336 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



gun if both depend on the expansion by force of powder to make 

 it take the grooves. There is no reason why that style of muzzle- 

 loader should Bhoot any different from the breech-loaders ; the bul- 

 lets to both guns are made similar in form and hardened with tin 

 bo as to prevent them from expanding too much. Bat it some- 

 times happens (from different causes) that they do not expand 

 and take the grooves, which ia the main cause of those "unaccount- 

 able" shots. It is evident, from close examination of the dia- 

 grams made in those matches within the last three years, that the 

 difference between those muzzle-loaders and breech-loaders is not 

 worth talking about. The diagrams made by both teams show 

 that some members had better guns than others, and made better 

 scores in consequence. Any man who is posted on rifle-shooting 

 can tell at a glance at those diagrams which had the best guns, 

 and whether the style of shooting showed a fault in the gun or 

 marksman. Compare Dakin's target and some others with Bly- 

 denburgh's, and the great difference in the qualities of the 

 gun. Dakin made good wind, but his gnn made too much 

 up and down to make a full score, and the targets Bhow that it 

 was not his fault. The variation of one-thousandth part of an 

 inch in the bore or form of rilling in those guns is what makes 

 the difference, and if the bullets were hardened, the moat suitable 

 and the best charge of powder used for each gun, it would proba- 

 bly remedy the difference. 



Rifles that are considered the most accurate are those that carry 

 the greatest number of shots to a horizontal line, and the great 

 study has been to make guns perfect, and the bullets for them of 

 such form and hardness as to give the most uniform power. Your 

 correspondent, "Straight-bore," gives the idea that the upsetting 

 of bullets is of recent disoovery. In this allow me to say he ia 

 mistaken. It was well known by the best riflemakers twenty-five 

 years ago that a bullet expanded in the breech of the gun by force 

 of powder the inBtant it started, the powder giving it a blow like 

 striking it with a hammer, and the reaction forward of centre of 

 gravity oaused the bullet to upset — shorten — and fill the bore and 

 often take the grooves above the patch. It was also discovered 

 impossible to cast bullets of any soft lead and get them uniform 

 in density, owing to some foreign substance in the lead. By 

 squeezing a number of conical bullets lengthwise in a vise to half 

 fi their length they were found to be knotty and uneven, showing 

 that if they were much expanded in the gun they would become 

 crooked and unsteady in their flight. The fact was proven by 

 Bhooting them into snow. 



The best riflemakers have acted on this knowledge of upsetting 

 of bullets and uneven density of lead ever since, and devised 

 ways to get the most uniform expansion by hardening the bullets 

 with block tin or antimony, and using a grade of powder most 

 suitable for the size and length of bullet used. Some years ago 

 bullets were made in two parts, the forward part of antimony and 

 lead, then a shell or butt of soft lead was oast or swaged on to 

 oomplete them. These bullets were made to get a more uniform 

 expansion, and to confine the bearing within the patch where it 

 should be. These are the best bullets in use at the present day. 



The length of guns was also considered, because with too quick 

 powder there is a column of air packed within the barrel, near the 

 muzzle, which diminishes the power. I have known powder so 

 quick that a small charge put into a long rifle barrel (that was 

 freed or choke-muzzled) that it expanded a conical bullet into a 

 a cylinder shape and stopped in the choke at the muzzle of the 

 gun until all the gas escaped at the nipple. The same amount 

 of powder put into a threo-inch barrel pistol would have driven 

 the bullet through two inches of pine. But the bullet would hare 

 upset the same in the pistol. Mesistance to the bullet by Motion 

 or otherwise while the powder is being consumed gives the great- 

 est force and leas power after it is consumed. The same applies 

 to shotguns. The English have a mistaken idea — and moBt Ameri- 

 cans too— that extreme long range rifles were not made in this 

 country previous to these rifle conteBtB. Such rifles were mads in 

 New York State ten years ago, and thcra are many of them in use 

 at the present day that can make a score at '1,000 yards equal to 

 the best that have been used in these long range matehes. I 

 know of twenty-six successive shots made with one of these guns 

 at 660 yards, all within seven inches in diameter, and made previ- 

 ous to this rifle contest. 



Another absurd idea ia our riflemen " classing guns by weight." 

 A barrel of ten pounds weight will shoot as well as one of twenty 

 pounds of the same bora and length, provided the light one is not 

 fired so rapidly as to heat it. It ia true that a heavy one has a lit- 

 tle the most power, but the difference is not worth talking about 

 where both guns are made with equal oare. The fact is gunpow- 

 der is so quick that it takes the most of its power from a small 

 amount of dead weight, and the light guns shoot about as well as 

 the heavy ones. Rifles have been made heavy to do away with 

 the unpleasant recoil. 



