218 



RECREATION. 



25-35 as he can with either a 45-70 or a 45- 

 90. Moreover, I will bet 2 to one that I can 

 shoot deeper into any substance with a 25- 

 35, 2 5-36, 30-30 or 30-40 than he can with 

 any 45. It is strange how much trouble the 

 black powder fossils take to convince them- 

 selves that their old cannon will outshoot 

 the smokeless powder rifles. All hunters 

 know that when using soft lead the swifter 

 the bullet travels after passing the 1,200 

 feet a second mark the less its penetration 

 in wood. They also know that the gun 

 that lets the bullet stop in the animal gives 

 a greater shock than the one that drives the 

 ball clear through. "Ivory Bead" is wrong 

 in saying that no smokeless bullet will 

 mushroom at 1,000 yards. A 25-35 soft 

 point, fired into wood at that distance, will 

 expand to 3 or 4 times its original size. 

 Money talks, and we will finish this little 

 argument at our shooting match. 



M. P. Dunham, Ovando, Mont. 



WINCHESTER NEVER BALKS. 

 Having used rifles continually for the 

 past 12 years I venture to give my experi- 

 ence. I have used the Winchester 32-20, 

 38-55> 40-82, 44-40, 45-60, 45-70, 45-75 and 

 45-90; Colts 40-82 and 22 long; Marlin 

 38-55, 40-82 and 45-70; Remington, 45-70; 

 Sharps 45-70, 40-90 and 45-1 10; Springfield 

 45-70; Stevens 22 long rifle. I have never 

 owned a Marlin that worked perfectly. 

 With Colt's Lightning my experience has 

 been the same. I have yet to see the first 

 balk in a Winchester. I have used them 

 from Maine to California and Florida, and 

 my choice for large game is the 38-55 

 mushroom ball, smokeless Winchester. I 

 like the 22 caliber Stevens Expert No. 1 

 for small game, such as rabbits, grouse, 

 ducks, etc., much better than any other 

 small bore, on account of the weight and 

 hard shooting. I do not like the 30-30, .303 

 or 30-40. They are more powerful than 

 necessary, for with the soft nose 38-55 I 

 can stop any animal the others will, as the 

 majority of kills are made on the short 

 side of 200 yards. 



W. H. Long, Walden, Colo. 



SOME MAUSERS SATISFACTORY. 



I should like to hear from someone who 

 knows about the shooting qualities, accu- 

 racy, balance and general fitness of Lee 

 straight pull rifle, 6 m-m., as a game gun. 



Will say to Harry D. Frogg that a Mau- 

 ser in good condition is as good shooting a 

 gun as any man could ask for. A second- 

 hand Mauser, such as are sold in this 

 country, may be an uncertain quantity as 

 to accuracy. 



Lou McFarland, of Coalingo, has a gun 

 that pleases him greatly, but he must not 

 think because he once dynamited a deer 

 with it that he can do so always. The 



next time his friend's Savoy may prove the 

 better gun. 



Three seasons ago, while hunting on the 

 divide West of Joaquin Rocks, I shot a buck 

 with a Winchester single shot 32-40 not 

 less than 200 yards distant. The shot broke 

 a hind leg below the knee, entered the 

 center of belly, passed through heart, and 

 lodged in bone of neck, but I am never 

 going to do the same thing again. 



Dave O'Daugherty, Huron, Cal. 



SMALL SHOT. 

 K. C. G., in January Recreation says he 

 is about to buy a belt revolver, but is un- 

 able to decide on the caliber, and thinks a 

 45 too smashing for grouse and the like. I 

 think so, too. I advise him to get a 

 6 shooter, chambered for 10 gauge shells. 

 Then he could use shot for birds ; they 

 think it more sportsmanlike. For moose or 

 Indians he could use armor-piercing pro- 

 jectiles or lyddite shells. He asks about 

 using balls in a shot gun, and about in- 

 creasing the shooting power of the 45-70. 

 Yes, K. C. G., you can use balls in a shot 

 gun ; in fact, that is what a shot gun is 

 built for. Always use bullets in a shot gun 

 and shot in a rifle. Grease the bullets and 

 wrap them in a gunny sack or an old flannel 

 shirt. With 5 to 10 drams of good powder 

 they will kill any grizzly that will let you 

 put the gun in his ear. Load your 45-70 

 shells with about 4 fingers of nitro-glycer- 

 ine and ram hard. The result will surprise 

 you. W. K. Boyd, La Junta, Cal. 



I have been using a 16 gauge hammerless 

 Syracuse gun, cheapest grade, for 2 years, 

 and it has been a source of great pleasure 

 to me. It has never failed to score when 

 held right. I am not even an average 

 trap shooter, but have taken 20 out of 25 

 Blue Rocks at the same distance as 12 

 gauge. At the trap I use 2^/4. nitro and 

 1 ounce yY 2 . This is a special load. In the 

 field at all kinds of game I use 3 drams 

 black powder and % ounce of No. 1 shot. 

 Have dropped a good many grouse, wood- 

 cock, chickens, rabbits, etc., at 40 to 55 

 yards. The ordinary factory loaded shells 

 do not shoot well in the Syracuse 16. 

 There is too much recoil and too littl 

 penetration. I can not recommend my fiel 

 load to the pot hunter, but it anyone wants 

 good, clean sport and the satisfaction that 

 comes from skillfully handling a good re- 

 liable gun, let him use a Syracuse 16 with 

 my load. F. C. King, Marshall, Wis. 



A correspondent in March Recreation 

 asks how it is that .303 British cartridges 

 are sold in Canada at $1.50 per 100, when 

 they cost so much more in the States. 



The answer is this : The government 

 issues them to the rifle associations at a 



