GUNS AND AMMUNITION 



269 



If you doubt what a .30-30 can do, just 

 read the article by Mr. Martley in this issue. 

 One of the biggest grizzlies that ever roamed 

 the Coast Range was killed with one of these 

 rifles. The carbine is preferred by many prac- 

 tical hunters to tin- longer barreled rifle. It 

 is a matter of taste. — Editor. 



THE REVOLVER. 



Editor Recreation : 



I have just read Mr. Elaine's article on the 

 ideal belt revolver in your August issue. 



I have a .38 Automatic Colt which is ex- 

 tremely accurate. Its smokeless ammunition 

 develops a very n at trajectory. It has a pen- 

 etration of eight inches in clear pine and a 

 velocity of 1,065 ft- sec. This gives it about 

 double the smashing power of the .455 Colt, 

 which only has a velocity of seven or eight 

 hundred feet second. 



I have always found that as far as mere 

 accuracy went the 7^2-inch barrel was fair 

 ahead of the 454-inch barrel, but not so very 

 much better than the 5^-inch. 



To put it in another way : There is a 

 slight loss of accuracy when the barrel is cut 

 down from 7 l / 2 inches to S l A inches, and a 

 very slight loss in penetration. When, how- 

 ever, a cartridge with a heavy charge is fired 

 out of a 4% barrel, there is considerable loss 

 both in accuracy and in penetration. Even 

 then, the accuracy is very much greater than 

 most people think. A good shot could hit 

 a man in a vital spot at 30 yards almost 

 every time with a 4^-inch barrel. 



Chas. Abbott, 

 Lynn, Mass. 



LOADS FOR THE .44-40. 



Editor Recreation : 



Having been experimenting with the .44-40 

 Winchester for some time, I find H. W. 

 Archibald's letter, as well as even-thing else 

 in' the Guns and Ammunition department, 

 of peculiar interest to me. 



Although I do not own a revolver of this 

 caliber, I have worked out a load which is 

 fine for my Mod. 1873 Winchester rifle, and 

 believe that it would do as good work in a 

 revolver. 



I wanted to use my .44-40 for rats, spar- 

 rows, etc., but found the" regular load of 40 

 grs. black powder too strong for safety, in 

 my neighborhood, and the rifling being badly 

 worn, the gun became foul so quickly that 

 repeated cleaning was necessary for accu- 

 racy, so I began to experiment with Laflin & 

 Rand Infallible shotgun smokeless in very 

 small quantities, for it is dangerous in a 



rifle, as it is in a shotgun, if used in excess 

 of the proper load. 



In my first attempt I used 7 grs., and it 

 hardly expelled the bullet from the barrel. 



Knowing that it should do better than that, 

 I suspected the primer of being too weak for 

 this kind of powder, and a trial black pow- 

 der priming (about two grs.) verified my 

 belief. 



I did not wish to buy a separate mould for 

 a short-range bullet, so I used the regular 

 200-gr. bullet and secured fine work up to 

 60 feet, and also found the load so clean that 

 no cleaning was required, even after nearly 

 100 shots. It is best to harden the bullets 

 about 1 to 15, and if a lighter bullet could 

 be obtained I believe even more satisfactory 

 results would be obtained, and if the bullet 

 were sharp-pointed it would be satisfactory 

 for squirrels and other small game. 



G. L. Hale, 

 Chardon, O. 



ALL GOOD. 



Editor Recreation : 



I want to ask you what you consider the 

 best revolver to take as a holster arm on a 

 trip after big game. How about the Colt's 

 'new service' shooting, either the .44 S. and 

 W. Russian or the .455 Colt? Has this lat- 

 ter cartridge enough powder behind it to get 

 good penetration? Or would you consider 

 the Smith & Wesson new military revolver, 

 with the .38 S. and W. special cartridge, a 

 more effective arm? 



Please let me know as soon as possible and 

 oblige yours truly, 



Robert Elarper Cope. 



It is a matter of personal preference. Some 

 experienced men are shooting the .44 Russian, 

 others .455 Colt, while others again prefer 

 the .38 S. & W. Special. You will make no 

 mistake by taking any of these three. The 

 .455 Colt, owing to the heavy bullet, has got 

 good penetration. The .44 Russian has bet- 

 ter penetration than the .44 Frontier. — Ed- 

 itor. 



SIGHTS FOR A .22 CALIBER. 



Editor Recreation : 



What sights would be suitable for a Sav- 

 age .22 caliber hammerless rifle in all out- 

 door shooting? 



Spencer Townsend, 

 Pavilion Co., New York. 

 Either open factory sights or the Lyman 

 or Marble sights, if you prefer them. — Edi- 

 tor. 



