IMPROVED • BALLISTICS. 



It is quite safe to predict that we are on 

 the eve of important improvements in fire- 

 arms. A high muzzle velocity is recognized 

 as almost, if not, actually the most valuable 

 attribute of a rifle. But, heretofore, an at- 

 tempt at a high muzzle velocity has been fol- 

 lowed by an increase of pressure within the 

 bore that put a bar to further progress in 

 that direction. 



For instance, in order to get a velocity of 

 some 2,300 ft. sec, pressures of at least 22 

 tons to the inch had to be provided for. Al- 

 though such pressures were acceptable in very 

 small calibers, such as the .256 and the .275, 

 when the caliber became .30 or over, it was 

 found inadvisable to exceed them in any 

 case, and with most breech actions 16 or 18 

 tons pressure was the limit permissible. 



Recent developments abroad have shown, 

 however, that smokeless powder of the most 

 powerful description may be so controlled as 

 to give enormous velocity with very moder- 

 ate pressure. 



The principle is simple. 



It consists in loading the cartridge so that 

 its "loading density" shall be low. This 

 term may be explained as follows : Suppos- 

 ing the cartridge case to be filled with water 

 whose weight is equal to 1, then by taking 

 the weight of powder used to give a certain 

 velocity, it will show a certain ratio to that 

 of the water, and the smaller this ratio the 

 more room the powder will have in the case. 

 By such means it has been found possible to 

 give a velocity of 2,700 ft. sec. to a .30 pro- 

 jectile weighing 214 grains, fired out of a 

 single shot rifle. 



Such velocity gives tremendous momen- 

 tum, and makes a .30 caliber equal in power 

 to a much heavier rifle having considerably 

 lower velocity. 



This end has been achieved by using a 

 much larger cartridge case, so as to make 

 more room for the powder. By confining the 

 powder closely, especially the smokeless kind, 

 you increase the pressure greatly, and the 

 velocity slightly, while, on the other hand, 

 by putting a larger quantity of the same pow- 

 der into a more roomy cartridge case, you 

 may increase the velocity greatly while actu- 

 ally decreasing the pressure. 



The improvements to come in the next ten 

 years furnish a fertile field for conjecture. 



PHENOMENAL SHOT. 



Editor Recreation : 



Reading the letter in your May number, 

 "Phenomenal Shot," brings to my mind a 

 shot of that kind I made when a boy of 

 twelve. My uncle had given me a pistol of 

 his own make, caliber about 22 ; barrel of 

 brass and about 10 inches long. A muzzle 

 loader. The bullets were round, and I had 

 fired at many objects without success. One 

 day I was out with an old man, who carried 

 a heavy muzzle-loading rifle. He was famous 

 at turkey shoots, and prided himself upon 

 killing woodchucks at long distances. I 

 called his attention to a bird in the top of a 

 great chestnut tree at a distance of 50 

 yards upon a hillside. In a spirit of brag- 

 gedness, I exclaimed, "I suppose you would 

 like me to take that bird's head off !" "Pooh," 

 said the old man, "I could hardly do it my- 

 self at this distance." I quickly fired at the 

 bird, and a small object came tumbling down 

 the hill toward us, followed by the bird's 

 body. We found the small object was the 

 bird's head, neatly severed through the neck. 

 C. T. Baldwin, M. D. 



Derby, Conn: 



WHY THE TIN? 

 Editor Recreation : 



Will some one please explain to me why it 

 is necessary to add tin to rifle and pistol bul- 

 lets intended to be used with black powder? 

 With smokeless powder they would, of 

 course, have to be hard to hold to the shallow 

 rifling, but in guns using black powder the 

 grooves are deeper, and why should we need 

 tin to hold the bullets to the rifling? 



The .42 Spanish has jy grs. of powder and 

 395 grs. of pure lead. The 45-70 U. S. Govt, 

 has 70 grs. of powder and 405 grs. of lead, 

 1 to 16 parts tin. Both of the guns have 

 rifling making one turn in 20 ins. The differ- 

 ence of powder in the one shell would equal 

 the difference of lead nearly in the other. 



These two shells were used for the sanri 

 purpose, the army rifle, and if the bullet was 

 going to strip the rifling, why does not it do 

 it, in the .43 caliber with the pure lead bul- 

 let and heavy charge of powder, and if it 

 does not, what was the use of the tin in the 

 .45-70 bullet? 



The .44-60 Sharp's is a pure lead bullet, 

 but the .44-77 is a bullet 1 to 15 parts tin. 



493 



