70 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 23, 1882. 



With our forests and fields it is the same with the products of 

 game. Remember, we speak of our own sportsmen as well as 

 our summer visitors from abroad. Maine furnishes a large 

 number, and they spend their money freely on our field 

 sports. 



' 'If the products of our forests and our inland waters can he 

 made to yield more than one hundred fold when consumed 

 on our own soil, than when mercilessly slaughtered under 

 our present system, should not our Legislature protect our 

 own State's interests, by forbidding the exportation of both 

 our game fishes and game? 



"The point to be considered is how to make the most of 

 this great State's interest. We hope the citizens of Maine 

 will carefully consider this question. The present killing of 

 game for exportation is mostly in the hands of poachers, and 

 a comparatively small and inconsiderable class at that. As 

 at present carried on, it is of not the slightest benefit to the 

 State. It has inevitably led to the utter destruction of the 

 fish and game in every State where it has been permitted. 

 The experience of other States has been that it has always 

 bred up a class of citizens that have cost the State more for 

 the punishment of vice and crime than they have earned to- 

 ward their own support. 



"It is manifest injustice to the people at large of the State, 

 that property that belongs equally to all, and to be enjoyed 

 by all. as a healthful diversion, should be monopolized' by a 

 small and undeserving class to the great pecuniary loss of the 

 State at large. 



"Systematic depredations have been for several years car- 

 ried on upon our moose, during the deep snow and crust of 

 the early spring months, by tluf combined operations of Maine 

 poachers with St. Francis and other Indians from the Provin- 

 ces. At a period when moose and other skins cannot be safely 

 brought to our markets, they are exchanged for furs salable 

 here, while the moose, deer and caribou hides are carried into 

 New Brunswick, and from there find their way into the hands 

 of dealers here. This was extensively carried on at the lime 

 it was unlawful to kill a moose in the' State of Maine under a 

 fine of one hundred dollars. 



"Now that the protection of our game his been placed in 

 the charge of the Fish Commissioners, we earnestly beg I fatal 

 means and the laws to enable us to use them, may be given 

 us by the Legislature to summarily break up this nefarious 

 traffic, and destroy the present school for fraud and rascality 

 which the present wretched system of leaving our fish 

 and game at the mercy of a small class of poachers, fosters. 



"We would suggest that a law be passed placing a bounty 

 of twenty-five cents per head upon the destruction of hawks 

 and owls. The money value of the poultry killed by these 

 birds will far exceed that of all the sheep killed by bears and 

 dogs, to say uothing of the havoc made upon wild ducks, 

 partridges and insectivorous birds. We think that imprison- 

 ment should be added to the penalty for netting wild ducks 

 and for netting our fresh water fishes." 



THAT PERENNIAL GROUSE. 



Editor Forest and Stream : 



