GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



WINCHESTER AND SAVAGE AHEAD. 



W. S. Ripley, Jr., of Wakefield, has for 

 several years past taken an annual hunting 

 trip for small game down to my old home 

 in Maine. One year he took a new .25-20 

 Marlin repeater. I had a .32-40 Winches- 

 ter, '94 model. We used a good many 

 cartridges, shooting at targets and squir- 

 rels. One day, when we had been out 

 hunting for grays, Mr. Ripley said his 

 rifle had worn out. I could not believe it, 

 but on examination we found the little 

 racker that racks the carrier had worn 

 out, and he had to use the rifle as a single 

 loader until he could get new parts from 

 jthe factory. The rifle had been fired about 

 1 800 times. When he returned home he 

 went to the firm and complained because 

 his gun had worn out. The dealer told 

 him he would not warrant a Marlin rifle; 

 that their action was not positive ; but he 

 would warrant all the Winchesters sold. 

 I wish I could give the name of the man 

 who sold Mr. Ripley the rifle. If I did he 

 would be recognized by riflemen as one of 

 the best gunmakers in the United States. 



I have owned 5 Winchesters and fired 

 thousands of shots from them. I have 

 never had an accident with them, have 

 never broken or worn out a part, or had 

 the rifle fail to extract the empty shell, 

 as the Marlin often does. .One rifle in par- 

 ticular, a .22 caliber, '90 model, Winches- 

 ter special, I used a number of years, then 

 sold it to my brother who has it now. 

 Probably it has had 15,000 shots fired from 

 it. It has never had a cent laid out on 

 it and it is still in fine shape. 



I notice one of the so called improve- 

 ments of the Marlin is the solid top and 

 side ejector. If any one wants a side 

 ejector let him get a Savage. The Marlin 

 isn't in it with the Savage, and the solid 

 top is a bother if you want to load as a 

 single loader. In regard to rain or snow, 

 I have never rusted out any Winchesters 

 and I have used them in all kinds of 

 weather. A large number of people who 

 write about the superiority of the Mar- 

 lin are young hunters, who fire them a 

 few times and then write to tell how much 

 better they are than the Winchester. Such 

 a test is not fair. When a man has fired 

 his rifle 1,500 to 2,500 times, as fast as he 

 could take sight in snap shooting, he can 

 then say he has a good gun provided he 

 has not had to buy a new action in the 

 meantime and provided the rifle does not 

 fail to extract the shells. I have nothing 

 against the Marlin myself, but I would not 

 dare to take one into the woods with me 

 as I should be afraid it would go back on 



me. Mr. Ripley is no greenhorn. He 

 has used rifles for years, and has won all 

 the medals up to that of Distinguished 

 Marksman. I could name others of my 

 acquaintance who have had experience 

 with Marlins, and you could not get them 

 to take one into the woods. There is room 

 for great improvement in the Marlin ac- 

 tion. 



Percy J. Bowker, Wakefield, Mass. 



A BALL THAT GLANCED. 

 "I doubt if any ball fired from a modern 

 rifle, and propelled by a full charge of 

 powder, ever glanced from a bear's skull." 

 The above quotation, found a. page 121 

 of February Recreation, vividly recalls to 

 mind an episode in which I was one party 

 and a large black bear the other. In No- 

 vember, 1877, I was camping with 2 friends 

 near what is now known as Fawn lake, 

 in Todd county, Minnesota. One evening 

 Rod came in and reported that he had 

 just killed a deer which had run into the 

 brush, but that owing to the darkness 

 he was unable to find it. Early the next 

 morning Bob and I started out with him 

 to search for his dead deer. I took one di- 

 rection, alone, and soon came to 2 down 

 trees, which apparently had grown in close 

 proximity and blown over with their roots 

 projecting in one mass. I stepped up on 

 one of the logs and stood a moment, look- 

 ing around me. Then I stepped down be- 

 tween them to pass on and my left foot 

 landed on the edge of a large hole, the 

 opening to which I had not seen. My. full 

 weight crushed it through and I landed 

 in the mouth of the hole, squarely in front 

 of a large black bear, standing on his 

 haunches about 3 feet back in the hole, 

 viciously showing his tusks and growling 

 a warning at me to get out. I quickly 

 raised my rifle and took aim at his eye, 

 which was within 2 feet of the muzzle of 

 my gun. At the crack of the gun the bear 

 fell back in the hole with a loud roar. At 

 that moment I decided it would be no 

 sign of a coward to stand a little farther 

 back, so I quickly climbed out of the hole, 

 over the log and back into the brush. As 

 I did so a hazel brush entangled the lever 

 of the gun, and in the excitement I was 

 unable to throw another cartridge into the 

 gun. While I was trying, the bear came 

 out, took to the brush and escaped. I 

 trailed him and captured him the next day 

 with dogs. 



On examination we found that the ball 

 had struck the skull about V 2 inch above 

 the orifice of the eye, passed along the 



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