460 



FOUEST AND STREAM. 



Sir Henry Hat.ford Experimenting.— Sir Henry Hal ford 

 writes to the Volunteer Service Gazette that he will shortly 

 lay before its readers a full report of experiments he is 

 making "between English and American rifles. " 



Sergeant Ferguson's Speech at Inverness. — From the 

 Inverness Advertiser we learn that Sergeant Ferguson, of the 

 English team, made a capital speech on the occasion of a total 

 abstinence society meeting, of which he is a leading member. 

 A handsome gold medal was presented to Sergeant Ferguson 

 as a remembrance of Mr. Ferguson's services in the Highland 

 Rifle Volnnteers. The Sergeant, referring to the Oreedmoor 

 contest, commented on the excellence of the American team- 

 shooting. The hot weather, the Sergeant said, was somewhat 

 against the English team, and the mosquitoes, although 

 very small insects, had caused them many sleepless nights. 

 One thing very much to the point, which we copy in full 

 from the gallant sergeant's speech, was as follows : 



" The majority of good rifle shots in this country (America) 

 are generally very temperate men, and during our shooting 

 on Creedmoor I was very much pleased to see that almost all 

 the American marksmen drank ooly milk, which goes so far 

 to account for their steadiness. In fact, during our stay on 

 Long Island, I did not see anything more than a glass of claret 

 drank by any of our party, or even their many distinguished 

 guests, and very few indulged in so much." 



We heartily indorse Sergeant Ferguson's ideas about absti- 

 nence in regard to rifle shooting. Drinking men never make 

 good rifle shots. 



BREECH VS. MUZZLE-LOADER. 



Bbidoeport, Conn., Jan. 8, 1S78. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



The international rifle niatcli of I8TT lias almost passed from the minds 

 of ttie American people, They are so accustomed to victories that they 

 take Ihem as a matter of course, and in a few weeks they are compara- 

 tively forgotten. But such is not the case with the defeated nation 

 It has been said of them that "they never know when they are whipped." 

 In this case it appears that they are gradually beginning to suspect 

 that, at least, they were not victorious, and their newspaper writers 

 are vigorously endeavoring to prove that the Americans won the 

 match because they had worse guns, poorer powder, and men of in- 

 different shooting abilities. Our men are characterized as "mere 

 trigger pullers," our rifles as "despicable abortions" and "mere 

 8hams."_The Volunteer Service Gazette abounds with correspondence 

 of this kind, and many of the letters have been from gentlemen who 

 have had abundant opportunities of learning the truth. But they ap- 

 pear to be of that class of men who— 



" convinced against his will, 



Is of the same opinion still." 



The principal charge made against our guns is that they cannot be 

 shot without cieanit g after each discharge, and the charge is sweep- 

 ing. Long-range military and sporting rifles are all included, tir 

 Henry Halford, in a letter to the Gazette, writes : " Without cleaning 

 the American breech-loader is absolutely useless, for no second cart- 

 ridge can be inserted." We trust Sir Henry will not consider us dis- 

 courteous if we republish part of a private letter he wrote us in 1S75. 

 We felt proud of the score at that time, and still think it a good one. 

 Iu 1S74 he ordered one of our long-range breech -loading rifles, and, ac- 

 knowledging its receipt, he sent us the score and diagram of target 

 made at his first trial with it. We seud you the diagram as it ap- 

 peared in your columns at that time: 



54 5 5 55555 5-49 flit Of a possible 50. 



And now we quote from Sir Henry's letter: "Forty-nine out of a 

 possible fifty at SOU yaTds ; fired ten shots ; very bad light; lying down, 

 no rest; rifle not wiped out." In addition to this testimony we pro- 

 duce that of J. K. Millner, one of Ihe best shots in the United King- 

 dom, cither at long or short range. He shot a Sharps' mid-range 

 breech-loader at the meeting in Chicago last fall, winning the first 

 prize in a field of forty competitors, at 800 yards, off-hand, without 

 cleaning, with a score of 43, the best ever made at that distance off- 

 hand. Added to the testimony of these may be had that of many 

 Englishmen who have hunted on onr Western frontier. There our 

 arms are very generally used, and the linnter seldom or never cleans 

 hia rifle till camp is made at night. Prof essional huuters for pelts 

 often bag one hundred or more buffalo in a day, and do not clean from 

 first shot to last. We make rifles that can be fired 1,000 consecutive 

 shots without cleaning, aud still retain their accuracy. 



