GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



135 



AN INTERESTING RELIC. 

 I send you to-day another curio for your 

 den. I hope you will place it beside the big 

 Prince of Wales buffalo gun I sent you 

 some years ago. 



made by the Winchester Arms Co. or the 

 Ideal Manufacturing Co. If other bullets 

 having different shaped points than the 

 standard, such as Mo,. 25,719 on the same 

 page, are desired, I advise No. 3 special 



This gun is surely a novelty. I do not 

 know how much it weighs, who owned 

 it first, how it got there or for what it was 

 used. Wish I did. What a history it must 

 have! It was probably used as a whale 

 gun ! If so where is the hardy Norseman 

 who put it to his shoulder? Did the brave 

 fellow go down with the gun when years 

 ago it went to the bottom of the sea off 

 Port Valdes? Are his bones there yet? 

 Hardly, for the condition of the old weap- 

 on, when dragged up by the anchor of a 

 Dawson steamer shows that it must have 

 lain there many years under many fathoms 

 of water. 



The gun was turned over by the Jackie 

 who saved it to a hardware house here, in 

 whose window I discovered it. Time evens 

 all things and at last this interesting relic 

 lands in your den. 



If any of the good fellows who want big 

 game come this way tell them to call on me. 

 C. F, Lundy, Seattle, Wash. 



TO RELOAD 25-20 CARTRIDGES. 



Please explain how to reload 25-20 single 

 shot cartridges. Does a set of reloading 

 tools, as sold, contain everything necessary 

 for reloading these shells? What is meant 

 by trajectory? What size shot is best for 

 duck shooting? 



Harry Deane, Mingo Junction, Ohio. 



ANSWER. 



The 25-20 single shot cartridge is regu- 

 larly loaded with 19 grains of f f g or f g 

 black powder, or its equivalent in bulk of 

 Du Pont's smokeless rifle powder. 



The weight of the regular bullet as made 

 by the factory is 86 grains. There are re- 

 ports of the 86 grain bullet staggering in 

 some rifles. If such is the case, would 

 advise the 77 grain bullet with an increase 

 of 1 or i]/ 2 grains of powder. For weights 

 of different bullets that may be used in the 

 25-20 single shot, see series designated as 

 No. 25,720 in the Ideal Hand Book, No*. 14, 

 on page 26. These various weights may be 

 seated with the standard reloading tools as 



tool as made by the Ideal Manufactur- 

 ing Co. Extra chambers can be bought 

 with that implement for seating bullets 

 of different weights. Those who have not 

 a copy of the Ideal Hand Book should 

 write the manufacturers for one. 



"Trajectory" means the curve which a 

 bullet describes in its flight from the muz- 

 zle to the object aimed at. For example, if 

 an imaginary straight line is drawn from 

 the muzzle of the gun direct to the object 

 aimed at, it will be found in actual test 

 that the bullet on being fired first rises 

 above and then gradually falls to this line. 



No. 2 shot is generally used for duck 

 shooting, though some use No. 1 and others 

 smaller than No. 2. — Editor 



WHY LOOK BACKWARD ? 



In June Recreation I find an article by 

 J. A. Steele, headed, "Wanted to Return to 

 the Muzzle Loader." Why not return to 

 the flintlock or the arquebus? 



There were a few muzzle loaders on the 

 old farm and I have had experience with 

 them. You pour in a handful of powder, 

 more or less; wad with paper and ram all 

 home until you bark your fingers. Then 

 put in shot, gravel, nails or any old junk 

 and more paper. Then you put on a cap, 

 if your fingers are not too cold. G. D. caps 

 were principally used in my time, though 

 in speaking of them that abbreviation was 

 never used. I have heard the name ex- 

 panded to a shockingly profane length. 

 Having got the weapon loaded we will 

 suppose you put up a grouse. The gun goes 

 to shoulder and you pull trigger. "Snap! 

 S-s-s-ss !" says the cap. Then there is a 

 more or less prolonged silence. At this 

 stage of the game the unduly curious were 

 wont to look down the barrel to see what 

 was coming next. They generally found 

 out, but seldom tarried long to explain what 

 they thought about it. Those strong mind- 

 ed enough to keep the gun pointed in the 

 direction of the disappearing grouse were 

 rewarded in time by hearing a most satis- 

 fying explosion. Sometimes even the 

 grouse heard it, but as a rule he was out 

 of earshot. An expert hunter would pull 

 .the trigger and then look for something to 

 shoot; if he was in a decent game country 

 he could find it before the gun went off. 



