310 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Nov. 6, 1890, 



AN ALL-ROUND SPORTING GUN. 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



Your Arkansas correspondent in issue of Oct. 80, under 

 the caption of "An All-Round Rifle," reminded me of 

 two great events in man's, or at least some man's, history, 

 viz., the selection of a wife and that of a sporting arm. 

 Now, while I would have but little use for "Lew Willow's" 

 Marlin repeater in the woods, no doubt it suits him 

 exactly and none other would fill the bill of his require- 

 ments half so well. 



I am fifty and three. Born in the wilds of Pennsylva- 

 nia and but three years ago I killed a tine deer within 

 three miles of where the old log house still stands in 

 which I first saw light, and although a busy professional 

 man for over twentv-five years I still find time to follow 

 my natural instincts in the pursuit of game and fish. My 

 father, who is in his 77th year, spends most of his time 

 with rod and gun, and he and I scarcely fail to have our 

 annual trouting and squirrel shoot. I have hunted in 

 almost every State in the Union and have had personal 

 experience enough to truthfully write volumes of just 

 such lore as is weekly found embellishing the pages of 

 your valuable .journal." But all this is foreign to what 

 "Willow's" article suggested. 



No man who hunts large game but feels the need of a 

 shotgun, especially when desirous of making a collection 

 of small birds and animals. Besides which a grouse, 

 duck or squirrel when fresh meat is scarce in camp comes 

 handy to put in the pot with the potatoes. Hence I used 

 to take two guns to the mountains — a rifle and shotgun. 

 The rifle, the only square way to take large game, and 

 the shotgun for small game. As to rifles, I have used 

 the Remington, Winchester and Marlin, and they are all 

 good guns for those who know no better. Finally I got 

 tired being bothered with two guns; then I struck the 

 auxiliary barrel racket and hunted with that for two or 

 three years, which was a step in the right direction, but 

 I always thought my shotgun felt more like a heavy club 

 when loaded up with the auxiliary than the well bal- 

 anced shotgun that it is. The market did not seem to 

 have the gun which a six or eight weeks' experience every 

 year demanded, or else I was one of those cranks who 

 did not know what I did want. Several years ago after 

 a big hunt in the Rockies I decided to have a gun con- 

 structed after my own notion of what it should be, 

 whether it pleased any one else or not, and for the benefit 

 of "Lew Willow" and the great army of sportsmen 

 throughout this great country, and with your permission 

 I will attempt a description of what has proven to me 

 by actual experience over and over again to be just what 

 I want. 



Before I begin I would say that this gun is not being 

 manufactured. I have the only one ever made and this 

 article is not an advertisement, though I will be glad to 

 reply to any questions asked in relation to the gun. It con- 

 sists of two barrels, rifie and shot, each 26|in. long, placed 

 one above the other. The rifle is a Remington .45 90 300 

 grains of lead, and is on top. The under one is a 20 bore 

 shot, straight cut, the furrows being a little deeper than 

 those in the Remington cut. The breech end of the bar- 

 rels slip into a steel receiver three inches long, which also 

 forms part of the action. They are held in position by a 

 single screw which releases the barrels and permits of 

 slippiug in any other calibers if so desired. Thus being 

 interchangeable, two rifle or two shot barrels can be used. 

 The barrels are independent of each other and for the 

 purpose of interchanging and allowing for expansion and 

 contraction they are only fixed at the breech by the 

 receiver and at the muzzles by a removable sleeve 

 or double furl, the top of which furnishes the seat 

 for the front sight. The action and locks are simple 

 and strong. It is semi-ham merless, and in front of the 

 right cocking lever is the break lever which is similar in 

 appearance, but heing more than an inch in front of 

 it cannot be mistaken for the cocking lever. Slight 

 pressure on the break lever and pulling toward you, at 

 the same time turning the gun to the left with the break 

 lever side lip, the barrels drop, the gun is broken and in 

 the most convenient position for reloading. When the 

 gun is broken, by pressing a button just in front of the 

 left cocking lever and making slight traction, the 

 side bar slips out and the gun is in shape for packing. 

