106 



FOREST AND STitlEAM. 



[Sept. 3, 1885. 



green spot in my memory, for never since I was a small boy 

 have I passed such a length of time so pleasantly and hap- 

 pily as I did these — free from all care and business, and the 

 worry one hjis in a professional life. H. A. C. 



ViROQITA, Wis. 



THE CHOICE OF GUNS.-IIL 



BETWEEN guns of the same make and grade, between 

 guns made and bored by the same persons in the same 

 way, ditferences in balance, beauty, (iurability nnd shooting 

 powers are not uncommon. Sometimes a flue gun will be a poor 

 performer, while on the other hand, plain cheap guns often 

 shoot well. The best way is to have your gun made t& 

 order by a man whose reputation for honest work is estab- 

 lished ; or if you buy a ready-made guu select one of a known 

 and reliable "malvc. ' In either case you may reasonably expect 

 to get a fairly good gun and your money's worth. 'S'ou will 

 hardly lie disappointed if you buy a gun, without inspection 

 or trial, o£ any of the makes which I shall recommend. 



One of the iirst things to be considered in selecting a gun 

 is safety. If the gun is unsafe you should not use it and 

 thereby put your life and the lives of others in jeopardy. 



The locks, hammers and plungers determine the safety of 

 ahammergunif tlie barrels are sound, the action strong 

 and the breech .substantial. The old-fashioned back-action 

 locks are not now used upon any gun tbat is tit to be used. 

 It is therefore hardly necessary to say that the gun should 

 have bar locks. And these should be smooth and strong in 

 their workings, with the notch in the tumbler deep enough 

 and with sufficient trigger pall to hold the hammers safely 

 at full cock and to prevent a slight touch of the trigger fir- 

 ing the gun. When the gun is at full cock, the weight sus- 

 pended from the trigger necessary to throw the lock is the 

 measm-e of the (rigger puU. About four pounds is the aver- 

 age, but the tiuer aud more nearly perfect tlie lock the lighter 

 may the trigger pull be and remain safe. A light trigger 

 pnll on a low-priced gun is indicative of weakness of the 

 lock, too light a trigger pull is dangerous on any gun. So 

 that it is sufficiently heavy to be safe, you may have the 

 trigger pull as light as you please, but you can only ascer- 

 tain by trial and experience what trigger pull will best suit 

 you. 



For obvious reasons, both for safety and convenience, the 

 locks should be rebounding; that is, when the hammer has 

 delivered its stroke, it should rebound to half cock. 



The mainspring should be sufficiently strong to always 

 explode the pritucrs, aud yet not so unnecessarily and injuri- 

 ously strong as to jerk ihe lock to pieces, or drive the points 

 of the plunger,! tm-ough the heads of the primers. All 

 the parts of' the lock, mainsprings, sears, sear springs, 

 pins and tumblers, should be evenly and smoothly made, 

 well filtcd and well polished; aud all the operations of the 

 locks shoidd be uniform aud smooth, withouthitch or jerk. 



The plungers, or firing pins, should have solid heads; 

 should neatly fill the holes made for them through the 

 breech ; should be of the proper length, that is, long enough 

 to deliver a sufficient blow to the primer, and yet not so 

 long as to interfere with the opening or closing of the gun, 

 aud^their operation should be smooth so as not to cause a 

 premature explosion when the gun is being closed. They 

 should have a positive motion ; that is, the pushing aside of 

 the lever to open the gun should withdraw the plungers so 

 that then- points do not project beyond the face of the breech, 

 and they should be springless. 



If the gun is liammerless and a barrel cocker, so that the 

 strikers are beyond the control of the shooter, it must, to be 

 as safe as it should be, not only have a device for bolting 

 tlie triggers, but the accidental falling of the strikers mu.st 

 be impossible, or some means provided of arresting the strik- 

 ers before they reach the firing pins or primers, in case they 

 are accidentally thrown. And in my opinion, as a further 

 provision for safety, the hammerless g-un should have re- 

 bounding locks; and as these guns are now constructed, this 

 implies that the firing pins should be separate from, and not 

 extensions of the strikers. 



