GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



THE CRANKS. 



G. A. MACK. 



Read the letters of the cranks — 

 Small bore cranks! 

 What a unanimity abideth in their ranks! 

 How they argue, argue, argue, 

 Taking up Coquina's space; 

 Telling wonders they have done 

 With their private brand of gun 



In this very year of grace; 

 Crying, ".30-30 bore! 

 Nothing less and nothing more! " 

 Cribbing theories from experts, without re- 

 turning thanks, 

 For the cranks, cranks, cranks, cranks, 

 Cranks, cranks, cranks 

 Have a paucity of ideas in their theorizing 

 tanks. 



Mark the plagiarizing cranks — 

 Soft nose cranks! 

 Note the wondrous sameness of the yarns 

 they spin by hanks! 

 How each one a rifle takes, 

 (Either Savage's or Fake's) 

 Shoots a moose right in the tail — 

 But Oh, the deuce! 

 The yarn is more than stale! — 

 How the ball went through; how the blood 

 would fill a pail; 

 How the moose 

 Dropped with a bursting crash 

 And needed only seasoning to be a first rate 

 hash! 



Then they tell — 

 None too well — 

 Of the jacket, where it went 

 Ere its awful force was spent. 

 And they chuckle o'er its pranks, 

 These .30-30 cranks, 

 These soft point bullet cranks, 

 Till we weary of the babbling of the cranks. 



SHOT SHELLS, AND HOW TO LOAD THEM. 



Washington, D. C. 

 Editor Recreation: For the informa- 

 tion of Mr. W. B. Cuckler, of Athens, O., 

 I will say that the different Rival shot-shells 

 made by the Winchester Co., will not give 

 satisfactory results with nitro powder, be- 

 cause the No. 2 primer, used in them is 

 much too weak. The Blue Rival has the 3W 

 primer and, while an excellent shell for black 

 powder, is not suited to nitro; the primer 

 not being strong enough, unless reinforced 

 with a small amount of fine grained black 

 powder (about 3 grains weight). Such 

 priming is, however, found objectionable 

 for the reason that it adds greatly to the dirt 

 deposit in the gun barrels, makes smoke 

 and is apt to cause erratic shooting and 

 patchy patterns with most brands of smoke- 

 less powder. 



Mr. C. asks how to load common paper 

 shells with a small charge of nitro, and 

 whether he shall fill with wadding up to the 

 crimp. There are 3 essentials to obtaining 

 the full force of smokeless powder. First, a 

 strong primer; second, plenty of tight fit- 

 ting wads; and third, a solid square crimp of 

 fully 34 inch in the shell. 



If he uses a standard 12 gauge gun and a 

 nitro powder that measures bulk for bulk 

 with black powder, and wants to load with 

 only 2}/ 2 or 2^4 drams, he should choose 

 either U.M.C. High Base or Winchester 

 Repeater 24 mcn base shells. Both have 

 suitable primers, are of good quality, and on 

 account of their high base are not suited to 

 larger charges. They are designed for dense 

 nitros such as Walsrode and Gold Dust 

 powders. It is found, however, that dense, 

 so called smokeless powder, is unsatisfac- 

 tory, giving too great a jar to the shooter 

 and making uneven shooting. 



Most sportsmen prefer never to use less 

 than 3 drams of bulk for bulk nitro powder; 

 and in 12 gauge 2^5 inch shells, 3^4 drams 

 should be the maximum charge. The length 

 of the shell will not admit of more powder 

 and leave l /\ inch space for the crimp, when 

 properly wadded and shotted. 



Many sportsmen now have their 12 gauge 

 guns chambered for 2^4, 3 and 2>Vk inch 

 shells, thus admitting the use of large 

 powder charges. Great care should be 

 taken not to buy shells longer than the 

 chambers of your gun or the result will be a 

 burst or ruined barrel. Many pre-fer to load 

 their own shells, taking pleasure in the prep- 

 aration only second to the actual enjoy- 

 ment of field or trap shooting. Factory 

 loaded shells and those hand loaded by 

 others, however intelligently and honestly 

 done, do not give the average sportsman 

 the confidence in his load and in himself that 

 begets the most pleasure and the best re- 

 sults. 



A few suggestions to those who desire to 

 prepare their own ammunition may not come 

 amiss. The U.M.C. nitro shell is deservedly 

 popular, of good quality and has a strong 

 primer (the No. 5 of that company). The 

 Winchester Repeater shell is also good, 

 with suitable primer (No. 6 W.) about same 

 strength as the U.M.C. No. 5. Either shell 

 will give satisfactory results. Use 3 to zVa 

 bulk drams of Dupont's shotgun or Shultz 

 smokeless powders, without any black 

 powder priming. Get some thin card-board 

 12 gauge wads, " B " thickness, some 12 

 gauge and some 1 1 V 2 gauge regular thickness 

 black edge felt wads. Use in the following 

 order: 1 thin card 12 gauge, 1, 11^2 gauge 

 and 2, 12 gauge, pressed firmly (not 

 rammed) on the powder. Use chilled shot. 

 They will be found uniform and of excellent 



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