226 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 10, 1889. 



THE HUNTING RIFLE. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



To one who has kept track to some extent of the pro- 

 gress that has been made in tlie construction of military 

 rifles it seems strange that the ideas most approved in 

 military circles regarding what constitutes an efficient 

 weapon have not yet been adopted in the construction of 

 sporting rifles. For example, several of the leading 

 European powers have adopted rifles with calibers rang- 

 ing from ,30 to .32, and having a strong twist, instead of 

 those of larger caliber and less twist: and for ammunition 

 they have adopted long shells loaded with plenty of 

 powder, and very long conical-pointed, steel or copper- 

 jacketed bullets. The advantages claimed for the new 

 guns over those of the older models are: (1) The recoil is 

 less with small than with large calibers even when the 

 same amount of powder is used in both instances. (2) 

 By jacketing the bullet with steel or copper the barrel 

 can have the twist considerably increased without strip- 

 ping the bullet, and the increased twist will give a very 

 long bullet steadiness in the air. (3) A long bullet will 

 have greater penetration than a shorter one, and by using 

 heavy charges of powder it may be given a high rate of 

 speed, higher than would be possible with a larger caliber 

 owing to the severity of the recoil. (4) Such a ball mov- 

 ing at a high speed will have not only a longer range but 

 a flatter trajectory than those of the ordinary rifle, and 

 (5) the gun itself and ammunition are not so heavy to 

 carry. 



Another thing that military authorities have almost 

 unanimously condemned is the under-barrel magazine of 

 the repeating rifle, which is the most commonly used of 

 all by sportsmen, and they have almost as unanimously 

 pronounced in favor of the sub-breech box, such as that 

 of the Lee. 



Now, it has not been without a great deal of careful 

 experimentation by men scientifically trained in the 

 science and art of gunnery that the governments of Eng- 

 land, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy 

 have been led to adopt the small-bore, strong twist guns, 

 and it would seem that they have been proved beyond a 

 peradventure to be better guns for military use than such 

 guns as the Winchester, Marlin, Ballard and others which 

 are the favorites with sportsmen. The advantages 

 claimed for the new guns should, it would seem, com- 

 mend them to sportsmen as weli as to soldiers. Can the 

 editor of Forest and Stream or any of his corres- 

 pondents give a good reason why the American manu- 

 facturers of sporting rifles should fail to keep abreast of 

 the times? Or is game so rapidly disappearing by aid of 

 the relatively inefficient weapons still in use that it is in- 

 expedient to hasten its departure by introducing any new 

 improvements? 



The writer has tried in vain to find out from leading 

 gun dealers where, if anywhere in this country, guns of 

 the Lee, Mannlicher or Vetterli types could be procured 

 or whether any sporting rifles embodying the principles 

 of their construction could be had, but their ignorance of 

 the whole matter has been of the densest kind. He has 

 also searched the price lists of numerous tradesmen to 

 find whether these guns were on the market, but in vain. 

 Could you, Mr. Editor, inform one through your journal 

 whether these arms are to be had in this country, and if 

 so, where? E. S. 



Chicago, 111. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In reference to the articles by ''Senex" in your issue of 

 Sept. 12 and 26, the new .25cal. is about midway between 

 the .22 and .32eal., and will undoubtedly become a popu- 

 lar weapon in the near future. As a hunting arm its 

 killing power is far greater than the .22, and as a target 

 weapon its accuracy is superior to the deservedly noDular 

 .32-20 115 Winchester. v 



The sharp twist used in the majority of modern rifles 

 is not intended to give greater killing power, but greater 

 accuracy. 



The trajectory of a rifle may be lowered by decreasing 

 the weight of the bullet and increasing the powder 

 charge, but after you pass certain limits in this reduction 

 of the trajectory curve, accuracy is sacrificed, and other 

 bad results follow, such as the excessive fouling of the 

 bore, requiring frequent wiping out if anything like 

 steady shooting is to be maintained. 



In regard to the old-style .22cal. long cartridge. I stated 

 that the 16-inch twist of the Maynard rifle kept them 

 point on, and I am still of that opinion. I am not a gun- 

 smith, and cannot explain why the bullets from these 

 cartridges will wabble and keyhole when fired from a 

 rifle or pistol rifled with a long twist. In regard to the 

 Lebel rifle, I am quite willing to admit that it has a com- 

 paratively low trajectory at 1,000yds., but I have failed 

 to discover one iota of evidence of its accuracy at any 

 distance. When the proof of its accuracy shall appear. 