The durabilit}' of the gnn is an important consideration, 

 and this depends — ^workmanship and material being good — 

 upon the soundness of the priuciple of the action. 



The iioints of locking should be placed as far as possible 

 from the pivot or hinge upon which the barrels turn when 

 the gun is opened f oi' loading, for the longer the leverage the 

 greater the strength. 



The action should, for convenience, be self-closing; and, 

 for service and durability, it should be so arranged that the 

 locking bolts do not come in contact with the lugs and ex- 

 tended rib when the gun is being closed, but they should be 

 held out of the way until the gun is closed. The arrange- 

 ment should also be such that the breaking of the spring 

 which throws the bolt home will not render the gun useless. 



The gun should have an extended rib, the bearing or hold- 

 ing surface of which should be as square as possible, and this 

 rib shotald not be so constructed as to ojx'i'ate like a wedge 

 to spread the breech. 



It should be provided with a hinge-check to catch the bar- 

 rels when they are opened and take strain off of the hinge- 

 joint upon which the barrels turn. 



The breech-strap, or break-off or back-strap, as it is vari- 

 ottsly called, should be long and well seciu'ed by at least two 

 screws, instead of one, as is usually the case, and the rear 

 screw should extend entirely through the stock and fasten in 

 the trieger guard. 



The standing breech should be sufficiently heavy to stand 

 all the strain to which it will be subjected; the locking bolts 

 and lugs should be strong and well secured, aud when the 

 gun is closed the barrels and extended rib should fit the frame 

 and bi-eech pei'fectly. 



Of course the ijarrels should be of good material and well 

 finished, but the difficulty is that no one but an expert can 

 assuredly tell whether the barrels are just what they seem. 

 Careful examination will, however, in nearly every instance, 

 discover some rough place, inside or out, some flaw, some 

 nnevenness or souie sUghting of the work somewhere, if the 

 ban-els are counterfeit. The perfect work neces,sary to so 

 finish a pair of barrels that no defects are discoverable by 

 even an inexperienced person will hardly be put upon a piece 

 of metal known to be unfit for use. 



If the barrels on a gun of, say fifty dollars or under, are 

 marked "fine Damascus steel," as if a gun of such price is 

 found described in a dealer's catalogue as having such barrels, 

 you need not put yourself to the trouble of making an ex- 

 amination; the barrels are counterfeits aud frauds, and a 

 good plain twist is much better. 



A good pair of barrels will be perfectly smooth inside and 

 oiatside; they will present no elevations or depressions. The 

 inside will be thoroughly polished, without flaw or defect, 

 as you may see by exaniination before a strong and steady 



light. If tliey are not clean and well-fljiished, the light will 

 disclose it. 



The lugs, by which the barrels are held in place, should 

 be brazed to the barrels firmly and solidly, so that it would 

 be quite impossible to tear them away. 



The chambers to receive the shells should he large enough 

 to admit the shell readily and yet not large enough to allow 

 the cartridge case to burst when the gun is fired. The 

 chambers should be as smoothly finished and as highly pol- 

 ished as any other part of the barrels, and should be of the 

 exact length required to receive the shell. The termination 

 of the chamber should not be too abrupt or square-shoul- 

 dered. If, with the head of an ordinary lead pencil inserted 

 in the barrels, you find a resistance offered by the square 

 termination of tlie chambers where the barrels proper begin, 

 reject the gun. It is a good plan in having a gun built to 

 order to have the mouth of the chamber polished instead of 

 being left unpolished, as is usually done. See that the top 

 and bottom ribs are evenly and smoothly laid on; that there 

 are no crevices visible between the barrels and the ribs at the 

 muzzle, or along the length of the ribs. 



And for convenience to the eye in wing-shooting, I think 

 the rib should be level or high, not depressed in the center. 



The sight should be near the end of the barrels and neatly 

 and smoothly made ; the inferior quality of the gun is fre- 

 quently most readily detected by an examination of such lit- 

 tle things as the sight, the triggers, the trigger guard and the 

 like. 



