GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



485 



miles from Colorado Springs. So he is 45 

 miles off his base, just as he is 45-100 off 

 in his choice of a good gun. He says : 

 " Some of the oldest hunters in this coun- 

 try are loudest in their praise of the small 

 bore," etc. They are not old time hunters. 

 I am personally acquainted with more old 

 timers than Bro. Wadsworth is and I have 

 yet to see or know one of them who would 

 give his old .45 for any of the up to date 

 small caliber fads. 



Bra. W. says I claim for all the old hun- 

 ters and frontiersmen, from Texas to Mon- 

 tana, that they prefer the .44 and .45, and 

 then says, " He might have said thus and 

 so, then again this and that, just as he would 

 have it." I was expressing my own ideas, 

 not those of Bro. Wadsworth. 



It is all right for Bro. W. to think he 

 knows it all, and to believe his .30-30 is 

 the best gun made, but he makes himself 

 ridiculous when he tries to teach up to date 

 ideas to men who have had years of ex- 

 perience with all kinds of guns of American 

 make and used them on game, large and 

 small, and in Indian warfare, and whose ex- 

 perience dates beyond the days when Bro. 

 Wadsworth was wearing knee breeches and 

 buttoning them on his waist. 



F. W. Hambledon, Pueblo, Col. 



SATISFACTION. 



I have noticed several inquiries in Rec- 

 reation for a method to obtain the most sat- 

 isfactory results in shot gun loads. I will 

 give a method I have followed for years and 

 the only one that really suits me. 



You can buy the ordinary cardboard wads 

 or cut them yourself from medium soft 

 cardboard. If you cut your own wads be 

 sure your cutter cuts a wad that fits tight in 

 the shell. I use a loading block. 



For ordinary field shooting at quail, 

 plover, snipe, etc., I use in 12 gauge gun 2^2 

 drams American dead shot F.F.G. When 

 powder charge is in I press a cardboard wad 

 firmly over the powder by hand. Then I use 

 granulated cork (which can be procured at 

 most any fruit store) fill shells full to the 

 top, by pouring the cork on the block, and 

 rub it off with the hand till there is none 

 above the surface. Shell must come to the 

 surface of the loading block or you will get 

 too much cork. Then insert another card 

 wad and press it down as hard as you can 

 with the hand, then 24 ounce of No. 8 

 chilled shot ; smaller size may be preferable 

 to some. I use the 8. Crimp with good 

 crimper firmly on the shot after another 

 card wad is inserted. Would not use over 4 

 drams and one ounce shot for ducks, geese, 

 etc., in a 10 gauge with this load. The ad- 

 vantage of this load is, it will not give any 

 recoil, and the penetration will be at least 

 1-3 more than when the ordinary felt wads 

 are used. 



To show the wonderful killing power this 



load has I will give one test. I used 

 it on December prairie chickens, a number 

 of years ago in Kansas. I used a 10 

 gauge Winchester shot gun. Load 3 drams 

 American Dead shot powder F.F.G. , Y\ of 

 an ounce of No. 8 chilled shot. I shot 2 

 chickens and at that season of year they were 

 very hardy flyers. The first one was killed 

 dead at 54 yards and the second at 57 vards, 

 measured. 



Bart, Gunnison, Col. 



THE BROKEN-BA< kll> "FLIER." 



Well, here I am back again in civilization, 

 reading up back numbers of Recreation. I 

 notice the controversy over the best rifle 

 still hangs fire. I can't speak from experi- 

 ence, for or against any of these new 

 fangled, high pressure lightning strikers, 

 as I use the old black powder .45-70, but I 

 observe the results of others' experiences. 



We all learn a thing or 2, sooner or later, 

 by mere observation. Note in October 

 number, page 296, Mr. C. E. Prescott, of 

 Hudson, Mass.', killed 2 deer with a .30-40, 

 soft nose, metal jacket bullets. Nothing 

 very strange about the fact of killing 2 deer 

 with that kind of a rifle. The strange part 

 of the yarn is, how one of those bucks man- 

 aged to run 75 yards with all his ribs cut 

 off on one side, his back broken, etc. 



Now, Mr. Editor, you have killed some 

 game, and seen game killed by others. So 

 have I, and I will bet a quarter of a pound 

 of cheap smoking tobacco, that you, nor any 

 other person, Prescott and Bowers, of Hud- 

 son, Mass., excepted, ever saw a deer run 75 

 yards, or even make one jump, after its 

 back was broken. This offer stands open 

 until January 1, 1901. 



To conclude ; if all .30-40 rifles will shoot 

 the backbone in 2 and let the deer run 75 

 yards, I do not want one. It would be a 

 poor excuse for a weapon with a silver tip 

 at close quarters. 



Kritic, Leadville, Col. 



LEFEVER TO THE RESCUE. 



I am greatly interested in all that is said 

 about guns and ammunition. I have a Le- 

 fever shot gun — Ideal grade, hammerless, 

 and have owned a Parker and a Reming- 

 ton, both hammer guns. 



I 'notice that a good deal is being said 

 about the Ithaca gun. and I think it is about 

 time that the friends of the Lefever gun 

 should come to the front, and tell what they 

 think of it. I see that the Lefever Co. keeps 

 an ad. in Recreation, and from that fact I 

 would suppose that their guns are in the 

 hands of a good many of your readers. 

 While there are a great many good guns 

 on the market, American made, I say frank- 

 ly that the Lefever is the best gun that I 

 have ever handled. It is a well balanced, 

 strong shooting gun, and you do not require 



