146 



Forest and stream. 



[Sept. 12, 1889. 



RIFLE FACTS AND THEORIES. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I note a claim that the .22cal. is deficient in its killing 

 qualities, and writers advocate ,25, .27 and .30cals. Now 

 a .25cal. is only .03 of an inch larger than the .22, and 

 when you get to the .27 it is only .05 less than the .32, 

 and .30cal. is only .02 of an inch less than .32. The dif- 

 ference is so small that it seems like splitting hairs. 



Does not the killing power depend greatly upon the 

 proportions of the cartridge, that is the amount of pow- 

 der used to drive the bullet? Will not the .22cal. bullet 

 with a good charge of powder kill game more quickly 

 than the same bullet driven with a smaller charge of 

 powder? I believe a strong charge of powder will drive 

 a bullet more rapidly and greatly increase its killing 

 power. 



The first gun I ever owned was a muzzleloading rifle, 

 about 36in. barrel, round ball, 2G5 of the bullets weighed 

 lib. avoirdupois. This rifle was cut one turn in 42in. 

 There never was any trouble with its killing power. I 

 have shot many squirrels with this gun and the bullet 

 made a hole big enough to run your finger through it, 

 even at 80 or 100yds. We used comparatively a large 

 charge of powder and the bullet always did its work 

 satisfactorily, why will not the .15-45 cartridge .22cal. do 

 its work effectively? The twist in the rifling of the muz 

 zleloader did not make the difference, if it did the present 

 theory is all wrong. If quicker twist increased killing 

 power, the Springfield and Bullard with their twist one 

 turn in 22in. and others with from 18 to 20in. ought to 

 do better than the old muzzleloader with its twist of 

 a turn in 42in. 



Referring again to the demand for an additional caliber 

 between the .22 and .32. If the .32cal., 100 or 115gr. 

 bullet, is too large, it is very easy to make it lighter by 

 shortening it without changing the bearings in the groove 

 of the rifle. The diameter of the .32cal. bullet is not too 

 great, and it seems to me that for all-around shooting at 

 small game a .32 20 100 to llogrs. bullet will fill the bill 

 if the gun is a goid one. I would like the cartridge 

 better, I admit, if it had 35grs. of powder to the 115gr. 

 bullet, and believe it would make a lower trajectory, 

 increase the range and increase the killing power, in 

 fact, there is no doubt in my mind that one great fault 

 of most breechloading guns is that there is too little 

 powder used to give the range and accuracy the different 

 calibers ought to have — say a proportion of one-third the 

 weight of the bullet, to give the weight of the powder 

 necessary to get the greatest range and accuracy in any 

 caliber. I think that is about the rule for long-range 

 heavy-rifled artillery. It is claimed that the rifle bullet 

 (with that loading) might jump the groove. If this argu- 

 ment is correct, might not a longer twist be used with 

 advantage in range, and in all other respects, and so 

 diminish the tendency to jump the grooves and lead the 

 barrel ? 



The manufacturers of shooting and target breech- 

 loaders seem to be at sea on these, subjects, and their 

 own catalogues show that they are not consistent and 

 not settled about the proper proportion of the powder 

 charge for the weight of lead they use. They started 

 with a rim-fire cartridge, 28grs. powder, 200grs. lead 

 for .44cal.; then center-fire cartridge, 40grs. powder, 

 200grs. lead, for 44cal.; then a 38cal., 40grs. powder and 

 180grs. lead; then 45cal., 70grs. powder, 405 to 408grs. 

 lead. Thus: 



28grs. powder, 200grs. lead, powder proportion 14 per 

 cent. 



40grs. powder, 200grs. lead, powder proportion 20 per 

 cent. 



40grs. powder, 180grs. lead, powder proportion 22| per 

 cent. 



70grs. powder, 408grs. lead, powder proportion 17&\ 

 per cent. 



It is hardly worth while to go through all the calibers, 

 but when you come to express rifles, .oOcal., you get .50- 

 95-300, .50-115-300 and .40-82 260, giving the weight of 

 powder in these cartridges 3l£ per cent., 38£ per cent, and 

 31-fV per cent, respectively. Now, if these percentages 

 are good for the calibers named, why not the correct 

 thing for all calibers? 



That the writer is not alone in some of the opinions ad- 

 vanced, is shown by the paper written by W. W. Kim- 

 ball, U. S. N., and published in Scribners Monthly for 

 September. It is worth reading. Allow me to quote an 

 item or two. Speaking of the French military rifle (the 

 Lebel), he says: "Balhstically it is good. It shoots well 

 because the caliber is good, because the bullet is fairly 

 well proportioned, because the rifling is good, because 

 the recoil is light, and, above all, because the charge 

 makes the bullet go fast." Again: "If a big, heavy 

 bullet could be made to go as fast as a light one, it would, 

 of course, hit harder." Again: "The small bullet leav- 

 ing the muzzle of the French Lebel gun strikes a blow 

 one-third heavier than does the big one of the Spring- 

 field." 



