Feb. 81, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



89 



the field have been told and are yet to be told beside that 

 vast and flickering flame! I was alone at the club house, 

 but I could easily people the big- room with lounging 

 hunters, and could see the smoke wreaths rise and hear 

 the quiet jest and well spun yarn. Deprived of this 

 actually, I fell rummaging in the very well stocked 

 sportsman'6 library, winch seems to hold about all one 

 would want. The furnishings of this room are tasteful 

 and costly. The couches are wide and leather-covered, 

 and the oaken tables, the big chairs, and the good pic- 

 tures, make up an effect which you woiddn't guess at 

 from anything you saw at the boat houses. Yet this 

 effect is one not less pleasing than the other. It shows 

 what kind of men go shooting nowadays. It shows that 

 the men who have had enterprise and courage enough to 

 set on foot this club have wealth enough and taste enough 

 to draw about them what they please of taste and culture. 

 I knew this anyhow, but as I wandered around the rooms 

 I could not help smiling a Utile at the old popular picture 

 of the sportsman which made him a shiftless ne'er-do-well. 

 Times have changed since then. Do the non-sporting 

 public know how much, and are they now up with the 

 times? 



My visit at the English Lake Club was in the winter, 

 and there were no shooters and no ducks to shoot. In 

 company with the superintendent, Mr. Taylor, however, 

 I went about over the marsh somewhat, and I can say 

 from my own observation that it is a grand one. I should 

 think that its worst drawback would be the fact that a 

 pull of from three to five miles would seem to be neces- 

 sary to get from the club house into the heart of the 

 marsh, at least during low water. This, however, is not 

 a serious objection, and is balanced by the fact that there 

 is no long ride from the railway to the grounds. For the 

 purposes of a ducking club, and for the further purposes 

 of an organization devoted to general recreation and con- 

 ducted under the general comity of thorough fellowship, 

 I do not see how nature or art 'could add very much to 

 the English Lake Club. 



Mr. Taylor regaled me with lore of the club, and I wish 

 I had space to repeat much I heard as I sat by the big 

 stove, trying to pick an acquaintance with the big cat, 

 which whips all the shooters' dogs that come about the 

 place, or to make friends with Isis, the absurdly elong- 

 ated little dachshund that looks on all newcomers with 

 serpentine stispicion. Mr. Taylor gave me much infor- 

 mation about the traits of some of the club members, 

 which may be useful some later day. So, talking about 

 the frequent big trap shoots, and recalling big scores, 

 and discussing how best to mark down dead birds in a 

 rice marsh, and reading the club records, and wondering 

 what sort of a year 1889 would be, wc at last grew sleepy, 

 and the first thing T knew it was morning, and my train 

 had come to end the very pleasant visit. 



In the following list of names there will be recognizee 

 many of the most persistent, most practical and most 

 successful duck shooters of this neck of woods. They 

 are true to the creed of the real sportsman: and as they 

 are thus true, it must follow r , as the night the day, they 

 cannot then be false to any man. The list: Abner Price, 

 President; Chas. E. Willard, Vice-President; John J. Gil- 

 lespie, Secretary: Win. J. Crow, Treasurer; Executive 

 Committee — Abner Price, Jesse N. Cuinmings and John 

 J. Gillespie. Present members— Chas. H. Mears, R. W.Cox, 

 John F. Hazen (of Cincinnati, O.), Abner Price, W. J. 

 Crow, J. N. Cummings, Jas. M. McKay, J. F. Barrett, W. 

 W. Foss, F. A. Howe, Geo. H. Mueller, John B. Sibley, 

 R. W. Stafford. Fred H. Lord, Thos. W. Wilmarth, Ed- 

 ward Engle, W. B. Chatfiekl, W. A. Barton, T. H. Elmer, 

 Chas. Morris, F. L. Charnley, D. P. Wilkinson, John R. 

 Adams, Chas. E. Felton, Win. A. Angell, Marshall Field, 

 Geo. F. Anderson, Tlsos. H. Ball. Daniel B. Scully, F. B. 

 Foster, Wm. H. Bungee. John F. Phillips, S. M. Millard, 

 Walter T. Clark, F. H. Watriss, Ed E. Ayer, T. C. Ed- 

 wards, A. W. Cobb, Chas. E. Havden, Frank Flovd, E. H. 

 Lahn (of Alton, 111.), D. H. Denton, H. B. Bogen, Dr. 

 John E. Owens, C. E. Deam, L. G. Fisher, H. V. Pierpont, 

 Graeme Stewart, R. Deam, R. W. Hosmer, J. P. O'Neill, 

 A. M. Fulton. E. C. Sherman, Frank Pilkin, A. H. Mulli- 

 kin, John T. Cowles. E. Hotjcjh. 



No. 175 Monhok Street, Chicago. 



