94 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



|Feb. 3, 1894. 



GUN TAX AND GAME MARKET. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As to the idea of taxing firearms for the purpose of 

 lessening the destruction of game in this country, will 

 you permit a reader of your valuable paper to express the 

 View that such a plan would utterly fail to accomplish 

 the desired end. The rapid destruction of game is due 

 more to the profit which " market gunnei-s" find in pur- 

 suing their vocations than to shooting for sport; and the 

 man who finds a living in such work will be far more 

 likely to pay even a heavy tax upon his implements of 

 trade than he who goes into the field purely for amuse- 

 ment and recreation. The result would be, therefore, 

 that many who now shoot occasionally would give up the 

 practice as being too costly, while those who kill pro- 

 bably nine-tenths of the game would have the field prac- 

 tically to themselves and, the interest of the true sports- 

 man having flagged, " pot-hunting" and trapping would 

 flourish as never before. 



Prohibition of sales seems to the writer the only pos- 

 sible remedy for the difficulty, and with proper laws 

 there should be no great obstacle, to practical accomplish- 

 ment of this. It may be urged that prohibition does not 

 prevent the sale of liquor, but the fact is that the cases 

 are not similar. The passion for stimulants and the 

 desire to eat game dinners are scarcely comparable, 

 besides which fact is a still stronger one, that the men 

 engaged in the liquor business, or rather, who would 

 engage in it contrary to law, a,re a very different class 

 from those who deal in provisions. Entire prohibition 

 would perhaps not be accomplished, but with the appoint- 

 ment of inspectors in the large cities the sale of game 

 would be immensely decreased, and the incentive to 

 market shooting correspondingly lessened. Game can- 

 not be watered or adulterated like liquor, and the price 

 would rise to cover the risk, so that the demand would 

 fall off, and dealers find the profits too small in propor- 

 tion to the risk. Saleno. 



NOTES FROM MOOSEHEAD LAKE. 



Treed by a Moose. 



On the first'day of January, '94, William Hamilton, a 

 law-abiding guide and woodsman of Greenville, went into 

 the woods to "explore" for spruce. It being the first day 

 of close time, he left his rifle at home, feeling that it 

 would be better not to fall into temptation than to be de- 

 livered from evil. 



"While picking his way through some old "works" and 

 thick black growth, Hamilton stumbled upon a big bull 

 moose. The moose seemed offended at having his privac3^ 

 thus intruded upon, and after spending a few seconds in 

 tossing around a pile of old spruce tops, he started for 

 Hamilton. In the meantime the man had climbed a little 

 spruce, and from the top of this managed to get into a 

 big birch, where he spent six long and weary hours wait- 

 ing for his majesty to withdraw. 



The Results of Protection. 



Speaking of moose, there seems to be no doubt that 

 the moose are steadily becoming more abundant, in spite 

 of the hide hunters and summer "sports." Along the 

 Canadian boundary the hide hunters are most abundant. 

 They come over the line, kill everything they can that 

 has a hide or pelt, and then return to the place whence 

 they came, leaving no trace of their work except the 

 rotting carcasses of their victims. The summer sport may 

 be a dry-goods clerk, or he may be a Brooklyn millionaire, 

 but whether rich or poor he is the same selfish, jealous, 

 cowardly, mean-spirited vagabond. To "get his share," 

 he kills wantonly, if he can. for the love of slaughter, or 

 for the joy of boasting of it afterward, everything that 

 runs, swims, or flies. And with shame it must be con- 

 fessed that many of those who should be most interested 

 in protection, the hotel keepers and guides, close their eyes 

 to these crimes, for the sake of a few ill-gotten dollars. 



Caribou are probably holding their own in the more in- 

 accessible regions north of Katahdin and on the Alle- 

 guash, but near the southern boundaries of the great forest 

 they are becoming scarce. 



Deer are wonderfully abundant. Twenty-five years 

 ago, as the writer well remembers, deer were no more 

 common than moose are now. But under the protection 

 of the much-abused game laws, the deer have steadily 

 multiplied, until they are now almost a nuisance to the 

 farmers whose grain fields are on the borders of the hunt- 

 ing grounds. Still they are the same shy animals, and 

 patience and skill, and oftentimes good luck to boot, are 

 needed before the hunter can fill his lawful quota. 



