April 3, 1884.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



185 



Gov. Clinton on the Muskrat as a Destroyer of 

 pisp k — Since writing the article published in your last issue 

 upon the~muskrataaafish eater, 1 have discovered important 

 additional testimony! In the year 1820 there appeared in a 

 New York newspaper {TJw Statesman) a series of articles of 

 no ordinary interest, They were entitled "Letters on the 

 Natural History and Internal Resources of flic State of New 

 York, l)v Hi ue hue ns." They attracted so much attention, 

 and the demand for them was so great, that they were re- 

 printed in book form in 1822. Their real author was Gov. 

 De Witt Chilton, a man of letters, eminent, as a statesman. 

 distinguished as a scientist, and justly celebrated as a phil- 

 osopher, in the ninth letter he speaks of the muskrat as the 

 most I'onvidable foe of the canal, stating that it perforates 

 the hanks and thus lets oil the water. Respecting this ani- 

 mal as a fish cater, be says: "In winter. When the water is 

 frozen, muskrats go under the ice and prey on the fish. They 

 are very destructive to trout, which is already in the canal." 

 — 0, Hart MbrbIAM, M.D. (Locust Grove, N. Y., March 

 29, 1884). 



Albino Robin.— A robin, with white wings and tail, was 

 observed in a flock of robins here on Wednesday, March 19. 

 I regret that we were unable to secure it, although we did 

 succeed in getting one long shot at it.— H. W. 0. (Rye, 



N. YA 



Imqt §ng m\d 



THE CHOICE OF HUNTING RIFLES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have read will) keen interest the discussion in your col- 

 umns on the "Choice of Hunting Rifles." Having been ab- 

 sent in Canada since last November, whither Forest and 

 Stream does not follow me, being too readily appreciated 

 to reach me in a transient wrapper, I have read the whole 

 series almost at a single sitting. 1 have found a great deal to 

 instruct, some things to amuse, and one thing which astounds 

 me; and this last is the statement that twenty-six repeating 

 rifles were every one rendered perfectly useless by a four 

 days' march. The first repeating rifle I ever owned was a 

 Henry, which had seen four years' service and something 

 like eighty engagements in the 1st Maine Calvary, aud was in 

 perfect working when I got it, although I was obliged to get 

 a new magazine spring shortly afterward, the old one being 

 worn out by its friction against some slight dents in the side 

 of the tube. Repeating rifles hang on the saddles of vaque- 

 ros for weeks and months, and are always ready for use, 

 unless filled with sand, which will disable any breechloading 

 gun. 



Of all the articles written, the first two of Mr. Van Dyke's 

 came the nearest to my views on this subject; but I utterly 

 dissent from bis deductions contained in the third. I firmly 

 believe that a .40-caliber bullet propelled by the same amount 

 of powder will strike with greater force than a .45, or any 

 larger caliber. We are taught that the striking force of a 

 projectile is the square of its velocity multiplied by its 

 weight, and the resistance of the atmosphere as the square of 

 its diameter, without regard to length, unless there may he 

 a slight increase of friction in very long bodies, but probably 

 not to be estimated in bullets. If these premises be granted, 

 then it follows that the proper mode to get the greatest 

 amount of force from a given weight of powder and lead is 

 to put the latter in the form of a long projectile of small, 

 rather than a short one of large, diameter. And now, as I 

 believe in one's having the courage to state one's convictions, 

 however startling, I am going to say that I do not believe 

 in the "shock" theory; and by that I mean that no ordinary 

 rifle ball will "paralyze" a deer, if not placed in a vital spot, 

 or to make my meaning clearer, I do not believe that a deer 

 will stop any quicker or die any sooner with a .60-caliber 

 bullet through it than it will with a .40-caliber, provided 

 both go exactly in the same place; and when I speak of parts 

 "not vital" I do not mean t^e hips, as that is one of the 

 deadliest of places to strike a deer, moose, or caribou when 

 standing broadside to. 



