GUNS AND AMMUNITION. 



389 



While space in this magazine will not ad- 

 mit of a thorough review, it is not out of 

 place to relate to the readers of Recreation 

 who may be interested, a few points not 

 hitherto known which have been recently 

 demonstrated at the army camps in New 

 Jersey and Kansas. For a long time the 

 Winchester Repeating Arms Co. have in 

 their catalogues cautioned against reloading 

 shells with smokeless powder, claiming that 

 the shells would not withstand reloading by 

 reason of chemical action set up at the in- 

 stant of discharge. The facts do not 

 seem to warrant this caution any longer, it 

 having been found out that the trouble was 

 in the primer. The U. S. Army chemists 

 having discovered a non-mercuric primer 

 which has withstood severe tests, it remains 

 for the Winchester people to keep step with 

 the march of improvement and get out a 

 line of these primers. Other cartridge com- 

 panies are doing so, one large concern hav- 

 ing recently reported entire success. 



The average shooter likes to reload his 

 own shells. It saves money, gives him a 

 chance to experiment with different loads, 

 and is an interesting operation, indeed a 

 pleasure to most sportsmen who like to in- 

 vestigate the possibilities of varying charges 

 in the same gun. This question of primer 

 settled, it is now only a matter of time 

 when any intelligent shooter may reload his 

 own shells with smokeless powder, provided 

 he follows closely the directions of the pow- 

 der company whose product he uses. A 

 great many people have hesitated to use 

 smokeless ammunition in their revolvers. 

 This problem has been definitely settled in 

 the recent matches, it having been demon- 

 strated that high grade revolvers will safely 

 handle smokeless cartridges manufactured 

 by reliable companies ; and these arms, or 

 the cartridges proper to use, are now too 

 well known to need mention. The U. S. 

 Government has proved one claim it. has 

 been making for some time, namely, that 

 it makes the best shell. The 30 caliber 

 shell used in the Krag and made at Frank- 

 ford Arsenal is a distinct advance over any 

 of the products of the large private am- 

 munition companies ; but these plants will 

 not long be behind, it already being cur- 

 rent gossip of their supporters that new 

 shells will soon be on the market that will 

 equal if not surpass the Frankford brand 

 of the U. S. A. The fierce competition be- 

 tween the cartridge manufacturers will re- 

 sult in a product entirely acceptable to 

 lovers of the rifle and the revolver. 



A project is already started which will 

 greatly aid in popularizing the matches next 

 year, the intent being to hold the matches 

 in each military department. This will re- 

 duce traveling expenses to those desiring 

 to- participate, yet living at long distances 

 from Fort Rilev or Sea Girt. The meetings 



will then probably be closed by the win- 

 ners in each department shooting a match 

 between themselves to decide final honors ; 

 this meeting to be at Fort Riley, which is 

 almost exactly in the center of latitude and 

 longitude in the United States. 

 X., Ordnance Sergeant, Baltimore, Md. 



CAN A BULLET BE SEEN IN FLIGHT. 



An agreeable feature of my home-coming 

 was October Recreation among my wait- 

 ing mail. I am interested in your reply to 

 Mr. James Turner's inquiry as to visibility 

 of bullets (page 250). In general, bullets 

 in flight are not visible to the eye. Under 

 certain conditions they are. During the re- 

 cent target season, I supervised the firing 

 of many thousand shots by my company. 

 On one occasion I was seated in a chair 

 a few feet behind, and slightly to the right 

 of, one of my men, who was seated on the 

 ground at the 300 yard -firing point. When 

 he fired, I saw what appeared to be the bul- 

 let leave the muzzle and pass through the 

 target. I noted the exact point struck, and 

 the marker placed his disk on that point. 

 After this experience, I carefully watched 

 for more ; but during the entire season was 

 able to see only 2 more bullets. In each 

 case the marker verified my observation of 

 the shot. I know at least one other officer 

 who had a similar experience. 



I have 2 theories to account for the phe- 

 nomenon. First, the bullet is covered by a 

 bright jacket which reflects the rays of the 

 sun; and it is possible that this brilliant 

 light may be visible when viewed at the 

 correct angle from a point so nearly in the 

 rear of the bullet as greatly to reduce its ap- 

 parent motion. Second, all projectiles create 

 in their rear a partial vacuum, into which 

 the air rushes and expands ; and any water 

 vapor contained in this air is instantly con- 

 densed and even frozen into snow. Large 

 projectiles moving at a velocity as high as 

 2,000 feet a second are plainly visible from 

 the rear, and the condensed water looks 

 like a comet tail of white steam. It may be 

 that under the proper conditions, even a 

 small bullet would leave a visible tail. The 

 motion was so rapid that I can not say just 

 what I saw; but I distinctly made out a 

 small white object passing from the rifle to 

 the target. The bullets were fired from. the 

 service carbine with full charges, and had a 

 velocity of about 1,950 feet a second. 

 R. R. Raymond, 

 Captain, Corps of Engineers, 

 Fort Leavenworth, Kans. 



CAUSE OF HIGHER SHOOTING. 

 Mr. George S. Cooper, Rochester, Wyo., 

 asks on page 247 of October Recreation a 

 question that must seem strange to the aver- 

 age sportsman. He asks us to explain why 



