126 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



|March 13, 1884. 



Avcighiug ] Of pounds. This gun when properly loaded is 

 sure to kill at 100 yards, if held 011 the game. 



There is a great deal in good powder, shot to fit the muzzle 

 of your gun and shells properly loaded. I use in deer hunt- 

 ing, 1 lick le- plated shells 2f inches long, 3£ drams Orange 

 Lightning powder, 2 pink-edge wads, hard down on powder, 

 12 buckshot weighing 1\ ounces, 1 pink-edge wad, well 

 down on the shot. Then I run wax from a wax candle all 

 around the edge of the wad on shot — nearly equal to crimp- 

 ing. 



I have used this gun two years, it has never failed to do 

 execution under 100 yards when held on the object shot at; 

 it is as good as when first bought, and not for sale. I have 

 never had a muzzleloadiug gun to shoot anything like the 

 breechloader, and I've owned some fine guns, both 10 and 

 12-gauge. I prefer the 12-gauge to any other, believing they 

 give more satisfaction. l"owned a 10-gauge gun before! 

 bought the one I now have and sold it, soon after I tested 

 its shooting qualities. I have owned muzzleloaders, made by 

 W. & C. Scott & Son, W. W. Greener, H. & J. W. King, and 

 Bliss & Hutchinson; the last I still have and keep it for old 

 associations' sake. I find a heavy gun does better and harder 

 shooting than a light gun, and I" prefer the close choke to 



yours ago, and sold it, not liking the way it scattered large 

 shot; since then 1 have found out it was my fault in loading, 

 not the gun. Make Ivel. 



Alabama. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I like small bores for several reasons. They handle with 

 a clean, prompt feeeling, which of itself is a pleasure. A 

 6-pound gun weighs 12 pounds by night, especially if the bag 

 is light and the tramp long. Large guns for flocks are cer- 

 tainly effective weapons, but why carry a number of pounds 

 of often high-priced wood and Iron for the occasional big 

 chance, ignoring the average shooting of the section within 

 your reach. I commenced some twenty years ago with a 

 16-bore, single muzzleloader. Getting "tony" I bought a 

 14-bore, double gun, then a 12, then a 10, and back to a 14- 

 bore. Losing some geese {A. canadensis) because their size 

 made me think 1 was near enough whenl wasn't, 1 invested 

 in an 8-bore, double, being determ-'ned to be prepared next 

 tune. I followed "float gunning" off and on all that winter, 

 but my big gun was generally quiet. An old 10-bore Lane 

 & Head did most work. These I sold and bought my first 

 breechloader. I had done good work with my old friends, 

 but I have never regretted my change of system, and of 

 course to-day argument is superfluous. That is, as a rule. 

 I have owned two 12-bores, one. 10 and a 16. The 10-bore I 

 used shooting hagdous, and such sea birds, on the banks of 

 Newfoundland. It shot well and killed clean, but a 12-bore, 

 then at home, has since done equally well. I shot two 

 seasons from a float and on the marshes, using a 12-bore, 

 and the birds 1 got were numerous and varied. 



1 used a 12-bore while in the Arctic, and have fed the 

 whole ship's company repeatedly.* I shot seals, gulls, eider 

 ducks, old squaws, brant geese, plover and ptarmigan. This 

 gun was a pleasure to shoot. Alas, to-day I have it not. It 

 was sold in far Northern Siberia, where I was with other 

 survivors of the Jeannette. The articles gotten in exchange 

 were sorely needed or else I should never have parted with 

 her. I called her "Betsy," and now we "are out." To-day 

 1 am using a 16-bore Parker, 6 pounds. It is a strong shoot- 

 ing gun. My first day out with it I got thirteen snipe 

 (Q-. wilsonii). One I shot dead and picked up fifty-four 

 paces away. I shot a curlew (A. hudsonicus) dead at seventy- 

 six paces. The bird is stuffed and in my dining-room to-day. 

 Charge, 2f powder, 1 ounce No. 8 shot. Sportsmen, I think, 

 generally use pretty fair-sized guns for upland plover (T. 

 bartrarnius). I find my little Parker has to be held close, 

 but kills as clean as any gun I ever owned. 



