68 



RECREATION 



feelings, oecause I have none, but merely to 

 give credit where credit is due), I am glad 

 that the sight has been placed on the market 

 for the benefit of sportsmen, knowing that 

 it is a good one, and I doubt if it would 

 ever have been put on the market by either 

 of us, so no harm was done and much bene- 

 fit derived. Hoping I have not taken too 

 much of your valuable time, I am, 



R. L. Sheward, 

 Council Bluffs, Iowa. 



N. B. — That is an exceptionally fine piece 

 of work on the November cover. 



R. L. S. 



PROBABLY A MAUSER 



Editor, Recreation: 



I should like very much to know if the 

 enclosed description of a rfle I got from a 

 gun dealer is a Mauser rifle, as the man said 

 it was. It's a carbine, with 22-inch barrel, 

 and about a 7 m. m. calibre, and is sighted 

 for 1800 yards or metres. The magazine is 

 filled from a metal clip containing five cart- 

 ridges; the barrel is encased in a barrel 

 /acket or light steel cylinder, the nose end 

 of the barrel passing loosely through the end 

 of the barrel jacket. The only name is this 

 on the barrel, "Fabrique National Herstal- 

 Liege," and No. 04 on every part of the gun 

 which is likely to break. I would like to 

 know is it a Mauser rifle, and whose make, 

 and if it's a late model and what is the cali- 

 bre? 



M. T. M., Lesserdog Creek B, C 



No man could tell you the calibre 01 your 

 Mauser without seeing it or one of the cart- 

 ridges. It may not be a Mauser, though I 

 think it is. The Mannlicher action is very 

 similar to the Mauser. It is one of those 

 two, probably. The calibre may be 7 mm. or 

 7.62 mm. Both calibres are used in Conti- 

 nental armies. 



The only way to be sure of the calibre in 

 your case is ito take a sulphur cast of the 

 chamber and a few inches of the barrel and 

 submit it to an expert. This is very easy to 

 do, and if you cannot procure sulphur you 

 might do it with plaster of paris, but, in that 

 case, be very careful you don't rust your 

 rifle. 



To take a cast, insert a cork down the bar- 

 rel from the breech and about two inches 

 into the rifling. Pour your fluid, heated 

 sulphur, into the chamber until it is full, al- 

 low it to solidify; and press it out with a 

 ramrod from the muzzle or, if you use plas- 

 ter, mix your plaster to the consistency of 

 a thick cream, oil the chamber well and pour 

 in. — Editor. 



Editor Recreation: 



I am a reader of your magazine and pay 

 particular attention to guns and ammuni- 



tion. Each month I hurry home with the 

 latest copy of Recreation to spend a few 

 pleasant hours in reading its interesting con- 

 tents. To have, as it were, a chat with fel- 

 low sportsmen from all parts of America. 

 Perhaps a few lines from Quebec, the home 

 of the deer, bear, moose and caribou, will be 

 of some interest to a few readers of Recre- 

 ation who some days back have hunted 'in 

 this province, or of value to some who in 

 days to come will pay us a visit and carry 

 off some choice game heads from this prov- 

 ince, the "Sportsmen's Paradise." I am a 

 lover of woodlands and lakes, which natur- 

 ally made me a user of the rifle, field-glass 

 and camera. Since boyhood rifle shooting 

 has been my hobby, and the wilderness my 

 paradise. Hounding deer or moose is pro- 

 hibited by law. We have to be our own 

 dog and do our own barking. The Caugh- 

 nawaga Indian, or the half-breeds, all mas- 

 ters in the art on big-game hunting, some 

 times take a fancy to some of us paleface 

 amateur hunters and teach us lots about the 

 woods, haunts and habits of game, that we 

 might never iknow if left to our own re- 

 sources. Old hunters' advice to me has been 

 carefully followed. They have been through 

 the mill and know from whence they speak, 

 •to become a good marksman iis the main thing 

 of value to a sportsman. Practice offhand, 

 and learn to hit what you're shooting at. 

 Never depend on a second shot simply be- 

 cause you are using a repeating rifle. Make 

 the first shot count when big game is the 

 object; perhaps it's the only shot you'll get. 

 If you miss it will teach you to be careful. 

 Experience is the best education. It comes 

 high, but you will never forget the lessons 

 it taught you. The success of your hunting 

 trip may some day depend on a single shot. 

 Prepare for that critical moment and you'll 

 go home with venison instead of a hard- 

 luck story. Deer are very plentiful in this 

 part of the province. Sometimes they are 

 shot within a mile and a quarter of this town, 

 which has a little over 3,000 inhabitants. 

 Bear are frequently seen and occasionally 

 shot within five or six miles from here. But 

 Bruin is a good hand at playing hide-and- 

 seek and is hard to get a shot at. I shot 

 one three weeks ago; my new .32 special 

 Winchester, 94 model, tasted bear meat for 

 first time. A hundred and fifty yards' off 

 hand shot did great damage to Bruin's 

 shoulders, and cut short his roving days. 

 For year I used the .38-55, .40-82 and .45-90 

 Winchester rifles, all good guns. But 

 the little .32 Special, to my mind, is the 

 best cartridge ever placed on the mar- 

 ket for big game hunting in the province. 

 Deer, bear, moose and caribou fall before 

 its deadly fire as if struck by lightning. I 

 shot a large buck with it the first part of 

 October last. The ball entered its left side 

 about centre, coming out slightly forward on 