The first wounded deer I ever followed was an old doe m 

 October, shot through and through by a young fellow armed 

 with an old U. S. army musket, called in those days a "hoop 

 gun," carrying a ball of about 11 ounces. She bled freely from 

 both sides, seemingly but little back of the shoulders, but 

 after tracking her a mile the blood almost ceased to flow, and 

 we finally lost her after spending half a day scouring the 

 woods in every direction. My experience and belief in the 

 superior killing power ot the small-bore rifle over that of the 

 large, owing to the greater velocity at wdaich the former can 

 be propelled, was acquired thirty j^ears ago by mere accident, 

 and as practice is always better than theory, I will give the 

 facts. 



• A t that time I owned a beautiful "double-shooter" muz- 

 zieloading rifle, made to order for me by H. L. Leonard, the 

 well-known maker of fishing rods. Probably many of the 

 older readers of Forest and Stream will remember those 

 rifles. They were invented in Pennsylvania by a brother of 

 Leonard's. 'Two charges w T ere loaded in a single barrel, the 

 bullet of the back charge serving as a breech pin for the for- 

 ward one. A second tube and cylinder was inserted at this 

 point, connecting with the hammers by a slide, which was 

 thrown up by loosening a catch when shooting the hack 

 charge. All the advantages of a single barrel were retained 

 by these rifles, but great care was necessary in loading the 

 back charge to prevent a double explosion, often resulting in 

 blown out cylinders and a recoil that would knock down an 

 ox. 



At the beginning of the hunting season of 1854, while 

 hastily loading this rifle, with a big buck standing in full 

 view , the ferrule came off the end of my starter, and stuck 

 firmly around the end of the pointed bullet. Instead of 

 going home and removing the obstruction by taking out the 

 breech-pin, 1 did what. I fancy most hunters would do under 

 the circumstances— rammed the whole thing down and fired. 

 The bullet was forced through the ferrule about midway the 

 length of the barrel, bulging it to such an extent as to be 

 easily seen on the outside, and the bore, on looking through 

 it, looked exactly as if a piece three inches long had fallen 

 out all around it. I couldn't hit a flour barrel half the time 

 at 100 yards. I was obliged to carry the gun to Bangor at 

 once to have a new barrel fitted. The only one 1 could get 

 which fitted the stock was a beautiful cast"sfeel Remington 

 barrel, carrying 86 bullets to the 'pound (avoirdupois) by 

 actual weight. This, I take it, is about .38 caliber. On 

 loading this new barrel I found that the same charge of pow- 

 der that 1 used in the former barrel not only fillecTthe small 

 bore up so far as to bring the bullet opposite the forward 



cylinder, thus rendering double-shooting impossible, but 

 also blew unburned powder out on the snow. 



To remedy this defect, 1 had a hole the size of the bore 

 drilled back", an inch and a quarter, in the breech pin. This 

 brought the lire nearly into the middle of the powder, and 

 the result was so surprising and unlooked for, that it com- 

 pletely revolutionized all my ideas on the subject of rifle 

 bores. On testing it I found that more powder would burn 

 than I cared to stand up against, although the rifle weighed 

 ten pounds. I sighted it to a point-blank at 50 yards, with 

 a pointed bullet o? extra length (14-inch) using about b drains 

 best F dead shot powder At 52 rods, holding the same as at 

 50 yards, the drop was just, nine inches. I used this gun for 

 nine years, aud its killing power exceed that of any gun I 

 ever saw. I fired at sixteen moose with it during that time, 

 every one of which I killed; using the second shot on only 

 three. Can any bore show a better record? Many a time I 

 have put my fist through the hole made in a deer's "lights" 

 by this bullet. Twice I killed two deer at one shot with it, 

 the bullet passing through both deer in each instance, and it 

 would crash straight through the shoulders of the largest 

 bull moose, and out on the further side. I parted with it on 

 goiog into the service, and have never yet seen its equal. 