 I shall be anxious to know what kind of powder and 

 bullet is used. The chemists must give us a better pow- 

 der before we shall have approached the millennium of 

 rifle shooting, and the bullet makers must give us some- 

 thing better than a leaden pellet encased in a flimsy paper 

 patch. 



In regard to the allowance to be made for side winds, 

 "Senex" probably makes too large a claim for his muzzle- 

 loader shooting a bullet weighing 162grs. He has omit- 

 ted a very important factor in this connection, viz., the 

 caliber of the rifle. If the rifle is .32cal. or over, then he 

 w-ould be badly beaten by the .45cal. using a 550- grain 

 bullet; but if his rifle is smaller than ,82eal,, he may "have 

 some grounds for his claim. The allowance for side 

 winds depends mainly upon the comparative length and 

 width of the bullet, and very little upon the amount of 

 powder used. The short bullet will float off to leeward 

 in spite of any amount of powder that maybe put behind 

 it; while the long, narrow bullet cleaves the air like an 

 arrow, ana often reaches the bullseye when the other 

 goes wide of it, in spite of the best human skill that can 

 be placed behind the gun. From the standpoint of the 

 target-shooter, as a general rule, the accuracy of any rifle 

 of first-class manufacture may be very nearly determined 

 by comparing the caliber with the length of the bullet. 

 A bullet two calibers in length would be beaten by one 

 three calibers in length, and this latter would be beaten 

 by one four calibers in length. If you wished to go be- 

 yond four calibers, your gunsmith would probably refuse 

 to build the gun for reasons best known to himself. 



For hunting purposes a short bullet is often preferable, 

 on account of its flatter trajectory at short range and 

 lighter recoil, and for thickly wooded districts, where 



nearly all of the shots are made within 75yds. range, a 

 light powder charge is generally the best, as the trajec- 

 tory is of small consequence; and you have the great 

 advantage of being able to use a repeating rifle, and may 

 fire rapidly without regard to the dryness of the atmos- 

 phere, and after a day's shooting the rifle will be found 

 in good condition. For these reasons and others, the 

 Winchester cartridges, .32-20-115, .38-40-180 and .44-40 

 200, are still the most popular cartridges used in repeat- 

 ing rifles, although others have been put on the market 

 giving a flatter trajectory, greater killing power and 

 kicking much harder. The express rifles require nurs- 

 ing, as do the fine shooting target rifles. 



E. A. Leopold. 



Norristown, Pa. 



WILD RICE. 



WE received from Mr. Frank Pidgeon some speci- 

 mens of the grass growing in the Hudson River, 

 near Saugerties. Mr. Pidgeon wrote: 



' 'I beg to say that I am perfectly familiar with every 

 foot of each Hudson River locality which your corres- 

 pondent U S." name3, having shot ducks and rail upon 

 them for twent3 T years and more. The "Vly" was owned 

 by my father for many years; I am therefore well ac- 

 quainted with that section. The grass, the seeds of 

 which furnish food to the aquatic birds in the places 

 named, Ave have known as wild oats or teal grass; if it is 

 "wild rice" I wish you would kindly say so through your 

 columns, for if it is we do not want to buy any wild rice 

 to sow; if it is not, we want to buy a quantity. I send 

 you a few seeds of the grass in question, which certainly 

 resemble oats more than they do rice." 



The specimens sent were insufficient to base an opinion 

 on, but they appeared to us to be wild rice. We sent 

 them on to Mr. Charles Gilchrist, of Rice Lake, Ont., 

 who replied that the specimen was not wild rice, but a 

 wild grass which was familiar to him. 



From Mr. Charles L. Flint's work, "Grasses and Forage 

 Plants," published by Messrs. Lee & Shepard, Boston, 

 1888, we take by permission of the publishers, the follow- 

 ing description, with illustration, of wild rice: 



WILD RICE. 