As the subject of wing-shooting vs. treeing and shooting 

 ruffed grouse on the ground is being discussed in Forest 

 and Stream, I will "rise to remark" that I shoot them on the 

 wing, on the ground and out of trees; and consider each and 

 all three ways sportsmanlike when done in the way that I do 

 it. Now, boys on our side of the house, don't hold up your 

 hands in horror and say " 'Ramrod.' I did not suppose that 

 you were a pot-hunter. " I do not consider myself as such, 

 but let me explain. I have no dogs to sell and do not train 

 or break dogs; I have no axe to grind, and do not wish to 

 obtain a free "ad." in Forest and Stream. I will not 

 murder a ruff ed grouse in any way, shape or manner; and 

 will not kill one in any way that docs not require nerve and 

 skill to accomplish the feat." I do not wish to boast of skill, 

 and will only say that I am a fair shot on the wing with the 

 shotgun, and a fair shot at game with the rifle. If I start out 

 hunting with my ten-gauge double-barrel and see a grouse on 

 the ground, do you think that I would shoot it there ? No, sir, 

 not I; I would just as soon shoot a hen in the barnyard or a 

 calf in the pasture — there would be just as much skill in one 

 as the other, and consequently just as much sport. My idea 

 is that skill and sport are twin brothers and go hand in hand 

 together. If I am out hunting squirrels with my little rifle and 

 I see a grouse in a tree or on the ground, do you think that I 

 would decapitate, him? I certainly would, if possible, and 

 consider it as much of a feat as it is to down one on the wing 

 in cover. And right here let me say, that when we wing 

 shots speak of ' 'mowing brush" to kill our birds, we. do not 

 pretend to perform anything impossible, such as cutting limbs 

 off as large as your wrist or kflling birds a mile away, and 

 when some of our readers complain that the timber is so 

 heavy that they cannot kill their birds on the wing and have 

 to tree them in order to get them at all, then shoot them with 

 a bullet, and do for decency's sake have it said that there was 

 some skilled sport about it somewhere. For what skill is 

 there in shooting' any game "settin'," with an old kicking, pel- 

 lowing Bhotgun? (I have great contempt for the shotgun for 

 anything except flying or running shots) for any man can do 

 that whether lie has practice or not. 



Is it, any satisfaction to shoot n chipmunk on the wall with 

 5drs. powder and 1+ozs. of shot, twenty yards distant ? I 

 think I can hear you say that you certainly fail to see how it- 

 is. I have done it hours at a time with a rifle ball aud en- 

 joyed the sport very much, too. Why? 1 did not want to 

 pot them for dinner, I could not sell' them in market, they 

 were doing me no damage, and 1 was not particularly blood- 

 thirsty. But when I could pick one in the head off-hand, I 

 felt that I had accomplished a feat that I was proud of, and 

 one that I would not be ashamed to have any man witness. 

 It has been many years since I have shot a grouse out of a 

 tree with a shotgun, and it will be many more before I will 

 ''pot shoot" a game bird. Now, my boys, if you do not be- 

 lieve in wing-shooting, just, try it, and if you miss, try again; 

 keep trying, and my word for it von will' soon find that those 

 "great stories" about killing flying birds are not half as big 

 a bugbear as you imagined them to be. When a bird is fly- 

 liig he presents nearly twice the trisa that he does wh-n tit is 

 silting, and when his wings are extended he exposes his most 

 vulnerable parts that bis wing- cover when sitting. Of course 

 we expect to be ridiculed more or less by a certain class of so- 

 called sportsmen, when we truthfully tell about some of our 

 gunning trips, but we have. the satisfaction, of knowing that 

 wc have killed our birds in a manly and sportsmanlike man- 

 ner, aud are not ashamed to look other sportsmen in the face; 

 and if they ask, "All shot on the wing?" we can answer pes 

 without that little uneasiness inside our breasts that we might 

 have if we should stammer out anything to convey the idea 

 that they were, or we should truthfully answer no. Where 

 is there a man that will dispute that Captain Rogardus, 



on July 3, 1881, at New York, stood thirty yards from the 

 trap and killed 99 out of 100 pigeons and dropped the other 

 out of bounds? Yet if we tell about shooting a few grouse 

 on the wing, there are some who do not credit a word we say, 

 but tell us that our shooting "looks well on paper" when we 

 kill "ten out, of six," and "like to have them go in the worst 

 places." 



We will excuse "Octo's" two birds, but please let him not 

 do it again. Has not "Look East" a few more words that 

 he can write for us? He has hit the nail squarely on the 

 head. "Mark West" also, has done nobly; and last, but by 

 no means least, I will say to "Ruffed Grouse," give me your 

 hand and wc will shake on that same grand old motto, "Take 

 no sitting shots" with a shotgun. Iron Ramrod. 



SoMKRVUiLE, Mass. 



MUZZLE vs. BREECH-LOADERS. 