The light Creedmoor rifles do not shoot well from a solid or hard 

 rest, owing to the expansion of the barrel when it oomes in con- 

 tact with a hard substance and causes the muzzle to jump, bit 

 they do shoot well from a oushioned rest, or on the body in the 

 positions taken, which are not much inferior to a cushioned rest. 

 My opinion is— and I have good grounds for giving it— that muz- 

 zle-loaders will Boon be made that will shoot one-thirdlessup and 

 clown at 1,000 yards than any now in use. Geo. H. Ferris. 



CAUSES OF INACCURATE SHOTS. 



struck the ground at not half of the distance, and in others, by 

 their peculiar noise in flight, indicating very plainly that they were 

 turning all sorts of somersaults in the air. 



Out of regard to the marker's feelings, I laid the gun to one 

 side, and met the gibes of the countrymen upon my poor Bhoot- 

 ing by a general remark that the sights were out of order. The 

 fact was that by accident I had provided myself with a lot of 

 cartridges one size toe small. My gun requires 56's: I was unsus- 

 pectingly using 50's. Upon cleaning the gun after my return 

 home, I found why the balls had diverged so much to the right 

 and left. Several of the grooves were so badly leaded that a ball 

 dropped in at the breech would lodge upon the lead, while after 

 scraping out the obstructions, it would drop through without 

 touching. 



If by an accident the unfortunate marksman at Albany was 

 using as I did— too email a ball— he had worse luck than I, for it 

 is not to my credit that I did not kill a marker. Th.it small balls 

 alone were the cau-e of my wild shooting was made very evident 

 by my striking an inch circle three times in five shots, at sixty 

 yards, the next day, the only change being in size of ball. 



Occasional. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The lamentable and apparently inexplicable accident which oc- 

 curred at the target shooting near Albany, which resulted in the 

 loss of a life, because a bullet diverged some thirty feet from its 

 expected line of fire, seems to call upon all who can give any ex- 

 planation whioh may poBKibly accouut for the result, and which 

 may tend to lessen the chanceB of a repetition, to do so, even if, as 

 in my case, it ia necessary to plead guilty to a certain amount of 

 stupidity. 



The day of the accident I was attending a turkey shoot, and had 

 with me a small cavalry carbine, throwing a heavy ball. I have 

 nsed this gun for years, and have become so accustomed to it that 

 I have always felt it safe to make a good record at anything from a 

 sparrow at fifty feet to a turkey at two hundred yards. Upon this 

 oooasion something was wrong. The balls flew to the left and 

 right, in some cases fuUy thirty feet, and, jn many instances, 



LETTER FROM SIR HENRY HALFORD. 



The following exceedingly interesting letter we take from 

 the United Senice Gazette of November 10th : 



THE MATCH AT CREEDMOOR. 



To the Editor of the Volunteer Service Gazette : 



Sir— It is very satisfactory to see so much interest taken 

 in the result of the Centennial Match at Creedmoor. What 

 I most feared was that the cold shade of indifference which 

 was shed upon us before our departure from England would 

 still throw its blight upon us on our return. The letters in 

 your columns, however, show that defeat has, as usual, 

 roused the Britisher from his apathy, and so I venture to 

 trouble you with my views of the causes of our failure to 

 win the'Centennial Trophy. 



It will be well in the first place to compare our system of 

 prize shooting with those which are used in the United 

 .States. There the individual prizes are few in number and 

 small in value; tsventy dollars (or five pounds) being a large 

 first prize. Here they are many in number and often large 

 in value. There the team matches are many with scarcely 

 any, if any, money prizes— here they are very few with no 

 money prizes. There men shoot for honor — here, I am 

 sorry to say, with some exceptions, for the pot. The Tesult 

 is that our men, having to rely on their own skill and judg- 

 ment, become, as individuals, better riflemen than the 

 Americans. They, on the other hand, have learned the value 

 of drill and organization, and herein lies the secret of their 

 success in team shooting. 



The team that we had to contend against had been at 

 work as a team since April last with its staff of coaches and 

 spotters, in whom the men learned to place the utmost reli- 

 ance, upon the very ranges on which the match was shot. 