The best gun barrels in common use are the twist, the 

 laminated and the Damascus steel. On some of the finest 

 English guns, barrels of Whitworth's fluid-compressed steel 

 are used. These are by no means handsome, hardly present- 

 ing so neat an appearance as a good qiiality of stub-twist, 

 but they are very strong and serviceable, and the most ex- 

 pensive barrels with which I have any acquaintance. 



Of the three qualities used in this country the twist is 

 cheapest, the laminated next, aud the Damascus highest 

 priced ; but as between the very best laminated steel, and 

 the Damascus there is not much difference in cost. The 

 Damascus are more handsome than the laminated barrels, 

 but my preference is for the latter, as I have found them 

 more easily kept clean, bright and free from rust and spots, 

 and I believe they are more serviceable than the Damascus. 

 In selecting a low-priced gun I would always take one with 

 twist barrels, for in such case I would expect a fairly good 

 pair of barrels for my money; whereas, if I bought a gun of 

 the fifty-doUar grade with Damascus barrels I would expect 

 to be swindled. 



The stock of the gun should be of walnut, thoroughly 

 seasoned, finished in oil and without paint or varnish. The 

 darker the wood and the finer the grain the more handsome 

 and durable will be the stock. The finest stocks are taken 

 from the root of the tree; the next quality from the body, 

 where the limbs join, and so on, making the selections ac- 

 cording to the grade of the gun, until even the sappy and 

 porous parts of the tree are used on the lowest grade. But 

 the .stock of the plainest American gun is made from the 

 heart of the American walnut tree, and if thoroughly seas- 

 soned and cut, as all gun stocks should be, so thatlthe grain 

 of the wood runs straight ia the grip, it will be sutficiently 

 durable. Nothing, however, adds more to the beauty of a 

 gun than a dark, "handsome, close-grained, well-finished and 

 highly-polished stock, and no gun can be beautiful without 

 it.'" 



The metal mountings of the gun should be so wefl fitted 

 to the stock that not a crevice is to be found. If the moimt- 

 ings do not fill the cuttings that have been made in the wood 

 to receive them, it is either because the work has been 

 slovenl}'- done or because the wood was not thoroughly 

 seasoned when worked into the stock. In neither ease will 

 the crevices ever get any smaller, and from whatever cause 

 the fault arises, the gun'should be rejected. 



Examine the screws used to hold the parts of the gun to- 

 gether and see that they fit snugly, that they are down 

 smoothly and evenly, and that the heads all point the same 

 way. See that the pins of the lock do not project beyond 

 the surface of the lock- plate; and whether the gun is high- 

 priced or low-priced, whether it is engraved or unengraved, 

 see tbat the moimtings are neatly polished and fitted. As 

 already intimated these little things are not essentials; but 

 they often indicate the character of the work. 



My preference is for low hammers; hammers which are 

 entirely below the line of sight when at full cock. But the 

 thumb piece of the hammer should be long enough to grasp 

 well with the thumb. If it is so short as to be liable to slip 

 from the thumb when the gun is hastily cocked, the guu is 

 dangerous, and the old-fashioned high hammer is to be pre- 

 ferred. 



I prefer the con'ugated hard rubber or the horn heel-plate 

 to the steel or iron one, as the latter is apt to become too 

 smooth to rest well against the shoulder. On some of the 

 finer grade ffuns a "tip and toe" only of metal is used, and 

 the wood of the butt is checkered; on some no metal is used, 

 but the wood is only checkered. A covering for the wood, 

 whether of metal, horn or rubber is, I think, preferable, both 

 for appearance and durability. 



But before you buy a guu you must determine what gauge 

 and weight it shall be; and here there is much room for dif- 

 ference of opinion, the preferences of sportsmen, as influ- 

 enced by the purpose of the gun, range all the way from 

 20-bores to 1 0-bores, and even so high as 8-bores. But for 

 game-bird shooting, I shall take it for granted you do not 

 wish to use a gun that burns almost as much powder as a 

 small cannon. Indeed, the tendency of modern times is 

 toward the adoption of lighter and smaller-bore guns for 

 field-shooting, the judgment of adepts in the art being that a 

 16-bore is large enough for quail, grouse and snipe shooting. 