 It is rigged with a Lyman front and rear sight, also an 

 adjustable middle bar sight after the form of the sight 

 used on the Daly three-barrel gun, which is attached near 

 the end of the receiver, being Sin. from the Lyman rear 

 sight. Depth of action Sin. , width If in. The weight is 

 S^lbs. Its appearance is neat and strong, pistol-grip and 

 rubber butt-plate, in which is inserted a compass. Per- 

 fectly balanced and never fails to get there when prop- 

 erly handled nor to please the most fastidious sportsmen, 

 who invariably pronounce it a daisy. 



As to its performance. In this gun I have a .45-90 lead 

 300grs., which has all the penetration and flat trajectory 

 necessary for the general sportsman in quest of deer, elk, 

 moose, caribou and bear. With the 20-bore I shoot a 

 round ball which weighs just 3()0grs.,and behind it 2fdrs. 

 of American wood powder special grade, well patched in 

 a brass shell, making a perfectly tight air chamber, and. 

 therefore getting the benefit of all the force there is in it 

 with the minimum recoil. It is astonishing how accu- 

 rately this round ball finds its mark at from 100 to 120yds., 

 and it is needless to say that it is a bone breaker of the 

 highest order. This same barrel shoots shot of all sizes 

 as well and better than any cylinder bore I ever owned. 

 On two or three different occasions I lost a second deer 

 by the racket made by throwing out the old and putting 

 in the new shell of my Winchester. The last time I well 

 remember. Standing by the side of a great hemlock on 

 the crest of a ridge on Salmon Creek, Forest county, Pa. 

 Open woods to right and left for 200yds. ; in front and 

 125yds. below me a bench in the slope and the edge of a 

 thicket. After standing for a few minutes, off to my left 

 I see four fine deer feeding leisurely along, and on a line 

 about 100yds. below me. The wind was with me. I 

 heaved a sigh of relief and experienced that sensation 

 familiar to all sportsmen which either has for its effects 

 an attack of that very common disease known as buck 

 ague, or that delightful nerve stimulus which takes us to 

 the woods and enables us to endure hardships untold and 

 without complaint. When they came opposite me I took 

 advantage of a momentary stop of the buck, cut loose 

 and picked a hole through both shoulder blades, my 

 place of election when I have a chance to choose. 

 He dropped in his tracks paralyzed, the other three 

 stopped as if frozen to the snow, and had it not been for 

 the flip-rattle-bang-klick of the infernal repeater, the fine 



fat barren doe, the next largest, would have laid just ten 

 feet from his lordship the buck. D^er will stand a blatt 

 or a single shot, but they will not suffer the rapid striking 

 of two clapboards together in quick succession or the 

 flip-rattle-bang-klick of a Winchester. Two jumps and 

 they were out of sight over the bank and into the thicket. 

 That settled the Winchester business— as good and per- 

 fect a gun as thev ever made, and cost me $45. I sold it 

 for $18 about two years ago. Now, "Lew Willow," every 

 one to their fancy, as the old lady remarked when she 

 kissed the brindle cow. You are suited and happy with 

 your Marlin, and I think I have a perfect arm for all 

 kinds of work in mine. To-day under similar circum- 

 stances the second deer would have dropped in her tracks 

 pierced by the round ball from the 20-bore and without 

 taking the gun from my face. 



