176 



RECREATION. 



siders to shoot on their grounds, and in- 

 serted notices in all the papers to that ef- 

 fect. Even the dealers in guns and am- 

 munition were advising their would-be 

 patrons to wait till fall, something they de- 

 serve great credit for; the Western Arms 

 and Sporting Goods Co. as usual taking 

 the lead. You are right about the auto- 

 matic shot gun, but I can not agree with 

 you in classing the repeater with it, as I 

 have used a repeating shot gun for years 

 and have never made a- hog of myself. 

 I consider it the best cheap gun on the 

 market ; but in case the sportsmen decide 

 that repeaters must go, I will be among 

 the first to change, though in the hands of 

 a man who has any respect for himself I 

 consider it an ideal cheap gun. 



I have used a Savage .303, fitted with 

 Lyman sights, for several years, and con- 

 sider it perfection. I recently got a Savage 

 .22, and am well pleased with it. 



Getting Recreation at the news stands, 

 has one drawback; you either have to get 

 it as soon as it comes, or go without it, 

 as copies are bought as soon as received. 

 I always have one put away for me to be 

 sure of getting it, as if left in sight the 

 chances are I would not get it. 



L. R. Metz, Salt Lake, Utah. 



As I have repeatedly said in Recreation, 

 I would have no objection to allowing de- 

 cent men to use pump guns or even auto- 

 matic guns. What I do object to, most 

 rigidly, is allowing such weapons to be 

 sold to market hunters and other game 

 hogs; and if we allow the weapons to be 

 sold at all, these men will be the principal 

 buyers. This is the only reason why I am 

 advocating the passage of laws in all the 

 States to prohibit the sale of such guns. 



Editor. 



SMALL SHOT. 



R. B. Stowers of Cupio, Ky., said in Jan- 

 uary Recreation that he thought the world 

 would be better off without the .22 rifle, 

 and that the price should be raised to keep 

 them out of the hands of irresponsible per- 

 sons or a tax put on their use. I have read 

 a good deal in Recreation about game 

 hogs. There are also other kinds of hogs, 

 the kind, for instance, that want to hog 

 all the pleasure in the world. 



Mr. Stowers is evidently one of that 

 sort. I am the owner of a 22 and I think 

 the world would be better off if the pump 

 gun were prohibited. Most men would be 

 richer today, had they not spent 75, 100 or 

 125 dollars for a gun. 



You can have as much sport with a 22 

 rifle as you can with a shot gun where 

 there is only small game. 



M. J. G., Warren, O. 



ville, Ohio, gives in July Recreation will 

 not harm the Stevens Arms Co. No gun 

 is yet perfect, and that the shot gun Mr. 

 Book had first happened to be defective is 

 no sign they all are. 



I do not believe in running a good com- 

 pany down because the president withdrew 

 his ad from Recreation, and anybody who 

 thinks can see that Mr. Shields feels the 

 same way. 



I do not believe the automatic shot guns 

 have come to stay, for it will not take long 

 for the public to see the damage they do. 

 Sportsmen should stand by Mr. Shields in 

 his fight, for he will win in the end, no 

 matter how many porkers squeal. 



Allyn H. Tedmen, Ridgefield, N. J. 



Answering Small Game, W. Lebanon, 

 Pa., would say that of the 5 guns he names 

 it is hard to say which is best. It depends 

 wholly on the notions of the chooser. The 

 Parker would be my choice. Shot spread- 

 ers will not make a full choked gun shoot 

 as large a pattern as a cylinder bore. A 

 short barrel, right open, left modified, will 

 be best for close range wing shooting. A 

 12 gauge is best for grouse, rabbits, and 

 at the trap. If a gun is wanted for both 

 purposes get 2 pairs of barrels, one as 

 described for brush shooting and one pair 

 30 inch full choke for trap shooting. 



Select a slow beagle for hunting rabbits, 

 no matter what his size. I prefer a large 

 one. 



J. B. C, Johnstown, Pa. 



In answer to Pump Gun and to Repeater, 

 I will cite one instance in which the pump 

 gun was made a game hog's gun of the vil- 

 est type. 



One day last fall a man, armed with a 

 Winchester repeating shot gun, its maga- 

 zine fully charged with shells loaded with 

 buck shot, was watching a runway in 

 Pennsylvania. A large doe ran past him 

 followed by 3 fawns. The gun was fired as 

 fast as possible, killing one fawn ; the rest 

 escaped, all more or less wounded. This, 

 to me, is proof enough of the damnable 

 possibilities of the pump gun. Heaven help 

 the game when the hogs use the automatic 

 shot gun or rifle. 



Davy Crockett, Ardmore, Pa. 



Such warning as S. M. Book, of Rush- 



In reply to Henry Wiggins, Jr., I will say 

 that a .25-20, '92 model,' Winchester re- 

 peater, 24 inch barrel, fitted with Lyman 

 No. 1 combination rear, No. 4 ivory hunt- 

 ing front and No. 6 leaf sights, comes as 

 near filling the bill for all around work as 

 any gun he can get. It is small enough for 

 squirrels or rabbits and powerful enough for 

 woodchucks, turkeys, coyotes, or even deer. 

 The load will not admit of much variation. 

 I get good results, at a low cost, from re- 