 At present I am using a .40-60 260 repeater, and its per- 

 formance is very satisfactory. I killed ten deer with it last 

 season at thirteen shots, one of which was a miss; and five 

 this season at six shots, the sixth being an unnecessary one 

 at an old buck, already pierced within two inches of his 

 heart by the first bullet.^ My ideal repeater is .40-caliber, 

 80 graius powder, 240 grains lead. 



In my opinion, the greatest desideratum next to accuracy 

 is a flat trajectory, and in the above rifle you obtain it, with 

 sufficient force for any game short of grizzlies, and deadly 

 enough for them if a man has the nerve to stand their charge 

 coolly, and none others ought, to hunt grizzlies. I have no 

 belief that a rifle can be made that will kill large game im- 

 mediately when not hit in a vital spot, and only ask for one 

 that will send direct to the spot aimed at, with the least pos- 

 sible drop or variation, with sufficient force to go straight 

 through the game. Many hunters lay great stress on a large 

 bullet letting'out the blood. Any bullet is large enough to 

 sever the arteries, and the blood flows the same, whether in- 

 side or out; and the most fatal wounds rarely bleed much out- 

 side. 



I hope that some of our repeating-rifle makers will make a 

 rifle of the above proportions, if only for experiment, to try 

 the range, trajectory and penetration, and let us know the 

 result. * Penobscot. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have been greatly interested in the discussion that has 

 been going on in Forest and Stream in regard to the 

 hunting rifle, and although the subject has been almost ex- 

 haustively treated by several of your able correspondents, one 

 idea seems to have escaped their attention. 



For target shooting no one has need of a repeater, and for 

 ordinary hunting, such as we have this side of the Rocky 

 Mountains, I cannot see why the better-proportioned single- 

 loading breechloader does not answer every purpose. Those 

 who favor the repeater for dangerous game are in a fair way 

 to obtain just what they want, for the discussion has made 

 it apparent that one that takes from 90 to 120 grains of pow- 

 der, and a bullet of from 300 to 500 grains, of from .40 to 

 .50 and even larger caliber, is what is wauted, and the prob- 

 ability is that the manufacturers will supply it. 



For dangerous game it does not seem to me that any rifle 

 with but one lock is quite safe, for a gun lock is liable to fail 

 at any moment. A hammer may break, or the firing-pin or 

 some spring may give out, or a shell stick, and it is just at 

 such a critical moment that the second barrel is needed. It 

 is clearly evident to my mind that a double express rifle, all 

 things considered, of large bore, is the arm for the sportsman 

 to depend on while hunting large game. This rifle, if well 

 made, will shoot with great accuracy at all hunting dis- 

 tances, but the trouble is, an imported arm costs soniuch 

 that none but well-to-do sportsmen can afford them, 



If some of our manufacturers would place on the market, 

 or make to order a double express for about $150, the barrels 

 of which should be so set that both would shoot alike at 

 hunting distances, a good sale for them would be certain. 



There is an art in setting the barrels so they will shoot as 

 accurateiy as the high-priced English guns of course, but in- 

 genuity can overcome all the difficulties so that a good rifle 

 at even less than the price named, can be manufactured. 

 Thosejvho desire may have interchangeable barrels — one set 

 of large caliber and the other of small, or a pair of shot bar- 

 rels may fit the same stock. 



I have always preferred the Maynard, on account of this 

 feature of the arm, as the barrels may be changed in a 

 moment. I have one barrel of .50-caliber with a slow twist 

 — one turn in 60 inches — for round or light conical bullets, 

 and at all hunting distanses the round bullets are perfectly 

 accurate. The shell is loaded full (70 grains, or 100 if so 

 chambered) with powder, and a thick leather wad, and the 

 balls are inserted in the barrel at the breech, which when 

 closed seats them firmly in the grooves forward of the 

 chamber. 



