204 



FOREST ANi) STREAM. 



[Oot. 3, 1886. 



PATTERN AND PENETRATION. 



WINCHESTER REPEATER, 10 AND 12-GAUGE. 



THE gun on the stocks this week for examination 

 marks the first appearance of the repeater in the 

 tests. It came from one of the largest arm factories in 

 the world and has been pushed in a successful recognition 

 of its merits by the energetic New Haven firm. This 

 Winchester came to test under exceptionally favorable 

 conditions. It was a selected arm, brought down by the 

 shooting expert of the company, Geo. W. Albee, who, it 

 will be remembered, holds the record for rapid and ac- 

 curate rifle firing, made years ago with tbe Hotchkiss 

 rifle and not as yet surpassed in any record test. Mr. 

 Albee brought down a pair of the Winchester repeating 

 shotguns, and struck pretty fair weather at the Jersey 

 shooting ground. There was a stiff wind on and it came 

 up the line of fire in a way to drop the shot a bib and per- 

 haps affect the penetration. But the air was humid, and 

 no bird hunter ought to expect a much better showing. 



WXNCHESTEB 10-GAtTGE, 40YDS., 357 PELLETS. 



Mr. Albee treated the gun in the usual trap-shooter's 

 fashion, dipping the barrels for a foot or 10 inches into 

 cold water after each discharge. In this respect he was 

 the only shooter in the whole series of tests thus far to 

 follow the fashion of the Parker expert, Mr. Gaines, who 

 kept his barrels carefully wet through his shooting last 

 spring. Curiously enough it was in the second test of the 

 Parker arm when the most attention was paid to this wet- 

 ting of the interiors of the barrels, and it was at the 

 second test that the best shooting was not done. 



The Winchester with its single barrel was a simple gun 

 to test. There is no comparison between the barrels, and 

 five shots at each range with each gun enabled the whole 



WINCHESTER 12-GACGE, 40VDS., 340 PELLETS. 



shooting to come well within an hour. It was not fired 

 as a repeater, each cartridge being inserted after the pre- 

 vious one bad been fired. How smoothly it worked is 

 shown in the following table, showing the count of pellet 

 marks in the 30in. aimed circle and again at the circle 

 selected from the same sheet for best pattern with the 

 distance in inches between the two centers: 



10-GAUGE (U -N. 



40yds. 



Aimed Selected Between Aimed 

 Circle. Circle. Centers. Circle. 



Pellets. Pellets. Inches 



284 

 326 



Av.,.303 



307 

 313 

 307 

 326 

 295 



Av.,.309 



324 

 327 

 304 

 324 

 351 



336 

 337 



340 

 324 



6 



7 



Pellets. 

 150 

 146 

 145 

 172 

 174 



6^ 157 



12-GAUGE GUN. 



m in 



4 167 

 6 200 

 187 



W4 157 



60yds. 

 Selected Between 

 Circle. Centers. 

 Pellets. Inches. 



173 

 160 

 153 

 194 

 203 



140 

 175 

 211 

 201 

 159 



6 



104 



5*6 

 5 



hi 



04 



8 



The arm worked in good shape, and the throwing down 

 of the breech mechanism sent the shell nipping out over 

 the shooter's shoulder. The rolled steel barrels used were 

 of the ordinary output of the Winchester Works, being 

 uncut in fitting and without any of the binding which 

 comes with the braizing together of a pair of barrels; it 

 is urged that under action the Winchester is scientifically 

 uniform. It is certainly a quickly manipulated arm in 

 experienced hands, and the ready fashion in which Mr. 

 Albee got in breaking shots at three targets sprung simul- 



taneously showed what a 'killing arm the Winchester 

 would be when ducks were plenty and time for reloading 

 very limited. 



The best pattern for each of these two guns is given 

 for the 40yds. distance, A showing the point aimed at 

 and C the center of the target for best patterns. The 

 formal and complete record of each gun is shown in the 

 regular way as follows: 



ClAREMONT, N. J., Sept. 20, 1889. 



TEST MADE AT FOEEST AND STREAM GUN-TESTING SCREEN. 



Winchester Repeaters, Steel Barrels. 

 Gun- 10-Gauge. Cost, $25. No. of gun, 22,345. Weight, 



8%lbs. Length of barrel. 30in. Full choke. 

