GUNS AND AMMUNITION 



55r 



experience that just as much or more game can 

 be killed witli small loads as with larger ones. I 

 have made just as good bags of quail with 2§ 

 drams of Dupont smokeless powder as with 3J 

 or more and, besides, I wasn't worn out by the 

 pounding of my gun. This argument applies, 

 also, to blue rock shooting. I have seen others 

 and have myself used the extreme limit of load- 

 ing smokeless powders, and not a few times have 

 I seen it overdone. Now, the object in blue rock 

 shooting is to get a quick load and one that will 

 not spoil the pattern. Let some shooter try 

 this: Take a 3-dram Dupont smokeless load, 

 1-4-ounce, 7! shot, and shoot it 40 yards on 

 paper target, count the shot and then do the 

 same with a 3^-dram load, with an equal charge 

 of shot, and note the difference. You have 

 more penetration, but look at your pattern. 



Now, I contend that better results can be 

 obtained from a light load than from a heavy 

 one. You go to a clay bird match and watch the 

 shooters at the traps. Every time a gun cracks, 

 you'll see one turn about half around. If they 

 would only get over that habit of using heavy 

 charges, their scores would be greatly improved. 

 I speak from experience and not from observa- 

 tion. I have done a lot of shooting and know 

 that it is folly to use such tremendous loads of 

 powder and lead to smash a blue rock. I use a 

 3-dram load of Dupont smokeless, and if -ounces 

 shot, or 24 grains of Ballistite, and my scores are 

 far better than when I used larger charges. I 

 should like to hear from others on this subject. 



Sawtelle, Cal. Jesse C. Brown. 



Big Bore vs. Small 



I have noticed various opinions expressed 

 in your magazine in regard to the small-bore 

 high-power rifles and the larger bores. Of 

 course every one is perfectly at liberty to use 

 the rifle that suits him best, but I, like a great 

 many others believe the trouble is usually 

 with the man that does the shooting. It matters 

 little if you have a big bore or a small bore, if 

 the object aimed at is missed. It is the bullet 

 that hits the mark that counts, and as a great 

 many men cannot do good work with a big- 

 bore, high-power rifle, such as the .405 or 

 .45-90, on account of flinching at the moment 

 of discharge, I think that if such men would 

 use a smaller bore rifle they could shoot with- 

 out flinching and their score would increase 

 rapidly. 



A novice going into the woods after big 

 game wants to know what kind of a rifle to 

 get. Possibly he hears of some one getting the 

 limit of big game who used a .405 calibre 

 rifle, so the novice thinks that's the gun for him. 

 He accordingly buys one, and, being anxious 



to bag big game, hurries into the woods feeling 

 satisfied that he has the "only" rifle. Maybe 

 in his hurry and hasty departure he has for- 

 gotten to try the gun. He hunts diligently for 

 some time and, let us hope, is rewarded by 

 seeing a fine large buck. He has a touch of 

 "buck fever," but finally steadies his nerves 

 and shoots. The results: Novice on the other 

 side of a log he had just stepped over, gathering 

 his dazed senses and wondering where the 

 buck is; buck by that time in next county. Re- 

 sult of the shot: A clean miss. 



His confidence in the rifle is gone, and what 

 he is going to do to the fellow that told him 

 that was the "only" gun I won't mention here. 

 Now, that same rifle in the hands of a man 

 that was accustomed to a heavy recoil would 

 have been all right, but to a man that has 

 acquired the flinching habit, or has not the 

 weight to "hold it down," I would say get a 

 smaller calibre rifle. 



Let some men take a . 25-35 or SOS an d they 

 will get just as much game as others will with 

 a .45-90 or a .405. Some one may say that 

 don't stand to reason, because the larger 

 bullet makes a larger hole and has more 

 smashing power. Yes, that's all very true, 

 but I think that a .25-35 or .30-30 bullet placed 

 in the brain or heart of a grizzly would cause 

 him to "cash in," and I am sure they are much 

 more pleasant to shoot. To sum it all up, it 

 amounts to the hunter's ability to place his 

 shots where they will do the most good, or 

 harm. If a man can do this with a big bore, 

 high power, all well and good, but, for myself, 

 I prefer the .30-30 or .303. 



The .^ calibre Winchester with the '86' 

 model action is as large as necessary for any 

 game on the American continent, having a 

 bullet weighing 200 grains and a velocity of 

 2,000 feet per second. Also the .32 special 

 high-power Marlin, with a bullet of 165 grains 

 and a velocity of 2,000 feet per second. And 

 last, but by no means least, the .303 Savage, 

 weight of bullet 190 grains, velocity 2,000 feet 

 per second. Any of these will do great execu- 

 tion in the hands of a fairly good marksman, 

 as every hunter should be. 



Mr. O. M. Barnes, in a recent number of a 

 Western magazine, says he has for the past six 

 or eight years used a .25-35 for big game, and 

 has given it a thorough practical test, and for 

 his use he wants no more powerful rifle. He 

 says he can kill a bull elk anywhere under 

 250 yards, and guarantee he won't go 200 feet 

 after being shot. I consider Mr. Barnes worthy 

 of the name "hunter." If hunters would 

 practice more, so they would be able to place 

 their bullets in a vital spot, a small calibre rifle 

 would be just as effective as the miniature 