THREE DAYS AFTER THE LAST ONE. 



MADISON COUNTY, New York.-The bird season 

 which closed with Jan. 1 did not result in the 

 capture of the usual number of birds. The unpre- 

 cedented wet October kept many from the brash, but 

 some good bags were made during the last of December. 

 I think December should be stricken from the open 

 season, because all know that grouse take to trees much 

 more then than during any other season, which fact 

 causes their death from the hands of fox, rabbit and 

 skunk hunter. I know of a run through which I, in 

 September — finding five or six birds and killing three — 

 was dogged over by a hunter and his brace of spaniels 

 after a hard storm in December, and this man slaughtered 

 from the trees twenty in one day. These birds were 

 driven into this secluded gulf by the severe storm, and 

 undoubtedly they constituted nine-tenths of the grouse 

 in a radius of a mile. How was next season's shooting- 

 affected by this act? The sportsmen in our section have 

 a rule that wdien we have killed all but two or three in a 

 certain cover we will leave these for breeding; and not 

 do as a man who came here on a hunting trip did in his 

 section. He said only one bird was left there, and he 

 hunted three clays before he killed her, but he was bound 

 to have her. He must have felt like a conqueror as he 

 held her panting form in his hand. 



No sterner fact stares us in the face than this, the game 

 must go unless we use judgment in its preservation and 

 discretion in our killing. Although we have here no 

 strictly market-hunters, nevertheless many facts com- 

 bine to bring about the above results. Within a radius 

 of t wenty miles we have five gun clubs, averaging fifteen 

 to twenty members, or on the whole about 100 wing shots. 

 Add to this another 100 of tree shooters, and you have a 

 small regiment armed with the double-barrel Smiths, 

 Parkers, etc. Besides, where ten years ago you could 

 not find a single well trained dog now you can find scores 

 of pointers and setters. 



There is one other condition that injures our grouse 

 shooting. It is allowing woodcock shooting in August. 

 Although many live up to the law others disregard it 

 entirely. If the present Legislature would put August 

 in the closed season for woodcock and squirrel then there 

 would be no excuse for the gunner to be in the brush. 



Witto. 



PATTERN AND PENETRATION TESTS. 



LAST summer the Forest and Stream mentioned 

 that it would place on the new grounds of the 

 Suburban Shooting Association at Claremont a screen 

 where tests of shotguns could be made with the least out- 

 lay of time and trouble, and with perfect pafety. The 

 screen is now finished, and is a solidly built affair of 

 timber with a facing of wood blocks a foot deep, fit to 

 stop any possible rain of shotgun pellets. It is 12ft. long 

 and 8ft. high, with an opening in the center 4ft. square. 

 Two solid shutters close across the opening from the rear, 

 and on these shutters the targets to be fired at will be 

 mounted, while in the center, covered by the target 

 sheet, will be the penetration pad. One discbarge will 

 make a double record, and present in a clear and tangible 

 form just what the gun is capable of with the charge in 

 use. 



It is proposed to carry on the tests on the same lines 

 followed in the trajectory trials so successfully carried 

 out by Forest and Stream. The only aim and object 

 will be to find out by trial just what any particular gun 

 will do with any particular cartridge shot under carefully 

 noted conditions. With the results attained Forest and 

 Stream has no concern beyond that of having them 

 accurate and indisputable. 



The order of test will be simple and exact. A gun is to 

 be tried. It is brought to the range and its pedigree 

 taken. Its shop number, length of barrel, description of 

 same, whether choked and how and of what material, 

 who mado it and of what model and gauge, its weight 

 unloaded, and any other points about it worthy of note. 



Then the weather conditions will be put down, the 

 wind, its direction and force, the state of the atmosphere 

 as to temperature and moisture, and the barometric 

 pressure. 



The cartridges to be used will be placed in a tray, in sep- 

 arate trays for each barrel if different loads are used. 

 Then the gun will be warmed with a few shots fired into 

 the ground. Then the firing will take place, over a bag 

 or a barrel rest if desired, or from the shoulder. The 

 owner or agent of the gun may shoot it, or the range 

 superintendent will act. Each target made is labeled, so 

 that when collected they form a complete story of the 

 gun's doings; 5 shots from each barrel at 40yds. and 5 at 

 60yds. will make a total of 20 targets. These are for 

 fixed 30in. circles, but to make the test one of the gun 

 independently of the shooter, a clean sheet of paper 4ft. 