 Gun— 12-Gauge. Cost, $25.' No. of gun. 4,036. Weight, 



7%lbs. Length of barrel, 30in. Full choke. 

 Weather— Clear. Direction of wind, 12 o'clock. Force of 



wind, 16 miles per hour. Thermometer, dry, 63°. Do., 



wet, 56°. Humidity, 64 ° . Barometer, 29. 6in. 

 Cha/fige, as given by holder of gun: 



Shell — Winch ester. 



Powder, Brand— American Rifle No. 4. 



Powder, Quantity— 10-Gauge, '?>% drs.; 12-Gauge, S^drs. 



( Make— Tatham's. 

 Shot-!. Quantity— 10-Gauge, 1% oz.; 12-Gauge, IV oz. 



( Size-No. 8 Chilled. 



CARTRIDGE ANALYSIS. 



Tliree Cartridges Taken at Random. 



10-GAUGE. 



Loading. Powder. 

 Card over shot; three il... 98 grs. 

 pink-edge wads over-: 2... 97 grs. 

 powder. "(3... 98 grs. 



Average 98 grs. 



12-GAUGE. 

 Loading. Powder. 

 Card over shot; twoil... 91 grs. 

 pink-edge wads and*; 2. .. " 

 card over powder. ( 3. . . 



90 grs. 



91 grs. 



Shot. 



555 grs. 514 pellets. 

 554 grs. 511 pellets. 

 554 grs. 512 pellets. 



554 grs. 512 pellets. 

 Shot. 



545 grs. 516 pellets. 

 548 grs. 

 541 grs. 



did penecs. 

 513 pellets. 

 512 pellets. 



Average 91 grs. 545 grs. 514 pellets. 



TEST AT 40 YARDS. 



Five Shots per Barrel from rest at fixed 30-inch Circle. 



10-GAUGE. 12-GAUGE. 

 Pattern. Penetration, 3 pellets. Pattern. Penetration, s pellets. 



1. 284 pellets. 



2. 326 pellets. 



3. 258 pellets. 



4. 298 pellets. 



5. 348 pellets. 



14 sheets. 



13 sheets. 



14 sheets. 

 16 sheets. 



15 sheets. 



1. 307 pellets. 



2. 313 pellets. 



3. 307 pellets. 



4. 326 pellets. 



5. 295 pellets. 



15 sheets. 



15 sheets. 



16 sheets. 

 12 sheets. 

 15 sheets. 



Av. 305 pellets. 14 sheets. Av. 309 pellets. 15 sheets. 



Three Shots at 4-foot square; 30-inch Circle selected from 

 best pattern. 



10-GAUGE. 12-GAUGE. 



1 324 pellets. 1 337 pellets. 



2 327 pellets. 2. .... . 338 pellets. 



3 351 pellets. 3 340 pellets. 



Average 334 pellets. 



Average 338 pellets. 



TEST AT 60 YARDS. 



Five Shots per Barrel from rest at fixed 30-inch Circle. 



10-GAUGE. 12-GAUGE. 

 Pattern. Penetration, s pellets. Pattern. Penetration, :i pellets. 



1. 150 pellets. 



2. 146 pellets. 



3. 145 pellets. 



4. 172 pellets. 



5. 174 pellets. 



9 sheets. 



8 sheets. 

 10 sheets. 



7 sheets. 



9 sheets. 



1. Ill pellets. 



2. 167 pellets. 



3. 200 pellets. 



4. 187 pellets. 



5. 157 pellets. 



6 sheets. 



7 sheets. 

 9 sheets. 

 9 sheets. 

 6 sheets. 



Av. 157 pellets. 9 sheets. Av. 164 pellets. 7 sheets. 



Three Shots at 4-foot square; 30-inch Circle selected from 

 best pattern. 



10-GAUGE. 12-GAUGE. 



1 173 pellets. 1 175 pellets. 



2 194 pellets. 2 211 pellets. 



3 203 pellets. 3 201 pellets. 



Average 190 pellets. 



Average 196 pellets. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In common with many of your readers I have been 

 greatly interested in your shotgun trials, and believe 

 that these reports will be of great value in showing us 

 what may reasonably be expected from our shotguns. 