The Maine game laws may have worked injustice in 

 isolated cases — dogs may have been killed which ought to 

 have lived, wardens may have taken bribes from the rich 

 and punished the poor, the backwoodsman may have been 

 cut off from his natural supply of meat — but still the final 

 result is that large game is becoming more plenty, and 

 that is what the law was made for. Therefore it is good 

 law — it is accomplishing its purpose. 



Open Season for Trout and Togue. 



The open season for trout and togue (to residents of 

 Maine) begins Feb. 1. There has been a difference of opin- 

 ion as to whether this winter fishing should be permitted. 

 The law was passed as a compromise, by which the anti- 

 protection element secured to the native population a por- 

 tion of their "rights" while giving up others, such as the 

 right to snare and spear fish on spawning beds, etc. But 

 after all, the winter catch in Moosehead Lake consists 

 mainly of togue or lake trout, comparatively few brook 

 trout being taken through the ice; and it is a matter of 

 doubt whether the summer fishing is at all injured by the 

 capture of these "lakers." The lake trout is hardly con- 

 sidered worth mentioning as a game fish where "square 

 tails" abound, and furthermore, he is accused (though I 

 think unjustly) of living largely on small brook trout; so, 

 all things considered, it was perhaps wise to allow the 

 farmer and his boys the doubtful pleasure of fishing 

 through the ice with a limited number of lines. 



F. S. Bunker. • 



We take great satisfaction in the fact— for it is a fact — 

 that fish and game protection in Maine is a wonderful 

 success, especially in regard to the big game, some three 

 or four deer having been killed in this little county dur- 

 ing the late open season, a statement that could not have 

 been made during any year of the last forty. 



There is one matter of great importance that troubles 



the philanthropist along our coast— is the encroachments 

 made on the rights of our shore fisherme > by the menha- 

 den and mackerel seiners, who log-rolled through the 

 Legislature last winter a repeal of a portion of the law 

 forbidding the use of seines in our small bays, etc. We 

 are in the hope that this thing wll be straightened out 

 next year, when we trust our law makers will get their 

 eyes open to the true state of the question. N. 

 Bath, Me. 



A GUN TESTING INSTITUTION. 



New York, Jan. 10.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 

 send you the following prospectus of an American testing 

 institution for sporting firearms, powders and ammu- 

 nition: 



Principal Aims. 



The American testing institution is intended to per- 

 forra in this country the work done in Europe by the so- 

 called proof-houses and by the several private establish- 

 ments devoted to the systematic testing of hand fire-arms, 

 gunpowders and ammunition. The main object of this 

 institution is to serve both the American shooting fra- 

 ternity at large and the interests of our home industry in 

 the several branches and lines related to this class of 

 trade, by conducting ballistic trials and researches involv- 

 ing questions which, to be solved convincingly and con- 

 clusively, require continuous and systematic labor, and 

 which very rarely can be brought to a satisfactory and 

 beneficial issue through the individual gunner and in the 

 absence of the necessary scientific instruments. 



The work of the. institution, although serving as a whole 

 the same end, may still be divided into three distinct 

 classes or departments. 



Department A. 



This department is devoted and embraces the testing of 

 hand fire-arms, gunpowders, ammunition and their parts, 

 wadding material, shot, etc. , as the same are now in the 

 market and as they may be introduced, from time to 

 time, hereafter. 



The experiments of this class will, as a rule, bear a 

 public character and their results will be made known 

 either through the columns of the principal journals de- 

 voted to shooting, or by means of printed proceedings 

 distributed among the members of the institution. 



These experiments will chiefly consist in determining as 

 often as circumstances may require the ballistic values of 

 the various articles referred to. 



All such tests are carried out at the expense of the in- 

 stitution, and in view of the fact and considering that 

 they involve considerable expense and continuous labor, 

 all sportsmen in sympathy with the undertaking and 

 favoring the good cause are requested to aid the institu- 

 tion by having their names enrolled upon the membership 

 list. 



The annual membership fee is $2, payable at the time of 

 the filing of the application, and for every subsequent 

 year, as long as a member desires to retain his member- 

 ship, twelve months from date of first and every further 

 payment respectively. 



A contribution of $25 at one and the same time entitles 

 to a life membership. The privileges of members are set 

 forth in another chapter. 



Department B. 