While at Plum Island last fall I met a party from Glou- 

 cester. They all had heavy guns, 10-bores and one 12-bore, 

 weighing 10 to 11 pounds each. Sport ran quiet, so we shot 

 at targets. All their guns and my own were shot from rest, 

 same distance, same man and same sized target. In charges 

 they used 4£ powder, 1\ shot, No. 8 and No. 4. I used 2f 

 of powder and 1 ounce of shot No. 8 and No. 4. One of them 

 beat me only once. I beat it twice badly, another three 

 times, and the third twice. These guns, I presume, are in 

 the hands of their respective owners, Mr. Frank Gaffney, 

 Mr. Abbott. Coffin, Mr. Marchant and Mr. Rowe. I think 

 that to-day I should take a 16-bore were I going again to the 

 Arctic. ' Raymond Lee Newcomb. 



Salem, Mass., March, 1884. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



A common 10-gauge gun of Parker's 

 Jan. 2? last, with following results: 

 inch. Distance 45 paces, as long as I 

 at least 40*inehes), and shot against a 

 from over an immense marsh: No. 10 

 left-hand, 265. No. 8 shot, right-han 

 No. 6 shot, right-hand, 91; left-hand, 

 powder, l£ shot, 2 wads on powder, 1 



TG1.KDO, O. 



1, which I targeted on 

 My targets were 24- 

 could take (which is 

 heavy wind blowing 

 shot, right-hand, 276; 

 d, 165; left-hand, 119. 

 85. Charge used, 4^ 

 on shot. G. H. W. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



His shotgun— killed a buck with it 120 yards— the charge 

 was one dram of powder and thirteen buckshot. With 

 "Ogeechee" to tell it for the muzzleloader the breechloader 

 must stand back. Send "Ogeechee" first prize next time. 

 The cold spell I fear has about, used up the quail here. Oar 

 shooting was very poor last fall. A bill is before the Ohio 

 Legislature to protect squirrels between January and June. 

 May it pass. ' *W. H. H. 



Wauseon, Ohio. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



With me it is a settled question that a breechloader is the 

 gun; also, that for all kinds of game, large or small, a 

 10-bore is the thing. I have never seen a 12-bore that could 

 hold its own, everything considered, with a 10-bore. If that 

 is not; so, why are" the 10-bore barred, as Mr. "N. E. W." 

 writes? Let us hear from parties that have used both bores, 

 10 and 12 gauge, and that hag game and learn which will 

 kill the cleanest at long distance, both large and small game. 

 I use a 10-bore and have friends that have used and owned 

 both, and they all say that a 10-bore will kill cleaner at a 

 long distance. Let. us hear from those that have used both, 

 and that are not prejudiced. New Subscriber. 



SHOOTING IN MEXICO. 



PERHAPS a word from this "land of God and liberty," 

 of the Montezumas, of the Aztecs, and of Mananas, 

 may not prove wholly uninteresting. This city, Monterey 

 (or King Mountain), lies in a beautiful valley entirely sur- 

 rounded by mountains, the principal of which, or rather the 

 most widely known of which, is the Saddle Mountain, from 

 its close resemblance in shape to a Mexican saddle. Distant 

 from Laredo. Tex., about 165 miles on the Mexican National 

 Railroad. It is the capital of the State of Nuevo Leon, and 

 has a population of about 50,000. Some 500 Americans do 

 business and reside here, principally German-Americans; 

 climate perfectly delightful. Game— quail, jack rabbits, 

 cotton tails, ducks, deer, wild hogs, wildcats, Mexicau 

 tiger? and cougars, all found within three leagues of the 

 plaza. A strange country this; you never see nor hear of a 

 sportsman, seldom see a dead quail (you can buy live trapped 

 ones in the market); occasionally a greaser rides in with a 

 deer, but about the only sign you see of the existence of this 

 game is on Sunday morning. "Then you see a dozen different 

 Mexicans hawking the hides of wild cats, wild hogs and 

 deer, with occasionally a fine specimen skin of the tiger and 

 cougar, or Mexican lion, as it is called. I have the pelt of 

 a deer shot by me here 4 two months since that measures 

 exactly seven feet long. Is not that more than the average? 