Indian rice, wild rice, or water oats (Zizania aquatiea), 

 Fig. 12, is found in swampy borders of streams, in shal- 

 low w^ater, and is common. It grows from 3 to Oft. in 

 height, with flat, long, lanceolate leaves. Panicle large, 

 pyramidal; lower branches sterile, spreading; upper, 

 pistillate or fertile, erect. Flowers in July and August, 

 and drops its seed, when ripe, at the slightest touch, and 

 this furnishes food for water fowls. It is also used for 

 food by the aborigines. North America. 



This plant is the folle avoine of the early settlers of 

 Louisiana. It is exceedingly prolific, growing wild in 

 all the Southern States, where it is said to produce two 

 crops in a year of good hay, of which stock of every kind 

 are very fond. It is greedily eaten when green. 



In the Western States, where it is also common in the 

 shallow water on the swampy margins of streams, it 

 forms an important food for the Indians, who paddle a 

 canoe among the rice, bend it over the sides, and beat 

 out the grains with a stick. 



In Fig. 13, the staminate flowers are seen as they ap- 

 pear at the end of a branch of the natural size. Fig. 14 

 represents a staminate flower, magnified: Fig. 15, the 

 germ and stigmas; Fig. 16, a fertile or pistillate flower: 

 Fig. 17, the same, ripe; Fig. 18 the seed. Contrary to the 

 usual arrangement, the fertile or pistillate flowers are 

 above the sterile or staminate ones, while the minute 

 grains of pollen, being lighter than the atmosphere, rise 

 when they leave the anther, and thus come in contact 

 with the stigmas. In Indian corn, on the other hand, 

 the grains of pollen are heavier than the surrounding 

 air, and so fall from the sterile flowers of the "tassel" 

 upon the styles or "silks," and thus fertilize them. 



Names and Portraits oj? Birds, by Gurdon Trumbull. A 

 book particularly interesting to gunners, for by its use ttey can 

 identify without question all the American game birds which 

 tney may kill. Cloth, 220 pages, price §2.50. For sale by Fobbst 

 Atxi Stream. 



THE GAME SEASON, 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It is surprising, wonderful, that so great a number of 

 deer are killed in the St. Regis district south of here this 

 season. Hardly a train comes down on the Northern 

 Adirondack Railroad that does not bring from one to half 

 a dozen. I was at the station yesterday when the 3 

 o'clock train came in; two parties of Boston sportsmen 

 came down on it, bringing with them three very large 

 bucks entire, and the saddles of three other deer; and this 

 has been common ever since the hounding season opened. 

 Last Tuesday a party of four went up to Deer River, in- 

 tending to have a week's hunting. Wednesday morning 

 they put out their dogs, and during that day one of the 

 party shot and killed five deer on one runway; the other 

 three members of the party did not happen to get a shot, 

 and having all the venison they wanted, they came out 

 Thursday morning, bringing four of the deer with them. 

 The engineer of the passenger train on the Adirondack 

 Railroad has killed three deer since Sept. 1, and an old 

 bear and cub half grown. He killed all in the vicinity of 

 Brandon (or Paul Smith's station, as it is called) while 

 waiting there with his engine, between train time?. 



Bears have been plenty this season, more so than com- 

 mon, all through that region, and quite a number have 

 been killed; but what is strange to me is, that with all 

 the deer hunting that has been done in that region for 

 the past twenty years, especially for the last six, and the 

 great numbers that have been killed every season, the 

 deer should still continue to be as plentiful there as ever. 



When the lumber companies first began operations 

 there and the railroad was building, I with others here 

 predicted that, while the trout fishing would probably 

 remain good for some years to come, the deer hunting 

 would soon be a thing of the past. But it has turned out 

 to be exactly the reverse: the deer are as plentiful here as 

 ever, while the trout fishing has been nearly rained in 

 those waters that are in the vicinity of the railroad and 

 the lumbering camps. But if nothing is done to stop the 

 great slaughter of the deer that has been going on for 

 the past five years, the end must soon come. Even if all 

 the deer there are in the whole Adirondack region con- 

 gregate here, it will be impossible for them to hold out 

 much longer if the slaughter is allowed to continue at 

 this rate. 



The Santa Clara Lumber Co. is a stockholder to the 

 amount of $100,000 in the syndicate that has lately pur- 

 chased the great tract of land in the Adirondacks of W. 

