Maech 13, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



127 



Mr. Van Dyke's sweeping denunciation of the .40-caliber, 

 and those who favor its use. Even admitting that the cal- 

 iber is not sufficient for all-round work, and that Aveare mis- 

 taken in its adoption, 1 cannot think that it is so toan extent 

 whicli merits tins wholesale criticism. It would seem that when 

 his pen, which has written many good things, and given much 

 valuable advice, wrote this, he was possessed of a certain 

 amount of that same illiberality which he so severely criti- 

 cises in others. It is hardly possible that he has given it a 

 fair trial upon game, and' I cannot escape the conviction 

 that his objection is founded more upon theory than piac- 



lice - • i 



As I have before said, very possibly, nay, certainly, there 



may be better charges, better ammunition than Ave have at 

 present. And moreover, I am perfectly willing to be shown 

 that these will find best result (sufficient accuracy and en- 

 ergy with the rial test possible trajectory) in a larger caliber, 

 and that, therefore. I am wrong in using and advocatinga .40- 

 caliber rifle, but not before I have said something in defense 

 of that which is at present at least my favorite. Nor would 

 I be a sportsman if I did not repell the insinuation that land 

 all who use a rifle of this caliber are so fond of spilling blood 

 that the crippling and wounding of game is a _ matter of no 

 consequence to "us. Being thoroughly convinced from a 

 somewhat extended experience that I am not that "demi-god" 

 he properly refers to in such sarcastic language, and being tol- 

 erably well acquainted with many of the "eccentricities of 

 lead/' I feel that 1 am at liberty to take up the gauntlet 

 Hung doAvn by him, and risk impalement upon the points of 

 his propositions, lie asserts that he Avho uses a .40-caliber 

 solid bullet must necessarily be understood as saying that — 



"First, he can hit his game just where he chooses; or, 



"Second, that a ball is just as effective in one part of an 

 animal as in any other part; or, 



"Third, that the crippling and torturing of game is a mat- 

 ter of no consequence." 



As regards the matter of accuracy and being able to hit 

 a\ lihm ".87906 of an inch" of the precise spot where it is de- 

 sired to plant the ball, or to place it in the "heart of abound- 

 ing deer," let me say that, in my belief, the man who can, 

 under all the varying circumstances likely to arise in hunting, 

 hit within a foot of that particular spot when shooting at 

 game standing over 100 yards distant, or within three feet of 

 it when shooting at i mining game at that distance, is a better 

 shot than the large majority of men with whom I have 

 been brought in contact/at least, who use any sort of a hunt- 

 ing rifle. 



A man who is able to hit a fifty-cent piece «ix times out of 

 ten at 50 yards, will often miss a deer standing broadside at 

 75 or lfltQ, and apparently there is little if any, more excite- 

 ment in the latter case than in the former. "The ever- 

 changing conditions of ground and light," the inability to 

 tell just how the deer is standing, the fact of being "blown" 

 from a hard climb or run, etc., etc., are factors which 

 cause misses which are often so bad that, hearing of them, 

 many a "target" shot would laugh heartily, and assure him- 

 self/if he did not declare it, that he could never score such 

 a miss. But I have had the good luck to see them come 

 sadly to grief when attempting shots even easier than that 

 the possibility of which they ridiculed. Now, I have known 

 many hunters, aye, good sportsmen, too, who prefer the little 

 .40-caliber to any other, as being best able to assist them in 

 bringing their game to bag. 



Will your correspondent answer me why it is that so many 

 of the pelt and meat hunters of the West, whose opinion 

 upon a subject like this is certainly entitled to great weight, 

 favor this caliber?' It is simply because they find that it 

 enables them to ply the abominable profession with the best 

 results, and that they make a better livelihood by its use. It 

 would seem to me that a bullet of this description, which is 

 so great a favorite on the buffalo range with old hunters, 

 would generally be found to be quite sufficient for animals 

 so much smaller and possessed of so much less vitality as 

 deer and antelope. 



