GUNS AND AMMUNITION 



549 



nailed together, which leaves a groove in 

 which the wire runs. Now select two sap- 

 lings, one on either side of a ravine pre- 

 ferred, and stretch your wire from one wheel 

 to the other, which should be bolted to the 

 trees; the crank handle to turn by being 

 bolted to the outer edge of the wheel. Before 

 stretching wire make a few kinks in it, in 

 which to fasten your target. This can be 

 made out of pasteboard or sheet iron, and of 

 any size you may choose. 



If target is properly fastened to wire it will 

 run over on top wire and home on the lower 

 wire, and keep a continuous circuit, and can 

 be made to move 60 miles an hour. Now 

 with some one to turn, you are ready to try 

 your shooting qualities. Care must be taken 

 to have the "crank turner" well protected, or 

 an accident may happen to him. 



The shooter can now get back as far as he 

 likes and he'll soon find out what this "600 

 yards, running, broadside, dead in their 

 tracks," etc., means. N. H. Wright 



Selma, Ohio. 



DON'T MISS THIS LETTER 



Editor Recreation: 



I have taken a great deal of pleasure in 

 reading the six-shooter talk now appearing in 

 Recreation, and having some little experience 

 with "belt guns," I'm coming in, top. 



It seems to me that in this discussion about 

 the "new" gun, we have, in our enthusiasm, 

 wandered a bit from the right road. When 

 the subject was first broached some time ago, 

 the contention favored a new frame that 

 would fit the new 38 S. & W. special cart- 

 ridge. At the present point in this battle of 

 words there appear now and then appeals for 

 a larger calibre, which only lends additional 

 confusion to an already confused subject. 

 The big bore discussion has been already 

 talked to a more or less satisfactory under- 

 standing, and should not occupy much atten- 

 tion in this present controversy. Personally, 

 I am in favor of a new frame to fit the S. & 

 W. Special, which must, of course, have the 

 mechanism of the single action. As Mr. 

 Haines puts it, in his well-written letter in 

 the August issue, we want a light, single- 

 action frame, swing-out cylinder, and by all 

 means the stock, hammer, trigger and guard 

 of the old reliable .45 Colt. 



That the double-action has some good 

 points no one will deny, but outside of mili- 

 tary circles who wants a double-action, any- 

 way? How many times do you suppose you 

 or any other practical chap would cock his 

 gun without first thumbing the hammer? 

 Not many, I'll wager. I have carried a 7^- 

 inch Colt of .45 calibre down in Texas and 

 found it an ideal gun in every respect, but I 

 was in the saddle eight hours a day. Last 

 fall I carried the same .45 in the woods of 

 Maine, and upon this three weeks' tramping 



trip I found a few hitherto unthought-of dis- 

 advantages in my old favorite. When on your 

 legs the .45 weighs pow'ful heavy on your 

 hip, and during the last few hours of a day's 

 tramp the weight which you feel has been in- 

 creasing all day seems about a ton. There 

 is no doubt in my mind that both the calibre 

 and the frame are much too large, and for 

 general use I fail to see how the S. & W. 

 Special could be improved upon. That the 

 .38 Special is a powerful cartridge, practical 

 results — both at the target and upon game — 

 show to be so, and while in certain and ex- 

 ceptional cases the larger calibre might be 

 found more useful, on the whole I think the 

 .38 is plenty large enough. 



If Mr. Rawley will give the .38 S. & W. 

 Special cartridge a good test, I am confident 

 he will, like myself, see that so large a cal- 

 ibre as a .44 or .45, has too much of a disad- 

 vantage in its considerable weight, to be even 

 thought of by the general run of shooters 

 It is asking too much of our manufacturers 

 to put up both a new .38 and .44 calibre 

 frame, as the demand for the latter would 

 probably not pay for the expense necessary in 

 putting this larger frame upon the market. 

 And, again, I believe you will find the old 

 frame of the .45 Colt is about as light in 

 weight as would be safe for this large cal- 

 ibre. If this weight was cut down to say, 

 36 ounces, we would undoubtedly lose the 

 strong point which has ever appealed to us 

 an the old Frontier, and that is the ability 

 of this gun to stand many a hard knock and 

 still shoot as well as ever. 



I am in hearty accord with Mr. Rawley 

 on the sight question, and for a general pur- 

 pose arm I cannot see where the benefit of 

 "fancy sights" comes in. For exclusive tar- 

 get work this class of sights is, of course, 

 a great help, but when in the woods or where 

 the gun is carried in the holster, these sights 

 are bothersome. If many revolver shots 

 showed less partiality to the modern fittings 

 and devoted more time to the use of the time- 

 tried sights, I am inclined to believe that few- 

 er shooters would advocate the use of special 

 sights. 



I should like to hear the opinions of our 

 backwoodsmen and ranchers upon this subject, 

 and I trust none will feel bashful because 

 they haven't the knack of using the pen, 

 which failing I acknowledge. 



Rancher. 



SATISFIED 



Editor Recreation: 



I notice in your magazine (of which I am 

 a constant reader and great admirer) a good 

 many opinions being expressed in regard to 

 the best form of belt revolver. 



Now the old saying, "Many men of many 

 minds" was never more plainly illustrated 

 than in this instance. 



