becomes 

 too large for the chamber. I have found 

 this so in using them with both the Savage 

 and the Winchester. 



In reloading Savage cartridges. I have 

 obtained excellent results with the Laflin 

 & Rand Rifle Smokeless, and think it the 

 best smokeless powder imd'v 



I have a Savage, a 30-30 Winchester and 

 a Winchester shot gun; but the Savage is 



49 



