GUNS AND AMMUNITION 



355 



which came out about 1863, had a stock the shape 

 and position of which suited me better than 

 any of the more modern make; but as it was more 

 of a pocket weapon the stock was too small for a 

 belt revolver made for large ammunition. Another 

 good feature about this old revolver was that the 

 shooter's thumb could readily manipulate the ham- 

 mer without his having to alter his grip on the 

 stock. 



I believe that the designer of a new model re- 

 volver would do well to look into this matter of the 

 position and drop of the stock; also he should try 

 not to put too much iron (weight) below the centre 

 line of the barrel, as that would also tend to 

 aggravate the flip-up effect mentioned above. 



In most of the modern revolvers the catch which 

 holds the cylinder in the firing position is located 

 in the lower "bridge" which connects the rear part 

 of the frame with the front part. In this style of 

 construction it is necessary to make the lower 

 bridge larger and heavier than would be the case 

 if this catch were located in the top bridge, as it is 

 in the 1863 model S. & W. 



As the trigger extends down below the bridge 

 the stock has to be located correspondingly low, 

 thus bringing the grip of the stock a long way below 

 the centre of the barrel. 



This condition, in my belief, is detrimental to 

 good shooting. The "throw-out" cylinder feature 

 should certainly be included in any new up-to-date 

 revolver. The .38 S. & W. special cartridge is as 

 good as any for target practice, and is large enough 

 for anything except army use or perhaps for hunt- 

 ing excursions in the West. J. E. Beach. 



Ilion, N. Y. 



Reloads His Shells 



Editor Recreation: 



I, for one, would like to see "The Reloading of 

 Gun Shells" discussed in your paper. What little 

 I know of the art I learned at the expense of much 

 experimenting. I use a Colt's New Service 

 Revolver, .38-40 cal., and load most of the ammu- 

 nition for it. I can shoot this gun with reloaded 

 shells for about half a cent a shot, and shoot as true 

 and hard as with factory loaded shells, which cost 

 me more than one and one-half cents each. 



I fired one particular shell twenty-four times, as 

 an experiment, and could not see that it was hurt 

 in the least. 



I also shoot an L. C. Smith hammerless shot- 

 gun, 12 ga. On this gun I use home-loaded brass 

 shells. A suitable load for rabbits, etc. (3 drs. 

 powder, 1 oz. shot) costs about one cent. For 

 ducks, the trap, etc., my loads cost about one and 

 one-quarter cents, but they are "killers" and 

 "pigeon smashers." I get just as good if not 

 better results from my own loading as from factory 

 loads. Beside, my guns and especially my revol- 

 ver clean out very much better after the shoot. I 

 always use factory cut wads in loading. Black 

 powder (Dupont's) costs me 18 to 20 cents per 

 pound, and shot about 7 cents. I find that a "shell 

 resizer" is a very important tool. I resize shells 

 about as fast as I can drive nails, so it does not 

 bother me much; in fact, I regard a resizer as 



being just the difference between success and 



failure. 



To show what a resizer will do I relate the follow- 

 ing: I fired three .38 W. C. F. cartridges in a .44 

 cal. gun, and they expanded until they filled or 

 nearly filled the chamber. I then run those shells 

 through my resizer and they returned to their 

 original size and shape and appeared none the 

 worse for their experience. By reloading shells I 

 save about one-half my ammunition bill. I believe 

 that most "Wild West" shows reload their shells. 

 My .38-40 cal. resizer cost $1.35 and the 12 ga. 

 resizer cost $1.75, but they make reloading a 

 success. 



Every reloader should get a copy of the " Ideal 

 Hand Book" (for 6 cents). It has been worth 

 dollars to me. Well, I must close. Wishing your 

 magazine many subscribers. 



Earl J. Sowerby. 



Rockford, Mich. 



The Reason Why 



Editor Recreation : 



I have noticed for some time, in fact, since the 

 .32 Winchester and Marlin Special was put on the 

 market, that it has many champions and users. 

 Now I should, purely for information, like to know 

 why these various gentlemen prefer this calibre or 

 rather cartridge to the .32-40 H. P. ? 



Unless I am mistaken, the diameter of both are 

 the same, the weight of both bullets are the same, 

 the amount of the same kind of powder is the 

 same, the velocity is about the same; if any differ- 

 ence, the .32-40 H. P. has the higher velocity and 

 as to the trajectory, the .32-40 H. P. has the 

 advantage in the 200 and 300-yard range. 



Certainly, there has never been a more accurate 

 cartridge brought out than the old 32.-40. In 

 short, I have been unable to discover any material 

 difference in the two cartridges except that the one 

 has the bottle neck and the other has the straight 

 taper. It is needless to discuss which of the two 

 different shaped shells are to be preferred, as every 

 one knows that the straight taper shell is less liable 

 to stick in the chamber and break at the neck. 



If some rifleman who knows the advantage the 

 .32 Special has over the .32-40 H. P., I would be 

 obliged to him for showing me wherein it lies. 

 I've no objections to the .32 Special, but I must 

 confess to liking the .32-40 best on account of the 

 different shape of the shell. 



I wish to say in conclusion that I have been a 

 reader of Recreation for several years, but I 

 think it better to-day than ever before. If this 

 escapes the waste basket I may try to interest your 

 readers with an account of some of our hunts after 

 duck and quail in this part of the country. 



O. A. R. 



Springfield, Ind. 



The reason many prefer the .32 W. S. is that 

 with the smokeless load you obtain 300 ft. sec. 

 higher velocity and 300 ft. lbs. more energy at 50 

 ft. than are possessed by the .32-40 H. P. You 

 may, on the other hand, choose the black powder 