 All the deer here are the blacktail variety. 



Of late I have enjoyed (save for the want of a fellow 

 sportsman) this fine shooting ground. I have a fine Irish 

 red setter bitch, Vick, and at' my rancho, adjoining the city, 

 can bag any day thirty to fifty quail with a eoupkTof braces 

 of rabbits. My grand old dog Pete (his like will never be 

 seen in Mexico) died three w r eeks ago of throat disease. Shoot- 

 iug here would be a paradise but for the warm weather. 

 We rarely ever see a frost. The undergrowth is rank, in- 

 tensely so, and what with prickly pears, sand burrs, thorns. 

 mesquite, etc., it is almost a "cruelty to animals" to hunt a 

 setter here. Above here, say ninety miles, at Saltillo in 

 Coahuillo, it is much cooler, with more open land, a grain 

 country, and I am told it is full of quail. Of this more anon. 



This week I have bagged in one day thirty -five quail, one 

 teal, seven rabbits and thirteen doves. Not bad for Mexico, 

 is it? Duck shooting is good here almost any cool day on 

 the water courses. 



I have all the outfit a sportsman ever wants in any country, 

 and would gladly welcome any sportsman from the United 

 States and do my level best for him. 



Are you fond of mocking birds? Verily this is their 

 Eden. Bird and cage for fifty cents, Mexican money, with 

 18 per cent, discount thrown in. One five years old is sing- 

 ing above my head so beautifully this moment, as if to say, 

 "Don't forget me." Don Carlos. 



Montebey, Mexico. 



THE CHOICE OF HUNTING RIFLES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Among other things I desire to call attention to a new 

 cartridge, which, as I am indirectly informed, is soon to be 

 put upon the market. 



1 do not think I am the only one who will favor its intro- 

 duction. The cartridge referred to is of ,45-caliber, and will 

 be loaded with 115 to 120 grains of powder and 350 grains of 

 lead. This, in my present opinion, would be greatly in ad- 

 vance of anything yet made for hunting purposes. With 

 reference to this cartridge I would invite the opinion of some 

 of your correspondents who have already given us the benefit 

 of their views upon other subjects pertinent to this discus- 

 sion. 



"Greenhorn" early in the discussion, "Prairie Dog" and 

 others have already demanded a cartridge somewhat similar, 

 aud I have small doubt that it will meet with almost univer- 

 sal approval. 



My predeliction for the .40-caliber is not so great that I 

 cannot recognize the advantages claimed for other calibers, 

 nor will it prevent me from adopting a larger caliber, if, 

 upon good and sufficient reasoning, it can be shown me that 

 it is better adapted to game shooting. After all, my prefer- 

 ence for the . 40-caliber may be founded more upon individ- 

 ual taste than upon any better reason. The results which 

 would probably be obtained from the use of this .45-115-350 

 I confess, 1 think, would be in advance of anything ob- 

 tainable in a .40-caliber cartridge. This proportion — some- 

 thing more than 3 to 1 — should give a very flat trajectory, 

 and yet the bullet is of a weight which would, when im- 

 pelled with <ft high degree of velocity, give penetration and 

 bone-crushing effects sufficient to satisfy the most exaeiing, 

 especially if a hard, solid bullet is used, or one with a very 

 small hole, tapering to a point at the bottom, and extending 

 one-half its length, as described by Mr. Van Dyke. His 

 suggestion that in every box of cartridges, one-halt be loaded 

 with solid bullets and one-half with hollow-fronted bullets, 

 is an excellent one. In this way not only could every one 

 be suited, but all could have an opportunity of testing for 

 themselves the efficacy of the hollow-pointed bullet. 



For every kind of game possessed of less vital power than 

 grizzly bears, or buffalo and like large animals, this cartridge, 

 in my present opinion, would be very near perfection; even 

 for these it would be considered sufficient by r many. This is 

 very nearly the charge used by "P." when he made such 

 havoc among the grizzlies, killing upward of twenty in a 

 single season; for, if I am rightly informed, he used at this 

 time a .45-caliber rifle, with 100 to 110 grains of powder and 

 344 of lead. 