 While it is a trial of guns and not ammunition, still your 

 careful and accurate analysis of the cartridges is worthy 

 of study; for instance, your reports have demonstrated 

 that our American manufacturers of shot have succeeded 

 in making their produuct of remarkable uniformity of 

 size. 



Your plan of giving us the weight of each load in Troy 

 grains, and in an opposite column, the number of pellets 

 by count, enable one to detect at & glance even slight 

 variations in the average size of the pellets, by compar- 

 ing the count with the weight of the several cartridges 

 analyzed. 



In several other particulars, to which I may refer at 

 another time, your reports will furnish data which will 

 enable us to come to very definite conclusions. 



Nm BfliTAJN, Conn. WOODEN NUTMEG. 



ALL-ROUND RIFLES. 



SOMERVILLE, Mass., Sept. 20.— Editor Forest and 

 Stream: As is well known to many readers of For- 

 est and Stream, the writer has given a great deal of 

 attention to the small-bore rifle, to adapt the same to 

 hunting small game, and if possible to secure, by trying 

 and experimenting with different rifles and cartridges, 

 different methods of loading, lubricating, alloying and 

 making bullets, etc., etc., the best results. For a long 

 time I have been trying to find the rifle which has been 

 longed for by so many, and for which thousands and 

 thousands of dollars and a great deal of time has been 

 wasted, viz., the all-around rifle; the arm that can be 

 used for anything and everything successfully, from a 

 chipmunk or English sparrow to a deer. I will omit 

 other large game, as the deer is the largest that we have 

 in this State, and will try to cover the field of small game 

 and include deer. As is the case with many others, I 

 thought that a large caliber, say .40, could be so loaded 

 with light charges of powder and a round or light coni- 

 cal bullet that it would do nicely for gray squirrels, 

 grouse, rabbits, etc., but soon found that the meat was 

 badly torn and the game spoiled for the table. Then I 

 dropped to a .32, which, by the way, comes the nearest 

 to it of anything, as the .32-40 is a powerful cartridge, 

 and if the .32 Smith & Wesson revolving rifle bullet, 98gr8. , 



is used with a light charge of powder, good results can 

 be obtained. But then there comes light gallery or prac- 

 tice shooting around home, and this rifle is too large, so, 

 as is the case with some other " rifle cranks," I buy my 

 experience, pay dearly for the whistle, and then give it 

 away to the younger ones that are coming on the field, 

 that they may benefit themselves without paying a for- 

 tune for their knowledge, as some of us older ones have 

 to do. 



I do not desire to give a free ad. to any gun or ammu- 

 nition maker, and will speak of those that I have proved 

 to be good, while those that have proved not to be so I 

 will give the benefit of the doubt and say nothing of 

 them. As regards sizes or calibers, it is more a mat- 

 ter of cartridges than rifles, so I have found it neces- 

 sary to select three cartridges to cover the ground that 

 I have tried to cover. The cartridges represent also 

 three different calibers, viz., .22, .25 and .38. These three 

 calibers can be used in three different barrels and 

 belong to the same gun by using the Maynard rifle, 

 which has interchangeable barrels to use on the same 

 stock, and for which the new .2oeal. .25-20-85 cartridge 

 is made. These rifles also handle the .22 long rifle car- 

 tridge well. My favorite arm for this cartridge is the 

 Stevens rifle, and it is (in my opinion) as near perfection, 

 using the .22 long rifle cartridge, as will ever be found, 

 and is just the thing for target practice at short range, 

 sparrows, squirrels, etc., etc. The cartridge has some 

 faults which may be remedied in the future, of which I 

 have written before in Forest and Stream, and of 

 which no more need be said, only that the extreme accu- 

 racy of the cartridge in several different Stevens rifles, 

 as well as Maynards, leads me to call it perfection itself. 

 Then the new .25-20 cartridge is just the thing for ordi- 

 nary hunting purposes as well as target shooting up to 

 200yds. It is good for geese, turkeys, ducks, black and 

 gray squirrel shooting, and all of the medium sizes of 

 game. In the East our game is rather wild and has to 

 be shot at longer range than in some other places. 



