37* 



RECREATION. 



find that an air space of % of an inch 

 causes the .38-72 to shoot high. Is there 

 no way to overcome this difficulty? Does 

 the factory loaded short range ammunition 

 give the same trouble? 



C. V. Oden, Roseburg, Ore. 



ANSWER. 



The peculiarity of rifles shooting different 

 charges with the same sighting is a matter 

 that has been noted many times. It may 

 be caused by a great many special condi- 

 tions, as, for example, the fit of the bullet, 

 force of recoil, etc. If the direction of the 

 barrel could be kept in identically the 

 same position, the heavier charge would 

 always shoot highest, but there is an in- 

 variable flip to the barrel which varies with 

 different arms and different charges. Just 

 what the cause is in the particular cases 

 referred to in your letter it would be impos- 

 sible to state without going carefully into 

 the whole matter in each case and doing 

 considerable experimental work. It may 

 be interesting to state in this connection 

 that the .45-70 Government rifle has been 

 known to shoot 2 very different charges 

 with the same sighting at certain distances 

 and the .25-40 rifle at short range has been 

 known to shoot the regular charge and 

 place the bullets lower than when shoot- 

 ing the .25-20-77 charge in the same gun. — 

 Editor. 



A BALL THAT GLANCED. 



The editor says, in February Recrea- 

 tion, that he doubts if any ball fired from 

 a modern rifle and propelled by a full 

 charge of powder ever glanced from a 

 bear's skull. 



I used to have a 45 Winchester, and was 

 conceited enough to think I could kill any- 

 thing in the mountains without any 

 trouble. In the spring of '83 a friend and 

 I went hunting, and on our return to camp 

 ran up against a good sized silvertip. I 

 was something of a tenderfoot, and my 

 friend, who carried an old 45 Sharps, said 

 to me, "Now, don't run and leave me if 

 he comes after us, and we will surely get 

 him." 



My friend took a position on a large 

 pine log which lay across a dry gulch, and 

 I stood on the bank. He was to count 

 3 and we were both to fire at once. He 

 counted, but had to stretch up a lit- 

 tle to get good aim, and in so 

 doing lost his balance; his gun went off 

 at an angle of about 45 degrees, and 

 he fell backward into the gulch among the 

 dead timber. The bear had seen us and sat 

 looking at us. I thought I would just 

 blow the top of his head off. I pulled for 

 right between his eyes for my first shot, 

 and was much surprised to see him start 

 at once toward me, with a whole head and 

 a full load of rage, 



I had 4 other cartridges in the magazine, 

 and I shot them at the old fellow as he 

 came on until he reached the edge of the 

 gulch. Then he fell, rolled to the bottom, 

 and could not get up. After due delibera- 

 tion, we ventured to make an examination 

 of our game, and found my first shot had 

 cut a slit about 2 inches long in his scalp, 

 starting y 2 way between the eyes and rang- 

 ing diagonally upward. I also had put a 

 shot through his neck, one through a 

 foreleg above the knee, one through a 

 hind leg, and the fourth had cut about 1 

 inch into the lower part of the heart. I 

 am satisfied that a ball did glance from 

 this bear's skull. I used regular Winches- 

 ter cartridges, loaded at factory, and the 

 bear was 50 or 60 yards from me at first 

 shot. I now use a 30-30 Winchester, but 

 am not looking for any more shots at a 

 bear's face. 



W. F. Chalmers, Lander, Wyo. 



EXCELLENT TARGETS. 



I have a '97 model Winchester repeating 

 shot gun. Are the targets given below, 

 made while testing the gun recently, good 

 or not? Cartridges used were Winchester 

 factory loaded Leader shells, with 3 drams 

 Dupont smokeless and 1)/% ounces No. 6 

 chilled shot. In a target 9% xn^ inches, 

 at 48 yards, I put 57 shot; in a target 

 8^x9^, distant 50 yards. I put 28 shot; 

 and in a 24 inch circle, distant 48 yards, 

 I put 150 pellets. With a load of 3*4 

 drams Hazard black powder and 1]/% 

 ounces No. 5 shot, I put 43 pellets in a 

 6x6 inch target at 27 yards. 



J. T. Maris, Sayre, Ohio. 



ANSWER. 



I referred your question to the Winches- 

 ter Arms Co. and they say: 



"Mr. Maris's records are extremely 

 good as compared with anything we ex- 

 pect of our shot guns here. We try 

 our guns ordinarily in a 30 inch circle at 

 40 yards, and expect to get about 70 per 

 cent, of the entire charge on that target. 

 Mr. Maris's figuring on the rectangles 

 which he mentions in his letter gets about 

 90 per cent. This is better than we can 

 do here. The whole charge .of \ x /% ounce 

 No. 6 chilled shot contains' 253 pellets; 70 

 per cent, of this would be 1.77. If we lay 

 a rectangle, 9^x11^ inches on this pat- 

 tern where the shot are thickest, we can 

 count usually about 46 pellets, whereas Mr. 

 Maris gets 57 at 48 yards. He also gets 

 150 pellets, or about 59 per cent., in a 24 

 inch circle at 48 yards. The best we could 

 do with the same charge at that distance 

 was about 50 per cent. It is possible he 

 has a gun that shoots very closely about 

 the center. The best and usual way to 

 test a shot gun is to shoot at a sheet of 

 paper large enough to catch the entire 