This department is devoted to tests of a private nature 

 and all information furnished herein to the gunner will 

 be strictly confidential. 



In view of the well known and established fact that 

 the shooting qualities of a gun are governed by certain 

 factors, and greatly affected by the peculiar prop- 

 erties of a propelling agent, by the size of the powder 

 and again the size of the shot charges and pellets; by 

 the proportions of the powder and shot charges; by the 

 wadding material and the diameter of the wad; by the 

 crimp of the shell, etc., the gunner, not meeting and 

 knowing how to meet these conditions, frequently, 

 although using the best ammunition money can procure, 

 and which may render very satisfactory average service, 

 finds himself unknowingly handicapped merely for the 

 reason that the cartridges and loads he employs are not 

 the best suited for his particular gun. With the gun 

 barrel material, the machinery and tools at present at 

 the command of the gun manufacturer, the latter 

 scarcely, if ever, succeeds in producing two guns with 

 shooting qualities precisely alike, and for .reasons of a 

 similar nature the same loads will behave differently in 

 one gun than in another. One gun will give the best 

 mean pattern and penetration with a heavier powder 

 and lighter shot charge, one again with the proportion 

 of these charges reversed to a certain extent. One gun 

 will do the best service with a coarser shot; one gun 

 requires a larger size wad, and one gun will shoot a cer- 

 tain powder better than others, etc. 



The individual gunner is seldom in a position to de- 

 termine this quite important question. This problem 

 can be solved more systematically, readily and satisfac- 

 torily by the testing institution, where for this purpose 

 all the different kinds of powder, shells, wads and shot 

 are constantly kept in store, and where these tests are 

 carried out with the aid of the requisite suitable instru- 

 ments, and other means not at the command of the 

 great mass of gunners. 



The institution will take pains to establish for every 

 gun, new or old, the most advantageous and best 

 adapted load 



The charges for such work on a double-barreled shot- 

 gun of any gauge will be, exclusive of ammunition, $5; 

 for bona fide subscribers of Forest and Stream, $4; for 

 members, $2.50. 



Unless instructed otherwise every gun and barrel will 

 be tested with black and four different nitro powders, 

 which the holder of the gun may designate. 



A copy of the records of such a test is furnished to 

 the owner of the gun, thus enabling him to judge for 

 himself whether the conclusions arrived at by the insti- 

 tution and the counsel given him by it are justified by 

 the results obtained. 



Testing- New Guns for Pattern and Penetration. 



A gunner contemplating the purchase of a new gun 

 should first of all duly consider what kind of shooting he 

 intends to and probably will do principally with the gun, 

 and whether he is a poor, fair, or first-class shot. Gener- 

 ally the gun manufacturer or dealer is asked to furnish a 

 very close shooting gun I one which he will guarantee to 



give a pattern all the way up to 80 to 85$, although a gun 

 of this description ie rarely found among twenty thousand, 

 providedthestandardload of No.7shotis used and the target 

 is placed 40yds. distant from the muzzle. In most cases 

 a gun of this kind would prove comparatively worthless in 

 the hands of the shooter, and even a gun averaging a pat- 

 tern of 65$ means often a very severe task upon the shoot- 

 ing talent of the purchaser, and will not do nearly so well 

 in the field and close range shooting as one producing a 

 mean pattern of only 50 to 55$. All tests for pattern 

 are comparatively useless unless the corresponding 

 velocity or penetration is established simultaneously and 

 found to reach the standard figures. But if the demands 

 of the gunner are within reason he has a right and ought 

 to know what his gun in point of pattern will and can be 

 made to do, and no manufacturer of or dealer in guns 

 should hesitate to guarantee the shooting qualities of a gun. 



There are several tricks known and sometimes practiced 

 by unscrupulous dealers to make a gun give the very 

 best pattern. The gunner reads the figures obtained or 

 even counts the pellets in the 30in. circle and is happy. 

 He does not comprehend that this beautiful showing 

 means nothing in the absence of the corresponding 

 velocity. 



In testing a gun for pattern the velocities developed by 

 the loads employed must first be established and if neces- 

 sary raised to the standard limit. This done the standard 

 of merits as laid down in the accompanying table should 

 • form the basis for determining the shooting 7 qualities of a 



These figures are based on exhaustive pattern tests, in 

 which thousands of guns of different gauges, grades and 

 makes were used. A manufacturer or dealer declining to 

 have a gun subjected to a test on this basis is hardly 

 deserving the confidence and patronage of the shooting 

 fraternity. 



