136 



RECREATION. 



By all means let us return to the muzzle 

 loader, or, better yet, to the boomerang and 

 bow and arrow. 



H. L. Manchester, Tiverton, R. I, 



HOW NOT TO LOAD A MAUSER. 

 As the Mauser rifle is receiving consid- 

 erable attention in Recreation, let me add 

 my chip to the pile. In '99, when I re- 

 turned from the Philippines, I brought 

 back a Mauser and 100 cartridges for it. 

 I also brought a lot of 45-70's, both black 

 and smokeless. After using nearly all my 

 Mauser shells at target practice one day 

 I tried an experiment. I poured the 

 powder out of a Mauser shell and re- 

 placed it with about the same quantity of 

 • 45-70 smokeless. Then I fired. When the 

 other fellows picked me up I had a sprink- 

 ling of powder and steel in my head and 

 face, but was not seriously hurt. We 

 didn't pick up all of the gun. The explo- 

 sion broke the receiver off the barrel, broke 

 the stock and scattered bits of hardware 

 over the whole township. The bolt handle 

 was cracked off and the receiver bent like 

 a rail fence.. The front sight and the 

 butt plate are intact, but the rest isn't 

 worth 3 cents as old iron. A Mauser is 

 all right in its way, but don't load it with 

 45-70 smokeless. 



M. C. Manly, Gilmer, Wash. 



SMALL SHOT. 

 I thank you for the bullet mould recently 

 received. It was kind of you to order a 

 premium not in your list for so small a 

 number of subscriptions. It is for an old 

 powder and ball Colt's, 45 caliber, which, as 

 the barrel is in perfect condition is cer- 

 tainly worth a mould. I have an old Ger- 

 man hand-made muzzle loading rifle which 

 I recently had rebored to 45 caliber. It 

 was rebored by the man who made it and 

 will score with a modern breech loader. 

 There are 3 of us in this town who delight 

 in burning powder. Two shoot 25-20 Win- 

 chester's, while No. 3 shoots a 38-55 re- 

 peater. For an all around light rifle the 

 25 can not be beaten, especially for a squir- 

 rel gun. My 25 has been in constant use 

 9 years and the barrel is still perfect, 

 though at least 6,000 shots have been fired 

 from it. We all use Ideal tools and reload 

 our shells. 



H. E. Shaw, Madison, Wis. 



Have noticed in recent issues of Recrea- 

 tion information about loading the differ- 

 ent rifle shells with smokeless powder. 

 Nearly all writers advise putting in a few 

 grains of black powder before the smoke- 

 less. I can not see any reason for so do- 

 ing. It is unnecessary, causes smoke, dirty 

 gun barrels and erratic shooting. I am 



now using Blue Rival, New Rival and New 

 Club shells, primed with Winchester No. 

 3 primer. I load with 2^4, 3 and 3% 

 drams Du Pont smokeless for a 12 gauge 

 gun. These shells are, I believe, all one 

 needs for field shooting. Have always 

 found them quick, sure fire and have never 

 had a head blow off. Ed. J. Anderson is 

 right in saying it takes a season's shooting 

 to learn the ins and outs of a gun. 



W. C. H., Augusta, Mich. 



In answer to inquiries concerning the 

 25-20 cartridge, I would say I have had 2 

 rifles of that caliber. There is no better 

 cartridge for game under deer. I recently 

 bought a Winchester, model '92, 25-20 re- 

 peater. It is the neatest rifle I have seen 

 for small game, and superior to the 32-20 

 in every way. I have had a Stevens No. 

 44 Ideal, 25-20 rifle, but prefer the Win- 

 chester as it is lighter. The Stevens uses 

 the 25-20 single shot cartridge and the Win- 

 chester uses the 25-20 Winchester. The 

 shooting qualities of the 2 are about the 

 same, but being different in form, they 

 will not fit the same chamber. 



H. B., Campello, Mass. 



I wish to select a good target rifle cost- 

 ing about $25. Will any of your readers 

 give me information as to what I would 

 find best suited to my needs ? - I care for 

 no decorations, but wish a perfectly plain, 

 well made gun, with all necessary attach- 

 ments. 



Recreation Rifle Club is in flourishing 

 condition and we have no reason to regret 

 having adopted the name. Practically, 

 Recreation is our official organ. 



H. P. Brown, Auburn, N. Y. 



I am much interested in the gun and 

 ammunition department of Recreation. 

 Though a gun crank, I am unfortunately 

 not able to buy an expensive gun; so I 

 ordered an Ithaca, No. 1, Special hammer- 

 less with nitro steel barrels for target use. 

 The finish, balance and shooting qualities 

 of the Ithaca surprised me. The new con- 

 cealed cross bolt added to the old under 

 fastening, makes a doubly secure fastening. 

 E. M. B„ Trumansburg, N. Y. 



Some time ago I bought a Hopkins & 

 Allen 22 caliber rifle. Its finish was rather 

 crude; but after cutting down the front 

 sight, filing sharp edges off the hammer, 

 tinkering the trigger and reaming the rear 

 of chamber until it would admit the rim of 

 a shell, I found I had a first class little gun. 

 It has done great execution on woodchucks 

 and sparrows. If you split the nose of a 22 

 long, it will tear a hole as big as a cent. 

 Lloyd Badger, Quaquaga, N. Y. 



