GUNS AND AMMUNITION 



267 



LITTLE DIFFERENCE. 



Editor Recreation : 



Will you tell me the difference in penetra- 

 tion between 12, 16 and 20 gauge shotguns? 

 Some sportsmen here claim that a 20 gauge 

 shoots just as strongly, if not stronger, than 

 a T2 gauge. We have never tested it, but 

 don't believe that a twenty will shoot as 

 strongly as a twelve. 



John Loveless, 

 Caledonia, Minn. 



There is little, if any, difference in penetra- 

 tion between the gauges you mentioned. It 

 is true that the 20 gauge will shoot very near- 

 ly as strongly as the 12 gauge, but the charge 

 of the shot is so much smaller that most men 

 prefer a larger bore. — Editor. 



THE BELT PISTOL. 



Editor Recreation : 



I read with a good deal of interest the ar- 

 ticle by Mr. Ashley A. Haines in Recreation 

 for August. Mr. Haines is evidently a prac- 

 tical man, and a great deal that he says is 

 worth attending to, but I cannot help think- 

 ing that he is barking up the wrong tree 

 when he advocates the .38 Smith & Wesson 

 to take the place of the old .45 Colt. 



I am with him as long, as he argues in 

 favor of the Colt Single Action. I think this 

 pistol was devised and developed by practical 

 men, in a practical age, and it will never be 

 improved upon — at least by men who no 

 longer use the revolver in a practical man- 

 ner. 



I am most heartily sick of hearing these 

 gallery revolver shots talking about what a 

 revolver should be. Why, man alive, they 

 don't know the first thing about a revolver. 

 A revolver is not a target-shooting weapon. 

 It is not a weapon that a. man should use in 

 a nice, lady-like way, to puncture a paper 

 target with cute little round holes ; but 

 it is, or should be, a pistol that a man pulls 

 only under great provocation when it is a 

 question of the death of either himself or his 

 enemy, and if he can hit an 8-inch bull at 

 five yards almost as quickly as he could fire 

 a revolver without aim, the accuracy is suffi- 

 cient. 



Power and penetration, however, he must 

 have, and these he gets with the Colt .44 or 

 the Colt .45. It would be a distinct step back- 

 ward, in my judgment, to replace the .45 by 

 the .38. A revolver should be kept to its own 

 work, and that work is not game hunting. I 

 do not think that the Colt Single Action can 

 be improved upon, and I consider the Bisley 

 model is not so good as a Frontier. I like 

 the big comb of the hammer on the Frontier, 

 and I like the straight trigger. The hang of 

 the Frontier is much the best. When it is 

 drawn quickly from the holster it falls nat- 



urally toward the mark the eye is fixed upon. 

 The Bisley Model does not do so. 



Some people affect to think that the 

 Frontier Single Action is not quick enough. 

 I wonder if they ever saw a good cowboy 

 from the Southwest get his gun out and fire 

 in a hurry? It would take a pretty good 

 double-action pistol to be any quicker. The 

 great trouble seems to be that military men 

 and target shooters are in the majority and 

 impress their views upon the manufacturers. 

 Now, a military revolver is one thing, and 

 the revolver best for the protection of a 

 civilian is another. The military revolver is 

 only used at long intervals, and under condi- 

 tions when the man who is to do the shoot- 

 ing knows what to expect. There is ample 

 time to unfasten the flap of the holster and 

 to take out the pistol and get ready before 

 the charge is ordered, or before the oncom- 

 ing asailant has got near enough to do dam- 

 age. Under these conditions a double-action 

 complicated revolver may be the best thing, 

 but for a revolver that will have to lie 

 around camp, take its chance of wet and dirt, 

 and be ready for action any hour in the 

 twenty-four, at a second's notice, you can 

 find nothing that equals the single action 

 made by the Colt's Company. 



Then as to sights, — who ever heard of at- 

 taching any of these fancy sights to a re- 

 volver that is needed for serious work. I 

 have no patience with such foolishness. Most 

 practical men would do almost as well with 

 no sight on their revolver, as the aim must 

 be largely instinctive. Simplicity, strength 

 and trustworthiness are the three qualities a 

 man needs in his pistol. The best cartridge, 

 however, for a revolver, is, undoubtedly, the 

 Russian Model, 44-23-246. 



It will surprise many to learn that the pen- 

 etration of this bullet in pine is one inch 

 greater than that of the 44-40-200 Frontier 

 Cartridge. Its penetration is gained through 

 the extra weight of bullet, which takes more 

 work out of the powder, and the accuracy of 

 this charge is wonderfully good. 



Now, as to length of barrel, the 7^ inch 

 barrel is too long for practical work. United 

 States marshals, bad men, and others who 

 know what a pistol should be, frequently 

 cut down the barrel of their Frontier, but the 

 shortest barrel that will give accuracy and 

 power is 5V2 inches. The y J / 2 inch barrel is 

 slightly more accurate and would be prefer- 

 able for target purposes, but, as I have said 

 before, a revolver should not be considered 

 as a target weapon. All practice with it 

 should be conducted sternly upon utilitarian 

 principles. Five and one-half inches is my 

 choice, and it is also the length that most 

 men select who combine practice with theory. 



John Rowley. 

 Colorado Springs, Col. 