Points of Merits Governing the Shooting Qualities 

 of Better Class Guns. 



IN 30lN. CIRCLE AT 40YDS. FROM MUZZLE. 







10-gauge 





12-gauge. 



16-gauge. 





Pellets. 



Per 



c 1 *. 



Pellets. 



Per 





Pellets. 



Per cH 



Common eyl. barrel, , 



160- 



-180 



35- 



■40 



135- 



-150 



36-41 



112- 



-124 



35-40 



Improved cyl. barrel. 



170 



-192 



39—44 



145 



-162 



38- 



-44 



118- 



-131 



39—44 



Light chokebore bar. 



185 



-225 



40- 



-52 



!55 



-195 



42- 



-52 



IS6- 



-158 



40-52 



Medium chokebore b.. 



216 



-260 



48—60 



185 



-225 



50- 



-60 



152—186 



48—60 



Full chokebore barrel 



gab 



-280 



58- 



-65 



215 



-240 



58—65 



178- 



-200 



58-65 



Extra full choke bar.. 



360-295 



60- 



-66 





-250 



60-67 



190- 



-205 



60—66 



A certificate stating the shooting qualities of the gun 

 and the loads employed, and giving the number of gun, 

 length and weight of barrels, names of maker and owner, 

 etc., is furnished to the gunner. Every gun so tested 

 will have , the testing mark of the institution impressed 

 tipon the round of the barrel near the breech ; 



F.(G.) (R) EC. 44. 



The mean patterns obtained with a gun will be divided 

 into three classes: F. will stand for fair, G. for good and 

 H. for high. An average pattern of from 40 to 45$ will 

 be considered as a fair pattern, one of 45 to 55$ a good 

 pattern, aad one of 55 to 65$ a high pattern. 



The marks impressed on a gun barrel as above would 

 mean that the gun gives a fair, good or high pattern, 

 whatever letter may be employed, and that it produces 

 the best mean pattern with 44 grains of E. C. powder. 



The names of the several powders will be abbreviated 

 as follows: Sch. for Schultze, EC. for American E. C, 

 AW. for American wood, SS. for S. S., Wa. for Walsrode, 

 DP. for DuPont's smokeless, Ld. for Leonard, and BP. for 

 black powder. 



Charges of Testing a Double-Barrel Shotgun 

 for Pattern. 



Any gauge $5, for bona fide subscribers of FOREST AND 

 Stream $4, for members $2.50, exclusive of ammunition. 



Sporting Rifle Tests. 



Finished sportiug rifles will be tested for strength— 

 final proof — with a black powder charge double by weight 

 or measure of the regular service chai-ge, or, at the 

 holders' option, with an equivalent load of nitro powder. 



Charges for testing a sporting rifle for strength, $3; for 

 bona fide subscribers of the Forest and Stream, $2.25; 

 for members, $1.50, exclusive of ammunition. 



Establishing for Sporting Rifles the Proper 

 Charge of Nitro Powder. 



The same reasons which prompt the sportsman to sub- 

 stitute a smokeless powder in the shotgun, let it appear 

 desirable for the hunter to use, if possible, the modern pro- 

 pelling agent instead of black powder in the sporting rifle. 

 The superiority of the nitro powder over the black is even 

 more marked in connection with the rifle than with shot- 

 gun ammunition. 



As a rule, the smokeless powder will give a more even 

 and flatter trajectory than the black powder, and the 

 recoil of the former is decidedly lighter; two factors of 

 importance in point of accurate shooting. Smokeless 

 rifle powders are fast taking the place of black powder 

 for hunting large game, in several European countries, 

 and a huntsman who has employed a smokeless powder 

 for his rifle once, very rarely nourishes the desire to fall 

 back upon the old propelling agent. 



The nitro powder is much less noisy than black, and 

 the report of a rifle shot frequently resemble; that pro- 

 duced by a strong cap. Provided the wind is favorable, 

 the huntsman often finds time for a second and third 

 shot at game standing some distance from him, if he 

 happens to miss his mark with the first or second shot. 

 This is rarely the case when the noisy black powder ie 

 employed. At short range the huntsman oan easily de- 



