212 



RECREATION. 



Winchester. I tried to persuade my friend, 

 who was to accompany me, that he made a 

 mistake in not buying one also, but he dis- 

 agreed with me. 



We went to Nova Scotia and engaged 

 an exceptionally good guide. When ready 

 for our first hunt I loaded the rifle in 

 accordance with the instructions given by 

 the Savage Company, but when I attempted 

 to bring the lever lock back in place I 

 could not close it. I worked over it 

 2 hours without effect, after which my 

 friend, who is a good mechanic and un- 

 derstands a rifle thoroughly, took it in 

 hand, but it was no use. One of the 

 cartridges was stuck in the barrel in such 

 a way that it was impossible for us to ex- 

 tract it or close the lever. There we were 

 38 miles from the nearest settlement and 

 I had no rifle I could use. Fortunately, 

 however, my guide had a Winchester which 

 he let me take and with which I killed the 

 largest moose brought to Shelbourne in 

 many years. 



When I reached home I succeeded in get- 

 ting the shell extracted and took the rifle 

 back to the dealer from whom I bought 

 it. I told him I wanted to return it as, 

 though it had been warranted in every way, 

 it had proved worthless. A few days 

 afterward I received a letter from the 

 Savage Arms Company saying they regret- 

 ted I should have had such an experience; 

 that they had received the rifle and found 

 it in perfect condition ; that the trouble 

 must have been with the ammunition and 

 that I had not used that which they manu- 

 facture and recommend. But the fact was, 

 I had used only their own ammunition, 

 which I demonstrated by sending them the 

 shell which was extracted after we reached 

 home. They sent me a quantity of ammu- 

 nition with the rifle when they returned 

 it; but, I returned the weapon to the dealer 

 and told him I did not want it at any 

 price. All I wanted was to have the 

 Savage people refund the money I had 

 paid them. That, they refused to do.. I 

 would gladly have paid the price of the 

 rifle twice over if I had found it reliable 

 and could have killed a moose with it. 



W. A. Cone, Springfield, Mass. 



If the. Savage people were as cranky as 

 Marlin and Peters' they would now with- 

 draw their ad and bring a libel suit against 

 me, as Paddy did. Keep your eye on Sav- 

 age and see whether he follows Paddy's 



example. — Editor. 



MINIATURE LOAD FOR 30-30. 



Will someone explain through Recrea- 

 tion why the Savage smokeless powder 

 No. 1, 1899 brand, will not burn in a 30-30 

 W. C. F, shell? I loaded some of the 

 shells for short range with 6 grains, ac- 

 cording to directions, using No. 5' Win- 



chester primers, and only about one-third 

 of powder burned. Then I put in 12 grains 

 and about 9 grains burned. My rifle is a 

 '94 model Winchester carbine. The short 

 range factory cartridges are all right. 



A. L. Dawes, Harrison, Me. 



ANSWER. 



The W. C. F. shell is suitable; the pow- 

 der is all right used as directed; the 6 

 grain charge is correct for the lead minia- 

 ture and 10 to 12 grains is the proper 

 charge for the metal jacketed miniature.. 

 The latter quantity also will answer for 

 a hard 100 grain cast bullet, about one part 

 tin to 8 or 9 parts lead; but the No. 5 

 Winchester primer should not have been 

 used, as the directions on the can call for 

 the No. S l / 2 U. M. C. primer. This is the 

 only primer recommended by the Savage 

 Company for use with their 1899 powder. 

 At present they are using 2 powders; one 

 for full loads and an entirely different grade 

 for short range and reduced loads. Some- 

 times in using nitro powders, apparently 

 some of the powder grains remain in the 

 barrel unburned. Usually, however, this is 

 debris or ash, remaining from the com- 

 bustion of that part of the powder which 

 did not burn in the chamber. If carefully 

 collected and tested it will be found im- 

 possible to make it ignite. Try the S 1 /^ 

 U. M. C. primers, follow the loading di- 

 rections exactly, and report if not satis- 

 factory. Be sure the bullets you use for 

 short range are the correct ones. The 

 Winchester short range bullet is of lead, 

 weighing 100 grains. The Savage has 2 

 short range bullets ; one of lead and one 

 metal jacketed with lead center, each 

 weighing 100 grains. Push a lubricated 

 lead bullet through the bore of your rifle 

 carefully and see if it is a snug fit; if 

 otherwise the small charge of nitro powder 

 will not give sufficient upsettage, and gas 

 cutting, with great inaccuracy will inevit- 

 ably result. In using either the Win- 

 chester or Savage lead ball, employ little 

 or no crimp, but with the Savage metal 

 covered ball, a full crimp is necessary. 

 The metal jacketed miniature stands up 

 better than either of the lead balls, as more 

 powder can be used. It also shoots clean- 

 er with no danger of leading. The lead 

 balls are inefficient at over 100 yards, while 

 the metal jacketed balls hold up well at 

 200. — Editor. 



A NEW SIGHT. 

 It is strange that in spite of the great 

 advance in gun making, so little attention 

 has been given to the improvement of 

 sights. The same old coarse adjustment 

 of the rear sight by graduated steps, with 

 no thought of finer adjustment, save, per- 

 chance, the sight be fitted with a small 



