266 



RECREATION 



powered hunting rifle. Personally, when tak- 

 ing a light rifle into camp so as to keep in 

 practice for more serious work, we prefer 

 the .22 and select either the .22 long rifle or 

 the .22 Winchester rim fire. 



No man who is fond of rifle shooting can 

 afford to ignore the .22 caliber, as by prac- 

 ticing with this miniature weapon he will ac- 

 quire a skill in holding that will be most 

 useful to him when hunting. 



TELESCOPE SIGHTS. 



Editor Recreation : 



It has been perfectly evident to- all thinking 

 riflemen that our long-range weapons have 

 improved considerably more than our ar- 

 rangements for sighting them. The human 

 eye has certainly not improved with civiliza- 

 tion, and riflemen cannot see any more clear- 

 ly at distances above 1,000 yards than they 

 could when the rifle they used carried but lit- 

 tle more than half that distance. The modern 

 high-velocity rifle is extraordinarily accurate 

 even at such extreme ranges as 1,800 yards. 

 Yet no civilized eye is capable of aiming at 

 a small object, such as man, at this range; 

 though Kaffirs and other savages are said to 

 see even the details of small objects a mile 

 distant. 



So, we are forced to believe that the tel- 

 escope, in a practical shape, is the coming 

 sight for marksmen. It is not likely that the 

 telescope of the future will be either bulky 

 or heavy. On the contrary, it will be small, 

 light, compact and sufficiently powerful for 

 the purpose. A power of 4 will probably be 

 sufficient. It will have to be so constructed 

 that it will be easily detachable and not liable 

 to get out of order. I see by one of the pa- 

 pers I read at my club that one of the long- 

 range competitions shot in July at Bisley, 

 namely, the Waldegrave, was won by a com- 

 petitor who used telescopic sights, though not 

 a telescope in the usual meaning of the word. 

 The conditions of the competition were ten 

 shots at 800 and ten shots at 900 yards. The 

 bull's eye was 36 inches in diameter. Dur- 

 ing his twenty shots the winner had but one 

 that was outside the bull's eye, scoring. 99 

 points out of a possible hundred. The sights 

 used are thus described : "The system adopt- 

 ed consists of the ordinary Galilean combi- 

 nation of lenses, the glasses being, of course, 

 specially selected with due regard to the dis- 

 tance between the sights, the amount of mag- 

 nification desired, and the accommodating 

 power of the individual's vision. The back 

 sight lens is of minute dimensions, being let 

 into the orthoptic eye-cup. The foresight 

 lens is mounted in the usual position, being 

 hooded by a short length of tube which acts 

 as a sun screen and rain protector. 



"Alignment is produced by centering the 



bull's eye, in a circular ring, which is not, 

 however, in focus with the eye when the tar- 

 get is under observation. It is, nevertheless, 

 fairly easy to align the new sights; though 

 the proper adjustment of the rifle with ref- 

 erence to the spirit-level needs a certain 

 amount of special training. The advantage 

 of its insignificant weight practically excludes 

 difficulties of mounting. The lateral adjust- 

 ment for wind is transferred from the fore- 

 sight block to the backsight bed, upon a 

 well-known system." 



We, in this country, have already had one 

 such combination offered, but it does not 

 seem to have made any headway. Surely 

 this is an idea that our intelligent and practi- 

 cal opticians should get busy upon. 



Peter Bowen, 

 Hackensack, N. J. 



RUST PREVENTATIVES. 



Editor Recreation : 



The bane of the riflemen is rust. For 

 years we have tried to keep our barrels clean 

 with oil. This worked fairly well when we 

 had nothing but the deposit from black pow- 

 der to contend with, but, since the advent 

 of a smokeless powder, it is quite impos- 

 sible to keep a barrel in first-rate condition 

 with the means at our disposal. Yet it is not 

 impossible to produce a fluid that would as- 

 sist us very materially. 



Dr. W. R. Hodgkinson, a European chem- 

 ist of international renown, has shown what 

 makes rust and also shows, in a measure, 

 how we may prevent it. In a recent memo- 

 randum he stated that iron and steel, though 

 they rust in ordinary air and in ordinary 

 water, neither rust nor change in pure, dry 

 air and pure, distilled and well-boiled water. 

 The contaminations that cause rust are car- 

 bon dioxide, nitrous acid, and hydrogen pe- 

 roxide. These, however, in the presence of 

 alkaline substances such as ammonia, or 

 soda, or lime, do not cause any destructive 

 action. Before we have oxidation there must 

 be present an acid. The practical use of 

 these experiments is in the preparation of 

 a liquid that shall prevent rust. Dr. Hodg- 

 kinson has produced a fluid which appears 

 to be of the nature of silicate of soda or 

 water glass, that prevents rust and corrosion: 

 We ought to be able to purchase this fluid, 

 or something of the same nature, at every 

 store selling cartridges. One is almost as 

 necessary as the other. There is no excuse 

 for our manufacturers not supplying this pre- 

 servative. They must know all about it, and 

 they must also know that the oils and pre- 

 servatives now on the market are thorough- 

 ly inefficient. 



"Anti-Rust," 

 New York, N. Y. 



