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RECREATION 



months, dealing with revolvers, and have 

 been interested, and, may I add, amused 

 thereby. To me it is perfectly plain that 

 revolver shooters must be divided into two 

 heaps. In the one you must put about nine- 

 tenths of the men who buy such things, and 

 the other heap will consist of the remaining 

 tenth who really use them. The revolver 

 was invented as a weapon for self defense 

 at close quarters. For this purpose you must 

 have an extremely powerful load and the 

 gun must be handy; but it is not necessary 

 to have extreme accuracy. 



As the frontier has receded and, in fact, 

 mostly disappeared, a generation has grown 

 up that needs a revolver for totally different 

 purposes. 



When a man 'brags about shooting a lot 

 of grouse with a revolver I can see him in 

 my mind's eye. He may not be a tenderfoot, 

 but he certainly is not a frontiersman. 



Now, I think we should all be tolerant 

 with one another's little weaknesses, and I 

 can quite understand that nine out of ten 

 of the revolvers sold to-day will never be 

 used on anything more deadlv than a por- 

 cupine ; but it seems to me that for purely 

 target work a single shot pistol is far better. 

 Yet, I understand that the sale of single 

 shot pistols is a mere nothing as compared 

 with the sale of revolvers, so it is evident 

 that most men do not agree with me. 



For the work that they use it for, I think 

 that a .38 Special, with swing-out cylinder 

 and single action, should ,be a mighty good 

 arm. Yet, for purely target purposes, I 

 would prefer a Smith & Wesson .44 Russian, 

 as the bullet cuts a bigger hole, and, for 

 purposes of defense against a burglar or a 

 bad man I should want a Colt single ac- 

 tion, either .45 or .44 cal. 



No, boys, pardon me if I have rubbed the 

 hair the wrong way, for I am sure I did 

 not intend to do anything of the sort when 

 I started in. 



Josh Bill, Chicago, 111. 



WANTS A LIGHT LOAD 



Editor Recreation: 



I would appreciate it very much if some 

 of your subscribers would inform me as to 

 a good light load for the 38 S. & W. Special. 

 I have experimented, somewhat, and find 

 that the full charge of bfack powder and 

 conical bullet works all right with reloaded 

 shells, but I am unable to make a reduced 

 load with round ball that works satisfac- 

 torily. The fault is not with the revolver, 

 as that is in perfect condition. 



Van Allen Lyman, New York. 



Special is one of the finest pistol cartridges 

 on the market to-day. 



I am shooting a .38 S. & W., model 1902, 

 and I have just three objections to it. It is 

 from four to six ounces too light, the barrel 

 should be seven and one-half inches instead 

 of six and one-half, and then the grip is too 

 light and too 'short. I have used a revolver 

 for fifteen years, and I am thoroughly con- 

 vinced that to do good shooting it is just 

 as necessary to have a heavy revolver as it 

 is to have a heavy rifle for target shooting. 

 I want to see the Colt people chamber the 

 "New Service" double-action for this cart- 

 ridge and leave the cylinder the same length 

 and diameter as the .38-.40. We have plenty 

 of the lighter revolvers chambered for this 

 shell, but not one of the heavy guns in 

 single or double action. 



Then again why can't the U. M. C. or 

 Winchester people bring out a new straight 

 taper, or bottle-necked, shell same length as 

 .38-40 W. C. F., 28 or 30 grains of powder 

 and 165-grain express, or mushroom, bullet 

 of the .358 diameter, to be used in this same 

 gun for heavy shooting. By having an extra 

 cylinder you would have, practically, two 

 guns. 



We shoot two -shells, one of 1,385 ft. sec. 

 and one of 2,050 ft, sec. from the .32 Win- 

 chester special rifle, 16-inch twist. Why 

 can't we do practically the same thing with 

 the revolver, and thereby have a general pur- 

 pose gun? 



C. M. Kendall, Albany, Ore. 



PREFERS A HEAVY REVOLVER 



Editor Recreation : 



I am very much interested in the articles 

 on "Ideal Belt Revolvers." The .38 S. & W. 



HIS WAY - 

 Editor Recreation : 



I will tell your correspondent who has 

 trouble with his rifle about a plan I have 

 found effective with my .30-.40 Winchester. 



I take a piece of stout muslin between one 

 and two inches square, saturate it with 3-in-i 

 (or, if that is not handy, kerosene will an- 

 swer about as well), lay it over the muzzle 

 and push it through with the butt, not the 

 slotted end, of the cleaning rod, and repeat 

 until the cloth shows no dark stains; then 

 wipe it in the same way with dry cloth until 

 the pieces of cloth come out perfectly clean. 

 The exact size of the cloth can easily be 

 found by a little experiment, but it should 

 be as large as can 'be forced through the bar- 

 rel, so that it will fill the grooves and fol- 

 low the twist of the rifling. Push the rod 

 down only a few inches, then lake a fresh 

 hold and let your hands turn with it. When 

 the barrel is dry, and you can see no spots 

 in looking through it, put a small piece of 

 cloth that will pass easily through the bore 

 in the slot of the cleaning rod and lubricate 

 the whole length of the barrel with sperm 

 oil, or some good gun grease. This should 

 be done as soon as possible after the day's 





