RECREATION. 



to shoot quails, doves, rabbits, etc., for the 

 pot. The Stevens is also good for squir- 

 rels when I am in the foothills, and for 

 turkeys at ioo yards in the mountains. I of 

 course carry other guns on my prospecting 

 tours, a .303 Savage for bear and deer, and 

 a Syracuse shot gun. With those 3 guns I 

 think I have the best game battery on earth. 

 Sam. P. Willard, 

 San Luis Potosi, Mexico. 



A few years ago I had opportunity to ex- 

 amine a strange weapon, which might be 

 described as a cross between a rifle and a 

 shot gun. It had a long, single barrel, 

 fitted with a percussion lock. Its great 

 peculiarity lay in its rifling. Instead of 

 turning, as in modern rifles, the grooves 

 ran straight from breech to muzzle. It 

 came originally from either Norway or 

 Sweden, and the owner claimed it would 

 shoot both round ball and shot with greater 

 force and accuracy than any smooth bore. 

 I should like to know if other Recreation 

 readers have seen similar guns, and what 

 they think of the claims made for such 

 arms. A. Kennedy, Missoula, Mont. 



We all know a 22 calibre mushroom bul- 

 let is much more effective on small game 

 than the solid ball, but the bullet is too 

 light to penerate far. I have often taken a 

 1 -16-inch drill and mushroomed 22 long 

 rifle bullets, and tested them on sparrows 

 and woodchucks. The results were far 

 beyond expectation. Sparrows seemingly 

 explode when struck, and woodchucks drop 

 in their tracks with their inner mechanism 

 badly disorganized. If someone would 

 make a 22 long rifle with mushroom bullet 

 it would be more powerful than the 32 

 R. F. J. D. Snyder, Lowell, O. 



Can someone give me the classification 

 of shot gun smokeless powders ; that is, 

 whether they are gun cotton, nitro-glycer- 

 ine or chlorate of potassium compounds? 

 Do they produce a higher or lower tempera- 

 ture in combustion than does black pow- 

 der? Do they start the shot from the 

 breech quickly or gradually? Would not 

 the Whitworth system of rifling work 

 much better in high power rifles than does 

 the French system, the only one now in 

 use? The Whitworth is a hexagonal bore. 

 I should think it would be more durable. 

 Leroy Foltz, Neponset, 111. 



I note occasional items in the gun and 

 ammunition department of Recreation 

 relative to rare guns. A short time 

 ago I found and bought one of 

 Sharp's Old Reliable rifles, 40-70 cali- 

 ber, 28 inch round barrel, pistol grip, 

 stock and hammer style, which weighs 20 

 pounds. These are scarce and I prize it 



highly, considering it in its appearance and 

 serviceable state a first class acquisition 4o 

 my sporting outfit ; for though using the 

 small bore I am still an unconverted 45-70 

 disciple. 



E. E. Stokes, New York City. 



I would say to S. U. Watson that I am 

 using round bullets of about 87 grains 

 weight with 8 grains of powder in my 38-55 

 rifle with good results. I prefer a grooved 

 bullet on account of lubrication, yet the 

 round bullet is accurate at short range. 

 I have used many round bullets for shoot- 

 ing sparrows, and for prairie chickens 

 when in the West. I should like to hear 

 of the comparative merits of the 25-21 and 

 the 25 cartridges. 



F. B. Barber, Colebrook, O. 



I wish to say a few words in praise of 

 the Batavia Leader hammerless shot gun, 

 manufactured by the Baker Arms Co. I 

 have owned and used an Ithaca, a Reming- 

 ton, a Lefever, and a take down Win- 

 chester repeater, but none of them equaled 

 my Batavia Leader. It has been fully 

 tested, and all who have tried it say it is 

 an extra good gun. It is far the best gun 

 of moderate price I ever used. 



Everett Brown, Pleasant Grove, Ind. 



H. F., St. Johnsbury, Vt., asks about 32- 

 20 and 25-20 rifles. I have a 32-20 single 

 shot Winchester and it will do good shoot- 

 ing. I have put a 115 grain bullet the entire 

 length of a large gray squirrel without 

 tearing it, there being only a small hole 

 where it entered and left the body. The 

 full factory charge does the best shooting 

 for me. I hear good reports also from the 

 25 caliber. 



Frank Bennett. Lowell, Mass. 



In May Recreation D. Waters, of Balti- 

 more, Md., speaking of his 10 gauge Rem- 

 ington gun, says : "I stumbled on a U. M. 

 C. No. 287 shell, 4Y 2 drams powder, 4% 

 ounces of No. 7 shot, and it is an ideal load 

 for my gun." 



Will he please tell me where I can get a 

 shell to hold such a load, and what powder 

 will handle almost 8 times its weight of 

 shot? C. H. D., Marysville, Mont. 



Is there a soft point bullet made for the 

 25-20 Winchester S. S. cartridge? 



G. A. Savage, Meredith, Kas. , 



Will someone tell me of a good rifle for 

 rabbit and squirrel shooting? 



P. B. M., Quaker Hill, Conn. 



Is it a good plan to coat the barrels of a 

 shot gun with vaseline? 



C. G. Syracuse, N. Y. 



