GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



55 



gun, still were I buying a bicycle rifle I 

 would choose one using the .22 long rifle 

 shell; but with so light an arm do not ex- 

 pect to do good target shooting at so great 

 a distance as 200 yards. 



In reply to Dr. T. J. Hood, will say the 

 Stevens Favorite is the only satisfactory 

 cheap arm I ever saw. C. D. K. 



TEARING POWER OF THE .30-40. 



Harrisburg, Pa. 



Editor Recreation: I note a difference 

 of opinion, expressed in Recreation, as to 

 the tearing qualities of the .30 calibre bullet. 



Last November, I hit a large moose with 

 2 .30-40 soft nosed bullets. My guide also 

 hit him with one .38 calibre soft nosed bul- 

 let, propelled by 19 grains of smokeless 

 powder, if I remember rightly. The first 

 .30-40 and the .38 were fair side shots, at a 

 distance of 80 or 90 yards; the last .30-40 

 was a stern shot at 100 yards. The moose 

 ran about 200 yards before falling. When 

 we cut him up, we found the .38 had struck 

 high in the body, making a small hole 

 through the upper part of the lungs, missing 

 the ribs on both sides and lodging against 

 the skin on the opposite side. It had not 

 mushroomed at all, but the lead nose was 

 worn back almost even with the edge of 

 the jacket. 



The first .30-40 struck the neck an inch in 

 front of the shoulder bone, just too low to 

 break the neck, and had made a fair sized 

 hole where it entered and a rather large one 

 where it passed out. Afterward it went 

 through a hard wood stub, about 9 inches in 

 diameter, slightly dozed. The animal bled 

 freely from the wound in the neck, crimson- 

 ing the snow on both sides of the track. 



The stern shot, a .30-40, tore the small in- 

 testines to pieces and passed on forward, 

 literally ripping the internal machinery to 

 bits. The abdominal cavity was filled with 

 blood and the contents of the intestines and 

 paunch; part of the contents of paunch was 

 discharged through the nostrils. Indeed I 

 never saw so much blood and such a mess in 

 any animal before. 



I had been using express bullets before 

 this trip, and was curious to know just what 

 a .30 calibre would do in the soft parts of 

 the body of a large animal. I give my ex- 

 perience without any comment, save to con- 

 fess I did not think an animal could run so 

 far after having been so badly cut to pieces. 



But then, on the other hand, I once shot a 

 deer through the heart with an express bul- 

 let, tearing the apex to shreds, yet he ran 40 

 or 45 yards, up hill, before falling. M. 



SHOULD NOT USE A 4 BORE. 



1. What firms make 4 bore shotguns? 



2. Will some one kindly tell me some- 

 thing of the accuracy and range of the .32 

 calibre rim and centre fire cartridges, used 

 in Marlin rifles? 



3. Also I should like to know the range of 

 the Winchester .50-110-300. 



A. E. Snyder, Remington, Ind. 



1. I do not know of any concern in this 

 country that makes a 4 bore shotgun. The 

 making and use of such arms should be pro- 

 hibited by law. In fact, several states do 

 prohibit the use of anything larger than an 

 8 bore. Even this is murderous. 



2. The .32 short rim fire cartridge is fairly 

 accurate up to 200 yards. That is to say, 

 the majority of shots may be put in an 8 inch 

 bull's eye at that distance, with that car- 

 tridge. The .32 centre fire is not really ac- 

 curate at any greater distance, though of 

 course the penetration is somewhat better, 

 owinc* to the larger charge of powder, and 

 this cartridge is more effective on game, by 

 reason of its better penetration and its mak- 

 ing a larger hole. 



3. The .50-110-300 Winchester is not ac- 

 curate at more than 200 yards. Large game 

 may occasionally be killed with it even up to 

 300 or 400 yards, but it cannot be relied on 

 for any such ranges. Its most effective 

 range is within 150 yards. It is especially in- 

 tended for hunting in timbered countries, 

 where nearly all shots are obtained within 

 100 yards. Within its proper range, it has 

 a low trajectory and great smashing and 

 shocking power. 



THE LEFEVER GUN. 



R. Slade, asks, in October Recreation, 

 which will wear longest without becoming 

 shaky and loose, the Ideal grade Lefever 

 or the Ithaca. I can answer as to the Le- 

 fever only. I have a 12 gauge Ideal that I 

 bought in 1892. It has had hard, I might 

 say continual, use, ever since. It is now as 

 tight and solid as when it left the factory. I 

 have taken up the wear at hinge joint but 

 once, and that only a short time ago. Have 

 shot all kinds of loads with the gun — as 

 much as 4 drams black and 3^4 drams 

 smokeless powder, and all sizes shot up to 

 No. 4. The mechanism has never been out 

 of order, and the penetration is still all that 

 could be desired. 



W. G. O., Thayer, Mo. 



NOTES. 



I want to tell O. A. F., who asks for in- 

 formation about the Winchester repeating 

 shotgun, that I have used both lever action 

 and slide action guns. Although prejudiced 

 in favor of the double gun at the time, I was 

 soon converted, and the only shotgun I now 

 own is a '93 model, 12 gauge Winchester re- 

 peater. It is as close and hard shooting a 

 gun as I ever saw, and I have owned many 

 in the last 15 years. I have shot it against 

 several good guns at target for pattern, pen- 

 etration, etc., also at the trap and on ducks. 

 Never had occasion to be ashamed of it. As 



