GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



219 



low rate. One must belong to these organ- 

 izations to get them, and they are supposed 

 to be used only at the range. Moreover, 

 we are able to get only full mantled bul- 

 lets, which, even when notched with a file, 

 are almost useless for sporting purposes. 

 It is said to be against the law to use them 

 off the range in time of peace. Soft-nosed 

 cartridges must be bought at the stores, and 

 cost even more than in the United States. 

 Those of Canadian and English make are 

 loaded with cordite; the half mantled are 

 of American manufacture, and are, I be- 

 lieve, loaded with high grade smokeless. 

 Cordite is, of course, a smokeless powder. 

 F. A. Good, Woodstock, N. B. 



Would cutting 4 inches off the muzzle of 

 a double barrel, 10 gauge, modified choke 

 bore shot gun cause it to spread too much? 

 It is chiefly used in brush with No. 6 shot, 

 and occasionally No. 4 for ducks. It has 

 32-inch barrels. P. H. McKay, 



Spafford, N. Y. 



ANSWER. 



It is never safe to change a gun or rifle 

 from the model adopted by the maker. He 

 adapts the choke to the length of barrels, 

 gauge, etc., and chambers the gun for 

 certain kinds of work. If you should 

 cut off the muzzle of your gun it would not 

 only cause the shot to spread much more 

 than you would wish, but it would disturb 

 the plan as to the burning of the charge of 

 powder, range, penetration, etc. If the gun 

 is not satisfactory in its present shape you 

 would better sell it and buy a new one of 

 the proper length. — Editor. 



Before you choose a new gun examine 

 one of the higher grade, recently improved 

 Ithacas. With the new reinforced frame, 

 the new double-thick breech, the new stock 

 fastening and the improved skeleton rib the 

 Ithaca people have an arm not only beauti- 

 ful but with shooting and wearing qualities 

 beyond dispute. I have had experience 

 with guns of high and low degree, have 

 fired many thousand shots, and I honestly 

 believe no other sporting arm, English or 

 American, can surpass the highest grade 

 Ithaca. If you want a cheap arm that is a 

 perfect shooter, and desire it for rough and 

 tumble service only, get a low grade Ithaca. 

 If you want a perfect poem in steel and 

 wood, and one that can stand the rough 

 and tumble part, too, get a high grade 

 Ithaca. 



Wm. M. Byram, M.D., Richmond, Mo. 



I know of no shot gun that will outshoot 

 or outwear a Remington. There are 

 other good guns, but none I would rather 

 have at anything like the price. I have 

 owned 2 Remingtons of different styles, 

 have known many others, and can testify 



to their merits. Their joints are perfect 

 and they stay that way. Just now I have 

 a small 16-gauge, semi-hammerless Rem- 

 ington, which answers my every purpose. 

 It is a shooter of the first order, and ex- 

 ceedingly' handy when the hunter is in a 

 hurry to shoot. I use with it a Barger 

 sight, which has much improved my skill 

 in shooting. I love to hunt game and shoot 

 it in moderate quantities; when I feel like 

 burning more powder, I find some kind of 

 inanimate target. That affords practice 

 and keeps my conscience easy. 



C. A. Ross, Rock Falls, 111. 



In July Recreation I noticed a letter by 

 James Colton, Normal, 111., in which he 

 condemns Peters 22 cartridges. He says 

 they will not shoot far, and that they miss 

 fire once in 5 shots. 



I have a Stevens Favorite, with Lyman 

 front and rear sights, and shoot Peters 

 semi-smokeless cartridges altogether. Re- 

 cently I got a box of Peters shells and 

 killed 29 sparrows out of 43 shots. I never 

 knew a cartridge of that make to miss fire. 



I like them because they do not dirty my 

 gun so much as black powder shells, and 

 because they shoot harder. 



I have owned a rifle 5 years, and think 

 the Stevens Favorite as fine a little gun for 

 the money as any made. 



Wilfred Eakin, New Castle, Pa. 



We notice an inquiry in August Recrea- 

 tion, from W. A. B., asking whether a 26 

 inch 12 bore gun will shoot as far and as 

 close as a 28 inch of same bore. Our long 

 experience in building guns has taught us 

 that 26 inch guns, as a rule, will not make 

 so close a pattern as a longer gun. With 

 black powder the penetration is not so good 

 with a short gun, but with any of the popu- 

 lar brands of nitro powder a 26 inch gun 

 will have as much penetration as a 28 inch, 

 and the difference in pattern will not be 

 more than 10 per cent. We have noticed a 

 great demand this season and last for 26 

 inch barrels, especially among th : quail 

 shooters of the South and the grouse hunt- 

 ers of New England. Ithaca Gun Co., 



Ithaca, N. Y. 



Please tell me where I can obtain extra 

 parts for the semi-hammerless, single bar- 

 rel shot gun made by the American Arms 

 Co., of Boston, Mass. 



Vera Smith, Grayville, 111. 



^ William Read & Sons, 107 Washington 

 Street, Boston, are agents for the gun you 

 name. Write and tell them what you want, 

 and they will quote you prices. — Editor. 



I have been experimenting with low pres- 

 sure loads in a 30-30 rifle, and have ob- 