The .32-caliber barrel has been rechambered for Farrow's 

 new cartridge, which, for the 115-grain bullet, gives a very 

 flat trajectory, and is just the thing for target and squirrel 

 shooting. He has brought out a new bullet of .32-caliber, 

 about 2$ diameters long, that flies with remarkable precision 

 at all ranges up to 500 "yards, but it would be better if the 

 cartridge would take SOgrains powder, instead of 35, for that 

 150-gram naked and grooved bullet, and 1 hope to see such a 

 cartridge ere long. 



I have used all sorts of sights on my rifles, but have 

 adopted the Lyman adjustable rear sight, and a hard rubber 

 fixed sight in front of breech, made as described in Van 

 Dyke's book— "The Still Hunter" — "plain and flat on top," 

 with the addition of the platinum line down the middle of it, 

 but not reaching the top within a twentieth of an inch, after 

 the English method. Block tin is just as good, and will keep 

 bright, and costs nothing. These and an ivory sight on the 

 muzzle, or an iron or steel one faced with platinum, or block 

 tin, complete the set. A person who is at all near-sighted 

 and wears glasses, must have the middle sight set well for- 

 ward or it will not be clear. For hunting, the muzzle sight 

 should not rise more than three-sixteenths or a quarter of an 

 inch, and the middle sight be so set that the point-blank will 

 be fifty yards. Then when 100 or 150 yards intervene, throw 

 up the Lyman sight. If longer distances are required, make 

 the point-blank 1C0 yards, and set the rear sight for 150 or 

 200. There is nothing new in all this, but many who read 

 the Forest and Stream, have not had experience enough 

 to have proved the utility of this simple arrangement of 

 sights, so some of these matters bear repeating. 



Some one has advocated .25-caliber, and when one is pro- 

 duced, I hope the cartridge will be made long enough to give 

 a powder and bullet proportion of at least one to three, and 

 one to two and n, half or even two, would be better still, as 

 the resultant trajectory would be very flat. A bullet well 

 hardened would give excellent results, and a pop-gun would 

 be secured for small game that would be first-class. I tried 

 in vain to get good shooting from my .32-caliber rifle with 

 the bullet that was furnished me, that had a nick at the base, 

 and not until I altered ttm molds at that point, and enlarged 

 the front of the bullet so it would seat firmly in the rifling, 

 was it secured. This is referred to, that whoever puts a new 

 bullet on the market, may not make a mistake in its form. 



Txjnxis. 



Riverton, Conn.. March 17. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Let us have a little discussion upon the subject of hunting 

 rifle cartridges. They do not contain sufficient powder. A 

 proper charge of powder for rifles, from .22 to .40-caliber, will 

 fill the bore a distance of five times its diameter, aud the lead 

 should be sufficient to fill the bore for the space of two 

 diameters. The gun ought to weigh one quarter as many 

 pounds as the caliber is hundredths of an inch. These pro- 

 portions in cartridge and gun will give better average results 

 than any others I have tried. 



Nearly all the cartridges offered by manufacturers of less 

 than .40-caliber, do not have a reasonable amount of powder 

 to give the gun a possible chance of doing decent execution 

 at a greater distance than fifty yards. If we are using a .44 

 gun, they are willing to do up our powder in liberal packages, 

 100 graius or more, but when we take out our .32 rifle, we 

 arc compelled to use squibs, or load from the muzzle. 



None of these calibers are large enough for deer or heavier 

 game. A .50-bore, with about one and a half calibers of 

 lead, and all the powder the shooter can endure, will kill 

 more large game than any smaller gun. However, when the 

 caliber is enlarged beyond .40, either the gun, or cartridge, 

 or man, is not in good* proportion, and if you give the ball a 

 low trajectory for two hundred yards, the inevitable result 

 will be a high initial velocity of the man and vice versa. 



Give the .32 rifle 50 grains of powder and 150 of lead and 

 then test its shooting from one hundred to three hundred 

 yards. L. C. C. 



St. Pattl. Minn. 



