RIFLED CHOKEBORE GUNS. 



A NOVEL gvin barrel has recently been invented by 

 Lt.-Col. George V. Fosbery, who writes of it as fol- 

 lows : 



Editor Forest and Stream : The principle on which 

 these barrels are consti-ucted turns on the two facts (1) 

 that a very short length of groove is all that is really re- 

 quired to give a ball its rotation, ©specially when that 

 grooving is placed at or near the muzzle of the gun, and 

 (2) that by means of forcing, a ball can always be made to 

 enter and flU completely any system of grooving you 

 choose to employ. These barrels, then, are choked at the 

 muzzle end, and the choked portion is rifled in such a 

 manner that the shot shall come under the influence of 

 the choke and acx;ept their new or modified direction be- 

 fore reaching the grooves ; whereas the ball of the same 

 diameter as the larger cylinder of the barrel is, by the 

 same construction, forced and compelled to fill the grooves 

 so soon as it reaches them, and accept whatever rotation 

 is re(^uired for its length and caliber. Its speed and direc- 

 tion it has already acquired. Some surprise has been ex- 

 pressed that the barrel should be neither bulged nor burst 

 in the process, but a moment's reflection will show that a 

 ball already endowed with a velocity of some 1,200 feet 

 per second in the smooth portion of the barrel cannot be 

 checked sufficiently by the small extra elTort of entering 

 the grooves to allow of that accumulation of rapidly 

 moving gases beliind it which is generally supposed to 

 cause the bursting of barrels. In fact, I have rifled some 

 exceedingly thin and light ban-els and have never forced 

 them to swell, much less burst. 



Both here and in London 12-bore barrels made on this 

 principle have been found to beat barrels rifled through- 

 out their whole length in the ordinary manner, and I 

 need hardly point out that a gun which, while carrying 

 small shot perfectly, will also shoot an elongated bullet 

 with accuracy up to all ordinary sporting ranges, must be 

 an acquisition to many hunters who have hitherto been 

 obliged either to carry two weapons or content themselves 

 with one class of game. 



A 20-bore or even a 16 double on this principle makes 

 an exceedingly handy all-round weapon, and needs no 

 more care than an ordinary chokebore, leading at the 

 muzzle being, when it does occur, no more in the rifle 

 than in the ordinary chokebore, when it is sometimes 

 formd in exceptionally dry weather. 



I send exact size target made July 3, 10 successive 

 shots, 100yds., shotgim with Fosbery barrel. 



ABOLISH SPRING SHOOTING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In yom- issue of July 15 Mr. R, B. Roosevelt, under the 

 head of "Spring Snipe Shooting," says, "Saw the marlins 

 go past as many as thirty in a flock." My acquaintance 

 with the birds of Long Island, which has been quite ex- 

 tensive, leads me to class both the godwits, commonly 

 known as the brown and ring-tailed marlin, as rare. 



Will Mr. Roosevelt kindly state which of the marlins 

 he refers to, if either. I apprehend he saw flocks of 

 Hudsonian curlew {Numenius hudsonicm) which is some- 

 times called crooked-bill marlin, but almost imiversaUy 

 On long Island jack. Wm. Dutoher, 



Kbtv York* 



HARD LUCK IN McGEE'S POCKET. 



WITH the thermometer at 90 the very thought of a 

 duck hunt is in some degree refreshing and to read 

 the articles on that subject, in Forest and Stream gives 

 the writer no little pleasure. Thinking there may be 

 others who feel the same, I will give some of the possi- 

 bilities of this section for duck shooters. We never have 

 ducks in paying quantities before Dec. 10. On the 4th of 

 January last four of us resolved to try a weeks hunting at 

 a point, some eighteen miles north of Vioksburg, known 

 as McGee's Pocket where ducks were reported as plenty. 

 We left the wharf at about 5:30 A. M. in a large four- 

 oared skiff. Our boat was pretty well loaded with "camp 

 plunder," decoys, etc. ; and as most of the way was against 

 the current of the Mississippi, the eight hour trick at the 

 oars was by no means a pleasure. We reached oux desti- 

 nation at about 2 o'clock very much fatigued and moder- 

 ately hujigry. 



