176 



RECREATION 



the buckskin string and ordinary rag for a 

 cleaner for a while, until getting" accus- 

 tomed to it. No practical hunter or shooter 

 would use anything else, as you can carry 

 it so nicely in your pocket and always ready 

 for use. I would caution to always draw 

 the swab first through the muzzle, in order 

 to get the proper sized swab, as one is liable 

 to start from chamber and choke from too 

 large a swab. The string should also be of 

 the best buckskin, or other leather equally 

 as strong. After some little practice this 

 proves a very cheap, quick, safe and abso- 

 lutely sure way to -care for a rifle. Yes, of 

 course, I am a crank. 

 Lebanon, Ore. L. R. Henderson. 



WHAT MILITARY MEN THINK 



Editor Recreation : 



Perhaps the following quotation from the 

 annual report of the Chief of Ordnance for 

 the year ending June 30, 1905, may interest 

 some of your readers : 



"It is anticipated that the experiments for 

 determining a design and calibre of revolver 

 bullet which will possess sufficient stopping 

 power and shock effect will be completed at 

 an early date. Results of the tests so far 

 made would seem to indicate that no bullet 

 having a calibre less than .45 can be found to 

 fulfill the requirements imposed." The ital- 

 ics are my own. 



T. Sperling, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



WANTS NO METAL-PATCHED 



Utica, N. Y., 8th Dec, 1905. 

 Editor Recreation : 



The case against the metal-patched bullet 

 is much stronger than you give it credit for 

 being in your comment on my letter in the 

 December number. It has been proven pos- 

 sible to get excellent results with very high- 

 pressure smokeless loads without using the 

 metal patch. Mr. W. A. Linklet-ter has 

 evolved a high-power smokeless load with 

 cast bullet and lubricated paper patch for his 

 40-90 Winchester single-shot, that he justly 

 calls a "world beater." Dr. W. G. Hudson, 

 with the assistance of Mr. Barlow, of the 

 Ideal Manufacturing Co., has produced ex- 

 cellent smokeless loads, using cast bullets, 

 combining great accuracy with fairly high 

 velocity, and it is said that the lubricated 

 wire-patched bullet made by the National 

 Projectile Works has all the advantages of 

 the metal patch and has no injurious effect 

 upon the rifling. If this is true — and it is 

 attested hy many who have used it — this bul- 

 let will undoubtedly drive the metal patch 

 out of the market. 



However that may be, there can be no ex- 

 cuse for using metal-patched bullets in low- 

 power, smokeless cartridges that do not dif- 

 fer from black-powder loads in velocity. And 

 all low-power central-fire smokeless rifle 



cartridges, with two exceptions, are loaded 

 with metal-patched bullets. Manufacturers 

 claim that they can not obtain satisfactory 

 results with cast bullets in these cartridges. 

 But they forget to be consistent. The .43 

 Spanish Remington smokeless cartridge, as 

 made by the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. 

 today, uses a plain lead bullet. The powder 

 charge of this cartridge is equivalent in en- 

 ergy to seventy-seven grains of black powder. 

 If smokeless powder in charges equivalent in 

 energy to seventy-seven grains of black pow- 

 der can be used with a plain lead bullet, why 

 on earth can't 45~7o, 40-72, 38-55, 32-40 and 

 other low-power smokeless loads be furnished 

 with lead bullets? They can be, and if the 

 users of these cartridges care enough about 

 the welfare of their rifle-barrels they will be, 

 for the manufacturers would feel compelled 

 to supply a general demand. 



To return to the question of metal-patched 

 bullets for revolvers, it is to the credit of the 

 cartridge manufacturers that all smokeless 

 revolver cartridges except the .32, .38 and .44 

 W. C. F., use plain lead bullets. The pres- 

 sure necessary to force a hard, unyielding, 

 cylindrical, unlubricated metal-patched- bullet 

 to take the rifling would be infinitely greater 

 •than that necessary for a soft, cannulated 

 and lubricated lead bullet. And this tremen- 

 dously increased pressure would be exerted 

 on the weakest part of the revolver's struc- 

 ture — the joint between the cylinder and the 

 barrel. 



Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers will 

 stand a tremendous amount of abuse and yet 

 work well — their strength and durability are 

 wonderful — 'but the metal-patched bullet 

 would be the straw to break the camel's back. 



P. De Angelis. 



WANTS A GOOD HOLSTER 



Editor, Recreation : 



I have been buying your magazine at the 

 news stands and have been reading the dis- 

 cussions on the "Ideal Belt Gun" with great 

 interest. That is my hobby. Have been using 

 most all of the heavy guns, 38, 44, 45, etc., 

 but have had better success and like the 38 

 Special Officer's model Colt's better than 

 any I have ever used. 



For short range and indoor practice I re- 

 load shells with full size bullet and half- 

 charges of "Semi-smokeless" powder 

 (King's), and find that it generally shoots 

 where you hold it. 



I wish either you or some of your readers 

 would tell me where I can get an "ideal 

 belt and holster" for this same gun, one 

 that is made of some soft dark brown or 

 black leather, that won't sound as if you 

 were a walking harness shop. I have tried 

 both in Chicago and St. Louis to buy such a 

 holster or to have one made, but can find 

 none nor any one that will make one. 



J. P. Allen, Jr., Greencastle, Ind. 



