GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



297 



Crossing over to the spot where the buck 

 had turned up the trail, 1 followed the broad 

 trail of blood to where he had laid down and 

 got up again. He had left the trail and 

 broken blindly down hill through the 

 brush. Then a pool of blood showed 

 where he had stopped; and again as" he 

 went on the faint sign showed that a clot 

 had stopped the flow, until he had stum- 

 bled over a log, and it had broken out 

 afresh. 



It was getting dusk and I stumbled on, 

 expecting to come on him at any minute. 

 As it grew darker it was harder to follow 

 the track. At last in a dense growth it 

 became so dark I had to give up. Tying 

 my handkerchief on a tree so I could pick 

 up the track in the morning, I made my 

 way back to camp, which I reached about 

 10 o'clock. 



The next morning we returned to the 

 spot where I had given up the track the 

 night before, and spent 3 or 4 hours hunt- 

 ing for the deer, but it was of no use. He 

 had either got entirely away or had died in 

 some place where we could not rind him. 



I still have the .44-40 Marlin, for I have 

 never found anyone for whom I have such 

 a dislike that I would give it to him. It 

 stands in my gun case, while a .38-55 Win- 

 chester takes its place when I am after 

 game. E. A. Greene. 



DEFENDS KRAG-JORGENSEN. 



In your May number I see that R. A. R., 

 of Angelica, N. Y., is somewhat disturbed 

 because the War Department is replacing 

 the models 'Q2|and '95 with the models '96 

 and '98 Krag-Jorgensen rifles, and calls 

 this gun an inferior foreign arm. Permit 

 me through j'our pages to enlighten him. 



The Krag.-Jorgensen rifle was adopted in 

 1892 after a series of competitive tests con- 

 ducted by a boara of army officers. All in- 

 ventors and manufacturers were invited to 

 submit rifles to the board. A great many 

 were submitted and the tests were conduct- 

 ed with great care. The Krag-Jorgensen 

 made the best showing in those tests ; and 

 consequently it was adopted, and its manu- 

 facture begun at the Government arsenal 

 at Springfield, Mass. The rifle has since 

 stood the tests of 2 wars in tropical cli- 

 mates, and no fault has been found with it 

 by the men who have used it. I am famil- 

 iar with the rifles in use by the principal 

 armies of the world and am firmly con- 

 vinced that our weapon is superior to any 

 of them. As a result of 8 years' use 

 some minor improvements have been sug- 

 gested, and these are embodied in the '98 

 model. This gun is to all appearances the 

 same as the model '92, except that the cut- 

 off turns down instead of up, and some of 

 the smaller parts have been straightened. 

 The rifle is foreign only in the name of its 



inventors. Its official name is "The U. S. 

 Magazine Rifle." 



Its maximum range is 4,066 yards, ini- 

 tial velocity 2,000 feet a second. Its accu- 

 racy is unquestioned. Even with the plain, 

 open sights, without wind-gauge or cor- 

 rection for drift, our soldiers have made 

 scores on the range that could not be made 

 with the old Springfield, although equipped 

 with peep sights, automatic correction for 

 drift, and wind gauge. A wind gauge sight 

 is now being issued, and we expect some 

 remarkable scores will result from its use. 



As a sample of the accuracy of this U. S. 

 magazine rifle I quote the following from 

 the Army and Navy Journal, "Capt. S. S. 

 Stebbins, of the Twelfth New York, in 15 

 consecutive shots at Creedmoor scored 74 

 points out of a possible 75 at 500 yards 

 with the Krag-Jorgensen rifle. This 

 speaks well for the arm ; also for the man 

 using it, Captain Stebbins having only 

 lately taken up practice with the Krag." 



I recommend that R. A. R. procure the 

 report of the Chief of Ordnance, U. S. 

 Army, for 1892 and read the description of 

 the rifles and the tests to which they were 

 submitted. C. E. Stodter, 



1st Lieut., 9th U. S. Cavalry, 

 Guinobatan, Aloay, P. I. 



THEY STILL ADVISE PETERS. 



Baltimore, Md. 

 Mr. J. H. McKibben, Secy. 



Peters Cartridge Co., Cincinnati, Ohio: 

 Dear Sir : — I read with surprise and re- 

 gret in the May issue of Recreation that 

 you have withdrawn your ad. from this 

 magazine on account of offence taken at 

 one of their correspondents. I have been 

 a user of Peters shells a number of years ; 

 in fact, I use no other, as I consider them 

 superior to any for sure fire, accuracy and 

 penetration. When anyone finds fault with 

 them I always defend the shells and ques- 

 tion the gun being warm or the springs 

 weak. 



_ Recreation is one of the finest maga- 

 zines of its kind published and is doing a 

 great work in its field. I can not help 

 thinking you are doing it and its editor 

 an injustice in withdrawing your adver- 

 tisement. I write you this not to criticise 

 your business methods, but as a friend 

 of both Peters cartridges and Recreation. 

 I sincerely hope you will reconsider your 

 determination to withdraw your adver- 

 tisement, as you have enough defenders 

 to more than down any adverse criticism. 

 Yours truly, J. C. S. 



Watertown, N. Y. 

 Peters Cartridge Co., 



Cincinnati, Ohio : 

 Dear Sirs — Seeing you have taken your 

 ad from Recreation, I take the liberty of 

 writing you. You have made a great mis- 



