GUNS AND AMMUNITION 



459 



close observer of the game laws, and would like 

 to see them enforced oftener than they are, but 

 Washington laws do go after them some. 

 Monroe, Wash. G. W. Barber, 



No Pea-Shooters for Mexico 



Editor Recreation: 



We take pleasure in reading the articles on 

 arms and ammunition in your magazine, though 

 we hardly agree with the arguments set forth in 

 most of the letters published. 



We heartily agree with Mr. E. M. Crafton, 

 Chicago, in the February issue, with the excep- 

 tion that we prefer the Bisley model and would 

 add the .38-40 to the .44 and .45 cals. 



We condole with, rather than blame, the class 

 of men whose occupation condemns them to 

 office confinement and so saps their strength 

 that they cannot stand up against the recoil of 

 anything larger than a .32 calibre pea-shooter. 

 A double action gun is a good gun for appren- 

 tices, but the single action for "the man who 

 packs his gun at his hip." 



We believe that smashing power, rather than 

 penetration, is valuable in arms for defense and 

 hunting and for this reason consider it neces- 

 sary to use a flat-nose bullet of large calibre. 

 Yours truly, 



Parral, Mexico. Three "Gringos." 



Prefers a 16-Gauge 



Editor Recreation: 



I am an interested reader of Recreation, 

 and enjoy everything in it. The letters from 

 sportsmen in regard to the guns they use and 

 charges recommended are interesting, and 

 ought to be very useful to those of little experi- 

 ence. 



A letter you published in the March number 

 from W. T. S., Rock Island, 111., is to the point, 

 and from my observation and experience for 

 more than fifty years is the correct idea of gun 

 and charge for small game. 



A man must know his gun and how to load it, 

 and he must "pick his birds" and not "shoot at 

 the flock" if he expects to be a crack shot. 



The gun I have used for thirty years is a 

 Scott, No. 12, 29-inch barrels, weight 7! 

 pounds, made to order. For quail my charge is 

 3 drams powder, 1 ounce of No. 10 shot; for 

 duck, same charge, with No. 7 shot. If I had to 

 change my gun I should buy a 16-gauge by some 

 good maker, for I hold with W. T. S. that there 

 is neither sport nor skill in killing game with a 

 "cannon." 



My observation is that most sportsmen use 

 too large shot. I have shot quail from Virginia 

 to Florida, and in all open months, and use 

 No. 10 shot, and with my present gun (full 



choked) have killed quail in January and 

 February stone dead 60 to 70 measured yards. 

 I seldom wound a bird with this charge. When 

 covered the bird is invariably dead when it falls. 

 With this charge I once killed a large wild 

 turkey, flying from me, at 30 yards, as dead as 

 I ever killed a quail, but, of course, do not recom- 

 mend this charge for turkey. No. 7 chilled shot 

 is as large as I ever use for turkey, duck or 

 squirrels. 



Your correspondent gives excellent instruc- 

 tions for testing a gun and finding what charge 

 it shoots best. I have used a number of 1 2 -gauge 

 guns and never used the same charge in any of 

 them, but changed the proportions. 



I once used a Remington 12-bore that re- 

 quired 3! drams powder and i| shot. With 

 this charge it would kill and kick, but nothing 

 less would satisfy it. Dupont's F.F.F. rifle, 

 or smokeless, is the powder I now use. 



I am too old to stand long tramps after game, 

 but I enjoy reading of the sportsmen's experi- 

 ences with rod and gun, and wish that I could 

 spend the rest of my days in camp and field 

 with those who enjoy the sports and pleasures 

 of outdoor life, and shall continue to read of 

 them and enjoy them in Recreation. 



Rome, Ga. ' Wm. G. 



.405 vs. the .30 Winchester 



Editor Recreation: 



In your November issue "W. N. A." re- 

 quests information relative to the comparative 

 merits of the .30, .35 and .405 Winchester. I 

 have never used the .35 calibre cartridge, but 

 have done a little shooting with the .30 and .405 

 calibre rifles. The .30 is without doubt a very 

 powerful arm for so small a calibre and loaded 

 with the 220 grain soft-nose bullet it can be 

 truthfully said to have sufficient power to drop 

 the largest of our game. I have used the 220 

 bullet more for hunting than any other, except- 

 ing the .45-90, and had no difficulty in bringing 

 down a deer and a Maine moose last fall, 

 although upon this occasion the moose started 

 to run away with three 220 bullets, but dropped 

 at the fourth. Two years ago, while hunting 

 in the Tenapah Mountains of Oregon, I ran 

 across an exceptionally lively mountain lion or 

 cougar. Unlike other mountain lions I have 

 met, this one showed a decided liking for a 

 scrap, but one 220 grain bullet well-placed 

 forever quieted his quarrelsome disposition. 

 Three years ago the. 30 gun bagged two caribou, 

 one deer and a moose for me in Nova Scotia. 

 One caribou was hit in the shoulder and another 

 shot brought him down without a kick. The 

 other caribou and the deer were each shot 

 through the heart, both dropping within thirty 