I do not doubt, however, that better results follow the 

 making the bullet expansive, as suggested by your cor 

 respondent "D. McG.," when the shooting is to be confined 

 to animals of this description. 



The second proposition is of course preposterous and un- 

 worthy of consideration. 



As regards the third, let me ask your correspondent which 

 is the more cruel, to shoot an elk or a buffalo — for this dis- 

 cussion is not confined to deer alone, but extends to all 

 large game on the continent — in the haunch with a light 

 weight bullet of large caliber, or an express expansive bul- 

 let which will flatten out (if it does not go into splash), or 

 to hit him in the same place with a 370 or 500-grain solid 

 bullet of .40-caliber? 



IN either of the former will do more than reach and prob- 

 ably fracture the bone in a majority of cases, making a 

 larger surface wound, while the latter will rarely fail to have 

 "energy" enough not only to crush the bone of the hip, but 

 also to find its Avay to the hollow. Unless the artery be cut, 

 in which case does he suppose the animals would longest 

 survive the injury? 



Let us suppose a • 'Plains" scene. Two men on foot, about 

 equal in their ability to hit game. One armed with a .40-90 

 Sharps, and the other with a .50-caliber Winchester, suddenly 

 find themselves close upon two buffalo bulls. The buffalo 

 turn and run; one takes the left buffalo, and the other the 

 right. 



"When the firing has ceased and the smoke cleared away, 

 let us look at the result. One buffalo is down, the other, 

 wounded in a number of places, making his lumbering Avay 

 across the plain to furnish food for woh'es after two or three 

 days of painful existence. Little need to ask by which rifle 

 the bull on his side came to be there, 



I mention this, case because I know that the result would 

 be much the same in all such tests and, also, because the 

 facts arc very like a page out of my own experience. 



He, of the Winchester, having tested it upon this and a 

 large number of other occasions and "found it wanting," 

 was very anxious to change it for the , 40-caliber. 



It is only fair to say that his cartridge was not loaded as 

 Mr. Van JL>yke recommends. I have no doubt that he gets 

 excellent results from his method of loading in shooting 

 deer; but, though they might have proved somewhat more 

 satisfactory, I do not think the results would have been 

 materially different in shooting larger game, unless, perhaps, 

 the bullets were made solid and very hard. 



It is proportionately, of course, more difficult to drive a 

 light ball presenting a large surface into flesh than a heavy 

 ball presenting a small surface. 



On the other hand I thoroughly appreciate the force of 

 the remark made by "D. McG.," that when using the .40- 

 caliber solid ball it often took him longer to find his game 

 after it was bit than it did to look it up in the first place. 



This, of course, is the great objection, and great annoyance 

 and vexation of spirit is apt to follow the shooting of an ani- 

 mal "a little too far back." I grant it is much more grati- 

 fying to see plenty of red evidence of your work on the 

 trail, but I am not yet williug to concede that the bullet 

 which makes a great surface wound and does not penetrate, 

 is so surely and so quickly productive of death as that which 

 always makes two holes in the hide. It is a sad thought to 

 one who has any of the humane sentiment of the sportsman 

 in his composition, to know that he has shot an animal 

 through the paunch, and that the afflicted beast will live for 

 hours and sometimes days, suffering intensely. 



Give me a formula for driving the irregular flattened ex 

 press bullet clear through bone and tissue, and also show me 

 the rifle of a large caliber whicli is as handy to use and as 

 convenient to carry, and also teach me Iioav to shoot it with 

 as little discomfort to myself and as accurately as I now can 

 do with the smaller caliber, and I will adopt it at once. 



Let me instance an example where I went to the other ex- 

 treme. Before going to the Rockies on a prolonged trip I 

 had Lefevre make me a double-barreled 13-i-pouud "fl e > 

 chambered to shoot six or seven drams of powder and an 

 ounce and a half of lead. 