MANY years ago I took a Shaips carbine (22-inch ban-el, I 

 think), and" took the grooves out, finishing ae a breech- 

 loading shotgun. After several months of experiment, I 

 contrived a muslin-shell cartridge that wotdd burst about 

 twenty yards away; and after further experiments, one that 

 would burst about thirty yards away. I had no difficulty 

 about preparing them so that they would burst within five or 

 six yards after leaving the gun. I also made a rifle barrel 

 precisely like the present "auxiliary" barrel, except that it ex- 

 tended entirely through the shot barrel. Being undecided 

 about some uiinor details, I went to the Sharps factory at 

 Hartford, and had the finishing touches put on under the di- 

 rection of their accomplished foreman, Mr. Lawrence. I pre- 

 pared for this tiny rifle the old style linen-shell cartridge, 

 then in use by the Sharps Company, and their regulation 

 shape conical projectile. I also made a muzzle-loading coni- 

 cal projectile, with square-cut or punch-point, and also a 

 round bullet. After a large number of tests I could find no 

 perceptible difference in accuracy or penetration between the 

 muzzle and breech conical projectiles. On a still day, I 

 could, and did repeatedly plant ten consecutive shots in a 

 10-inch target at 200 yards, and with the common, coarse 

 army sights. With but seventeen grains weight of Hazard 

 F. G\ powder, it would drive these minute conical projec- 

 tiles through six one-inch pine boards and half through the 

 seventh. The same charge would drive the round balls 

 through four of the boards and out of sight into the fifth. Up 

 to about fifty yards, the round ball was as accurate as 

 the conical, but no more so, while, at from 100 yards and 

 upwards, the round ball was not sufficiently accurate for small 

 game. Taking this combined breech-loading gun with its 

 peculiarly prepared (home-made) cartridges, it was the best 

 for small game of any that I ever used, and I killed more 

 game with the same number of shots than with any other 

 gun. I scarcely missed a ruffed grouse, no matter how sud- 

 den the snap-shot, because of the short barrel. 1 will inclose 

 muzzle impressions that you may see the exact calibres of 

 both shot and rifle barrel. Milton P. Pierce. 

 Wenonah, N, J. 



In your issue of Jan. 12th, the article headed "The Rifle of 

 the Future," attracted my attention at once, from the fact 

 that I have made rifles and rifle-shooting a study for years, 

 and for a long time thought just as the author of the men- 

 tioned article does, that is, that a rifle loaded at the muzzle 

 with a bullet patched with greased linen was far superior to 

 any breech-loader made in point of accuracy; but I know 

 better now. The breech-loading rifle, used as it should be, 

 where accuracy is the object, will beat the muzzle-loader 

 every time, at any distance, from one hundred feet to one 

 thousand yards, or further if you like. Nothing but the 

 proverbial zeal of a young convert, could tempt me to "pitch 

 into" an old veteran writer and sportsman like T. S. Van 

 Dyke, but as the old saying is, "you can learn something 

 from every fool," perhaps'even a Van Dyke may get a new 

 idea from' me. 



In the article mentioned, the author lays great stress upon 

 the fact that the bullet gets jammed out'of shape in its pas- 

 sage from the shell into the rifling- of the barrel. This 

 trouble, with the naked or canahued bullet, and the tearing 

 of the patch in the use of the long straight paper-patched 

 bullet is, as he says, the cause of wild shooting in the breech- 

 loader. Now, what surprises me is, that a rifleman of the 

 experience and. ingenuity displayed by Mr. Van Dyke, should 

 have allowed so small a'matter to bother him a moment; it 

 certainly did not me, for as soon as I found out what the 

 trouble "was, the remedy suggested itself to me at once. It 

 is this ; Have your bullet the right size and temper, and 

 place it in the grooved banel and not in the chamber; then, 

 when the powder explodes, the bullet is upset, filling the 

 grooves, and does not injure its shape in theleasl. and it 

 leaves the gun in just as perfect a condition as it does the 

 swedge, only a little shorter, and if the gun is a good one 

 from which it is fired, you will have a bullet whose flight 

 will be not only as true, but truer than a bullet fired from" a 

 muzzle-loader (and put down with a greased linen patch) at 

 short range, while at long range the muzzle-loader would not 

 stand a ghost of a chance. If Mr. Van Dyke doubts this. 

 let him try it. Take a good Remington or Sharps, with the 

 shells for which the gun was chambered ; weigh out as much 

 powder as the shells will hold, get every charge alike, fill 

 the shells full, putting on a thin cut wad that will come 

 flush with the end of the shell. Now, wipe the gun (lean 

 aud dry; use no lubricator, put the patched bullet into the 

 chamber first and then push it into place with the loaded 

 shell. Care must be taken that the bullet is neither 

 too large nor too small, but just-right, and patched with thin 

 patch paper, and it must also be just the right hardness. 