I am at a loss to understand these quotations if they do 

 not refer to a greater proportion of powder to weight of 

 the bullet in the French Lebel and British Lee rifles than 

 the proportions used in the Springfield or other military 

 rifles using a smaller charge of powder in proportion to 

 their bullets. 



I hope you will excuse the length of this article. I 

 don't know much about these matters, and want to learn 

 if I can ; and hope some of your correspondents who like 

 the rifle and have studied it and know more about it, 

 will enlighten others who want to know more than they 

 do. Senex. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have made a test of the 22-5-30 cartridge and two 

 others, using my Maynard rifle, 26in. barrel, quick twist, 

 made expressly to shoot the U. M. C. "long rifle" cart- 

 ridge. The shooting was.done in the back position, with- 

 out artificial rest. At 100yds. a third-class Creedmoor 

 target reduced to one-half size was used. At 50yds. the 

 target was reduced to one-fourth size. All of the targets, 

 except the last one at 100yds., were shot in a wind blow- 

 ing at the rate of about five to fifteen miles an hour from 

 the 10 o'clock quarter. When the last target at 100yds. 

 was shot the wind was so light that its direction could 

 not be determined. In the following summary the first 

 column shows the kind of cartridges used, the second 

 column the number of points scored in five shots, Creed- 

 moor count, on reduced targets. The third column shows 

 the diameter of a circle inclosing the five shots, and cut- 

 ting the centers of the two bullet holes furthest apart. 



The fourth column shows the diameter of a circle simi- 

 larly inclosing four of the five shots. The rifle was 

 sighted as nearly right as possible for the long rifle cart- 

 ridges, and no change was made in the sighting when 

 the other ammunition was used. This was not doing full 

 justice to the .22 short, as far as points are concerned, as 

 the groups from this ammunition averaged about four 

 inches low on the target at the longer distance. It is, 

 however, quite fair to compare the size of the group with 

 that of the other cartridges. 



Cluster 

 Groups, 4 shots. 

 Points. inches. inches. 



irul , Lggltalg rifle 25 1% 1 



100yds - .22 long 0 



/ .22 ahort 21) 4J£ 



1 .22 long rifle 24 Wi I'm 



100yds - .22 long 20 14 



1. 22 short 22 5V£ 



It P: 



fitS^;:;: r:;:f lp 4 % 



(.22 long rifle 25 2% 1% 



100yds - .22 long 19 9 



/ .22 short 21 



♦Shot "by Geo. Ritter. 



In the first test of the .22 long, the size of the group 

 could not be ascertained as three of the five shots missed 

 the target, 14in. wide by 22in. high. All of the cartridges 

 were of U. M. C. make. The rifle was cleaned two or 

 three times during the shooting. At one time 25 shots 

 w ere fired without cleaning. There were no keyholes on 

 any of the targets. The "long rifle" cartridges showed 

 great accuracy and were but slightly deflected by the 

 wind, not more than one point being required on the 

 wind gauge at any time. The .22 long gave such irregu- 

 lar shooting that I could not decide as to the proper 

 elevation or windage to use. The sharp twist of the 

 rifling kept the bullets point on, but the shooting was 

 less accurate than 1 ever obtained from any combination 

 during upward of twenty years, and experiments with 

 many different weapons. E. A. Leopold. 



Norristown, Pa. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



We have too great a mixture of rifles, guns and ammu- 

 nition on hand at present. If one wishes a little stronger, 

 I should say more deadly rifle, that he can feed very 

 cheaply, let him use the .32 with everlasting reloadable 

 shells, with the buckshot and five to twenty grains of 

 powder in his repeater used as a single-loader. They 

 won't work through, 1 should say, from the magazine. As 

 I said, I used this load for hundreds of shots in a ,32 

 Winchester with perfect satisfaction. 



All such small-bore rifles should be of full length and 

 weight, the barrel 30 or 32in. long, or in other words the 

 sportsman's rifle should be of the same weight as his gun. 

 A 30in. .22 does not make nearly so loud a report as one 

 of 19 or 20in. In fact that is one of the prime beauties 

 of the arm; if a fellow happens to miss, the game don't 

 know that there is a man around with a grin; it does not 

 take the little whiplike crack to be the voice of a gun, so 

 one often gets a second shot. 



