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SMOKELESS TARGET LOADS. 



Those indefatigable experimenters, Messrs. 

 Edward Taylor and W. G. Hudson, have 

 been working up a smokeless powder load 

 for target shooting, and have found one that 

 seems able to hold its own with the best of 

 black powder loads. No good results were 

 obtained until they devised bullets that made 

 a gastight fit without upset. 



The two bullets that were finally evolved 

 were a 38-55 with five bands and four 

 grooves, the three forward bands measuring 

 .372 inches and the two rear bands .382 

 inches, and a 32-40 on the same plan, of which 

 the three forward bands measured .316 inch 

 and the two rearmost bands .323 inch. 



The bullet was designed to cut as large and 

 clean a hole as possible in the target, a point 

 that veteran marksmen will appreciate at its 

 true value. How many points are lost by the 

 merest fraction of a line? 



In order to secure the greatest accuracy, 

 it was deemed wise to seat the bullets ahead 

 of the shell, and it was found necessary to — 

 as Dr. Hudson calls it— "throat" the barrel 

 at the breech, owing to the size of the rear 

 bands of the bullets. Hard bullets were found 

 to work better than the usual 1 to 16, or 1 

 to 18; but when a harder bullet than 1 to 14 

 was cast, antimony was substituted for tin. 



The two powders that gave best results 

 were the Du Pont, No. 1, and Laflin & Rand 

 Sharpshooter. "The charge of Du Pont No. 

 1 was the shell filled and wadded with a blot- 

 ting paper wad. The Sharpshooter powder 

 was used in 18 gr. and 16 grs. loads, in the 

 38-35 and the 32-40, respectively. These 

 loads did not more than one-half fill the 

 shells. In the 38-55 the experimenters set a 

 .40 wad on the powder, and in the 32-40 the 

 shells were corked until about to be used. 

 Of the two powders the Sharpshooter gave 

 rather the better results. Nitro-primers must 

 be used for this powder, and Dr. Hudson 

 prefers the 7^2 U. M. C. The targets ob- 

 tained with these bullets from factory barrels 

 were so good that there does not seem any 

 need for special barrels. The recoil from 

 these loads is very slight. 



It was found that patched bullets did not 

 work better on the average than lubricated 

 bullets. Dr. Hudson thinks that in ten years 

 no one will be found using black powder, 

 even for the fine work at the target. 



Riflemen owe Messrs. Taylor and Hudson 

 a vote of thanks for their untiring efforts in 

 devising new and improved loads. These 

 results were first given out through the pages 

 of "Shooting and Fishing." 



AN ARDEN WOODSMAN. 



Editor Recreation : 



I subscribed for your valuable magazine 

 just the month it underwent such a remark- 

 able change. It is a fine magazine now. 



You doubtless wonder who I am, away 

 back north here among the lakes and hills. 

 When my school duties do not bind me down 

 too closely I hunt and fish and enjoy myself 

 immensely. 



If you would like to find Arden on the 

 map, you have but to find the main line of 

 the Canadian Pacific Railroad running from 

 Montreal to Toronto, and where it passes 

 through the middle of Frontenac County you 

 will see Arden marked. It is a small village 

 nestling among hills interspersed by beautiful 

 little lakes. From the balcony of Lake View 

 Summer Hotel you can see seven lakes, each 

 a good spot to get a 'mess' of pike, pickerel, 

 bass, or any of those gamy fellows, and 

 which with their feeders afford excellent 

 sport in the ducking season, while their 

 woody banks and bushy slopes are ideal spots 

 for the partridge. Deer are to be found in 

 the thicker parts of the wooded country. 

 Game is plentiful, and the game laws are 

 fairly well observed. They are violated the 

 more frequently by the settlers, who kill out 

 of season for food. 



I read with great interest your section on 

 guns and ammunition. It is wonderful the 

 information that can be given in so few lines. 

 But I am not content to read only. I would 

 like to ask a few questions as well. 



1. Where in Canada can you procure the 

 Three in One gun oil advertised in your col- 

 umns? 



2. Can you give a recipe to blue a barrel 

 of a gun? I have a Marlin repeater which is 

 losing its blue. Can I renew it? 



3. W r hat causes lead bullets to stick in a 

 resizer of a 1894 model 32 W. S. repeating 

 rifle loading tool? Also what can prevent it? 



4. Is there any way of preventing loaded 

 shot shells from buckling? I mean forming 

 a wrinkle near the metal head, when used 

 a few times in a Marlin repeating shotgun? 



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