 W. Durant. The president of the Santa Clara Lumber 

 Co. is also president of the Northern Adirondacks Rail- 

 road; and this means that this great tract of the wilder- 

 ness will too soon be despoiled by the lumbermen, the 

 more especially that charcoal burning has now become an 

 established business in the region about Spring Cove Sta- 

 tion, on the Northern Adirondack Railroad. A. C. 



Moira, Franklin County, N. Y., Sept. 30. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The inclosed ''clip" sizes up the situation very nicely. 

 It is from the Hartford Courant of Oct. 2, and reads: 



Yesterday furnished a gratifying sight, not only to Hartford 

 but to Connecticut. For the last ten years the Hartford markets 

 have been, the first day the law was off, stuffed with birds. Two 

 years ago 1,500 birds were on sale in Hartford the morning the 

 law was off. Of necessity they must have been shot during the 

 closed season. Yesterday not a bird was on sale in the whole 

 city in any market up to 13 o'clock noon, and onlv seven birds 

 were offered for sale up to dark. Air. A. C. Collins^ the efficient 

 game warden of Hartford countv, was seen by a Courant re- 

 porter during the afternoon. He said that, to the beBt of his 

 knowledge, the game laws this year had been observed. The 

 efforts which had been made all over the State to bring about a 

 rigid enforcement of the laws had proved effective. The pot- 

 hunters were frightened all over Connecticut. The principal 

 reason for this undoubtedly was that a law was passed during 

 the last session of the Legislature which enabled game wardens 

 to search the refrigerators and ice boxes of dealers in game. 

 The result was that dealers were afraid to sell and so the demand 

 was lessened. 



The opinion of the various dealers in game in the city makes 

 interesting reading. A Courant reporter visited a number of the 

 most prominent yesterday and asked their opinion of the work- 

 ing of the game law. One man was found who said that he 

 thought it a failure. He thought that it. did not diminish the 

 shooting of game at all, but resulted merely in sending the birds 

 that were shot out of Connecticut for sale. 



The opinion of all the rest was, however, that the game laws 

 had been well enforced. They expressed themselves as being thor- 

 oughly in sympathy with Mr. Collins and the work he is doing. 

 One man said: "I have only had two hirds offered to me this 

 season. The birds haven't been shot. Hunters are frightened all 

 over the State. I am informed that the shipping of birds to New 

 York, which used to go on heavily in the easterupart of the State, 

 has almost entirely ceased. I am glad this condition of things 

 exists. As far as Hartford is concerned there have been no birds 

 sold to speak of this season. The restaurants have, I suspect, 

 served a few, but the number has been very small." 



From inquiries made in various directions in the city yesterday, 

 from conversation with dealers in game, and from the actual con- 

 lion of the markets, it soems to be established beyond a doubt 

 that the statement made by Mr. Collins is true that " the game 

 laws have been ooserved this year better than at any time during 

 the last ten years." Credit to whom credit is due is always a 

 good moLto, and this Excellent state of things is due largely to 

 the efforts of the Connecticut Association of Farmers and 

 Sportsmen for the Protection of Game and Fish, and especially 

 to the work of the faithful president of the society, Mr. A. C. 

 Collins. 



The Connecticut Association of Farmers and Sportsmen 

 for the Protection of Game and Fish does not have any 

 clam chowder nor shooting tournament attachments. 



A. C. Collins. 



Hartford, Conn., Oct. 3. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I was out in the country with Mr. James Dtipuy last 

 week looking over his old camp ground; found game 

 plenty, quail, squirrels and quite a number of young 

 wild turkeys. The indications are that fall shooting will 

 be good. Mr. R. S. Dupuy is going South to hunt in 

 November. Jim intended going along, but the cards are 

 out for his wedding with Miss Sallie, a daughter of Mr. 

 George Howland, who has figured as George in some of 

 the contributions James has sent you. W, 



Ironton, Ohio, Oct. 1. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Our grouse season opened Sept. 1, but owing to the 

 almost continual rain little shooting has been done, and 

 that has been confined to places near by. The foliage is 

 unusually dense, and but little shooting can be done until 

 the leaves fall. We have already had one or two light 

 frosts, and the hills are dressed in their autumn colors, 

 presenting a beautiful sight. Squirrel and rabbit pros- 

 pects are good in Rutland county. This locality is very 

 favorable for grouse, and they were formerly very plenty, 

 but though constantly hunted and sadly thinned out 