Mr. John Eigby, who makes one of the best of muzzle-loaders, and 

 is a correspondent of the Gazette, refers often and with evident pride 

 to the fact tnat in 1S74 he defeated us in a match with his muzzle- 

 loaders against our breech-loaders, both without wiping. We ac- 

 knowledge the defeat, but deny that it was a conclusive test, or that it 

 proved anything except perhaps that we had yet much to learn about 

 rifle shooting. In the first place, our representatives at that time had 

 had but little experience In shooting 1,000 yards in the strong, gusty 

 wind irf'which this match was shot, it being their first year at the 

 sport, while their antagonists were veterans of ten years' practice. 

 Again, in point of fact, the muzzle-loaders, though not " wiped," were 

 cleaned every shot, for it is impossible to " insert a second" ballet 

 until the barrel has been cleaned by forcing down upon tke powder a 

 thick and tight-fitting and lubricating wad, which carries all Hie debris 

 with 1", ieaviug nothing to impede the true flight of the bullet. Lest, 

 we be accused of being inconsistent, we hasten to say that we do not 

 claim for our match rifles, with their heavy charges of powder and 

 lead, that they will do es close work wiiliout cleaning aa with. Our 

 military and sporting rifle cartridges contain sufficient lubricating 

 material to keep Ifie barrels in good shooting trim; this is left out of 

 the long-range ammunition, as the purpose for which the match 

 rllles are made admits of cleaning, they are made with that intention. 

 As we have sliowii, the muzzie-ioader is cleaned (or supposed to be) 

 every time it is loaded, and this difference between certainty and sup- 

 position Is just the difference between a breech and muzzle-loader, 

 and manifestly in favor of the former. 



We claim for onr breech-loading military rifles that a fair shot can 



keep on the target, (6x12) at 1,000 yards without cleaning; and a rifle 

 that can be shot within the pace occupied by a front o( six meu, at 

 that distance, is accurate enough for military purposes. As regards 

 the alleged high prices of American arms, we will not ask yon to pub- 

 lish all of our price list for the benefit of our British cousins (you might 

 mention that it will be mailed post free upon application), but our 

 best match rifles are only £id instead of £40. The latter figure can be 

 made up in extra polish if desired, and onr military rifle is only £i, 

 while the sporting rifles vary all the way between these two extremes. 



We leave our marksmen to defend themselves against the Imputa- 

 tion upon their skill. They have shown themselves capable of doing 

 It in the past in four international matches. But if it be true that our 

 men are "mere trigger pullers," that "every rifle is fired by the cap- 

 tain," wc are surprised that none of the writers have taken note ef 

 the extreme politeness of our captain in the late match In firing all the 

 other rifles so much better than his own. 



Yours truly, Sharps' Kifle Company. 



For Forest and Stream and Eod and Chin. 

 EXPLOSIVE AND EXPANSIVE 

 BULLETS. 



Explosive bullets have only lately excited the attention of 

 American sportsmen, and very naturally great results are expected 

 from them. Having given such bullets a thorough trial on deer 

 as well as smaller animals, my experience may be of some value to 

 those about to adopt them, and also to afford an answer to the 

 many inquiries about them by correspondents of the" TTobest and 

 Stream. 



Their construction is very simple, and any gunsmith of any skill 

 can easily make the moulds. A moveable metal plug ia inserted 

 at each casting, so as to leave a cylindrical hole in the front end 

 of the ball, running back one-half or two-thirds of its length. This 

 plug is guided and hold iu place by passing through a thick, solid 

 plateof metal, screwed to one side of the moulds. Upon striking 

 anysolid substance, even though it be very soft, the walls of this 

 cylindrical hole expand outward. To insure accuracy the hole 

 must be closed and the end smoothed over. This may be done 

 with wax, or in cold weather with tallow. Copper cylinders made for 

 this purpose are very good. When carefully made, these balls 

 have a perfectly accurate flight up to 400 or 500 yards. 



This is the expansive or "express" bullet, though "express bul- 

 let'' properly means an expansive ball that is also very light in 

 proportion to its calibre, so as to have a high initial velocity — the 

 most sensible idea in the world for a hunting rifle. 



This may now be made explosive iu several ways, of which by 

 far the best is to have the plug made the 'size of a rim-fire pistol 

 cartridge, .22 long for a .44 ball. Then take the ball out of the 

 pistol cartridge, fill it up with powder, aud insert it in the rifle 

 ball until the rim sits close upon the edge of the hole. These will 

 explode without fail upon the softest flesh, and may be carried 

 (except in the Winchester rifle) and fired with perfect safety. If 

 any hammering be necessary to seat the hall in the cartridge, the 

 pistol cartridge must, of course, not be put in until the other is 

 loaded. 