 square will be put up and a 30in. circle struck at any 

 point where the best pattern may be shown. This will be 

 done as before, several times for each barrel at each dis- 

 tance. While the shooting is in progress 5 cartridges 

 will be taken from the tray. They will be brought to the 

 office of Forest and Stream, where t hey will be opened 

 and the manner of loading described, with the weight of 

 powder and shot taken with a pair of scales capable of 

 noting differences down to a single grain. In this way 

 the observations will be broad enough to secure averages 

 that will be fair to the gun and of value to those who are 

 studying the interesting question of shotgun perform- 

 ances. The first trial of the screen will be a sort of free- 

 for-all contest between shotgun makers, each to offer 

 the gun which he considers a model one for the sports- 

 man. He may load it as he pleases, but as above stated 

 all the conditions of the gun's doings will be so set down 

 and analyzed that there will be no inducement to any- 

 thing but the best work by fair means. The Forest and 

 Stream will test all the guns now before American 

 shooters and pushed on this market. The results when 

 published will furnish a rich fund of information worthy 

 of careful study, and it will be but the opening chapter 

 of the big volume of data which it is expected the new 

 gun-testing screen will furnish on every point of concern 

 to trap and game marksmen. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Just as the Forest and Stream Trajectory Trial settled 

 forevever some of the most important points connected 

 with rifles, so it is to be hoped that the trial of shotguns 

 you are preparing to hold will settle, once for all, the 

 following among other points, in the interests not only 

 of American sportsmen, but of the largely increasing 

 numbers on this side of the Atlantic who are taking 

 interest in your paper. 



1. The effect of difference of gauge upon pattern and 

 penetration, both when the loads for which each gauge 

 is regulated are used, and also when the ordinary loads 

 of one gauge are fired from another. 



The general opinion seems to be that small gauges 

 throw shot more closely than large, and with equal 

 charges of powder give greater penetration. This is not 

 in accordance with the usual results of many experiments 

 made by myself during the last twenty-five years. I 

 have generally found the smaller bores, especially when 

 unchoked, spread their shot over quite as wide a circle as 

 the larger, and consequently put fewer pellets into a 

 given space. Last year I tried a 28 bore and an 18, with 

 barrels of the same length and of the same metal, both 

 being choked and made by the same company. The 18 

 beat the 28 in pattern and penetration even when usin^. 

 the loads of the small barrel, and with its own loads was 

 greatly superior. 



As regards penetration, experiments with scientific 

 apparatus have clearly proved that a given charge of 

 powder produces far greater pressure on the square inch 

 in a small than in a large bore, and might therefore be 

 expected to drive the shot with greater force ; but the 

 effect of the greater pressure is counteracted partly by 

 the gas having a smaller surface of shot to act upon and 

 partly by the extra length of the column of shot causing 

 a large increase of friction between the pellets and the 

 barrel. 



The trial held by the London Field in 1879 showed that 

 not only do small gauges put fewer pellets into the SOin. 

 circle at 40yds. when loaded with loz. of No. 6 shot in 

 the 16 and 20 bores against Hoz. in the 12-bores, but that 

 they even put fewer upon a lOin. square in the middle 

 of the circle. The following were the average patterns 

 of 25 shots with each gun, the shot containing 270 pellets 

 in an ounce: 



On 3Qin. circle. On lOin. square. 



12-bore, 195 .45 



16-bore 161 86 



20-bore 155 34 



Twelve guns of each gauge were tried. The average 

 pattern of the best gun of each gauge was at 40yds,: 



On SOin. circle. On lOin. square. 



12-bore 224 56 



16 bore 189 45 



20-br»re 1*8 43 



At 60yde.: 



' 12-bore 100 19 



16-bore 92 16 



20-bore 84 14 



In one 12-bore only loz. of shot was used, and its aver- 

 age of 25 shots was 183, beating all the 16-bores except 

 one, which averaged 189, and all the 20-bores except one, 

 which averaged 183 also. 



The editor of the Field afterward tried a 12-bore and a 

 20 with Nos. 6, 5 and 4 shot, firing 10 cartridges of each 

 size of shot from each gun, the 12 gauge being loaded 

 with 3drs. and l^oz. and the 20 with 2^drs. and -goz. 



The following were the average patterns at 30yds. : 



12-bore. 



On 30in. circle. On lOin. square. 



No. 6 shot 197 47 



No. 5 shot 155 27 



No. 4 shot 98 21 



20-bore. 



No. 6 snot 146 29 



No. 5 shot 87 21 



No. 4 shot 78 15 



In Long's "American Wildfowl Shooting" there is an 

 accoSntof some trials of large bore guns at 40yds. against 

 a target 1ft. square. Among them were two 10-gauges 

 fired with only loz. of No. 4 shot and 4drs. of powder. 

 One put on the target an average of 72 pellets and the 

 other of over 57. 



The guns used at the Field trial and also those of Mr. 

 Long were all choke-bored, and the results show clearly 

 that the large gauges made closer patterns than the 

 small, nine or ten years ago. Within the last two years 

 some wonderful shooting has been obtained from 28- 

 bores, but probably the same principles applied to the 

 larger sizes would cause them to maintain their supe- 

 riority in closeness, if this were desirable. 