I naturally expected great things of this rifle. In fact I 

 was induced to purchase it from the fact that one of your 

 correspondents had a similar rifle by the same maker. 

 Probably the charge which I- used— generally 155 to 160 

 grains (1-i ounces) lead — was wrong, probably the sights 

 were not so good as some others, probably it was not quite 

 accurately or correctly made, since the balls seemed to pursue 

 divergent courses or fly wild when the rifle got at all dirty, 

 and it fouled very much after two or three shots. 



As to the results I am quite positive, it kicked tremend- 

 ously, seemed to weigh a ton after a hard day's tramp in 

 search of elk or sheep, and above all 1 was never able to do 

 good shooting with it. I am quite willing to admit that when 

 that solid ounce and a half ball struck anything, the paralyza- 

 tiou which followed was most satisfactory. But I missed 

 very often when I am certain 1 could have killed with a .40- 

 caliber, The result vras so unsatisfactory from the use of tire 

 hollow fronted ball that 1 soon gave it up. 



I was very sorry not to have had the opportunity to use 

 this rifle with about 120 grains of powder and a round ball. 

 The truth of the whole matter is that in loading our am- 

 munition or selecting a rifle, we must be greatly influenced 

 by the character and variety of game we are likely to en- 

 counter, and the probable range at which most of the shoot- 

 ing is to be done. 



But I feel quite assured that a good repeater, and one 

 which is not, liable to get out of order, adapted to the use of 

 this proposed ,45-115 to 120-350 cartridge, or if this prove 

 too long, the .45-105 to 110-325, will be the best rifle for ex- 

 tended trips to those localities where avc do not wish to be 

 encumbered with more than one rifle, and want that one 

 easy to handle and to carry, and where in a week we may 

 possibly shoot at six or seven kinds of animals, including 

 some of a dangerous character. 



I confess that I am dissatisfied with the rifles I have at 

 present. What we want is a rifle which one will not soon 

 wish to exchange for something better. If we are so for- 

 tunate as to get this, let us use it exclusively and get to 

 thoroughly to know its disposition, its capabilities and its 

 faults. There will arise a confidence in it and a love for it 

 which will not only give us additional pleasure in its posses- 

 sion, but will very greatly assist our shooting. For that 

 confidence in it, that feeling that "the gun will, do its duty," 

 does as much as anything else to insure good shooting at 

 game. In fact, it seems to render the eye truer and the arm 

 more steady, and it certainly greatly enhances the sport of 

 stalking. 



Then if one misses there is a half-ashamed feeling that he 

 has not clone his part. One cannot escape having a feel- 

 ing of friendliness and affection for a gun that has served 

 him well, and has never betrayed his reliance in it. Senti- 

 ment aside, it is at least a source of great satisfaction to know 

 that a bad shot cannot be charged to the fault of the gun, and 

 that one must look elsewhere for the cause. 



After all I am compelled to think that correspondent who 

 intimated his regret that the breechloader had ever been in- 

 vented and that the muzzleloading rifle was a thing of the 

 past, more nearly right than any of us. Were this the case, 

 there would be plenty of game left within easy distances, 

 and the sport would be in every way more satisfactory. For 

 as Ave all knoAV the greater difficulties there are to surmount 

 for him who has the courage and patience to persevere (the 

 crucial test after all, and the rock upon which so many 

 would-be sportsmen go to pieces), the harder he has to 

 work for a shot the keener the enjoyment in bagging the 

 game at last. So on the other hand it is very easy tohecoine 

 surfeited with too much killing. 