This ball makes, upon striking, no larger hole than that the 

 solid ball of same size. At about an inch deep it explodes and 

 makes a wedge-shaped hole, the width increasing with its depth 

 for three or four inohes, and varying with the toughness of the 

 animal from two to four inches at the widest part. ThiB wedge- 

 shaped hole is oaused, not by the explosion, but by the outward 

 expansion of the walls of the cylinder. If the animal be a small 

 one, such as a fox, the hole on the opposite side will be from three 

 to four inches across, according to its age and the place of strik- 

 ing—a young one being almost cut in two by it. But o n a large 

 animal, like a deer, the sides of the cylinder generally tear off, and 

 the butt of the ball passes on as an independent bullet. 



So much for the ball : now for tho results. The ball I have used 

 ia one that, when solid, would weigh about 530 grains .44 ca libre, 

 with a. 22 long rim-lire pistol cartridge inserted, and driven by 70 grs. 

 of the best powder. Hitviu • a very line shooting .44 Maynard, I 

 hoped that these balls would fully overcome the great trouble 

 which makes deer hunting in or near the thick chapparal of Cali- 

 fornia with a small-bored riiie not only a vexation, but, I don't 

 hesitate to say, au outrage. I fully beliexa that at least one-third 

 of the deer shot in California die a lingering death in the chap- 

 paral, either from their wounds or from blow-flies, which generally 

 kill anything that is wounded, unless it is attended to by man. Here 

 a wounded deer strikes instantly for thick brush aud there skulks 

 and hides so that he cannot be seen any distance, aud cannot be 

 approached because of the noise. 



I very naturally thought I had struck just the thing, for on try- 

 ing this ball upon two hares, they were blown into a fair grade of 

 boarding-house hash, and a mud hen was lifted about five feet in 

 the air, and had its back, one leg and one wing broken by the 

 shock from a ball fired purposely three inches under it into the 

 water. I was Btill more pleased on trying them on deer. The 

 first shot I got was on a three-year-old buck, that dropped almost 

 in his tracks from a ball behind the shoulder, when with the solid 

 ball he would probably have run fifty or one hundred yards. On 

 opening him I found the lungs torn into shreds. 



The next was one of those provoking shots called a "paunch 

 shot," which are often unavoidable where you have to take many 

 running shots. The doer died in about 400 yards from the place, 

 where struck. With the solid ball it could have run all day, and I 

 naturally thought this solved the vexatious question of "paunch 

 shots." 



The next shot was at a doe, in a position where I had to take a 

 "haunch shot" or none. I heard the ball explode, saw her drop 

 her leg and start on a hobbling gait for the brush, and had that 

 exquisite pleasure so often enjoyed by the possessor of one of 

 those single-barreled small calibre abominations, misnamed 

 "sporting rifles,' ' of seeing my daor disappear to die beyond reach 

 just as I got a second cartridge in. The trouble with this shot 

 will be explained further on. 



To go through the list would weary the reader. Suffice it to say 

 that of forty-two deer unmistakably struok, eleven have escaped 

 entirely ; while out of the thirty-one I have bagged, seven were 

 saved only by getting in another shot, either by heading off or 

 where tho brush happened to be thin enough to allow tracking 

 without making a noise, by allowing them time to lie down and 

 sicken. Twenty-four (a large proportion) either dropped in their 



tracks or within a very few yards. Every one struck iu or back of 

 shoulders, or in tho nock or loins, dropped in less than half a 

 minute, while every oue struck in the paunch, stern or hip either 

 got away, or was secured by a second shot, obtained only by hard 

 or careful work. Of eight struck in the paunch not one showed 

 anymore sign of distress than they do when struck by the solid 

 hall (except the first one, which must have been killed by a splinter 

 of the ball rangitig forward or upward into the kidneys or back 

 veins), and one half-grown fawn that I was almost ashamed to 

 shoot at, after having four hours time to lie down, was about a3 

 lively as ever, and actually got away from me. Four struck in the 

 hip, like the third one mantioned above, got away. The solid ball 

 would hafe gone clear through and broken both hips, whereaa 

 it simply made a large flesh wound in one, aud leaving the other 

 strong enough to travel on faster than a man can. 



This lack of penetration is the most serious drawb ack of these 

 balls. If made to take a .22 long cartridge there is little 

 butt left to the ball, the expansion retards it very materially and 

 the explosion still more. The difference in penetration is immense, 

 several balls having failed to pass through both shoulders of &■ 

 deer, where the same ball, if solid, would go through two or threal 

 deer. They should consequently be maJo hollow not over half 

 their length, and I think only two-fifths better still. 



