444 



RECREATION 



Messrs. C. P. Goerz & Co., the eminent 

 opticians, whose branch houses in London, 

 Paris and New York are almost as well 

 known as the parent establishment, are in- 

 troducing a new telescope of exquisite work- 

 manship, that will be placed on sale in this 

 country in a few weeks. No doubt others 

 will follow these leads, especially if the use 

 of telescopes be permitted in tafget competi- 

 tions. It will be well, however, before our 

 riflemen undertake to use telescopes, for 

 them to study up the construction of these 

 useful little instruments. 



They will find that the perfect telescope 

 does not exist. High magnification, good 

 definition, a large, bright field and a small, 

 handy telescope are qualities that can hardly 

 be combined. The whole art of shooting and 

 the implements used therein are compro- 

 mises, and the rifle telescope is no excep- 

 tion. For hunting, a large, bright field is es- 

 sential, and, as the shooting is usually done 

 in a strictly off-hand position, generally with 

 the left arm well extended, a certain amount 

 of movement in the barrel must be antici- 

 pated, and so a power of about four diam- 

 eters is found best for the average man. If 

 you increase the power you diminish the field, 

 and the image becomes fainter. Moreover, 

 the movement of the cross hairs, or whatever 

 sighting device you prefer, becomes exag- 

 gerated, in fact, the tyro almost has an 

 attack of vertigo when he looks through 

 his 'scope. Everything seems to be dancing 

 about, and he gains the impression that his 

 holding is very unsteady. It does not, of 

 course, follow that he is right, and were he 

 aiming with open sights he would flatter 

 himself that he was dead on to the mark. 



These troubles are not met with to the 

 same extent when a low power is used, and if 

 we select, say, a four power, a mark at 200 

 yards appears to be 50 yards away, and an 

 8-in. bull's eye at apparently 50 yards has a 

 very encouraging appearance. Or, if we are 

 shooting at a deer and that deer be 100 yards 

 distant, the animal will seem to be but 25 

 yards from where we stand. 



For offhand shooting at the target, some 

 experienced riflemen can use a power as high 

 as twelve with advantage ; but the beginner 

 will not be able so to do. 



He may work up to 8 power, and, perhaps, 

 he may never care to go beyond that; if he 

 goes beyond twelve he will certainly make a 

 mistake. 



For rest shooting, powers as high as 18 

 and 20 are used ; but such high magnifica- 

 tion is not advisable for any other kind of 

 work. 



The engineer's transit generally has a tel- 

 escope ranging in power from twenty up- 

 wards; but this is fixed to a tripod of solid 

 construction. 



A VOICE FROM THE WEST. 



Editor Recreation : 



In your September issue I read an article 

 by Mr. John Rowley, in which he makes a 

 number of statements with which I cannot 

 agree. 



Mr. Rowley seems to think that the only 

 possible use a revolver can be put to, is to 

 go murdering with. That any one who can 

 hit a 5-inch target at 15 feet, and do it 

 quickly, should be satisfied. Mr. Rowley 

 will find that he represents a very small per- 

 centage of the men who use revolvers. 



I have noticed that the men who favor the 

 .45 cal. Colt are generally much opposed to 

 any .other pistol. Are they afraid that some 

 bad man will pot them at long range with a 

 .38 S. & W. special,, or worse yet, he might 

 use an automatic and take deliberate aim, 

 just the same as if he were shooting at a 

 target. 



If Mr. Rowley is so well satisfied with 

 the .45 cal. Colt, well and good, I am sure 

 no one wishes to take his gun away from 

 him. Do not knock something another man 

 is trying to get, just because you are satis- 

 fied yourself; that is too much like the dog 

 in the manger. 



There are a few gifted mortals, not more 

 ■than one in a hundred, who are able to shoot 

 a pistol without aim, but the most of us 

 want sights and good ones, too. Wild Bills 

 are few and far between, and we don't ex- 

 pect to equal their records. 



I never was a good pistol shot, and if I 

 tried to use one in Mr. Rowley's style I 

 would be still worse. To make a good shot 

 I have to take careful aim. 



At the same time I can use a rifle as quick- 

 ly and effectively as most peoole. I can 

 break bottles thrown in the air, and do nrettv 

 good work on a running deer, and I always 

 take aim at them, too. My idea of a revolver 

 is that it is a weapon to use when you have 

 nothing better. 



When working on a pack train in Alaska, 

 where a rifle would have been very much in 

 the way, I carried a .44 S. & W., American 

 model, single action pistol, to shoot grouse 

 along the trail, and I got a lot of them, too ; 

 very few I shot at got away. The old gun 

 was a little out of date, and very heavy ; it 

 had an 8-inch barrel, but it was still ac- 

 curate, and many a time it furnished the onlv 

 meat we had in weeks. And I always intend 

 to keep it on that account, although there are 

 much better revolvers on the market now. 



If a man cannot be reasonably sure of 

 hitting a 6-inch target at 20 yards he has a 

 poor pistol, or else he is a poor shot. 



I enclose a target made by me with a .22 

 S. & W., 3-inch barrel, distance 32 feet, 10 

 shots, 8 of which struck the target. 



This was the first time I ever used that 

 revolver, and a few days later I lost it, and 

 that brought my practice to a close. 