Now the third and last, but by no means least of the 

 cartridges the writer has selected is the .38-50-255 Rem- 

 ington. The rifle being a No. 3 Remington-Hepburn 

 model, 28in. octagon barrel, and mounted with a nice 

 telescopic sight. This rifle is the one for long range, 

 game and venison shooting, and woodchucks, crows, 

 hawks, owls, wild geese, etc. etc., at distances from 100 

 to 500yds. are liable to get into serious trouble, unless 

 they leave before the combination can be brought to bear 

 on them. The latter cartridge and rifle is the maximum 

 size that I care to use, and is good for anything that 

 wears hairs or feathers that is found east of the Rocky 

 Mountains. A few words regarding the telescopic sight 

 and I will close this. Telescopes on rifles have given me 

 no end of annoyance at various times, and a sight of this 

 kind meant a good round sum of money and then, per- 

 haps, an inferior glass. Here is a pointer from experi- 

 ence. I ordered not long ago a telescope and mountings 

 from Mr. L. N. Mogg, of Marcellus, N. Y., told him the 

 faults I had to find with some of the glasses I had used 

 and the high prices I had been charged for them. Well, 

 to make a long story short, the glass and fittings came in 

 a few days Avith instructions to send it right back if not 

 satisfactory. The price was very moderate, and for the 

 benefit of the readers of Forest and Stream that are in- 

 terested I would say that it is the equal of any one I ever 

 used. I can easily see a .38cal. bullet hole in white 

 paper at 200yds. This, of course, I mean in good light. 

 The freedom from distortion is remarkable, and for one 

 having as much power as this the absence of vibration is 

 noticeable at once. On my small-bore hunting rifles to 

 use in the woods for off-hand shooting I find nothing so 

 good as the Lyman rear and ivory front sight. I think 

 that with these three cartridges I am satisfied. "But," 

 some one asks, "supposing you can have but one rifle, 

 which cartridge will you choose?" My answer is choose 

 according to the work you wish to do. They are all 

 three good. . Iron Ramrod. 



A VAIN QUEST. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Where can I get an "old-fashioned" flintlock shotgun, 

 such as I was lucky enough to own twenty-nine years 

 ago 'i As early as that I found that there were imitations, 

 and that there was a wide and far shooting difference 

 between the two kinds. In those old days I had a Hud- 

 son's Bay gun, a singlebarreled flintlock, that, could I 

 find it, I would give the best breechloader that ever I 

 owned for it. It would shoot anything from buckshot 

 to cut up nails, and I brought home more game with it 

 than ever I have with my Parker or Greener. In those 

 days we lived on the frontier, and when I didn't kill 

 something the family had no meat. It took three fingers 

 to pull it off , but the mallards had to be a long way out 

 in the lake, if some of them didn't turn up when that 

 long barrel blazed out her charge. In those days there 

 was a kid that, with powder horn and shot bag, and 

 that homely old thing of a gun, knew where the part- 

 ridges hid, where the patches of wild buckwheat that fed 

 dozens of coveys of prairie chickens, the lakes that bore 

 the wild rice which the big mallards knew too, and the 

 oak ridges where a deer might be found. And that old 

 gun had a partner, a mongrel cur, that went by the name 

 of Bounce, and he was a hunter too. It is of no use to 

 ask you where I could get another such a dog, for money 

 wouldn't buy him; he was a boy's dog. Ah ! if I could 

 only have, now, that old gun, and that dog, and the fun 

 that boy had, and his appetite. E. S. 



Phtlipsburg, Montana. 



[E. S- will find the old flintlock, not a bit rusted, lean- 

 ing against the Norse tree on which grow the apples that 

 make one young again; the old dog is lying there in the 

 shade, too, and the appetite will be restored by quaffing 

 the Fountain of Youth bubbling up near by. J 



Petaluma, Cal., Sept. 21. — The whole country north of 

 here up the coast is a paradise for the sportsman, no 

 healthier spot in the world, with game enough for any 

 reasonable person; but it cannon last. The trout hog 

 and deer hog are everywhere. Near the city the game 

 laws are pretty well* respected and enforced, but the 

 mountaineer does as he pleases. — Bkrne. 



Fastening Wads in Brass Shells.— "W- P. H." in 

 issue of Sept. 19 asks how to fasten paper to brass shells. 

 I use shellac to fasten wads in brass shells and find it 

 satisfactory. — J. R. T, 