 There are arguments j??-^? aud con which will at once occur to 

 you, and need not here be stated. For the ^werage shot, I 

 think the happy medium is reached in a light 12-bOTe. Such 

 a gun is fair for the quail, woodcock or snipe, and fair lor 

 the sportsman ; can be used for ducks and geese, and is alto- 

 gether the best gun for general shooting. I do not advise 

 the use of different guns for different game; you will be a 

 better shot if vou use the same gun for all pm-poses, and I 

 am pretty sure the average shot cannot do better than use a 

 good 12-bore of proper length and weight. My experience 

 has been almost exclusively confined to 13 and 16 bores; but 

 I have had some slight experience with 10-gauge guns. As 

 between the iB-bore and the 10 bore for field and cover shciot- 

 ing, I would not hesitate to select the former. If destruction 

 of aame was the sole object of shooting, then a 10-bore or 

 even a larger gun should be used; but the mere kilhng of 

 birds is not sport. In the hands of a good shot a 16-bore is 

 certainly sufficiently destructive on quail, snipe, woodcock 

 and the'like, and its use furnishes keener and more enjoyable 

 sport because it requires better shooting. But for the rea- 



son that the 16-bore is hardly large enough for large water- 

 fowl and other game that you may desire occasionally to 

 shoot, I have advised the adoption of a 13-bore as "a general 

 purpose gun. " If you desire to possess one gun for quail 

 shooting, aud another for duck and goose shooting, you may 

 get a 16-bore and a 10-bore, though I protest against the use- 

 of the latter for any purpose by sportsmen. 



The weight of the gun must depend, not only upon its- 

 gauge and the manner in which it is bored, but still more- 

 upon its quality; if that be good, there is no necessity for a 

 16-bore weighing more thair6| pounds; for a 13-bore weigh- 

 ing more than 7* pound.s, or for a 10-bore weighing more 

 than 8i pounds, nor do I think they need go to those 

 weights. 



In a late number of Zand and Water, Purdey, the great 

 London gunmaker, is quoted as saying he never advised hav- 

 ing 1.3 bores with barrels shorter than .^0 inches or of lighter 

 weight than 6i pounds; that he "made 12-bores so light as 

 6i pounds, which shoot an ounce of shot very comfortably; 

 but 12-gaugcs of this light weight are delicate weapons, and 

 won't bear much rough usage, and so we don't recommend 

 them. In order to reduce the wei.^ht we will, if asked, cur- 

 tail the length of the barrels to 38 "inches, but when so doing 

 it is distinctly understood that our advice is to have a 13- 

 bore made with 30-inch barrels, and of not less than 6| 

 pounds weight, and if customers go away from these lines 

 they do so at their own peril." 



On the other hand several eminent London gunmakers 

 turn out guns of 6 pounds weight and even under. Charles 

 Lancaster makes a 13-bore so light as 6 pounds and 3 ounces 

 and Thomas Turner goes below 6 pounds. And I have seen 

 some handsome American-made IS bore guns with 38-inch 

 barrels and of about 6i- pounds weight. Indeed, Clark & 

 Sneider and Lefever advise guns of this weight and length 

 for quail shooting, and guarantee that such guns will give 

 as good results in field and cover shooting as longer and 

 heavier guns. 



In making your selection you should caref-jlly ascertain 

 what weight of gun you can carry through a long and tiring 

 day with case and comfort to yourself, and can at the same 

 time wield with dexterity and smartness. Wuen this is done 

 you can then better decide upon the bore. If you tind 0^ 

 "pounds or under the weight you desire, my judgment is you 

 should get a 16-bore, at any rate not larger" than 14-bore, and, 

 even between 6^ and 7 pounds 1 am not yet convinced! 

 that a 14 or 16 bore would not be a better gun than any- 

 larger. 



