GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



131 



from Kentucky to Missouri when St. Lcu^s 

 was a small town and Kansas City and St. 

 Joseph were only trading points. 



I began hunting with a flint lock; per- 

 cussion guns, if there were any, were noc 

 known so far West at that time. I thought 

 the flint lock was pretty good, even if I did 

 have to pick my flint sometimes and try it 

 again. When it went off, something would 

 drop. My next gun was a percussion lock 

 Kentucky rifle. It was a wonderful gun and 

 attracted much attention, but G. D. caps 

 were costly and not so plentiful as flints. 

 Guns, like everything else, went on improv- 

 ing and I finally got a breech loader. Since 

 then I have owned Sharp, Spencer, Bal- 

 lard, Remington, Marlin, Stevens and Win- 

 chester rifles. They are all good guns. The 

 Remington is hard to beat. The .32-20, 

 .32-40 and .38-56 Winchester cannot be 

 beaten by any black powder gun. They are 

 strong, durable and accurate. 



TARGET NO. 9, BY DR. A. J. MARLING. 



I am now using the .30-40 single shot, 

 smokeless powder Winchester. For long 

 distance shooting it is the best gun made. I 

 first used the .30-40 magazine rifle, but no 

 repeater will shoot as well as a single shot. 

 The only trouble with the .30 is that you are 

 liable to kill something in another State, for 

 they will shoot across an ordinary county. 

 The first shot I ever fired from a .30 killed 

 an antelope over 1,000 yards away. He was 

 running, and the steel jacketed bullet hap- 

 pened to hit him in the head. He did not 

 have a whole bone in his skull. The next 

 shot was at 800 yards, standing. It took off 

 both fore legs, just below the knees. I think 

 the gun will carry 500 yards point blank. Of 

 all firearms I ever handled, give me the 

 small bore, Winchester single shot. 



The Winchester Arms Co. issued a beau- 

 tiful calendar for 1898. Two hunters are 

 shown leaning over a dead caribou. One of 



them, with his finger on the bullet hole, says, 

 " the .30 did it " ; and I tell you the .30 will 

 do it every time, with a good man behind it 

 Uncle John. 



THE REPEATING SHOTGUN. 



Hamden, Conn. 



Editor Recreation: In May Recrea- 

 tion, " Subscriber " requests information 

 regarding the Winchester repeating shot- 

 gun. 



I have used this gun 5 years, on quail, 

 woodcock, grouse, squirrels and ducks. I 

 had shot double guns for a number of years, 

 but since owning the Winchester I have no 

 use for the double barrel. 



Though I can lay no claim to skill as a 

 marksman, I will try to prove the superior- 

 ity of the repeater by recounting a number 

 of shots made with the Winchester shotgun. 



Three years ago a companion and I were 

 hunting in a small swamp. Our dog flushed 

 a grouse. We each fired 2 shots at the bird, 

 but without success. My companion's gun 

 was a double barrel, and he started to reload 

 while we were walking toward the spot 

 where the bird got up. We had gone but 

 a few steps when up jumped another grouse. 

 I fired and missed, but quickly throwing an- 

 other shell into place I had the satisfaction 

 of downing the bird. My companion had 

 not yet reloaded, and had not my gun been 

 a repeater the bird would have escaped. 



One day soon after this, I was strolling 

 through an open field, with the Winchester 

 across my arm. At the edge of the field, a 

 bevy of quail rose from the grass. I fusil- 

 laded them with 4 shells but they kept on. 

 As they disappeared in the distance, a gray 

 squirrel skurried along the top of a nearby 

 fence. He didn't get far, however, before I 

 killed him with the fifth shell. 



While shooting over decoys, last Novem- 

 ber, I dropped one duck with the first shot, 

 and 2 with the third. This, of course, was 

 while firing into a flock, and would have 

 been impossible with any gun except a re- 

 peater. 



If a repeating rifle is superior to other 

 rifles, why should not the repeating shot- 

 gun be better for all purposes, than other 

 styles of shotguns? W. H. Avis. 



AMERICAN GUNS FOR AMERICANS. 



Mt. Pleasant, W. Va. 

 Editor Recreation: I am much inter- 

 ested in the discussion going on in your 

 Guns and Ammunition department, as to 

 the relative merits of American and foreign 

 guns. My brothers and I have owned a 

 dozen Belgian guns, but we never knew what 

 it was to have a gun that wouldn't shoot 

 loose at the breech and scatter like a pep- 

 per-box, until we sold the whole assortment 

 to a junk dealer and invested the proceeds 

 in 3 American guns — a Baker, a Remington 

 and a Winchester model '93. These guns 

 ure the acme of perfection, being simple, 