THE PERFORMANCE OF SHOTGUNS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Doubtless most of the different "shotgun" reports that have 

 appeared in the Forest and Stream of late, are from ac- 

 tual tests, and therefore valuable, as showing the opinions of 

 the different shooters, as well as the performance of the dif- 

 ferent guns. But when "Ogeechee" and "Mark Ivel" re- 

 port killing deer, geese and ducks at 100 to 120 yards, one 

 cannot help thinking they are writing for the first prize in 

 the next "Camp Fire Flickerings, " where facts are at a dis- 

 count. Such guns — being sure death to anything they are 

 held on at 100 yards — ought never to be fired at game till the 

 100 yards are passed, in order to give it at least a small 

 chance for its life. 



My experience covers over fifty years of shooting, and em- 

 braces all gauges, from 6 to 16, both inclusive, flint locks, 

 muzzle and breechloaders, and my vote is for breechloader 

 first and at all times; both for safety and convenience. But 

 as to gauge, that depends entirely on the purpose of the 

 shooter. If he shoots for the market or slaughter, he will be 

 satisfied with nothing smaller than an 8 or 10-gauge. But if 

 for sport and recreation, he needs nothing larger than 12 to 

 16-gauge. What sportsman would not rather bag a dozen 

 birds with fifteen to twenty shells — which will be a full 

 average, on ducks, at least— with a small gauge, rather than 

 get the same, or twice the number, from one or two shots 

 into a flock, with a small cannon? l say nothing of the 

 cripples that are sure to be made in flock shooting. 



At present I own but a single gun, which is a W. & C. 

 Scott & Co. 12-gauge 30-inch. 



My charge for ducks is 8$ drams powder, l£ ounces No. 6 

 shot, and I am able to report a success that ought to satisfy 

 any reasonable sportsman. J. H. L\ 



POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y. 



Editor Fo-rest and Stream: 



Guns have very aptly been divided into classes, and it 

 might not be inappropriate to divide sportsmen, or rather, 

 the owners of guns, into classes. Your practical sportsman, 

 he who loves the invigorating and healthful exercise of true 

 sport, that delights in ranging field, forest and stream in 

 quest of whatsoever game may fall to his lot or share, is the 

 type of one class. To the other belongs the man who is con- 

 tent with the evanescent glory of being called a sportsman. 

 Such are the men who have owned boats they could not sail; 

 if by any chance, cast upon their own resources, on their 

 own craft, struck with a capful of wind, they would know T 

 not what to do; owners of fly-rods and fishing tackle they 

 could not manage; of blooded race horses they could neither 

 ride nor drive, and last but not least, of guns they could not 

 shoot, or if perchance they did, it would solely be for the 

 purpose of making a noise and displaying ' 'a thing of beauty," 

 but alas! not always "a joy forever." 



To the latter class it is a matter of indifference, whether 

 in point, of practical performance the gun is a good one, 

 choked or unchoked, or what not; so that it has what is 

 rather erroneously termed a reputation, particularly if its 

 praises be extensively sounded as endowed with all sorts of 

 qualities which it may not possess, and moreover, if it be 

 "fair to look upon," that is enough. Your drawing-room 

 sportsman is ready on any and every occasion to rise and 

 maintain the pretentions of the thing, however preposterous 

 they may be in point of fact, 



I think it may be fairly assumed that your true sportsman 

 is, as a general rule, intensely practical; he delights in ex- 

 amining into the why and wherefore of things; the chief 

 happiness and enjoyment in his pursuits depends in a great 

 measure upon this very faculty, upon it hangs all success. 

 His working tools must be up to the highest standard pos- 

 sible to attain; if they fall short in any particular, he casts 

 about to know why, and to remedy " the evil if possible. 

 Theory to him is bosh, if the idea involved can neither be 

 carried into practice by himself nor any of his co-workers. 



It is not proper to dub such men old fogies, stubborn. 

 prejudiced, ignorant, and all that. Ignorant we are of many 

 things, if we knew it all we would cease asking questions 

 or trying to learn. If the worthy experts in the art knew 

 it all, the many faults and errors that have from time to 

 time obtained a footing, would have been entirely done away 

 with long ago. 



In making comparisons as to performance between dfcE- 