Last fall I spent six weeks in the Rockies with the cele- 

 brated hunter and guide Geo. W. Rea, of Beaver Canon , 

 Idaho. One day we sighted a band of 18 elk from the 

 crest of a high range. They were feeding in a scoop out 

 or basin, which was perhaps 600ft. below us, and from 

 two and a half to three miles in diameter. The surface 

 was interspersed here and there with clumps of ever- 

 green scrub pines and patches of barren ground, which 

 was covered with 6in. of snow. After some two hours 

 travel we succeeded in getting off the mountain toy and 

 into the basin. Another hour of maneuvering on hands, 

 knees and bellies brought us to a point at the crest of a 

 little knoll, and within about 120yds. of the herd, which 

 having winded us. but imperfectly, had bunched and 

 were standing huddled up like so "many scared sheep. 

 They had not seen us, and the currents of air were so un- 

 certain, owing to the contour of the surface, that one 

 moment they could smell us and again for a few minutes 

 the currrent would be coming from the herd to us. 

 Under such circumstances elk will almost invariably 

 bunch and stand several shots before they break. I was 

 on the right of Rea and by previous arrangement I was 

 to fire at the front of the pack while he was to take the 

 left or rear — both to keep firing as long as they stood it. 

 At my whispered order we both fired and the reports were 

 as one. Two fell, shot through — still they stood — and 

 before he had worked the lever of his Winchester my 

 second elk turned up her side, and, having a shell between 

 my teeth, his second shot had hardly spoken when my 

 third broke another's back. Yes, I would prefer a re- 

 peater for the kind of work I did between 1861 and the 

 close of our late unpleasantness, but for game of all kinds, 

 large and small, I want my trusty combination gun, and 

 I will get there, you bet. I claim nothing but the sug- 

 gestion of such a gun as I have described, and whose 

 praises I never get tire^singing. To my friend and fellow 

 townsman, Prof. M. B. Hall, belongs the credit of 

 developing and manufacturing, from my very crude ideas, 

 the gun by which I swear as being the perfection of an 

 all-round sporting gun — and while "Lew Willow" and I 

 don't "slide down the same cellar door" on the gun ques- 

 tion, there is no doubt we would enjoy trading lies around 

 a camp-fire all the same. Shonqo. 



Lancaster, Pa. 



GEESE IN THE DEVIL'S LAKE COUNTRY. 



py common consent of the different railroad lines 

 JD running west and northwest from Minneapolis, the 

 14th of October is set apart as a day on wh eh travelers 

 may go anywhere they please, within certain wide limits 

 over the lines named, on payment of one fare for the 

 round trip. These tickets are called "home seekers'" 

 tickets by a sort of poetical license, for the beneficiaries 

 on that day are usually composed of everybody else but 

 the seekers after homes. Many sportsmen make their 

 arrangements to take their annual duck hunt on that day; 

 and among the number of these thrifty sportsmen were 

 myself and friend W., and our destination the Devil's 

 Lake Country of North Dakota, famed for its bad crops 

 of everything but geese; and these, we were told by the 

 phenomenal liar, were so numerous that the shadows of 

 their flight retarded the growth of vegetation. 



We found on the same train several other jolly parties 

 of hunters encumbered with a perfect arsenal of guns 

 and ammunition, bound like ourselves for that section of 

 country. We started at 8 o'clock in the evening over the 

 Great Northern R. R. and were due at Grand Harbor, a 

 little station a few miles north from Dent's Lake, at It 

 A. M. following day. These far western roads, however, 

 run more on "dead reckoning" than by the card. At 

 times we would travel at a speed suggestive of a "wild 

 engine" in our rear, and then we would slow down to the 

 solemn gait of a funeral train. The result was that we 

 arrived at our destination about three hours late. That 

 night we spent at the home of Mr. Craft, some three miles 

 from the village, a house only a trifle more commodious 

 than the so-called "shack,"' in which the pre-emptor is 

 content to dwell during the probationary period of his 

 "proving up." We soon, however, found that Mr. C.'s 

 hospitality; was far larger than his house, for although he 

 was suffering from a severe attack of rheumatism, both 

 he and his good wife did all they could to make us com- 

 fortable and our quest after geese a success. 