I have come to the conclusion that the best 'way to use these 

 balls is without any powder, or anything but wax to close the hole^ 

 and cast of hardened lead like the Creedmoor ball, with the hole 

 made small and narrowing nearly to a point at its bottom. This 

 may seem absurd; but I am not theorizing., and after a thorough 

 trial of each have abandoned the explosive part of it until I can 

 find something far more explosive than black powder, that ia also 

 safe. The advantages of Buch a ball are these : First, it will not 

 fly to pieces, but by remaining together will retain its momentum 

 and have greater penetration ; second, by expanding without 

 tearing off its walls it will cut a hole of greater average width 

 throughout its entire passage \ third, a short, swift ball may in-« 

 this way be made to do capital work, whereas, if explosive, it must 

 either ba mada so heavy that the Intolerable nuisance of low 

 initial velocity, and consequent shortening of the natural point- 

 blank must be submitted to, or else if made light it will have 

 little penetration upon tho solid partB of any large animal. Another 

 objection is this : Game at long ranges will often stand for one ot{ 

 two "sighting Bhots." The explosion of a ball around their feat 

 will (invariably to my experience) mako thorn run far enough to 

 ruin your calculations for the next shot, whereas they will often 

 stand or jump only a step or two for a solid ball. 



In "Hallock's Gazetteer," page 54G, note, is an account by a Mr. 

 Mead, of the top of the skull of a 1,000 pound grizzly being torn 

 off by a ball containing .22 long pistol cartridge. I regret I differ 

 from anything ivev quoted (without being indorsed) in such excel- 

 lent authority ; but there is a mistake here which may mislead 

 some brave sportsman into serious danger. Either that ball con- 

 tained dynamite or fulminate of mercury — things far too treach- 

 erous for safety — or the ball struek in such a way that it would 

 have shivered the top of the skull anyhow, or the account has 

 passed through two or three mouths, or the observer's expecta- 

 tions of what would ooour have, by a well kuown law of human 

 nature, led him unconsciously to exaggerate what did occur. At 

 all events I do not hesitate to pronounce it an entire mistake as it 

 standB. I have fired precisely the same cartridge into tho head of 

 a wildcat, into the shoulders of a coyote aud fox, into a black 

 eagle, and as a quieting shot into the heads of several doer, be- 

 sides the instances before cited. Iu no case was there any sign 

 whatever of blowing, tearing or shattering either of bones or skin, 

 exoept where the ball came out, and there the hole was precisely 

 the same aa is made by the ball without any powder or cartridge 

 in it. The only way lean explain this is that black powder ia too 

 Blow ; that while it will tear a tender thing like a hare in pioces, 

 where tho object is tough the gas escapes partly behind the ball r 

 which it can easily do, owing to the wedge-shape of the hole, and 

 partly through tho hole which is cut for it by the ball in front, 

 which is done just about as quick as the gas can fill it. 



In order to test this question thoroughly, J bored out some 

 balls with a bitt, so as to take a .32 long cartridge. Theae con- 

 tain about twice as much powder as the .32 cartridge. Tho butta 

 of these balls were so injured in shape by tho vise that I did not 

 try them on deer, for I doubted then- accuracy. A melodious oldl2- 

 pound tom-cat, of whose inspiring eloquence the ranche wa8 

 weary, furnished, however, a far better tea:. I shot first at hia 

 middle, but struck too low down, about an inch from the lower edge. 

 The skin was torn for several inches on each side, the heart and 

 lungs laid bare, and the cat killed in about a minute. I then fired 

 another into the back between the shoulders. It came out be- 

 tween the fore-legs, making a slightly larger hole than tho merely 

 expansive bullet would have done; but there was no* tearing or 

 blowing apart of the shoulders whatever, nor was the skin any- 

 where broken except where the ball entered and pasBed out! 

 Another fired into the head produced exactly the same effect, viz.: 

 cutting a larger hole on the exit aide, but without blowing open 

 anything. I then fired one into a piece of dry cotton wood log, 

 eight inches in diameter and twelve inches long, free from knots 

 aud straight grained, and the mate to which required only one 

 good blow of an ax to split.. The piece was not split or shattered 

 in any way. In opening it with an ax I found the ball had pene- 

 trated about five inches, and was torn to bits. This seemed to 

 confirm what I had noticed before with the smaller cartridge, that 

 the gas oan, in a tough substance, escape entirely out of the hole 

 the ball entered. I then took another piece of Cottonwood, only 

 five inches in diameter and ten inches in length, and perfectly 

 straight. The ball passed entirely through this, cutting 'a little 

 larger hole on the other side than tlie simply expansive bullet 

 would have done, but I failed to find any eign.of a crack or split in 

 the block from the explosion. 



In none of the instances given has there been any question as 

 to whether the ball exploded or not. I have never yet kuown one 

 to fail. The blackening and smell of the powder is always more or 

 leaa noticeable, especially in wood, and at over sixty yards or 80 

 tne explosion maybe plainly heard like a lire-cracker. 



The conclusions to which I have come to are these : 



That these balls are a great improvement over solid balls of 

 same calibre (except where great penetration ia needed, when 

 they are decidedly inferior), but do not wholly overcome the ob- 

 jections to small calibre. 



