GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



49 



the brain just in front of the ear and went 

 nearly half way through it. This was as 

 much an accident as was my killing of an 

 eagle with a stone while fishing in Santa 

 Barbara county, some years ago. The eagle 

 came soaring down the creek and I threw 

 a stone at it to frighten it; the huge bird 

 sailed into the stone and went down into 

 the water with a broken neck. 



S. O. Blodgett, San Francisco, Cal. 



SMALL SHOT. 



Will you kindly inform me through Rec- 

 reation what gun is best adapted for the 

 big game of Africa, such as lions, elephants, 

 etc. Is the 30-40 Winchester deadly at 

 2,000 yards, and what is the penetration at 

 that distance? 



Charles Thornquest, New York city. 



ANSWER. 



As a rule, sportsmen in Africa do not 

 limit themselves to one gun, but take a 

 battery of several guns, suited to the dif- 

 ferent animals. The elephant and the lion 

 are not at all in the same class. Ten and 12- 

 bore rifles have been much used for shoot- 

 ing elephants. The modern high power 

 rifles of 40 and 45 caliber are highly spoken 

 of, as all around rifles, and the .303 is said 

 to kill even elephants fairly well. 



The 30-40 is deadly at 2,000 yards in the 

 sense of killing a man or an animal struck 

 in a vital spot. The penetration at that 

 distance I do not know. — Editor. 



Although the story in Recreation en- 

 titled "The Mystery of a Bullet," by Charles 

 W. Sawyer, does not call for an answer I 

 think I can throw some light on the case. 

 I figure it out that the boys were hunting, 

 several days of their vacation, in a woods 

 near where the sheep went to feed; that 

 one of those queer bullets came straying 

 out of the woods and fell in the pasture 

 of the sheep ; and that either the sheep it- 

 self ate the bullet by mistake or that the 

 lawyer mentioned in the story fed it to 

 that sheep in order to get a case, as he 

 knew that one of the boys had been bucked 

 by one of that farmer's rams. It would 

 look rather hard for the boys and the case 

 would be easy for him to win for the farm- 

 er. The farmer does not prosecute the boys 

 and the villain is foiled once more. 



Edwin H. Lankety, New York City. 



In July Recreation there appears an 

 article from the Savage Arms Co., giving 

 the penetration of .303 Savage as 50 inches 

 in tests made at Detroit, Boston and New 

 York. They were made in pine, longitu- 

 dinally, which the Savage people claim is a 

 greater test of penetration than when made 

 horizontally through pine boards. I do not 



question the penetration of the Savage .303 

 as compared with other arms; but I main- 

 tain that any bullet will show greater pene- 

 tration in wood in line with the grain than 

 across it. I should like to wager the Sav- 

 age Arms Co. the price of a .303 that they 

 can not show a 50 inch lateral penetration 

 in solid pine with any cartridge used by 

 sportsmen. 



W. A. Barr, Chicago, 111. 



Recreation readers will be interested 

 in a telescope sight manufactured in 

 in this city by Joseph Coxe. For sim- 

 plicity and ease of application it has no 

 equal. It is composed of lenses in 2 sets. 

 One set is fitted to a folding leaf and at- 

 tached to the gun in the rear slot ; the 

 other set is attached to any peep sight and 

 can be changed to an open sight by simply 

 turning the leaf down. The front sight is 

 not changed and is kept in its regular po- 

 sition. It. will plainly show the eyes of 

 a sparrow at 100 yards ; a thing impossible 

 with any other sight. It is called the Mag- 

 noscope, and may be had by addressing 

 Mr. Coxe. Price $4. 



J. W. Stapleton, York, Neb, 



There is in this vicinity a gun which if 

 not unique is at least rare. It is a 

 16 guage, undersnap action, pin-fire, and 

 was made in France. Its chief pecu- 

 liarity is that it dismounts in 3 sections: 

 the stock, back of the pistol grip ; the pistol 

 grip, lock, and about 8 inches of the barrel, 

 making a formidable breech loading horse 

 pistol ; and the remainder of the barrel, the 

 length of an ordinary cane. This is fitted 

 with a knob at one end and a ferule at the 

 other, and is colored to Imitate wood. A 

 better weapon for a poacher could hardly 

 be devised. The gun is of good quality and 

 workmanship; is still serviceable and in fair 

 condition. 



G. A. Mack, Pleasantville, N. Y, 



My experience with German and U. M. C. 

 ammunition agrees with that of Messrs. 

 Stokes and Higgins. I find the U. M. C. 

 7-m-m cartridges stronger, and more cleanly 

 and accurate than the German loads. While 

 on my ranch in Idaho last winter I tested 

 my Mauser against Savage .303, and Win- 

 chester and Marlin 30-30. 1 he Mauser 

 proved much more powerful than the 

 others. I do not know that this is any 

 great point in favor of the Mauser, as the 

 ,303 and 30-30 shoot hard enough for all 

 practical purposes. I also agree with Mr. 

 Higgins in regard to the good qualities of 

 Laflin & Rand powder. 



C. H. Kessler, Oro Fino, Idaho. 



