378 



RECREATION. 



dense jungles I should carry a double- 

 barrel, 8-240-1150, rifled about 6 inches 

 at the end of the barrels and bearing 

 rifle sights, and a 12-bore paradox for 

 close jungle work with tiger and leopard. 

 The latter is equally good for shooting 

 shot; but I do not care for the 12-bore 

 rifle. My experience with it was not 

 pleasant ,and convinced me that the ball 

 is too heavy for the quantity of powder 

 burned. 



I should always have both with me in 

 the jungle, using the 12-bore if luck gave 

 me a head shot, the 8-bore if only a body 

 or shoulder shot presented, and relying on 

 the latter gun to stop charging animals. I 

 should take also a 50-100-450 Winchester, 

 one of the strongest and smoothest shoot- 

 ing rifles I have ever used, but not into 

 such dense jungles as I visited. 



Nothing could induce me to use express 

 bullets or bullets hollowed to any degree. 

 Had I needed convincing evidence of the 

 untrustworthiness of express bullets, my 

 last trip has provided it. Among other 

 proofs I handled the skull of a tiger which 

 had killed one of 2 men who went on foot 

 to wait for him at a drinking pool. The 

 man who paid for his sport with his life 

 used a double barrel 577 express rifle. He 

 missed with his first barrel, and the sec- 

 ond struck the tiger on the ridge of the 

 eye, exploding and blowing the eye out, 

 but not stunning the tiger. The brute was 

 on top of the man before the latter could re- 

 load and before the second sportsman 

 could use his 2 shots to advantage. A 

 solid lead bullet would have penetrated to 

 the brain. The express bullet hardly left a 

 mark on the tiger's skull. 



The 577 is well thought of in the East 

 by English sportsmen, but I consider the 

 50-100-450 better adapted for the purposes 

 for which I should use it. It is much 

 more accurately sighted, and can outshoot 

 the 577 at all distances beyond 100 yards. 

 It is for all practical purposes, as killing 

 as the 577, is less bulky, and you have sev- 

 eral shots without reloading, against 2 in 

 the 577. However, the simple shot gun 

 mechanism of the 577-168-590 pleases many 

 a sportsman, who knows he could not re- 

 pair a 50 in case of accident. To illus- 

 trate how in the hunting field all precon- 

 ceived theories and notions are at times 

 severely twisted: It happened that the gun 

 which dealt the killing shot to both the 

 elephant and the rhino of my bag was the 

 50-100-450 with full metal patched bullets. 

 But on each occasion I had already put 2 

 12-bore bullets into the animals ; in one in- 

 stance because I could not get a head shot, 

 and therefore did not use the 50 caliber, 

 and in the other because I had the 12-bore 

 in hand. Both times I fell back on the 

 50, because the shells jammed in the 12- 



bore, which was an old one and out of 

 repair. The elephant was charging one 

 of my trackers, and gave me a fine view 

 of his head for an instant. My ball went 

 in at his ear and out at the opposite tem- 

 ple, and he dropped instantly, much to the 

 relief of my tracker and me. 



The rhino was charging me after re- 

 ceiving 2 12-bore balls as near as I could 

 put them into the fold just back of 

 the shoulder, which is, next to the eyes 

 and around the ears, the most vulnerable 

 soot. I was standing on a little knoll of 

 earth, decaying undergrowth and fallen 

 timber. As the rhino charged he scattered 

 the timber and rolled me down the knoll. 

 Fortunately I tumbled to the leeward 

 side, and the animal, losing my wind, 

 held his course. Meantime I clung to my 

 rifle, and regained my feet. The rhino 

 was not over 20 feet away, and going from 

 me when I put a 50 caliber bullet directly 

 behind his ear. He collapsed without even 

 the customary and ridiculous little squeal 

 with which rhinos usually announce a 

 mortal hurt. 



With the exception of a crocodile in 

 the side of whose ugly head I made a 

 great hole with the 12-bore, a peacock 

 brought down with the 30-40, a wild ox 

 dropped with an 8-bore in Burma, and a 

 python, I scored the balance of my bag 

 with the 50-100-450 Winchester. 



E. J. Martin. 



LIGHT LOADS FOR SMALL CALIBERS. 



Editor Recreation : 



Hiram, Me. 



Answering H. B. Rantzan : The powder 

 best adapted to miniature loads is Laflin 

 & Rand's sporting rifle smokeless. I have 

 obtained the best results by using a thin 

 card wad over powder. Seat bullet in 

 mouth of shell as usual and leave space be- 

 tween wad and lead unfilled. Of course, 

 a wad can be used only in straight shells. 

 The makers claim this powder will do 

 equally well when loaded loosely. That is 

 not always the case, particularly wlhen U. 

 M. C. No. 6 and No. 6 T / 2 primers are used. 

 With strong primers adapted to high pres- 

 sure smokeless powders a loose powder 

 load is as good as a wadded one. Six or 7 

 grains of this powder wadded in a 25-21 

 shell,, with bullet seated just over the 

 grooves, gives good results. It is not so 

 satisfactory when no wad is used. 



Never try to obtain high velocity and 

 great penetration with this powder ; it can 

 not be done with safety because of its ex- 

 tremely high breech pressure. For great 

 power and penetration use Du Pont smoke- 

 less powders. I had an 8-pound Stevens 

 Ideal No. 44 swelled in the chamber and 

 ruined by using in it 9 grains Laflin & 