Now comes the question, shall this charge be put in a 

 straight or in a ' 'bottle-neck" shell. Personally I am in favor 

 of the straight shell as being simpler, stronger, less liable to 

 burst and productive of less recoil. Were I accustomed to 

 use single loading rifles I would strongly urge that'it be put 

 in a shell of this shape. But as I favor the use of a good re- 

 peater as being less "cruelly wasteful of game," all things 

 considered, 1 am met with the objection that in this form 

 the cartridge would be entirely too long, at least 3| inches, 

 for use in any repeating system using the lever underneath. 



Very regretfully do I make this assertion. The arc de- 

 scribes by the lever would be so long that it would be im- 

 possible to pump it with the gun at the shoulder. A 2,^ 

 inch cartridge is about the maximum length for comfortable 

 use in a repeater of lever action, and this is rather too long. 

 Now one of two things must be done, cither invent some re- 

 peating system which will not be open to this objection, and 

 which can be as conveniently and easily worked as those 

 using the lever action, or reduce the length of the shell. The 

 only means of reducing it to the desired limit, and maintain 

 the same charge of powder and lead is, of course, to make 

 the shell 'bottle-necked." 



Therefore, on behalf of all wedded to the use of repeaters, 

 I hope that the above charge or one approximating it may 



be put in a shell of this description. But I would advise all 

 to be careful to see that the shell fits closely and exactly the 

 entire length, especially at the shoulder, at which place it is 

 most liable to burst if there be an unoccupied space between 

 the shell and the chamber. If, however, the rifle be prop- 

 erly chambered, so that the shell fits snugly and evenly 

 throughout, the danger of bursting or sticking inavbe readily 

 avoided. 



Of course the recoil of this cartridge would be rather 

 severe, especially if it be bottle-neck. Fortunately there is a 

 way of overcoming this objection. Should such a cartridge 

 be made and a repeater adopted to its use, I would recom- 

 mend the use of some good permanent (not adjustable) recoil 

 pad. There are several of these, particularly the Silver pad 

 and the elastic heel plate, invented by Piffard. recently de- 

 scribed in these columns. Tbese, though they do not abolish 

 the amount of recoil, would reduce its contusive force, or 

 sensible effect, about one-half. By the use of such a con- 

 trivance I do not think the recoil of the proposed .45-115-350 

 would be more disagreeable than that of the regular service 

 ammunition .45-70-405. 



It is wrong to speak of the "unmanly fear of a little re- 

 coil." I think that the majority of mehwho do any amount 

 of still-hunting will be found of physique sufficiently tough 

 to enable them to stand up against considerable recoil, when 

 the rifle is held properly. But excessive recoil, while at- 

 tended with no serious physical injury, is productive of a 

 very serious mental one, which is this: In a short while, 

 one who uses a rifle which recoils greatly, becomes in a cer- 

 tain sense afraid of it, and involuntarily flinches when he 

 pulls trigger. Bad shooting is the invariable consequence. 

 1 have known men to swear that they did notflinch, yet dis- 

 tinctly saw them do so, showing that it is wholly involun- 

 tary and does not proceed from any actual fear of the recoil. 

 Especially is this true of men of nervous temperament. 



So I have known men to make better shooting at game 

 than they could possibly do at a target, with a rifle whose 

 recoil w T as very heavy, for the reason that in their excite- 

 ment the small item of recoil was entirely forgotten. 



The reason I at first demanded the use of the 500-grain 

 bullet in a .40-caliber repeater, was that I might have a cart- 

 ridge with weight of lead sufficient to use against the largest 

 and toughest animals on the continent. For all smaller 

 game, by cutting down the bullet, I could easily have used 

 more powder and less lead, as desired. I am convinced now 

 that I was wrong, for the simple reason that this cartridge 

 cannot be made short enough for use in a repeater of lever 

 action, except possibly by those whose arms are of unusual 

 length. 



