GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



117 



A man who has never shot one would do 

 well to load it at all. One cause of those 

 guns having gained such fame is they were 

 all finely sighted and the length of the 

 barrel gave much greater distance between 

 sights than we have in our modern rifles. 

 The double set hair triggers enabled the 

 shooter to hold dead on while pulling, in- 

 stead of pulling off, as we so often do with 

 our hard trigger guns. 



Geo. L. Maus, The Dalles, Ore. 



THE UNITED STATES REVOLVER ASSOCI- 

 ATION. 



This Association is the national organi- 

 zation of the revolver and pistol shots of 

 the United States. It was organized in 

 1900 and incorporated in 1903. Its objects 

 are : "To foster and develop revolver and 

 pistol shooting, establish and preserve rec- 

 ords, classify arms, encourage and con- 

 duct friendly matches between members 

 and clubs in our own country as well as 

 with our brother shooters abroad." 



Any citizen of the United States interest- 

 ed in revolver or pistol shooting is eli- 

 gible for membership. There is no initia- 

 tion fee. The dues are $1 a year. 



During the 5 years of its existence the 

 Association has conducted 2 international 

 revolver matches with France, both of 

 which were won by the United States. It 

 has provided suitable trophies and has es- 

 tablished annual championship matches open 

 to everybody. These matches are held in 

 6 or more places throughout the United 

 States each year, and are in charge of a 

 regularly appointed officer of the Associ- 

 ation in each locality. 



The rules and regulations governing these 

 championship contests have been adopted 

 by nearly all the active clubs in the coun- 

 try, thus securing uniformity in the classi- 

 fication of arms as well as in the minor de- 

 tails and conditions. Matches between 

 teams in remote parts of the country are 

 now not only feasible, but are of frequent 

 occurrence and extremely interesting. 



The Association has also instituted a 

 medal competition to gauge the skill of in- 

 dividual shots, wherever they may live. 

 Certified targets are issued, and when the 

 shooting is done under prescribed condi- 

 tions, medals are awarded, and the scores 

 recorded in the Record Book of the Asso- 

 ciation. Sixty members have already se- 

 cured ratings in the records by this method. 



The membership, which in 1900 num- 

 bered 40, has increased to over 420, and 

 now includes practically all the prominent 

 shots in the country. 



The affairs of the Association have been 

 managed conservatively from the begin- 

 ning. Financially it is in excellent condi- 

 tion, and is now accumulating a surplus 



which will be expended in furthering the 

 objects of the Association. 



It is proposed to provide a trophy to be 

 competed for by teams of 5 men and to 

 establish State championships, the latter to 

 be determined by the scores made in each 

 State in the annual championship matches. 



A booklet containing the constitution, 

 rules and regulations governing the cham- 

 pionship matches, a list of members, etc., 

 will be mailed on application to J. B. Crab- 

 tree, Secretary-Treasurer,- 525 Main street, 

 Springfield, Mass. 



SMALL SHOT. 

 Public sentiment will have to be molded 

 against the use of automatic and pump guns 

 before their use will be restricted by law. I 

 am opposed to both of them. They are not 

 sportsmanlike and are sold for the quicker 

 extermination of game and the making of 

 larger bags. They are weapons of the mar- 

 ket hunter ; of the man who would not hesi- 

 tate to pot a covey of quail running ahead 

 of him in the furrow ; of the man who 

 creeps up to a flock of ducks sitting on the 

 water and pots as many as he can ; the 

 weapon of the man who sells his game and 

 thinks more of the money he gets than he 

 does of the day's recreation, the difficult 

 shot he has made and the easy one he has 

 missed. W. B. Mershon, Saginaw, Mich. 



While hunting deer* in the Adirondacks 

 last fall I started a buck. Although I 

 caught but a glimpse of his flag I sent a 

 bullet after him, partly in hope that it 

 might find him and partly to warn Bill that 

 I had started game. Bill heard the shot, 

 and as the buck came his way, fired at it. 

 Not knowing where the shot came from the 

 animal stopped on a knoll 100 yards from 

 where my comrade was standing. Bill tried 

 to throw another cartridge into the gun 

 and it stuck halfway between the magazine 

 and the barrel. Shocked at Bill's remarks, 

 the buck hastened out of hearing. The rifle 

 was a Marlin. Bill has a Savage now. 



J. W. Furnside, Schenectady, N. Y. 



Will some of Recreation's readers please 

 tell me what they think of the 38-55 Win- 

 chester for big game ? 



Is there any game in Arizona? If so, 

 what kind? 



Long life to Recreation. It is the best 

 sportsmen's magazine I ever saw. 



Jas. Gaylord, Nasper, Tenn. 



Do you think 34 inch barrels desirable? 

 What are maximum loads of both black and 

 smokeless powders for 10 and 12 gauge, 

 with B B shot? 



Revalli, Missoula, Mont. 



Will readers of Recreation please an- 

 swer ? — Editor. 