Next morning a neighbor of his, Mr. Graham, con- 

 sented to drive us over to Sweetwater Lake, eight miles 

 distant, where the birds were said to be very plentiful. 

 At first some little difficulty was experienced in getting 

 a team, as the voracious chattel mortgage man gobbled 

 one of his horses and another belonging to our host, but 

 the difficulty was overcome at last by making up a com- 

 plete team of the two odd ones left behind. As my friend 

 and myself were a little uncertain of our prowess on 

 goose shooting, it was reassuring for obvious reasons to 

 learn that our Jehu had the reputation of being a mighty 

 hunter in these parts; it was said that when the birds 

 were in good flight they fell all around him like a mete- 

 oric shower. 



After a cold drive we arrived at the lake late in the 

 afternoon, and our eyes were gladdened by the sight of 

 large flocks of geese flying in their cunifortn fashion from 

 the lake to their feeding grounds. We enjoyed some ele- 

 gant shooting that evening, bagging quite a number of 

 birds, both ducks and geese. It was dark before we 

 pitched our tent for the night, and as we did. not contem- 

 plate camping out and were not provided with anything 

 like a proper equipment, our first night's experience was 

 anything but restful. Our tent, to begin with, was a 

 little round affair as thin as the tail of one's shirt, and its 

 diameter less in measurement than the length of our per- 

 sons. Then, again, the straw we lay in was damp, and 

 the old horse blankets that covered us damp, too, with 



something else than the dews of heaven! Under these 

 untoward circumstances there was no difficulty in beat- 

 ing the sun rise next morning, and we were "rewarded 

 with some capital shooting till a wagonload of St. Paul- 

 ites invaded our preserves, and by their wild and indis- 

 criminate shooting spoiled all the sport for the remainder 

 of the day. 



The next morning we undertook what would appear to 

 a man up a tree as a regular wild goose chase. That is to 

 say, we started off with all our belongings to follow the 

 birds to their feeding grounds, and wonderful to relate, 

 succeeded. Graham was a good shot, but he was some- 

 thing more; he was an unconscious natural f si, From 

 long experience he knew the habits of the birds, and 

 when and where to find them at all hours of the day or 

 night. He could converse with them in their several 

 dialects, and attract them from the skies as Benjamin 

 Frauklin did the lightning. If he happened to be in the 

 open when a flock of birds were approaching, and no 

 cover in sight, he had the faculty of reducing his embon- 

 point to the most insignificant proportions, or he would 

 fling himself on the ground on his old fur coat and look 

 for all the world like a wolf skin robe that had dropped 

 by accident from the tail end of a wagon- 

 On arriving at their feeding grounds we were fortunate 

 in making the acquaintance of a Capt. Jones, who lived 

 near, and who accepted promptly and heartily our pro- 

 position to remain with him over night. He made us so 

 comfortable, and we found his family so pleasant and 

 well bred, that we extended our visit over another night, 

 which gave us one whole day's shooting, and wound up 

 our trip for the season. Our bag consisted of 60 geese 

 and several ducks. I am aware that this is no phenomenal 

 sport, but had the weather been boisterous and strong, 

 instead of genial and pleasant, we would have got a far 

 larger number of birds, but at the expense of a good deal of 

 solid comfort, and of the two alternatives we much pre- 

 ferred the latter. 



The geese that frequent this part of the country 

 consist of four varieties; the_ Canadian goose, or honker, 

 as the natives call them, the Hutchins goose, and two kind 

 of brant geese; one snow-white and the other gray with 

 spotted breast. 



The country we parsed over was a surprise and delight. 

 We had been taught to regard that far away land as 

 chief! v the abode of a wild lot of pioneers, who varied the 

 monotony of their lives by jumping the claims of their 

 neighbors and being promptly assassinated for their 

 pains. The soil was supposed to be poor and so alkaline 

 in character that you could scoop it up with a shovel. 