It should also be kept in mind that the .22 is a dangerous 

 weapon. A short time ago in San Francisco a man shot 

 at a fly on a door, with one, and instantly killed a man 

 behind the door. On another occasion I found a party of 

 boys shooting at a niark on the side of a barn, the balls 

 went whistling through both sides of the boarding of 

 inch pine in a thickly settled neighborhood. Again a 

 party of us were shooting "for blood" at a target with 

 one 80yds. We placed our target on a great Cottonwood 

 plank 2Ut. wide, 8ft. long and between 2 and 3in. thick, 

 and had "Billy" for target keeper and referee. After 

 Frank and I had fired two shots a piece. I went up to see 

 the result. Billy reached the plank just before I did, at 

 the back of the plank. As he came up to it he stopped 

 and his face paled, "Why Billy," said I, "what is the 

 matter?" Said he, "My first impression was with you 

 dare devils shooting this way, that the only safe place 

 for me was behind that big plank; I heard the bullets 

 whistle over the hill after each shot and supposed of 

 course you had missed the plank, but blame my skin if 

 every bullet has not come right through," He was 

 right, they had, and if he had taken refuge behind that 

 plank to be out of danger, they would have gone into 

 and perhaps through him. 



There is another good point about the .23, it neither 

 kicks nor deafens one. A nervous man can learn to 

 shoot with it. I could never have made anything of a 

 shot with a kicking rifle with a loud report. I was too 

 "narvous," too liable to shut both eyes and "dodge" when 

 I pulled trigger. The world surely does move, and we 

 "old uns" are being left in the shade, for during six or 

 seven years of constant rifle shooting over a wide extent 

 of country, and with hundreds of men, during three 

 years of which time I never once "got left" in all around 

 shooting, I never saw as good targets made with any 

 rifle, by any person, as Forest and Stream has reported 

 lately, as being made with a revolver, off-hand, at 22yds. 

 Eight shots, 22yds., that could be covered with a twenty- 

 five cent piece, beats my best, beats us all, in my rifle 

 shooting days. Byrne. 



Pfil'AIiUMA, Cal. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have noted with interest from time to time the re- 

 marks on the .22cal. rifles that have been made by many 

 of your correspondents, and it is a subject upon which a 

 great deal can be said and then "the half will not be 

 told." I have tried a great many rifles and different 

 cartridges made by different factories, and the most sat- 

 isfactory results that I have yet reached have been made 

 with the following arms and ammunition. The best and 

 finest shooting rifles that I have yet seen weie made by 

 the J. Stevens Arms and Tool Co. , and by the Massachu- 

 setts Arms Co. The latter company are the manufac- 

 turers of the well known Maynard rifles. Both these 

 factories are located at Chicopee Falls, Mass. These 

 are, I think, the only two factories that make rifles that 

 handle the .22 long "rifle" cartridge successfully, as they 

 give them a quick twist (16 to 18in.), which insures ex- 

 treme accuracy. For target work these rifles and car- 

 tridges, the latter made by the Union Metallic Co., stand 

 without a peer, and I have seen many a clean score of 

 100 made with them at 40yds. in gallery shooting upon 

 the standard target. They are cheap, convenient and 

 can be obtained almost anywhere that guns are sold. 



For a light gallery-practice cartridge this one is unex- 



for the above named cartridge, will also use the .22 short 

 and give better results than with the slower twist used 

 in most of the other makes. Both these companies make 

 rifles to use the well-known .22-10 grain central- fire cart- 

 ridge, and when a reloadable shell is desired this one is 

 sometimes preferred to the rim-fire cartridge. While 

 the 10-grain is an excellent one for squirrel shooting, 

 etc., the long rifle rim-fire is perhaps the most accurate, 

 if extremely fine work is desired. There is also another 

 cartridge, the new .25cal. center-fire, that is now being 

 made by these people, and the writer saw a target a few 

 days since at the Massachusetts Arms Company's factory 

 of seven successive shots at 200yds., all of which were 

 inside of a 2in. circle. This cartridge is the equal of the 

 .32cal. at 200yds., and for small game is much better for 

 many reasons that are obvious. The .2ocal. is here and 

 lias come to stay, and while it has been delayed some- 

 what on account of difficulties in» drawing a good solid 

 head shell, the TJ. M. C. Co. have finally mastered it, and 

 another good cartridge has been added to the list from 

 which the lover of rifle shooting may choose. The 

 Stevens Company are also ready to furnish these rifles, 

 and for geese, turkeys, ducks, etc,, that have to be shot 

 at long distances, these guns will, I think, prove to be 

 the correct thing. 



