296 



RECREA TION. 



3,000 f.s. at the muzzle. I tested the rifle 

 iir many ways, and think it will prove a 

 killer. The trajectory is wonderfully tlat; 

 the penetration, amazing. At 10 feet from 

 the muzzle the lull metal patched bullet 

 bores through 3 milled steel plates of ->g 

 inch thickness each, or 38 inches of sea- 

 soned oak. I can't get enough pine boards 

 with which to test it at short range — it must 

 penetrate 8 or 9 feet in such soft wood. At 

 500 yards the bullet goes into oak about 17 

 inches. So you see it is equal in penetra- 

 tion at that great distance to the .30-40 at 

 a few yards, besides having much greater 

 shocking power. With soit nosed bullets 

 the penetration is much reduced, being 26 

 inches in pine at the muzzle and only 14 at 

 500 yards. The trajectory, which I ascer- 

 tained approximately by firing at a mark 

 pointblank at different ranges, and noting 

 the drop of the bullet, is about 1^ inches 

 high at mid-range when shooting at 200 

 yards; 4^2, at 300 yards; and 15, at the 500 

 yard range. So you see it will hold up at 

 500 yards almost as well as the .30-40 at 300. 



The rifle is Lyman sighted — point-blank 

 at 200 yards. The barrel is of Whitworth 

 compressed steel and warranted to last 

 5,000 rounds. 



I shall probably take it to Maine next 

 season. Its wonderful trajectory will not 

 be of much use in the woods, but the weight 

 and terrific velocity of the .40 calibre bullet 

 should make it extremely effective on 

 moose. Using it in the West, it would be 

 possible at great distances — say 1,000 or 

 1,200 yards — to pick off a whole band of elk; 

 but, of course, no true sportsman would 

 think of so misusing the powers of such a 

 splendid weapon. .40 Calibre. 



.30-30S IX THE WOODS. 



CHARLES CKISTODOKO. 



Why is it a tenderfoot in the woods after 

 deer, who will miss a standing buck in the 

 open, will put a ball through a man's head 

 at 100 yards if he happens to catch sight of 

 it? What makes the tenderfoot such a fatal 

 shot when aiming at a deer which is not a 

 deer but a human being? It was bad 

 enough with the .38-56 and .45-90 black 

 powder rifles, and a man ordinarily took his 

 life in his hands when he went into the 

 thicket for deer; but now, with the .303 

 smokeless in the hands of a careless novice, 

 trouble of the worst kind is in store for the 

 hunter. 



The .30 rifle is the arm of the future for 

 big game, but it does seem out of place in 

 the thick woods comparatively adjacent to 

 civilization. How often is a deer killed at 

 300 or 400 yards in the scrub oaks or 

 laurels? The flat trajectory, long range 

 .303 is out of place where other hunters are 

 roaming through the woods within a radius 

 of a mile or 2. 



Killing a man by accident in the woods 



with a rifle is much like 2 ships colliding at 

 sea. The woods are large and the sea al- 

 most boundless, but many men are acci- 

 dentally shot 111 the forest and many ships 

 do collide on the sea. That the percentage 

 of accidental killings in the woods— human 

 killings I mean — will advance with the gen- 

 eral use of the small bore rifle I do not for 

 a moment question. It may be a newspaper 

 yarn but it is said that during the Leech 

 lake Indian skirmish a sergeant, armed 

 with the regulation Krag-Jorgensen, shot 

 twice at the temporarily exposed body of a 

 warrior who showed himself from behind a 

 2 foot pine tree. In each case the soldier 

 missed. He then aimed directly at the cen- 

 ter of the tree and fired. There was a yell, 

 a Winchester fell on one side of the tree 

 and an Indian on the other. The ball had 

 passed through tree and Indian in succes- 

 sion. 



For stalking elk on the plains, hunting 

 grizzlies in the mountains, or taking 500 

 yard shots at mountain sheep or goats the 

 smokeless, soft nosed .303 is beyond doubt 

 the rifle of rifles; but when it comes to 

 shooting deer in the woods, with a score or 

 more of other hunters in the vicinity, it is 

 out of place. 



But on some subjects there is no use 

 preaching. The .30-30 has come to stay; it 

 will be used on grizzlies and squirrels alike; 

 it will be used on the mountain and open 

 plain as well as in the dense woods and 

 tangled thickets. The crop of accidental 

 killings will increase. But instead of dying 

 a lingering death with a .38 or .45 ball in 

 his back, the exit of the potted hunter will - 

 be accelerated and made painless by an ex- 

 pansive bullet. While on this subject one * 

 reference to a curious shooting incident re- 

 ported in the papers. 



Two hunters going into the woods rolled 

 themselves in their blankets and went to 

 sleep in the open. The nearby report of a 

 gun awoke them and looking up, one of 

 the party saw 2 men about 30 yards away, 

 one with a jack light on his head, turn and 

 run away through the woods. One of the 

 sleeping hunters had received 3 or 4 buck- 

 shot in the face and head and in a short 

 time became unconscious and died. 



As both men were asleep and not mov- 

 ing, the accident was accounted for as fol- 

 lows: The dead hunter wore spectacles and 

 slept in them. The glare of the lantern 

 light reflected on the glasses gave the ap- 

 pearance of a pair of glaring eyeballs of a 

 deer or other animal. A rapidly aimed 

 charge of buckshot did the rest. This was 

 a case of tenderfoot woods-murder for 

 which the .303 cannot be held responsible. 



ERRATA. 



Ouray, Col. 

 Editor Recreation: I find in my article 

 in November Recreation 2 typograph- 



