4 8 



RECREATION. 



and he will find that what Greener longed 

 for but could not find, American ingenuity 

 has supplied, and this, too, in a gun which 

 sells at a moderate price. No other gun 

 costing even more money can cope with it. 

 Glenmore, Warren, Pa. 



SMALL SHOT. 



Is there such a thing made as bullet-proof 

 cloth or anything that can be use-d for that 

 purpose? If there is, , will you kindly let 

 me know where I can get it? 



I enjoy Recreation more than any other 

 book I /read. 



A. W. Gordon, Boston, Mass. 



ANSWER. 



There is no bullet-proof cloth on the 

 market. Several fabrics have been invented 

 and made up that were claimed to be bullet- 

 proof and have been tested by army experts 

 in various countries. None of these has, 

 however, been adopted by any army, so 

 nothing more has been done along that 

 line, as far as I know. 



It would be a good scheme for every man 

 going into the woods of Maine or the Adi- 

 rondacks for the purpose of hunting to 

 have a suit of bullet-proof armor, but in 

 order to make him entirely safe from other 

 hunters it would be necessary to have it 

 cover his head, neck, face and even his 

 eyes. Then he could not see to hunt or to 

 shoot; so, after all, he might just as well 

 stay at home.— Editor. 



I have noticed with considerable interest 

 the articles in defence of the pump gun. 

 Will the defenders please give the real rea- 

 son why they prefer a repeating or an auto- 

 matic weapon? 'They evidently appreciate 

 its rapid firing qualities. The statements 

 which have been made that the pump gun 

 can outshoot a double barrel are absurd. 

 In fact, I have never known a pump gun 

 that would kill so far or so surely as the 

 best double guns. I own a double gun 

 which was acknowledged to be the best gun 

 of 16 that were shot during the same day. 

 Eight of them were Winchester pump guns, 

 choke bored. Mine is a modified choke, and 

 I was far from being the best shot of the 

 party. There can be but one reason why 

 we should prefer a breech loader to a muz- 

 zle loader,, a hammerless to a hammer gun, 

 a pump to a double barrel or an automatic 

 to a pump gun. Perhaps you can guess this 

 reason. Observer, Boston, Mass. 



If Single Barrel will write me I will tell 

 him my experience with Remington guns, 

 as well as many others ; experience of 57 

 years, which ought to be of value to a 

 young man starting out. 



Mr. Magee, of Templeton, Ore., has a re- 

 markable 16 gauge gun, to be "pretty sure 



on canvasbacks at 75 yards." I have used 

 at least 30 guns, from 8 gauge to 20, but I 

 must take off my hat to his 16 gauge Ithaca. 

 I have used 2 Ithacas, 10 and 12 gauge, but 

 they never could shoot with the 16 of which 

 Mr. Magee tells us. He is entitled to a 

 diploma as a cheerful liar. 



Uncle D. T. T., Orient Point, N. Y. 



I want to say to Single Barrel, of Mon- 

 treal, Can., that my experience has been 

 similar to his. I owned a Winchester pump 

 gun, 16 gauge, but sold it and got a Rem- 

 ington, $45, 12 gauge, 7 pound hammerless, 

 and have never had a gun to suit me as 

 well. 



I desire to learn through Recreation, 

 which is the best all around gun for ducks, 

 quail and rabbits, with particulars as to 

 weight, length of barrels, choke, gauge and 

 make. 



I heartily endorse your fight against the 

 automatic shot gun' and hope you may suc- 

 ceed in creating such a sentiment against 

 this weapon that any one who calls himself 

 a sportsman will be ashamed to use it. It 

 is a pity that the Winchester people, who 

 have received the trade of sportsmen all 

 over the United States, should put such a 

 gun on the market, for it shows that they 

 care nothing for the welfare of the game. 

 They seem to think only of how they may 

 profit by its destruction. I intend buying 

 a gun this fall, and am going to get a 

 double barrel shot gun. 



A. L. Fleet. Slater. Mo. 



A while ago I saw in Recreation a ques- 

 tion regarding the relative penetration of 

 Luger and Mauser pistols. Two years ago 

 I made a test block for the Spaulding peo- 

 ple which proved that, using factory am- 

 munition, the pistols named were nearly 

 equal in penetration. Each pierced 10 pine 

 boards and lodged the bullet in the nth. 

 The bullets were full jacketed, and, as I 

 recall it, the Luger shells were of foreign 

 make and the Mausers were domestic. The 

 block was made of new pine boards, care- 

 fully planed to one inch in thickness, laid 

 tightly together and held by strips tacked 

 on the edges. The distance from muzzles 

 was 5 feet. 



E. W. Gould, Schenectady, N. Y. 



Will some one who has used a .32-44 

 target revolver tell me what are the 

 cleanest » and best brands of black and 

 smokeless powders for use in that arm. for 

 both target and gallery loads? I have 

 become disgusted with the black powder 

 carried in stock by dealers in the smaller 

 towns on account of the excessive fouling, 

 and the much lauded King's semi-smoke- 

 less is not altogether satisfactory to one 