2. Another subject of great importance is the effect of 

 length of barrel upon penetration and also upon pattern 

 at long ranges. The majority of the best British gun 

 makers assert that, in 12-bores, barrels of 30in. give better 

 results than any of lesser length, but a few seem to differ 

 in opinion about this, and one sportsman of great experi- 

 ence in guns (Mr. Lane, who signs himself in the shooting 

 papers, ''One who has fired 20,000 trial shots at marks") 

 asserts that certain makers who know the secret of boring 

 can produce as good pattern and penetration with 24in. 

 barrels as with any of greater length. He speaks of a 

 28-bore with 24in. barrels, which makes an average 

 oattern at 40yds. of 231 with the right and 183 with the 



eft, when fired with one ounce or shot containing 240 

 pellets. He also states that such guns are greatly superior 

 to 12-bores for ranges beyond 50yds., and that they carry 

 large shot better. In direct opposition to such views 

 your correspondent, "Cvrtonix", wrote to Forest and 

 Stream about the end of 1«S4, and again in April of the 

 present year, strongly advocating 16-bores, with barrels of 

 34 or 36in., and asserted that they would give more 

 aenetration with 2£drs. of powder than 10-bores with 

 )drs. He also said that barrels of 36in. are as easily 

 handled by those accustomed to them as barrels of ordin- 

 ary length, a point upon which very few sportsmen will 

 agree with him. 



3. The effect of difference of gauge upon the closeness 

 and regularity with which the large sizes of shot are 

 thrown, has not yet been clearly determined. Nearly all 

 writers upon firearms say that narrow bores throw small 

 shot best, and wide bores the larger sizes. Dougall, the 

 London maker, in his book upon shooting published in 

 1875, said that this rule applies to 10 or 12-gauge as com- 

 pared with 16 or 20, but that barrels of 36 gauge, if of 36 

 or 40in. in length, greatly excel the larger gauges with 

 large shot. 



It seems to me that any comparison of gauges must be 

 fallacious unless the barrels be of the same length. In 

 my own experiments I have found, with one or two ex- 

 ceptions, that the large gauges beat the small with large 

 sized shot. A 42 gauge with 2iiin, barrels carried No 9 

 (about 600 pellets to the ounce) very well indeed, but all 

 larger shot went in clusters. A 17-bore threw No. 7 shot 

 (about 340 to the ounce) with such closeness and regular- 

 ity that a snipe at 40yds. could rarely escape, but it 

 scattered badly with any larger shot that I tried. A 16- 

 bore by one of the best London makers, though a wonder- 

 fully hard hitter, did not carry any shot, from No. 7 up- 

 ward, so closely as a 12-bore, both having 30in. cylinder 

 barrels. I have, however, at the present time a 16-bore 

 with 28in. barrels, recess choked, made for me nine years 

 ago, which throws No. 3 shot (about 135 pelle'.s to the 

 ounce) with great closeness, and makes a better pattern 

 with buckshot than any other gun of any gauge that I 

 ever saw tried. 



4. The difference (if any) in shooting qualities between 

 barrels choked at the muzzle and those with a "tulip" or 

 "recess" choke, i3 at present unsettled. Most of the best 

 gun makers adhere to the former plan, but I know of at 

 least three celebrated makerswhouse the "recess" choke, 

 and have seen guns made by two of them which could 

 hardly be surpassed in closeness and regularity of pattern. 

 The recess plan has two decided advantages for work in 

 wild countries. It will carry bullets as accurately as a 

 cylinder bore and without the ieast risk of injury to the 

 barrel, and it will also make splendid shooting with soft 

 shot, whereas the muzzle choke requires hardened shot 

 for good work, the pellets of soft lead being so deformed 

 by the constricted part of the bore as to cause a bad 

 pattern. After trying hard shot for duck shooting I 

 came to the conclusion that it does not kill so well as 

 soft, and that it is liable to break our teeth when eating 

 the game, so discarded it altogether. 



5. The relative penetration of fine and coarse powder is 

 still a matter of dispute. In trying them up to forty 

 yards, with cards one inch apart in a rack, the fine grain 

 has shown a decided superiority over the coarse, but some 

 sportsmen contend that the latter gives more penetration 

 at long range through keeping the shot more together 

 and deforming the pellets less. 



6. In rifles there appears to be no doubt but that extra 

 weight of barrel adds slightly to the velocity of the bul- 

 let. In shotguns it seems probable that "penetration 

 depends more upon the elasticity of the barrels than upon 

 weight, for some of the hardest-hitting guns aie very 

 light. Perhaps this point may be determined in your 

 trial, if some of the British 12-bores of 71bs. weight, or less 



i contend against the heavy weapons preferred in America, 