Now that sportsmen have the calibers of rifles graded 

 from .22 to .38 and .40 caliber, and graduated so finely, it 

 seems as though they should be happy. A Maynard 

 rifle of .25cal. (with the shells and bullets) is before me as 

 I write this. The bullet is three-quarters of an inch long 

 and weighs 85grs., composed of one part tin and forty 

 parts lead. The shell is lfin. long, slightly "necked," 

 and has a solid head, is reloadable many times, and holds 

 20grs. of powder. This cartridge will be known as the 

 .25-20-85. It has a flat trajectory, is very steady in the 

 wind for so small a bore, and does not tear up the game 

 like the larger sizes. The writer has eagerly watched the 

 development of this new rifle and cartridge, and while he 

 has "kept still and held his breath" up to the present 

 time, is now ready to "talk right out in meetin'." With 

 these three or four little cartridges to choose from, the 

 lover of the small-bore should be satisfied. The ,2ocal. is 

 a more powerful cartridge than might be supposed, for 

 the writer has been informed upon good authority that 

 deer have been dropped "dead in their tracks" by this 

 bullet that weighed but 64grs. The penetration is good, 

 all that could be desired, and as the curve is low it makes 

 a most excellent cartridge to use over the water, where, as 

 almost every one knows, it is so difficult to judge dis- 

 tances. "Long may it wave." Iron Ramrod. 



SOMERVTLLE, Mass. 



A TRIP OVER CLIP. 



THE opening of the bird shooting season is always an- 

 ticipated by sportsmen, but by none more than by 

 Will and myself. As usual, the sun found us astir on the 

 morning of Aug. 1 . because we knew that others would 

 be in the brush, and we purposed to have our share of the 

 fun. Six o'clock finds us on the road, and after a drive 

 of about three miles we come in sight of the Alder Run. 

 With what joy Clip bounds at our side while we are 

 hitching our horse to the road fence, and when he hears 

 the shells rattle and sees the grins come from the case he 

 can only be quieted by the firm command "charge," 

 while we plan the attack. Clip, by the way, was suffer- 

 ing from a severe bite in the shoulder received some two 

 weeks befoie, and I had endeavored to protect this by a 

 stout breast blanket. He is less than two years old, and has 

 the most "get there" in him of any dog I ever saw in the 

 brush. I hesitated, after Will got his position, to give 

 him the word for fear of a flush. But walking to the 

 edge of the cover I peaked in and saw fresh signs of the 

 work of the longbills. Cautioning my friend to be on his 

 guard, I motioned the dog in. He had not gone far be- 

 fore helnade game, and with a few steps more he was 

 stiff. It took but a few steps on my part to flush a wood- 

 cock, and as my mind was more on the action of my dog 

 than killing the bird , I failed to shoot ; but felt sure he 

 would have a warm reception when he broke cover on 

 the outside. And, sure enough, I heard two barrels in- 

 quick succession and a call for me to come in that direc- 

 tion. I obey, and, as usual the question comes, "Did you 

 get him?" "Don't know," is the reply. We follow up the 

 line, and soon the dog comes to a point, and I failing to 

 flush, he is coaxed on, and picks up the bird only winged. 



We continue on up the run, and to my surprise find 

 only two more woodcock. One of these Clip points in 

 elegant form, standing with one front foot upraised, 

 while the other rests upon an old mossy log; a straight- 

 edge x>laced on his nose would have touched every inch 

 of his spinal column to the end of his tail. While Will 

 crowds through the brush to admire the dog, up jumps 

 the bird and comes directly toward my face. I let him 

 pass, and turning, dropped him inside of fifty feet. As 

 he struck the mossy bank another one, frightened by the 

 fall, takes wing, and with a loud whistle, goes up like a 

 rocket. With gun at position I follow him until he 

 breaks cover and is just straightened to fly, when the 

 left barrel cut the twigs and he chops within six feet of 

 the other. While I am having this little picnic Will and 

 Clip stand mute spectators. Clip springs to my side 

 eager to fetch dead, while Will congratulates me with, 

 "Well done, old boy." After quieting the dog's nerves, 

 he is allowed to retrieve. 



We then seat ourselves near a beautiful spring and eat 

 our lunch. After an hour's rest we start in a new 

 direction to work back toward the horse, and for the next 

 half hour we saw no less than t wenty young partridges. 

 They were so plenty that after I would flush one for Clip 

 he would sometimes point another before I could call him 

 twenty feet. I at last got disgusted trying to look for 

 woodcock where there were so many grouse in the way, 

 therefore I took the dog by the collar and led him out of 

 the brush, and as soon as I saw Will comingl knew what 

 his first sentence would be, and sure enough it was, 

 "Mark this spot down for September 1," and I did. 



Sure enough that day found us in the same cover, and 

 after a varied succession of misses and good shots, we 

 bagged sixteen grouse. This was the largest bag made 

 by two guns in this section during the early season, but 

 sixteen birds on September first do not begin to fill my 

 eye like one-half that number of glossy, brown, plump 

 fellows killed in October, Wincj. 