For a 14 or 16 gauge I think 38 inches long enough for the- 

 barrels. They are long enough to obtaiu the full force of 

 any charge of powder you will desire to shoot out of such a 

 gun, and every additional inch would be so much friction 

 without any improvement of the shooting powers of the 

 gun. 



In order to get the full force of the maximum chargea 

 which can be used in 13-bores of 7 pounds weight and over, 

 the barrels should be 30 inches long; longer barrels destroy 

 the balance without improving the shooting of the gun. In 

 1 0-bores the barrels may go to 33 inches, but not longer, for 

 the same reason. If too long the gun will be muzzle heavy. 



Ah-Pe. 



WHERE OUR QUAIL WENT TO. 



NINE years ago I lived on a large open prairie. The 

 nearest timber was five miles distant. The greater 

 portion of the prairie was under cultivation and largely 

 planted to corn. There were no board fences, and the 

 hedges were mostly one to three years old and afforded but 

 little cover to the game. 



On our farm three large coveys of quail were hatched out, 

 and we saw them frequently along in Aixgust and September. 

 By keeping our eai-s open about dusk and dawn we located 

 eighteen more coveys upon adjoining farms, and we laid 

 our plans for some cracking sport as soon as the corn should 

 be gathered. 



A few days before we finished husking, I wrote my sport- 

 ing friends, W. C. S. and R. P. M., of St. Louis, to come 

 out the second week of November, and we would entertain 

 them in the highest style, and give them exercise enough to 

 make their blo"bd spin" for a month. 



The first week in November we were treated to a long, cold, 

 driving rain, followed by a freezing snow storm. About six 

 inches of snow fell, biU it remained on the ground only 

 about three days. Then a beautiful haze settled over the 

 landscape, the sun resembled a huge ball of red fire, and 

 Indian summer was on tap. 



Billy and Dick aiTived in due time and we set out for the 

 fields where we had seen the quail most frequently. We 

 ran three good dogs; it was a splendid day for hunting and 

 we moved along lively; but after .scouring the fields nearly 

 three hours, all we could find Avas one little covey of seven 

 quail. The boys were sadly disappointed, and were half 

 inclined to think we had hoaxed them, while we were both 

 puzzled and chagrined. 



The next day we turned our attention to grouse, and, as 

 we all made respectable bags, we felt better, and the boys 

 returned to their bomes in very good spirits. _ 



What became of those quail was the enigma we desued to 

 solve. We listened for their call morning and evening, but 

 not a sound could we hear. A few days afterward I hap- 

 pened to be in town just as the Presbyterian minister— an 

 enthusiastic sportsman— came in with a bag that made my 

 eyes pop. "fl-ad a splendid time this morning," said he. 

 "Never saw so many quail in my life as I found this morn- 

 inn- " "Where did you find them?" I asked. "On Mr. 

 M— 's farm among the hazel brush. Flushed about thirty 

 coveys!" "Thunder and turf ! Excuse me, but I~why— I 

 —well, well, well!" , , . mi . j t 



A great light had illuminated my bram. The next day I 

 visited the aforesaid farm— which, by the way, lay about 

 five miles from ours aud adjoined the woods— and in two 

 hours liad bagged thirty-nine quail. That evening the fol- 

 lowing telegram startled Dick and Billy in their respective 

 offices and sent them into their hunting suits in a jiffy: 

 "Found the quail. Thousands. Come instantly." They 

 arrived the following morning and remained two days. 

 Dick bagged eighty-eight, and Billy two hundred and six. 

 Two happier hunters never smiled. 



Not until about the middle of the following May did we 

 hear the call of Bob White on the prairies. In the folio-w- 

 ing autumn there were five coveys on the farm, but with the 

 first snow fall every one departed for the brush. 



Since the hedges, orchards and maple groves have grown, 

 however many of the quail hatched on the prairie farms 

 remain there all winter, aud in consequence they are much 

 less numerous in the brushy pastures adjoining the woods. 



Picket. 



CH1U3TIAN Co.. 111. 