When the game is easily found and more easily killed, it 

 is no longer sport, and the manly art of stalking becomes 

 butchering. Oh that many who yearly visit the Rockies in 

 quest of slaughter coidd see that in this way they are killing 

 the goose that lays for them the golden egg, and be taught 

 that there is really much more enjoyment in following a herd 

 of elk or sheep all day to finally get a good shot at and kill 

 an old bull or ram, than in banging away indiscriminately 

 as soon as within range, piling up half a dozen cows and 

 calves, or ewes and lambs, as the case may be. But no, it is 

 blood they want, and blood they get, but not all of them, 

 thank heaven! A little while and there will be no game left 

 where it used to be most abundant. Between these sports- 

 men (?) and the nefarious hide hunter the slaughter will soon 

 be complete. But this is an age of progress, and I suppose 

 we must bow to the spirit of the age. 



of the shape of either of these, a rifle can be readily and 

 quickly brought to the shoulder and be firmly held in proper 

 position, especially if it be provided with a rubber heel 

 plate, since the rubber will not allow the stock to slip from 

 the arm as readily as the iron plate. A stock with a butt 

 plate resembling that of the old Kentucky rifle is a nuisance. 

 f am surprised that there has not been more discussion 

 with regard to the effect of the various methods of rifling 

 upon accuracy and energy. « D. M. B. 



Philadelphia. 



Witor ForcM and 8&T& 



I am watching for the evolution of a perfect rifle out of 

 all these "hunting rifle" articles in your paper. Tn 1872 I 

 fired a Winchester rifle 1,250 times without cleaning it. Then 

 tin; charge was only twenty -five grains of powder, but T 

 found it heavy enough for moose, caribou and bear in 

 Canada, and brought down several. Of course, a heavier 

 load would be much better, but can't we overcharge a rilie 

 as well as a shotgun? 3Iaxhattax. 



New York. 



VIEW OF IT. 



While every true sportsman must adrnire the picture of our 

 old friend "Nessmuk" clinging with fond tenacity to the use 

 of the faithful old muzzleloader, Avhich has served him so 

 long and so well — and, as we all hope, will continue to do so 

 for many years to come — I am of clay much too human not 

 to covet something better than that which I now have, when 

 that something can readily be had ; nor do I wish to feel that 

 I am handicapped by the 'fact that my rifle is not so good nor 

 so effective as my neighbor's. I wish to be as fully and as 

 well equipped as he. I would greatly like to soar above this, 

 but I cannot. So, as in the good old days of the muzzle- 

 loader we would have wished to have the best that could be 

 made, I now, in the days of the improved breechloader, have 

 the same desire to have the best: and, having obtained it. 

 indulge the comforting reflection that I am not obliged to 

 admit the fact that my companion is happy iu the posses- 

 sion of a rifle better than my own. 



I fully agree with your correspondent "Greenhorn''' in his 

 preference for a butt plate similar to that used on the 

 Spriugtield army rifle. I have also used the shotgun stock 

 on hunting rifles with great satisfaction. With a butt plate 



A TAXIDERMIST'S 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



It is not without years of consideration to strengthen my 

 convictions that I offer the following remove from public 

 opinion, I would further ask the careful and unprejudiced 

 consideration of my statements, and now, while the subject 

 of bird laAvs is being agitated, seems to be a fitting oppor- 

 tunity. 



The time to shoot birds is in the spring and not in the fall. 

 If the birds were shot at this time (spring) only, they would 

 be far more abundant than at present. Let us begin with the 

 ruffed grouse or partridge, and see how this change will 

 operate in his case. The law at present is taken off Sept. 1, 

 and the sportsman is not slow to begin hunting. The flocks 

 of young grouse are inexperienced, and often but partially 

 grown, and are cleaned up close with but little difficult v. 

 Suppose these birds were left until January and then the law- 

 taken off until April 1, they would become as shy and diffi- 

 cult of capture as their parents, and a few years Avould find 

 tbem a far more abundant bird than at present. The same 

 would be the case with the quail, while for the woodcock a 

 decided advantage would be gained. The woodcock arrives 

 early, and could be shot until April 1, when the birds arrive 

 that will breed with us. The summer shooting is fast anni- 

 hilating this species, and it is getting to be a scarce bird in 

 thickly settled districts. And this is not to be wondered at, 

 when a sportsman locates a pair of birds, and on the 4th of 

 July cleans them up and their j'oung also. 