 On the other hand, our men were only able to have three 

 days' practice together as a team — a time utterly inadequate 

 for some of them to throw off their old habits and subordi- 

 nate themselves to the judgment of their coach, who, with 

 four times the data to work upon, and the latest information 

 of any changes of wind, ought to be able unhesitatingly to 

 give the amount of allowance required if only his men will 

 shoot quick enough and are steady. 



To put a team properly together is a work of months, 

 and under the rules for the Centennial Trophy, it appears to 

 me impossible t« send out a united team fit to represent our 

 country unless Scotland and Ireland waive their right to send 

 teams of their own, and join heartily with us in trying to 

 wrest the prize from America. 



The other points upon which I would touch are — the 

 Ranges, the Rifles and Positions. 



I went out to America with the idea that Creedmoor must 

 be very easy ground to shoot over, not only from the high 

 scores made by the Americans themselves, but by the for- 

 eign teams also which had contested on it. I do not now, 

 however, consider it easier than many of our own ranges 

 would be, were they properly flagged. Mr. Toller asks if 

 they know what a fishtail wind is ? The answer i3 that they 

 hardly know of anything else. They have, however, plenty 

 of flags in the right places, and a large clock-dial to indicate 

 the direction of the wind. The b'g scores made by foreign 

 teams are due partly to these appliances, but chiefly to their 

 improvement in team shooting, the result of the practice, 

 small though it may have been, that they have had shooting 

 together as a team. 



Now as to the Rifles. I have not in the least lost my con- 

 fidence in our rifles, but to get work out of them as good as 

 the Americans get out of theirs, they must be treated with 

 the same carefulness and attention. Without cleaning, the 

 American breechloader is absolutely useless, for no second 

 cartridge can be inserted. With partial cleaning they stand 

 no chance against our rifles uncleaned. When thoroughly 

 cleaned th^y are, I think, better than ours uncleaned ; but 

 when both are treated alike, and thoroughly cleaned, I have 

 every reason to believe that our rifles are superior to theirs. 

 I have had two of them for two years, have tried them well, 

 and have always beaten them with a Metford. I have 

 brought two more over, as the makers claim some improve- 

 ments, and shall again give them an exhaustive trial. My 

 own personal experience has convinced me that a muzzle- 

 loader can be cleaned quite. as easily and certainly as a 

 breechloader. The Americans* are now experimenting with 

 rauzzleloaders of their own make, and report most favorably 

 of them, and are also, some of tliem, providing themselves 

 with our rifles. They are quite tired of the trouble attend- 

 ing the use of the breechloaders. 



With regard to Position. The match will, I trust, con- 

 vince the shooting puMic that they must, if they wish to 

 become successful shots, give up the forward position for 

 any rifle matches. I was convinced two years ago, and at 

 that time discarded it for all but military rifles. We should 

 have lost the match if all had been on their backs, so must 

 not give undue weight to the fact that three of our men 

 shot on their faces, nor forget that an average of our highest 

 score would not have been sufficient to win. 



To sum up. We lost the match for want .of time to 

 organize our team properly, and our scores were further 

 pulled down slightly by want of a thorough knowledge of 

 the range — by position, and by want of sufficient care in 

 loading our rifles, 



In conclusion, let me say that I have had an intimation 

 that the Americans would not refuse a friendly match at 

 Wimbledon next year (not for the Centennial Trophy) should 

 our N. R. A. invite them. If tbey do come it will be no 

 child's play to meet them. They have a team ; we have to 

 make one. — I am, yours faithfully, 



Wistow. H. St. J. Halford. 



This letter of Sir Henry's is an excellent one, and 

 American Riflemen appreciate the compliment when Sir 

 Henry says, "there (in America) men shoot for honor — here, 

 I am sorry to say, with some exceptions, for the pot." But 

 we by no means see by what argument the gallant Captain 

 of the English team comes to the conclusion that, " as indi- 

 viduals, our men are better riflemen than the Americans." 

 This dictum we can by no means allow. Another point 9:' 

 difference is in regard to guns ; essentially bound up in the 

 love of muzzleloaders, Sir Henry sees but little good ia 

 breechloaders. 



If, however, Sir Henry Halford has no doubts as to the 

 superiority of Euglish muzzleloader, Mr. Miller has, as has 

 also a correspondent, who signs himself Breechloader, whose 

 letter taken from the Volunteer Service Gazette we copy. 

