RECREATION 



for their trouble. I think the S. & W. people 

 pay more attention to detail work than the 

 Colt. They inlay with harder steel every 

 notch in the cylinder, thus making it wear 

 longer, and therefore it fits tighter longer. I 

 hope this will be published, as I am anxious 

 to see the new gun made and in use. Every 

 little bit helps, you know. 



J. S. Kirtland, Pittsburg, Pa. 



USE A FOLDING REAR SIGHT. 



Editor Recreation : 



Would you think a peep-sight with an open 

 rear-sight would work better than a peep- 

 sight without the rear-sight on a .22 repeater? 



Recreation is lots better since you have 

 taken it. Joihn Barny, Lester, Wash. 



A rear-sight is in the way when a peep- 

 sight is in use. The only admissible rear- 

 sight is one that folds like the No. 6 Lyman. 



THINKS TWO KINDS NEEDED. 



Editor Recreation : 



As to the many opinions of the proper style 

 of a 'belt revolver : Now, I have spent some 

 years in the woods and on the trail, and have 

 had several belt guns, as Colt's 38 and 44. But 

 there is always a longing for something dif- 

 ferent than the market affords ; so I will sug- 

 gest this : You wish to knock over a grouse or 

 a rabbit for lunch, or peg away for pleas- 

 ure, and at the same time not be burdened 

 by extra weight. Now, I believe these wants 

 would be rilled by a gun built on the lines 

 of a Colt's new police of about twenty-five 

 ounces in a six-inch barrel and of a .25-. 20 

 Marlin high-velocity cartridge ; and this lit- 

 tle gun is large enough to kill all game up 

 to deer. 



As for a gun for the woods in the wild 

 sense, for a prospector, hunter or herder, 

 there is nothing better than the old 44 or 45, 

 with the grip or stock that suits ; and for 

 quick and good 'work the 5^-inch barrel is 

 good. But stay with the old 7^2-inch barrel 

 and single action for finer work. 



Now again, I have owned two new army 

 .38 Colt's, and now have one, and will sell 

 same at one-half price. They are not large 

 enough for lions nor small enough for sport. 



A Prospector. 



TO START A CLUB. 



Editor Recreation : 



I have been a reader of Recreation for a 

 number of years, and think it is better now 

 than it used to he. 



I would like to ask you where I could get 

 rules for a rifle clufb, and where I could get 

 targets. Chas. H. Pool, Antigo, Wis. 



Write to the Stevens Arms Co., Chicopee 

 Falls, Mass. 



A SIDE-ARM ON NEW PRINC^LE. 



Editor Recreation : 



A side-arm, to excel and be more perfect 

 than either revolver or automatic pistol, must 

 be an arm in which the undesirable features 

 of both weapons have been eliminated. 



In both the revolver and automatic pistol 

 there are two undesirable features in partic- 

 ular to he disposed of. 



In case of the revolver, they are the unnec- 

 essary weight of the cylinder, and the inac- 

 curacy and waste of energy caused by the 

 escape of gases between cylinder and barrel 

 (this is added to by the liability to shaved 

 bullets, a cause of inaccuracy). 



In case of the automatic, the most unde- 

 sirable feature is the great sensitiveness 

 through the necessarily delicate construction 

 of an automatic arm, within the limits of size 

 and weight of a side-arm, and the need of 

 scrupulous care and cleanliness, usually quite 

 impossible to give under conditions such as 

 are generally encountered in actual use. An- 

 other undesirable feature is the danger con- 

 nected with the use of a side-arm of the 

 self-loading type; in a gun or rifle, this dan- 

 ger is greatly diminished. 



Now an arm, which would do away with 

 these four undesirable features of the re- 

 volver, and the automatic, and would be- 

 sides eliminate the danger arising from an 

 outside hammer, would be an arm construct- 

 ed according to the following principles, with 

 slight variations : 



The arm should be made hammerless, with 

 5 to 8 cartridges in the hollow handle, sup- 

 ported by a spring; which cartridges are to 

 be held in clips as in the automatic pistols. 

 By a pull of the trigger (which pull may be 

 made as long as necessary), the inclosed 

 hammer is cocked, the empty shell is extract- 

 ed, and a new cartridge is permitted to slip 

 from the magazine into the chamber, pro- 

 pelled by the magazine spring. When the 

 hammer has been pulled to its fullest extent, 

 it catches on a slight projection, and the trig- 

 ger returns to the position of rest, and by a 

 slight pull on the same the projection hold- 

 ing the hammer is raised, the hammer is re- 

 leased, and the arm is discharged. (The trig- 

 ger pull is to be regulated by a tension screw, 

 and it will be thus possible to make it as 

 sensitive as the owner desires.) 



All things being as well designed as pos- 

 sible, this arm ought to be extremely accu- 

 rate, embodying the good features of both re- 

 volver and automatic, and lacking the un- 

 desirable ones. 



These principles could be worked into the 

 successor of the revolver and the automatic, 

 and the resulting pistol would be the arm of 

 the future. 



A. W., Milwaukee. 