McGee's Pocket is a bay in the north end of Old River, 

 about two and a hrlf miles long and three-quarters of a 

 mile wide; the depth is at no place greater than 8ft. We 

 could see the ducks a mile before we got to the entrance 

 of the Pocket. They were there by hundreds. Some im- 

 mense flocks stretched in long lines almost from shore to 

 shore across the bend. After considerable difficulty in 

 making a landing, owing to a thick growth of willows, 

 we at last got to shore, put up the tent, and had a good 

 fire burning by 4 o'clock. As soon as each had swallowed 

 a cup of coffee we determined to start the circus, as we 

 were anxious to ptit in all the time possible in actual 

 shooting. I took the skiff and decoys and pulled for the 

 opposite shore, where the ducks seemed to be flying. The 

 others skirted the willows on the side next to camp to get 

 a shot at a very large flock of mallards which were feed- 

 ing in the bight of the bend. I got within about two 

 hundred yards of the bank, and fomad the water so shoal 

 and the grass so deep that I could not get an inch nearer 

 shore in the boat. I had to get out and wade to the bank, 

 which was no easy job, as I had fifteen decoys, a 10|lbs. 



fun and a bag of cartridges to carry. The side on which 

 now found myself had no growth of any kind except a 

 half dozen privet trees, which stood like sentinels on the 

 shore within ten feet of the water's edge. With consid- 

 erable trouble I at length reached the nearest tree, sink- 

 ing at every step about eighteen inches in the toughest 

 mud I ever saw, I found nothing from which I could 

 construct a blind, and was compefled to pack limbs and 

 branches from the side of a hill nearly a quarter of a mile 

 in the rear. I had scarcely finished the blind, which was 

 no blind — having previously set up the decoys — when the 

 fun began. I killed two teal with the first barrel. The 

 echo of my first shot was taken up by the guns from the 

 other side, showing that the ball had opened in earnest. 

 I was kept pretty busy for about half an hour, when the 

 growing darkness warned me that it was time to start for 

 camp. I found twenty -two teal among the decoys, one 

 bird for every shot except two. 



I left the decoys in the water, and with a lighter load 

 had less trouble in getting to the boat. It was so dark 

 before I reached camp that one of the boys had to hold a 

 lantern to show me the landing. I found every man in 

 camp grumbling after his own peculiar style, because they 

 had fired fiifty cartridges and had not killed a single duck. 

 Knowing that two of them were excellent shots, I was 



very much surprised. None of us guessed the reason of 

 the remarkable misses nor did we leai-n it until the next 

 evening. After eating supper we at once turned in, being 

 too tired to discuss anything but the campaign for the 

 next day. 



We were all up two hours before day. It was raining 

 slowly but steadily, which meant that it had come to 

 stay. This change in the weather was not unwelcome to 

 us, we felt sure that it would be followed by a cold snapj 

 besides we knew that the very best shooting was generally 

 to be had in just such weather as now favored usi, I 

 found that I had only a few loaded cartridges left, and 

 replenished my bag from the stock of Mr. A. , who had 

 brought three or four hundred loaded shells for general 

 use. Breakfast was soon over and each started for his 

 favorite stand. As on the evening before I decided on a 

 point just opposite camp, where decoy shooting seemed 

 most promising, though only for small ducks. Mallards, 

 in my experience, never decoy well. I pulled E. across 

 in the boat, while the two others started for the scene of 

 their last night's exploits. It was still dark and we 

 floimdered around in the mud for half an hour before we 

 could find my blind. I divided the decoys with E., who 

 went on up the shore to the extreme point of the Pocket 

 where he made a blind about a mile above me. Our 

 several stands commanded the whole of the shooting 

 ground. 



I could hear the ducks on every side before it was liglit 

 enough to see ten feet from where I stood. As soon as I 

 was able to distinguish the decoys, I saw also a dozen or 

 more teal among them, I killed four with two barrels. E. 