So also I see no reason why this proposed shell could not 

 use a heavier bullet if desired, say one of 500 grains. In 

 order that the cartridge maintain the same length as in using 

 the 350 or 325 grain bullet, the former would necessarily ex- 

 tend further into the shell and beyond the shoulder, displacing 

 something like 15 to 20 grains of powder. Greater penetration 

 and energy — terms here nearly synonymous with higher tra- 

 jectory T — would be the result. Would there be any object iou to 

 this because of a certain amount of powder surrounding that 

 portion of the 500-grain bullet, which in this way would extend 

 beyond the shoulder? I should think not, unless, perhaps, that 

 the fact would be productive of additional recoil. So also less 

 lead than 350 grains could be readily used by the substitution 

 of a bullet of the desired weight and character. The difficulty 

 which might arise from the confusion of these different 

 kinds of ammunition might be avoided, as before pointed out, 

 by r employing different colored shells or primers. 



If it be found that this cartridge will be too long in .45- 

 caliber even when bottle-necked, for use in a repeater of 

 lever action, then let a cartridge be made in its stead, which, 

 while maintaining nearly the same proportion of powder to 

 lead, will contain 105-110 grains powder and 325 grains of 

 lead. Without doubt this can be brought within the limit 

 of length. 



Mr. Duane has anticipated me in calling attention to the 

 fact that as we increase the diameter of the bullet it meets 

 with proportional atmospheric resistance, a fact seemingly 

 lost sight of when the broad statement was made by your 

 correspondent, Mr. Van Dyke, that the only possible way to 

 give a ball weight without cutting down its velocity is by 

 "widening it." 



High initial velocity is not so much what we want as a 

 high degree of velocity combined with energy within hunt- 

 ing ranges, say 200 yards. 



I should much like to be told in some such tabular form as 

 Mr. Duane has been kind enough to furnish us, the results 

 following experiments with a certain charge, e. g., 100 grains 

 powder and 300 grains lead in the three calibers, .40, ,45 

 and. 50. 



I am inclined to think that with an even start in a 200 

 yards race, while the .50-caliber bullet might start the 

 quickest and lead at the first fifty or one hundred yards, the 

 smaller .40-caliber bullet would win, and be less "winded," 

 /'. e., have more energy left to go much further, if necessary. 

 What we all want is a rifle which, while convenient to 

 handle, will accurately use ammunition which will give 

 enough penetration and bone-crushing power to always 

 reach the vitals, and break whatever bones it encounters and 

 will in addition give a trajectory so flat that the bullet will 

 not fall more than six inches in 200 yards. 



Though the proposed cartridge, .45-105 to 110-325, may fall 

 somewhat short of this result, 1 feel sure that its introduc- 

 tion will be considered a good long step in the right direc- 

 tion. 1 am glad Mr. Duane has demonstated so clearly the 

 two important conditions of accuracy and energy which, the 

 latter especially, seem to have been somewhat lost sight of 

 in the anxiety to get flat trajectory. I cannot as yet agree 

 that for all-round work a bullet of less than 300 grains has 

 enough of this quality of energy. Individual instances may 

 seem'to prove the Contrary, but in the long run I am quite 

 certain that a 800-graiu builet (I like one with 25 or 50 grains 

 added to it even better) will prove more satisfactory than a 

 much lighter one. Now pile on all the powder that the rifle 

 and the man shooting it can stand, and do accurate work. 



To illustrate: Although in the very huge majority of in- 

 stances, 250 yards is outside hunting range (it will be found 

 to be somewhat less in the East), I have killed two bull elk, 

 either of which was considerably over 500 yards distant, aud 

 upon ground considerably higher than that upon which I 

 stood ot rather laid. I cannot think that some of the light 

 express bullets which have been advocated, or even a round 

 ball, would have been so effective, even if I had been able to 

 hit the game with them, because much more of their energy 

 would have been lost than was the case with the heavier solid 

 bullet, their staying power would have been, less: Don't 

 imagine that either of these elk was hit by the first shot, or 

 the second or the third. 



I confess to a considerable amount of surprise in reading 