 This bullet, if shot into a snowbank, can be dug out in just 

 as perfect a condition as when it left the muzzle of the gun. 

 Now take the best muzzle-loader you can find, load with a 

 cloth patch, and shoot that into the snow, and when you find 

 it compare it with the other, and you will find it dfefigured 

 much the worse of the two, from the fact that the grooves 

 of the muzzle-loader are cut deeper than those of the breech- 

 loader. In fact you may take out the breech-pin of the 

 muzzle-loader, and push a cloth-patched bullet clean through, 

 and not fire it at all, and the bullet that has been tired from 

 the breech-loader will be the most perfect of the two. It is 

 a self-evident fact that, other things being equal, the bullet 

 that leaves the gun in the most perfect shape will have the 

 truest Bight, ana my experience for the last six years all goes 

 to strengthen my conviction that the breech-loading rifle, 

 handled as it should be, where accuracy and not rapidity of 

 tire is the object, will beat the best muzzle-loader in exist- 

 ence. The gun I have used for the last nine years is a Sharps 

 breech mechanism, aud Remington barrel, .-ileal., IS-meh 

 twist, globe and peep sights, weight of gun lOlbs. lloz., 

 length of barrel 33 inches. I have used this gun a good deal 

 at turkey shoots along the fine of the Harlem Railraod in 



eastern New York. The first time I ever pitted it against 

 muzzle-loading target rifles was at Copake Iron Works, N. 

 Y., at turkeys. The distance was 100 rods; there were 

 thirteen rifles at work on the ground, several heavier than 

 my gun, and using telescopic sights. We took turns in 

 shooting; twelve turkeys were killed, and my gun killed 

 eight, of them, and two of the others were killed with a little 

 Maynard, that being the only breech-loader on the ground 

 except mine. I attended, among other shoots, one at Middle- 

 ton, N. Y. The prizes to be shot for were a gold watch, a 

 telescope, and turkeys. My gun won the telescope, and five 

 out of the seven turkeys killed; distance. 160 rods. I could 

 not get them to go in for the watch, so that was not, shot for. 

 The rifles used were all muzzle-loaders, except mine and a 

 small Remington sporting rifle. Homer Fisher, of New York 

 city, was there with his pet long-range muzzle-loader, and 

 several members of a club that has its headquarters at Croton 

 Falls, N. Y., styled, I believe, "The N. Y. State Rifle 

 Association." They used heavy muzzle-loading telescopic- 

 sighted rifles, and in their club contests the guns are tired 

 from a complicated machine called a rest, that has about as 

 much mechanism to it as an engine lathe; the gun is. not held 

 against the shoulder at all, but is brought to bear on the 

 target by looking through the telescopic sights, and setting 

 the gun by means of set screws; then they would rise up, 

 watch their wind-flags, (of which each member would have 

 from three to a dozen) and when they blew out just so far, 

 touch the hair-trigger. Such shooting is to me a farce, but I 

 am willing that those that like that style of shooting should 

 enjoy it. I was at a meeting of the above mentioned club, 

 held at Dover Plains, N. Y. I can't give the date, but it was 

 about three years ago, when a Mr. Joseph Brinton, of Lake- 

 ville, Conn. , beat their best shots ten and one-fourth inches 

 on a thirty shot string at forty rods; he used a 15-lbs. gun of 

 the same make as mine, loaded at the breech, in the manner 

 that 1 have described, using globe and peep sights, and no 

 wind flags, while his opponents used muzzle-loaders heavier 

 than Brinton's gun, and rests that cost half as much to build 

 as their guns, telescope sights, and each man had a row of 

 wind flags from his gun to the target. A more crestfallen 

 set of men I never saw than they were when Joe quietly 

 pocketed the first prize aud we hade them good day. 



