GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



m 



1 am now on the Lion Springs target 

 range with part of the 4th U. S. Infantry. 

 I have tested my Savage along with the 

 Krag rifle and it holds its own, equipped 

 as it came from the factory. Fit it out, 

 were it possible, with the improved Buf- 

 fington sight of the Krag, or with a Lyman 

 outfit and I don't believe it could be beaten. 

 G. L. Cable, Surgeon U. S. A., 

 Ft. Houston, Texas. 



PUT 9 BULLETS IN AN ELK. 

 The .303 Savage is the nicest gun to 

 handle that I ever saw and it can not be 

 beaten for accuracy, but I had trouble 

 when I used it on big game. I killed 2 elk 

 with it. One dropped at the first shot with 

 a broken back. The second was walking 

 slowly up a hill, about 220 yards from me. 



1 had 2 shots at him before he got into the 

 timber. He was then going on 3 legs and 

 bleeding a great deal. We tracked him 



'by the blood until dark and then returned 

 to camp. Next day we picked up the trail 

 in a windfall and raised the bull about a 

 mile farther on. I emptied the magazine 

 at him at 75 yards, yet he did not drop. 

 That was about 9 in the morning. We 

 followed him until 1 p. m., getting shots 

 every hour. When he finally went down 

 we examined him. 



My first shot went in the right shoulder 

 and through the lungs. The second had 

 broken the right fore leg and gone into the 

 breast. There were 7 other bullets in him; 

 one in the neck just ahead of the shoulder, 

 one in the shoulder just above the joint, 



2 in the right hip, one had cut the right 

 fore leg almost in 2 at the knee, and one 

 cut through the left hind quarter. The 

 last and fatal bullet went through the 

 heart. 



The most astonishing part of it was that 

 not one of those shots knocked him down 

 but the last. My theory is that the bullets 

 did not mushroom until they had reached 

 nearly the end of their course through the 

 flesh. The only bullets that went clear 

 through were one through the left quarter 

 and one through the knee. I do not con- 

 demn the Savage, but next fall I shall use 

 my 40-72 Winchester. 



Fred F. Wilson, Jersey Shore, Pa. 



You should have fired your last shot first 

 and saved the other 8. — Editor. 



A NEW MAGAZINE GUN. 



718,055. Magazine Gun. John Hylard, St. 



Kilda, Victoria, Australia, assignor of 



% to Edmund George Henry Bingham, 



Broomwood, Seven Oaks, County of 



Kent, England. Filed Nov. 11, 190T. 



Serial No. 81,884. (No model.) 



Claim. — 1. The combination, with a breech 



body and a stationary top plate, 6; of a 



hammer and a hammer mainspring support- 

 ed by the said body, a safety block, 26, piv- 

 oted to the said spring and provided with a 

 notch for engaging with the top plate, 6, 

 and a slidable breech bolt provided with a 



cam for actuating the block, 26, substan- 

 tially as set forth. 



2. The combination, with a breech body 

 provided with a stationary catch, of a ham- 

 mer and a hammer mainspring supported 

 by the said body, a safety block pivoted to 

 the said spring and engaging with the said 

 catch when moved downward and rearward, 

 and a slidable breech bolt provided with a 

 cam, 38, for depressing the said block, and 

 having a plate for moving the said block 

 forward out of engagement with the said 

 catch, said breech bolt and breech body 

 having also inclined opposed surfaces, 160. 



MERELY FACETIOUS. 

 In November Recreation D 1 . L. Bodge, 

 of Middle Falls, N. Y., in giving his ex- 

 perience with the 22 short r. f. cartridge, 

 recommends it for big game in preference 

 to the 30-30 smokeless. In addition, he 

 says, "The average penetration is 36 inches 

 in seasoned oak. Some of the bullets pass 

 through an iron plate Yz inch thick, back 

 of the last plank." He also states that he 

 killed a moose with the 22 short at a quar- 

 ter of a mile. I do not know whether to 

 regard this as a huge joke, or to attribute 

 it to some mistake in the printing. I have 

 shot the 22 short cartridge for years in 

 Winchester, Stevens and other rifles, and 

 know it cannot do the work claimed for it 

 by Mr. Bodge. A Mauser will only pene- 

 trate one half inch of iron. The penetra- 

 tion of a 30-30 Winchester at 15 feet is 

 only 35 inches ; yet he says a 22 short will 

 do more than these 2 together. In shoot- 

 ing into white oak I have often had the 22 

 bullets rebound or flatten, and but few will 

 bury themselves out of sight in it. I should 

 like to have this explained in your columns 

 if possible. 



B. D. Davies, Wheeling, W. Va. 



ANSWER. 



Mr. Bodge did not expect his letter to 

 be taken seriously. He was merely throw- 

 ing bricks at the glass mansion of our 

 friend Mr. Van Dyke. — Editor. 



