29< 



RECREATION. 



take, as your ad reached many sports- 

 men. I have used your ammunition for 

 some time and always found everything 

 satisfactory. Sincerely hoping you will see 

 your mistake, I am, Very respectfully, 



C. E. Van Order. 



VARIOUS WINCHESTER MODELS. 



I have used rifles since 1885, mostly Win- 

 chesters. Two years' experience with a 

 model '86, 45-90-300 Winchester convinced 

 me that I did not want it. It would put, 

 on lucky days, 2 shots out of 10 in a bull's 

 eye at 150 yards, with a rest. It made more 

 noise and kicked harder than a 10 bore, and 

 whatever part of a deer you hit with it, it 

 was sure to spoil one-third of the meat. 



While using a 40-82-260, model '86, I 

 narrowly escaped a serious accident. I re- 

 load my shells, and in one I put what I 

 supposed was 12 grains of smokeless pow- 

 der. I was using an 82 grain measure with 

 a wad pushed into it far enough to limit 

 its capacity to 12 grains. The wad had 

 slipped down to the 50 grain mark, and I 

 put that amount of powder in one unlucky 

 shell. I shot it at the 100 yard target. The 

 gun kicked like a mule, the bullet spread 

 over the target like bird shot, and the 

 barrel and receiver were so swelled and 

 wrenched as to be useless. Why it failed 

 to burst is a mystery. 



My present gun is a 38-72-233 box maga- 

 zine Winchester, which I use with_ metal 

 patched mushroom bullet and 27 grains Du 

 Pont No. 1 smokeless. It has flat traject- 

 ory, plenty of smashing power, is accurate 

 and light. In my opinion there is no better 

 all around gun. G. W. Chambers, 



Marion, Ind. 



TO AVOID RUST. 



Seeing several inquiries for a good gun 

 grease and an approved method of protect- 

 ing a gun from rust, I submit this : 



Sperm oil is good and will not gum ; but 

 being thin, neither will it keep its place 

 long. It runs down, leaving upper parts of 

 barrel exposed. Winchester gun grease is 

 apparently oil, perhaps sperm oil, thick- 

 ened with Japan wax. It will stay where 

 you put it, and so is pre-eminently the stuff. 



Clean your gun and, being sure it is dry, 

 oil freely with Winchester gun grease. 

 Have a cartridge or an empty shell in 

 breech and place a cork tightly in muzzle. 

 It is then safe for a long time. 



If you are going to Europe and don't ex- 

 pect to come back for 10 years, tear a strip 

 off an old blanket or other thick woolen 

 cloth. Tie or sew a cord to one end, fasten 

 a lead weight to the other end of cord, 

 saturate the strip with the grease, drop 

 weight through barrel and draw the strip 

 into bore, filling it tightly. Then if you 

 lock up your gun so the children can not 

 pull the rag out, you have the cinch on it. 



I got this idea from a back number of 

 Recreation. 



Moral : If you don't know what you 

 want to know consult your back numbers 

 ©f Recreation. 



Geo. Walker, Parkman, Wyo. 



SMALL SHOT. 



About how many thousand shots, with 

 metal jacketed bullets, will the Savage rifle 

 stand before becoming inaccurate from 

 wear? Will it wear as long as a 45-90? 

 Is the Savage effective at 1,000 yards? 

 What is its penetration at that distance? 

 S. H. Freeman, Nordhoff, Cal. 



ANSWER. 



I do not know the exact life of a Savage 

 rifle barrel. I 'have seen a rifle that has 

 been fired over 7,000 times. The sharp 

 edges of the rifling show a little wear, but 

 not enough to affect the accuracy or pene- 

 tration of the arm. With reasonable 

 care in cleaning, the Savage rifle bar- 

 rel will last longer than the 45-90. Sav- 

 age smokeless powder should be used, as it 

 contains nothing injurious to the barrel 

 steel. Smokeless powder that contains 

 nitro glycerine will shorten the life of a 

 barrel materially. The smashing power of 

 the .303 Savage expanding bullet at a dis- 

 tance of 1,000 yards is sufficient to kill 

 moose, bear, caribou, etc. The penetration 

 is 23 to 25 inches in clear pine at that dis- 

 tance. — Editor. 



I have owned and used a Stevens No. 

 45 Ideal 25-25 the last 3 years. For an 

 all around gun to kill anything from a 

 squirrel to a deer there 1^ none better. I 

 have all the Ideal tools and can make any 

 weight bullet from 46 to 106 grains. For 

 small game I use the 46 grain bullet with 

 3 grains DuPont smokeless rifle No. 1. 

 For deer I use the 86 grain bullet with 8 

 or 9 grains of the same powder. With one 

 side of my belt filled with the small loads 

 and the other with the large, I am always 

 ready for anything. I have killed deer 

 at 200 yards with the large load. Have also 

 killed 2 deer with the small load at 75 

 yards. However, I would not advise any 

 but a good shot to hunt deer with a 25-25. 

 The greatest sport I have is shooting rab- 

 bits and grouse. There is no law against 

 killing rabbits and the more one kills the 

 better it is for the ranchmen. I can re- 

 load my shells at less than the cost of 22 

 shorts. I should like other readers of 

 Recreation to give their experience with 

 the 25-25. I. A., Buena Vista, Colo. 



I am a strong friend of the 30 caliber as 

 an all around gun. I reload my own cart- 

 ridges for short and medium range, and 

 can recommend the following: For squir- 

 rels, rabbits, etc., 8 grains Du Pont No. 1 