 To the Editor of the Volunteer Service Gazette : 



Sir— I shall be glad if you will allow me to say a word 

 or two on the above subject. First let me express a hope 

 tnat some of the Biitish Team who have procured American 

 rifles will give us the information asked by your corres- 

 pondent "Martini " in last week's Gazette. We shall then, 

 perhaps, be able to form some opinion as to the correctness 

 of Mr. Herbert Miller's certainly forcible arguments. In a 

 great match, like the Centennial, where the national honor 

 is at stake, we ought to see that the British Team is armed 

 with the best rifle known to science. Some of our " cracks " 

 say that our rifles are " second to none." This intelligence 

 would be very re-assuring if it were not for the awkward 

 little fact that the American rifles have beaten the British 

 three consecutive times. The truth is, not one British rifle- 

 man in a thousand knows anything at all about the American 

 gun. In our usual British conceit, we jump to the conclu- 

 sion that everything English must, as a matter of curse, be 

 better than anything foreign, without even taking the 

 trouble to find out whether it is so or not. 



I quite agree with Mr. Miller thai, the quality of the 

 American rifles is a fit subject for investigation. On the 

 whole, we have not a single atom of reliable evidence to 

 show that our rifles are as good as the Americans'. 



There now seems a disposition to put all our eggs in Mr. 

 " Coach's" basket. If the "Coach " were to break clown 

 what would become of the poor trigger-pullers ? 



Mr. Miller possibly sees this danger, as well as 



Your obedient servant, Breechloader. 



PAPER SHELLS. 



Manufactured by the Union Metallic Car- 

 tridge Company, are Superior to any 

 Shells of the Same Grade in this Country 

 or Europe. 

 They are sure fire, will not burst In the gun, and are warranted to 

 shoot as well with the same charge of powder as any shell In the 

 market. A letter published In the Chicago Field, Sept. 22, giving the 

 result of a trial made with No. 12 St. Louis Shells which are claimed to 

 save 25 per cent, of the powder, and give almost no recoil to the gun - 

 and No. 12 Bridgeport Paper Shells, says :— 



"Four of each loaded with 3, Sjtf and 3>£ drachms of Laflin & Rand's 

 powder, and ail with l>„' ounces by weight, or 363 pellets to the charge 

 counted, of No. 7 Chicago phot. Distance 40 yards to muzzle of gun, 

 target a circle 30 inches in diameter, a bull's-eye center, IX inch circle 

 penetration pads 9% inches by 115.4, 30 sheets to pad, made of heavy, 

 hardware paper, 30 sheets large enough laid on each other making 24 

 pads. The gun was shot resting across a bag filled with straw. The 

 following is the result: 



ST. LOUIS PAPER SHEEL8. 



Pellets in 



Pellets tn Penetration Pellets in Sheets pene- 



BuU's Eye, Pad, 9,'i by 30 in. circle, tratlon by 3 



\% inch. Il.t* inch. Pellets. 

 3 Dr. Powder. 



1 R. B e 54 24« 18 



2 R. B 2 3T 233 W 



1 L. B 3 54 243 16 



2 L. B 3 43 240 IT 



"7* 18S 950 TO 

 3>i Dr. Powder. 



1 R. B 2 48 225 17 



2 R. B 1 30 210 16 



1 L. B 16 ISO 15 



2 L. B 1 61 249 IT 



7 155 804 66 



3W Dr. Powder. 



IB. B - S 59 224 IT 



2 R. B...., 1 52 261 19 



1 L. B 56 255 IT 



2 L. B 3 62 253 18 



7—21 229—572 993—2,753 72—20 , 



BEIDGEPORT PAPER SHELLS. 



3 Dr. Powder 



1 R. B 2 67 256 IT 



2 R. B 3 56 248 . 16 



1 L. B 3 44 218 17 



2 L. B 4 68 249 17 



12 215 971 67 

 SiY Dr. Powder. 



1 R. B 1 13 137 14 



2 R B 3 6i 263 18 



1 L. B 2 54 226 19 



2 L. B 3 54 211 18 



9 163 836 69 

 3V Dr. Powder 



1 It. B 2 63 250 19 



2R. B 1 60 25H 18 



1 L. B 1 54 216 18 



2 L. B 1 43 233 18 



5^-26 220—618 956—2,762 73—200 



All the shells were loaded precisely the same as nearas I eoukl load 

 them, with one black and one pink edge wad over powder, and one black 

 e'lge wad over shot. I have no comment to make on the relative 

 merits of either shell, the figures stand for themselves. I could see no 

 difference in the recoil of the paper shells. I think the reliability of 

 the Bridgeport paper shell is worthy of mention, having used a large 

 number in the past three years without having one misfire, I can't say 

 ftamuch for any other papor shell I ever used.— [4.^? 