For four or five years Brinton and myself followed turkey- 

 shooting, during the fall and winter months, wherever we 

 could hear of a match, and during the whole time we were 

 neither of us beaten by a muzzle-loader (except once, and 

 then that gun only got one more turkey than we did) and we 

 shot no more times than they did and sometimes not as 

 much. Now, I don't want it understood that I think that a 

 breech-loading rifle, using naked bullets, or even patched 

 bullets, if loaded and handled in a careless or slovenly man- 

 ner, will compete successfully with a good muzzle-loader for 

 accuracy, for it will not. The crust of burned powder at 

 the mouth of the chamber must in every case be all removed, 

 and the bullet in uo case left partly in the shell. I have done 

 as Mr. Van Dyke suggested, and have tried my gun loaded 

 from both breech and muzzle, and have always' had the best 

 success when loaded at the breech. I have owned a good 

 many muzzle-loading guns, both shot-guns and rifles, and I 

 would not take one as a gift and be obliged to use it. 1 

 wotdd as soon think of going back to the old Culverin. 

 I would swedge and patch my own bullets. They are alloyed 

 with one ounce of tin to a pound of lead. They are of the 

 Hepburne shape, and weigh 538 grains, and 1 send them 

 along with 100 grains of powder. 



One word about factory-made ammunition. I have used 

 considerable of it, and I'never saw any that I would use at 

 a turkey shoot, to say nothing of using it in a match. You 

 can't get our long-range experts to use it; they are using 

 cartridges loaded by themselves, and in the manner I have 

 described, and they do about as good shooting as is done, 

 I hope that Mr. Van Dyke will go to experimenting and see 

 what the breech-loader is capable, of. E. A. Palmer. 



Blair, Neb. 



It is well known that there is a lack of uniformity in both the 

 calibres of and the ammunition for our American made rifles. 

 Consequently, one owning a rifle should come to no hasty 

 conclusion as to the kind of ammunition best suited to his 

 rifle, but must keep trying until suited, which, allow me to 

 add, has not been the result, in my case. I have a .38-cal. 

 Whitney central-fire, using the ordinary extra long cartridge. 

 30-inch barrel, rifled one turn in twenty-four inches, while 

 the bullet cast in the molds furnished with rifle is much too 

 tight, thereby impairing its accuracy and rendering it un- 

 pleasant to use. In vainly trying to find the right bullet I 

 have made the following discovery: That either the shell is 

 .37, or the .38 patched for the Ballard is nearly .40 with 

 patch, and plump .39 without. Also, the .38 Maynard is .39, 

 while the Maynard .35 is really too large to enter the she!' 

 without trimming. Now, some one is evidently at fault 

 either the makers of the rifle or of the ammunition. I havt 

 tried several other makes of like goods, including those of U 

 M. C, and also W. R. A. Co.. and find a difference even in 

 these supposed standard makers. ' Therefore, in my case, 1 

 must get some local gunsmith to make a mold for me, in 

 order to do satisfactory work. 



Now, what we want is a standard size of either calibre; 

 and if any is above the standard size, give it its true mens- 

 uiement. By using factory ammunition supposed to be all 

 right, but proving otherwise, many a good rifie has been con- 

 demned. We must not rely too much upon factory ammu- 

 nition, but buy the shells, either primed or otherwise, 

 load them with the brand of powder best suited to our own 

 case, thereby getting ammunition on which we can rely, and 

 in a measure compelling the manufacturers to make' more 

 satisfactory goods both as regards material and size. 

 For loading 1 find the lollowing ride: " Pour an even 

 charger of powder through the loading tube, which tool 

 every rifleman should use, into the shell beneath — 

 causing it to pack enough below- the mouth of the shell to ad- 

 mit the base of the bullet." "I find in practice that as good 

 results may be attained without the loading tube, but taking 

 more than enough, by pouring it through the tube into the 

 charge cup, then striking the top, we. have almost exactly 

 even charges — at least the results proved such to be the 

 case." 



Now, as to experience with round balls, I rind 100 to th« 

 pound, or OOO shot just lit the .38-cal. shell. I load witl 

 the usual charge of Orange rifie 0. ft., leaving enough room 

 for one lubricator and one-halt of the ball; crimp enough to 

 bold the ball. In adjusting sights from a fixed rest, I have 

 grouped five balls SO close that a dime would cover them at 

 torty yards., and at thirty rods have put four consecutive 

 balls into a space four by six inches, which is good enough foi 

 all purposes. 



There are in this vicinity three Sharps rifles, cal. .40, rifled 