 Hot winds and drouths devoured their crops, and it was 

 there where the money sharks got in their best hook. 

 Unfortunately th^ last reports were altogether too true. 

 The farmers of R imsay county, as we could judge from 

 a very cursory visit, were hopelessly bankrupt, unless, 

 indeed, they can stave off foreclosures for another season 

 and that turns out a benign one for them, but in respect 

 of the other reports nothing could be more inaccurate. 

 We found the people far more intelligent and refined 

 than in most farming districts, and the soil they tilled as 

 fine a* anything lying out of doors— a rich, dark friable 

 loam, capable of growing anything that that high lati- 

 tude would permit. With one good crop to their 

 credit, the farmers now so heavily incumbered could 

 nearly free themselves from debt. They have been im- 

 provident, like most of their class, in buying on credit 

 expensive farm implements, but the new comers, we 

 were told, are profiting by the example of the others, and 

 finding freedom and thrift in a walking-beam plow and. 

 a yoke of strong oxen. J. D. C. 



Chicago, 111. 



DAYTON HUNTERS. 



DAYTON, Ohio, Nov. 3.— The hunters, S. S. Troup, 

 Adolph Sander, Ed Cooper and Dr. C. F, Makley 

 have returned from a week's sport in Pulaski county, In- 

 diana, a region of marshy land, ditches and smail lakes, 

 a region where quail, pheasants and prairie chickens 

 abound, and in season, snipe, woodcock and ducks. The 

 party were not diligent hunters, but they had lots of fun. 

 They, however, were treated to a remarkable exhibition 

 of interest to all shooters. 



George Engle and John Baker, residents of Wlnamac, 

 that county, shoot woodcock and snipe for the Chicago 

 market, and they now have in cold storage at their 

 home 1,000 dozen snipe that they killed last spring, and 

 have hanging in their large refrigerator in strings of 

 dozens, with feathers on and entrails, frozen hard and in 

 perfect condition. These snipe are shipped on orders 

 from Chicago restaurants every day in the year at $2.50 

 per dozen. Snipe come in immense numbers to these 

 swales and marshes along Tippecanoe River in April, and 

 Messrs. Engle and Baker wait for them to feed and fatten 

 a week or ten days before they begin to shoot. The big- 

 gest bag in any one day last spring for either of the gen- 

 tlemen was by Engle, who bagged 70 pairs, and thebrace 

 bagged 800 snipe in three days' shooting. In this way 

 Chicago people have game the year around. 



Hunters in this city are having the game laws exam- 

 ined to learn if it be not possible to place quail in cold 

 storage during the open season, clearly establishing the 

 date the birds are killed, and sell at any time, during the 

 year. The law is very clear in forbidding the shooting 

 or pursuing of quail with intent to kill except between 

 Nov. 10 and Dac. 15 each year; and as clearly permits 

 express or any other company bringing quail into the 

 State in the close season from any point without the 

 State where the killing of quail is lawful. The hunters 

 and dealers argue that if quail maybe killed elsewhere 

 and brought into the State, they may be sold and eaten 

 in the Ohio close season. At any rate, the matter is to 

 be tested. Thousands of Ohio hunters have for two 

 weeks been shooting quail in Indiana and. Kentucky, and 

 bringing them home to feast on. 



Hunting parties from this city and vicinity who are in 

 camp in the pine forests of northern Michigan and Wis- 

 consin are experiencing snow flurries, just the kind of 

 weather that is favorable for bear and deer. Of course 

 the camps are snug and comfortable, whether formed of 

 tents or cabins, and all are located near springs or small 

 lakes, where fish abound. Spruce hens are plenty, and 

 there is enough other small, game to be had for the table. 

 Porcupines are numerous. The cabins were cleared of 

 rats and mice by the weasels in advance of arrival of the 

 hunters. 



Roving bands of Indians at first annoyed the camps in 

 Forest and Chippewa counties, Wisconsin; and settlers 