 had already opened his battery with his 12-bore, and the 

 deep bass from the two heavy guns on the opposite shore 

 made the welkin ring. It was really exciting, for I con- 

 sider no sport finer than duck shooting when there are 

 plenty of birds. By 9 o'clock the weather had turned 

 several degrees colder, though it still rained, and a stiff 

 wind from the north blew directly in my face. I had 

 killed only fifteen ducks in all, and thought this very 

 poor work considering the number of shots. The teal 

 were flying as well as I could possibly wish, and I was 

 shooting as fast as I could load, hut 1 did not kiU one in 

 five shots, I thought it possible that my gun needed 

 cleaning, but this woiild not account for my missing shot 

 after shot at from fifteen to twenty yards distant. How- 

 ever, I continued to shoot until nearly 13 o'clock when we 

 had agreed to meet in camp, E. had already walked on 

 aroimd the bend, and I was about to gather up my ducks 

 when a teal lit on the edge of the grass not fifteen feet 

 from where I stood; generally I would not take a 

 shot at such close range, but my frequent misses 

 had made me desperate, so I let drive at the 

 duck, and had the satisfaction of seeing it fly about 

 twenty feet and fall in the water. I started for him, 

 when he rose and flew a few yards and lit again. I 

 fired the second barrel and missed, the duck again flying 

 and lighting in range; I again shot with the same result 

 and followed the duck about 200 yards in the water, fir- 

 ing in all thirteen times before I killed him. In turning 

 to retrace my steps I stumbled in the mud and sat down 

 in three feet of ice and water. This is what may be 

 called tough. My boots held about a bucket full each 

 and they were full. It is impossible for me to realize in 

 this weather how very disagreeable my condition was. 

 I got to the blind in some way and tried to dry myself. 

 I believe the boots are still damp. In taking the shells 

 from my gun I noticed the shot running from one of the 

 barrels and found the wood had shaken out. I tried to 

 close the gun after taking out the shells, but could not 

 do it. Thoroughly disgusted, I gathere up 20 teal and 

 pulled over to camp, I found every one there and the 

 bags counted as follows: E,, 36 teals and 15 mallards; Mr. 

 A. , 1 sprigtail. George (a crack shot), 3 mallards, 1 teal. 

 They were expressing their opinions very forcibly of the 

 value of their guns and seemed to have lost all interest in 

 the hunt. 



As soon as I got a little warmer I examined my gun 

 carefully and found that two shot had fallen in the open- 

 ing when I took out the shells, and were mashed as thin 

 as paper. They kept the spring from catching. As soon 

 as I removed them the gun worked all right again. I was 

 casually examining the shell which caused all the trouble 

 when I found that the powder wad was very near the top. 

 This siu-prised me considerably, so I cut into the shell to 

 see what was wi-ong, and found 4 wads and Idr. powder. 

 This caused me to examine a fresh shell, in which I found 

 13 buckshot; another had 2oz. No. 5 shot and Idr. powder; 

 another loz. shot, |dr. powder; still another had 12 buck- 

 shot, I called the boys and exhibited the shells and con- 

 tents. I am quite sine I have never heard such a volley 

 of "straight cussing," It seems that Mr. A. had intrusted 

 the loading of the shells to a porter in his store, who was 

 generally considered reliable. He must have used the 

 same measure for both shot and powder; any variation 

 was in favor of the shot. We spent the rest of the even- 

 ing in unloading and reloading the shells. On the next 

 day we killed in all 115 ducks; this sport continued 

 throughout the rest of our stay. We had one rather 

 eventful coon hunt on the second night we camped out, 

 which I will relate at some future time. D. M. P. 



ViCKSBTTRG, MiSS. 



Game Laws of New Jkrsey.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: The following are the dates between which it is 

 lawful to kill game. The dates named are exclusive: 

 Deer, Oct. 15-Dec. 1. Squirrel, Sept. 30-Jan. 1. Rabbit 

 or hare, Oct, 81-Dec. 31. Upland plover, Sept. 30-Jan. 3. 

 Woodcock, July 4-Aug. 1 and Sept. 80-Dec. 16. Quail 

 and gTouse, Oct. 31-Dec. 31. Rail, Aug. 81-Jan. 2. Reed, 

 Aug. 24-Dec. 8. Marsh hen, Aug. 34-Dec. 2. Wood-duck, 

 Aug. 81-Jan. 3. Special laws: Barnegat and Manasquan 

 — Geese, brant and ducks, Oct. lo-April 15. Brick Town- 

 ship, Ocean county — Waterfowl, Sept, 1-April 1. Atlan- 

 tic county— Rabbit and hare, Oct. 1-Feb. 1. Killing of 

 European pheasant, partridge or grouse prohibited for 

 three years after March 83, 1886; after which time months 

 of November and December will be open season, with 

 consent of land owner.— F. S, J. C. (Bridgeton, N. J,), 



The Massachusetts Game Law, newly compiled for 

 1886, is issued by the Massachusetts Fish and Game Asso- 

 ciation (346 Washington street, Boston) and supplied free 

 of cost upon application. This is an admhable piece of 

 work, and the Association is deserving of much credit for 

 the sensible methods it employs to make known the law. 



