GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



485 



308, and loaded with 10 to 12 grains of No. 

 1 or No. 2 DuPont powder, will give good 

 satisfaction. Do not crimp the bullets in 

 the shells. 



W. H. Emmet, Aldridge, Mont. 



SPEAKS UP FOR THE REPEATER. 

 I know you can not give space to every 

 one wishing to praise Winchester shot guns 

 and that words spoken in their defense are 

 really unnecessary. There are a few, how- 

 ever, among your contributors who errone- 

 ously believe that repeating shot guns are 

 fit only for market shooters and game hogs ; 

 or, as one gentleman said, "indiscriminate 

 shooting into a flock." Market shooters 

 use Winchesters, not because they are 

 cheap, but, as the gun is the all important 

 tool of their trade, they realize that re- 

 liability and effectiveness must be consid- 

 ered before price. If we, of lesser experi- 

 ence, are beginning to catch on to the wis- 

 dom of their choice, should we be branded 

 as game hogs ? If a man is unable to re- 

 sist temptation, he would better not buy a 

 Winchester, for they are surely game get- 

 ters when properly steered. My indis- 

 criminate brother will find, however, that 

 he can be more successful by picking out 

 his birds than by pumping his gun at the 

 flock. About l /i of the trap shooters in this 

 vicinity use repeating shot guns, and they 

 are making the top scores, too. If you want 

 to get what you go after and have lots of 

 fun while you are getting it, do not buy a 

 muzzle loader, a hammer gun or a ham- 

 merless, but buy the latest result of pro- 

 gressive gun ^making — a '97 model, Win- 

 chester. 



Clarence Simpson, Hutchinson, Kan. 



A MATTER OF TASTE. 

 The choice between Winchester and 

 Stevens single shot rifles of small caliber is 

 much a matter of prejudice, as these fac- 

 tories apparently use the same system of 

 boring and rifling. The Stevens Favorites 

 and Ideals have 2 commendable features. 

 They are all take downs. The working of 

 the lever leaves the hammer in the safest 

 position, neither full set nor resting against 

 the firing pin. The Ideals can, by using the 

 reversible link, place the hammer 'at full 

 set by motion of the lever. Besides, 3 or 

 4 barrels of as many different calibers can 

 be used on the same stock by using dif- 

 ferent breech locks and levers. This is ap- 

 preciated by the shooter who does not de- 

 pend on an all around gun, and who wants 

 to pack guns in a trunk. I do not like 

 Winchester cartridges ; but that does not 

 prove that they may not be th® best in a 

 Winchester rifle. Generally speaking, burn- 

 ing powder is a paradox; the smell is un- 

 pleasant yet we like it. Not so with Win- 

 chester powder; a small noseful has a 



large headache in it. A Winchester will 

 not show outside wear so quickly as a 

 Stevens. I find no difference in the inside 

 wear of guns of similar caliber Lid length. 

 Jack of Clubs, Speeiman, Pa. 



A GOOD .32-40. 

 I have a .32-40, '94 Winchester, 28 inch 

 barrel ; equipped with Lyman sights and set 

 trigger. It balances perfectly, is extremely 

 accurate, and hits hard. I cast my own 

 bullets and lubricate them with Japan wax, 

 softened with cosmoline. I load with 

 King's F. G. semi-smokeless or Dupont No. 

 1 smokeless, bulk for bulk as with black 

 powder, and use the Winchester '94 re- 

 loader. The cartridges are perfect. You 

 can load light enough for sparrows or 

 heavy enough to knock the under- 

 pinning from a Texan steer. As regards 

 the shooting out of Winchester barrels: 

 In the last 18 years I have had the Win- 

 chester Company make me 10 or 11 rifles. 

 Two of these guns in particular have had 

 thousands of shots fired through them, and 

 I defy anyone to detect the first sign of 

 wear in the rifling. If a person does not 

 wish to reload ammunition, and wants a 

 purely hunting rifle for use in a country 

 where long distance shots are usual, then 

 its flat trajectory and great penetration 

 make the Savage .303 a cocker. 



H. C. Pettit, Fort Atkinson, Wis. 



WHY JACKETS STRIP. 

 Please answer this query : I have a Mar- 

 lin 30-30, using smokeless shells. Some- 

 times the jacket on the bullet is left in 

 chamber, and until it is dislodged I can 

 not insert another cartridge. What is the 

 remedy? W. S. Catchings, 



Georgetown, Miss. 



The above was forwarded the Union 

 Metallic Cartridge Co. They reply: 



The stripping of bullet jackets may be 

 due to imperfect metal which it is impos- 

 sible to detect in course of manufacture. 

 Probably if a jacket is left in the rifle bar- 

 rel, and another fired on it, the barrel 

 would be swelled or burst. If the bullets 

 in cartridges used by Mr. Catchings have 

 flat point, they are our make, and we should 

 like them returned at our expense for ex- 

 amination and trial, we replacing same. 

 We mistrust they may <be some of the first 

 we manufactured, since which time a 

 change in the bullets has been made. 



SMALL SHOT. 

 I «njoy Recreation so much that I ex- 

 pect to take it as long as I live. I am 65 

 years old, but not too old to enjoy hunt- 

 ing and reading about hunting. Your gun 

 and ammunition department is the most 



