266 



RECREATION 



termine yourself after you get a gun with 

 a good pair of 30 in. barrels, for those seem 

 to give the best results, when properly full 

 choke bored, and true to gauge. Some guns 

 handle No. 5, some No. 6 or No. 7, others 

 even No. 8. I have killed mallards at 30 and 

 35 yards with No. 8, too dead to flop a wing ; 

 still I do not insist all guns will do it, but I 

 claim any properly bored full choke will do 

 it, though only 16 or even 20 gauge, and 

 when a 16-gauge will do as well as a 10 or a 

 12-gauge, why is not the 16-gauge superior? 

 They are not so clumsy as most heavier guns 

 are, and are easily and quickly handled. 



This hint I can give you : Test your gun 

 and see if it is full choked. If a 16-gauge, 

 take a load as follows : 2^2 drachms good 

 smokeless or black powder, nitro shell, 1 

 card wad, 3 ordinary black edge wads and 1 

 ounce No. 6 or No. 7, whichever is con- 

 venient, and one thin card wad over shot. 

 Now set up a board 1 inch thick, any size 

 will do, if Dig enough, so that it won't split. 

 Measure off 21 feet, stand on the 21-foot 

 line, and if your gun will punch a hole clean 

 through the board with the centre of the 

 charge and only a few shot scatter to about 

 a distance of about 4 or 4^2 inches, the gun 

 is perfect, and if not, make up your mind 

 a gun that will scatter shot over a circle 8 or 

 10 inches in diameter at 21 feet, will at 40 

 yards scatter them all over a 40-acre field. 

 In other words, . will make a better seeder 

 than duck gun. 



After you have got your gun you must 

 formulate your own load by trying different 

 sizes of shot and different charges of pow- 

 der, sticking to the one you think the best. 

 Larger loads of powder scatter shot most, 

 but have greater velocity and penetration; 

 less powder, less penetration and closer pat- 

 tern. Too much shot increases recoil. No 

 shotgun is a sure killer over 40 yards. As far 

 as gauge is concerned I would not go back 

 to a 10 or 12-gauge for all the guns you 

 could give me. This is my experience. I 

 should like to hear of others on the subject. 

 W. T. S., Rock Island, 111. 



LOADS FOR THE .25-.20. 



Editor Recreation: 



After quite a little experimenting with dif- 

 ferent powders and bullets I have succeeded 

 in working out a very fine load for the Win- 

 chester and Marlin .25-. 20 rifles. I get a great 

 deal of pleasure and help from reading the 

 "Guns and Ammunition" department in Rec- 

 reation, and if my experience will help any 

 brother sportsman I'll give it most willingly. 



For my .25-.20 load I use s l A grains weight, 

 Ideal measure No. 5, set at 10 grains of new 

 E. C, and a 77-grain bullet of the 25720 

 (Ideal) series, cast 1 to 20. For the Marlin 

 rifle I would cast the bullet 1 to 16, as the 

 twist is a little quicker. 



Now don't condemn the load because it is 

 a shotgun smokeless. Try it first. 



If Van Allen Lyman will try about 1^2 to 

 2 grains weight of Bull's-eye behind a round 

 ball in his .38 S. & W. special, I think he 

 will find about what he is looking for. If he 

 uses the Ideal measure No. 5 it should be 

 set at four grains for the two-grain weight 

 load. I would appreciate it very much if 

 some Recreation reader would give me his 

 experience with Du Pont No. 2 smokeless in 

 the .32 S. & W. long, hard-ejector revolver. 

 I use this revolver and cartridge a great deal 

 for light work, and if there is a better load 

 than the one I use I want to know it. I use 

 two-grain weight Bull's-eye and a 98-grain 

 bullet. Jas. A. McPheeters. 



We would caution our readers to be very 

 careful how they use shotgun powder in a 

 rifle. — Ed. 



GUNS, ALSO DOGS. 



Editor Recreation : 



I am a reader of your book, and keep "up" 

 when I can, and I find your letters under the 

 head of "Guns and Ammunition" very inter- 

 esting and amusing. Of course I have to 

 laugh at some remarks in regard to the size 

 of revolver used in the east; and in regards 

 to the remark "carrying a revolver." Half the 

 people in Texas and the Indian Territory 

 don't know what that means. It's "Toting a 

 Gun" here, and the little "Roastology" from 

 Mr. Josh Bell, of Chicago (in the January 

 number), was very good, and he knows a 

 little, too, about guns; that is, I don't think 

 he'd start out hunting with a "revolver" with 

 the expectation of bringing in enough to 

 "make a pan smell," but he has the right 

 idea about a gun, and he says for self-de- 

 fense give him a .45 Colt's single-action. 

 You might as well try to sell a gold brick in 

 Texas and Indian Territory as anything but 

 a .45 single-action Colt's. And speaking of 

 gold bricks, you haven't heard of any being 

 sold in Texas in the last two or three years. 

 Getting wise, aren't we? Nonetheless, I en- 

 joy reading the different remarks, and would 

 like to see more interest taken under the 

 head of "Hunting Dog," as I am a fancier 

 and have done some nice work this season in 

 training, and you can look to hear from me 

 soon on that subject. I am no gun man, but 

 a dog man. Hal Sims, Denison, Tex. 



RELOADING THE .38 S. &j W. SPECIAL. 



Editor Recreation : 



If Mr. Van Allen Lyman uses the reload- 

 ing tools made by Smith & Wesson, I would 

 be pleased to have him try a load I have 

 worked out for the .38 S. & W. special and 

 find it quite satisfactory and exceedingly 

 cheap. I use Winchester black powder shells, 

 No. 6, V. M. C. primers, two grains of Laf- 



