GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



177 



There is no question in our minds but 

 that Mr. Cone had the trouble he states, 

 as no man would go out of his way to de- 

 scribe something that did not happen. The 

 rifle was received and examined here, and 

 we could not find anything the matter with 

 it. There might have been some foreign 

 substance in the mechanism, or possibly 

 the shell was too large, being above gauge. 

 The trouble would come under one of 

 those 2 heads. 



We sent Mr. Cone new ammunition ; also 

 a brand new rifle, all at our expense, al- 

 though he did not buy the rifle from us, 

 but from a dealer. Mr. Cone refused to 

 accept the new rifle, as we understand, and 

 would not even look at it. He also made 

 threats in his letters to publish an account 

 of the injury, which he has succeeded in 

 doing. We are only sorry it was de- 

 layed so long, so that we could give still 

 further details, which might help to clear 

 up the mystery as to what gave the trouble 

 with that particular rifle. If Mr. Cone had 

 had some mechanical ability he could have 

 taken the objectionable cartridge out of the 

 gun by using a rod, wood or otherwise, 

 from the muzzle, at the same time bearing 

 on the lever. Then he could have tried the 

 other cartridges that he had, to see if they 

 went in easily, and his gun would have 

 been in use again. We have had one or 2 

 cases where persons have tried to put a 

 cartridge of different caliber into a gun 

 and they have come to grief. We do not 

 claim, however, that it was done in this 

 particular case. 



If Mr. Cone had said he had too large 

 a cartridge to go into the barrel, it would 

 not have been so bad, but he gives no rea- 

 son for the jam. Of course every sports- 

 man knows that any rifle can be jammed. 

 A man can put a cartridge wrong end first 

 in the magazine, or he can put a handful 

 of gravel in the magazine, or a hundred 

 and one things ; which should not be any- 

 thing against the individual arm. 



The only criticism we make in this com- 

 plaint is that Mr. Cone was not inclined to 

 receive overtures made in good faith by 

 ourselves, but wanted his money back. We 

 never sold him the rifle, but we did send a 

 new rifle to the dealer from whom he pur- 

 chased his other arm, paying all express 

 charges, besides sending new cartridges. 

 This, we believe, is more than other com- 

 panies do under similar circumstances. 



We thank you very much for your good 

 article on the new sight. We get large 

 number of inquiries from anything you 

 publish an account of, and can truthfully 

 say that Recreation is the best medium we 

 use for advertising our goods. 



Arthur Savage, 

 Managing Director, 

 Savage Arms Co. 



GUN LORE GALORE. 



L. E. Hinman asks in October Recrea- 

 tion if the Winchester people make a sin- 

 gle shot rifle for the 32 Ideal cartridge. 

 Their catalogue pictures the 32 Ideal, 

 which it says is adapted to Winchester 

 single shot and Stevens rifles. It is loaded 

 with 25 grains powder and 150 grain ball, 

 and is said to be highly accurate at 300 

 yards. 



In November Recreation M. Cuchman 

 asks about false muzzles. The only one I 

 ever used was fitted to a Remington No. 3 

 match rifle, 38-55. There were 2 little 

 holes in muzzle of gun, one above and the 

 other below the bore. The false muzzle 

 had pegs fitting the holes in barrel, bring- 

 ing the bore of the false muzzle exactly 

 over the bore of the gun. It was larger at 

 outer end, making a perfect swage for the 

 bullet. Across its face, up and down and 

 crosswise, were 2 grooves as deep as the 

 thickness of a sheet of paper and % inch 

 wide, centering as they crossed the center 

 of the bore. In these grooves a cross 

 patch was put, and the ball was placed 

 over it and rammed ; it being finally seated 

 against the shell with a long ramrod. This 

 false muzzle gave the best of results. 



Buck, in September Recreation, wants 

 the best squirrel and rabbit load. Get the 

 25-25 by all means. It is good at 300 yards. 

 Stevens, Winchesters and Remingtons of 

 that caliber guns are all good. 



In October M. L. Meason asks about the 

 comparative merits of Mauser repeating 

 pistol and Colt revolver. Both are ex- 

 pensive enough to be good. If my life de- 

 pended on a small arm against man or 

 beast, give me the Mauser. After first 

 shot it cocks automatically and can be 

 fired twice as fast as a double action re- 

 volver. It is 10 shot, and is sighted for 

 1,000 yards. 



Readers of Recreation have been 

 clamoring for the best all around gun. 

 It is the Winchester 32 special. It 

 shoots bottle necked cartridges, and with 

 factory load of high pressure smokeless 

 and a 165 grain soft point ball has a muz- 

 zle velocity of 2,057 foot seconds, giving 

 muzzle energy of 1,550 foot pounds. With 

 full metal patched ball, at 15 feet from 

 muzzle it has a penetration of 37 pine 

 boards. The factory ammunition is load- 

 ed with smokeless powder. Primed shells 

 can be had, or others reloaded, with 40 

 grains black powder, which develops a ve- 

 locity of 1,385 foot seconds, the same as 

 the 32-40 straight shell. Reloading tool, 

 model '94, is made for this cartridge. 

 With smokeless powder it is stronger than 

 the 303 Savage and next to the 30-40. Be- 

 ing 32 caliber, it is larger and will draw 

 more blood, making it a better big game 

 gun. F. B. Salisbury, Rochester, N. Y. 