But if we are to have any shore birds a few years hence, 

 the summer and fall shooting must be prohibited. The 

 former in particular is very disastrous to the species that 

 return leisurely, and they are killed with but little difficulty 

 almost as fast as they appear upon the marshes they fre- 

 quent. In the spring it is different; the birds are then 

 en route for their breeding grounds, and are much more shy 

 and difficult to get at. They do not linger so Jong as in the 

 summer or autumn, and although good bags arc often made, 

 yet the slaughter cannot compare with that made during 

 these seasons. Besides all of this, there is more satisfaction 

 in having a few spring birds than a quantity of fall ones if 

 one has any eye for beauty. 



With our small birds the case is not different, as those 

 know who make collections of them. It is a Avise provision 

 also that of most of our bright-colored species the males 

 arrive first, and the best plumaged in the van, and are the 

 individuals going the furthest north. The golden rule'for 

 all collecting is, take what birds are wanted while the migra- 

 tion is in progress, but as soon as the individuals appear that 

 breed with us let them alone. If this rule is adhered to, no 

 section will be depopulated or any decrease noticed. But 

 few if any birds should be killed from June 1 to Sept. 1. 



The decrease of small birds noticed in many localities is 

 almost wholly on account of the shooting of resident birds. 

 If, for instance, any of our common robins are wanted, let 

 them be taken in March while passing by in flocks, but early 

 in April those come which sojourn with us, and if these are 

 not disturbed robius will not grow scarce from the shooting 

 of them. The first to come are those which are to distribute 

 themselves in our northern countiy, and a missing bird here 

 and there will make no difference. But a man or boy can 

 seriously impair the number of robins in a locality by shoot- 

 ing them between April 1 and September 15. "There are 

 birds enough for all who wish if they will use and not waste, 

 and temper this destruction with a regard for natural laws. 



The taking of birds' eggs is considered by many worse 

 than the killing of the birds; but this is not so".- I know of 

 no birds which will not make at least three or four attempts 

 to rear their brood before giving it up. But I would severely 

 denounce the killing of the parent birds from the nest unless 

 in exceptional cases, or when absolutely necessary for posi- 

 tive identification. If the places where birds are breeding in 

 large numbers are not visited by the shotgun as well as "the 

 eggers, and the latter will confine themselves to the taking 

 of the eggs twice only, and not trouble the third clutch, 

 little if any harm will be done. 



The preceding remarks, if lived up to, are practical. The 

 author loves the birds, and does not like to kill any for which 

 he has no use. If birds were only killed for some purpose, and 

 not merely for the sake of seeing them drop dead, the laws 

 would need but little enforcement. 



One more point, if gained, will do much to protect our 

 beautiful birds. Our (protective) tariff on bird skins is 

 directly antagonistic to our bird laAvs. Let us look at it. All 

 of the States have laws for the protection of small birds, and 

 the killing of them is stopped in every possible way, if they 

 are to be used for millinery, and at the same time a duty is 

 imposed for the protection of the same industry here. Birds, 

 and of bright colors, too, are collected extensively in foreign 

 countries, and sent iuto Great Britain free of duty. If those 

 birds Avere allowed to be brought to this country free also, 

 they would be imported at prices that would defy our col- 

 lectors, aud if that was done would it not largely protect our 

 small birds? F. J. Tixgley. 



[This is only saying that instead of lolling our own birds 

 Ave must kill those that are passing to States north of us.] 



V. C. Bartlett, proprietor of the Sportsmen's Home, 

 Saranac Lakes, N. Y. (the oldest hotel in the Adirondacks), 

 died at Reeseville, N. Y., on the evening of 27th of February, 

 His hotel has long been regarded with peculiar favor— was 

 most home-like, and has always been for years liberally 

 patronized by well known anglers and tourists. He will be 

 greatly missed. 



