238 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 17, 1894. 



PIASA BOD AND RIFLE CLUB. 



The .Piasa Rod. and! Rifle Club. 



Chicago, HI., Feb. 16.— The Piasa Rod :and :Rifle Club, of Alton, III., I 

 portraits of whose officers and members are shown herewith, is a fine ; 

 instance of one of the tendencies of modern sportsmanship, namely, - 

 that of friendly and effectual organization. No one better than the 

 sportsman of to-day has realized the force of the motto, "In union Is 

 strength." 



The word Piasa is pronounced Pi-a-saw, after an Indian tribe which: 

 formerly inhabited Alton. The same tribe also named the Piasa Bluffs i 

 and other things along the Mississippi River. It is a mistake to think 

 that the members do not know how to spell "piazza," because nearly 

 all of them do. Moreover, this is no mere piazza club, devoted to 

 loafing, smoking and talking, but a body of enthusiasts who love to 

 hustle. I hear more of the rifle branch of the club than anything else, 

 and the club has some rifle shots who are hard to beat, either in the 

 gallery or on the 200yds. range. Mr. H. R. Wills, a handsome picture' 

 of whose self and whiskers is to be noted above the vice-president's 

 title, often comes up to Chicago, as does also his friend, Mr. Eugene 

 Lahee, they both belonging to prominent social clubs here. Whenever 

 either or both of these gentlemen arrives in town the Western repre- 

 sentatives of Forest and Stream have to stop work, put on their, 

 coats and go out and shoot a string- to a finish, the said finish usually 1 

 being in favor of the Alton contingent, and involving the ownership 

 of gallery cups whose value has run as high as $1.50. 



It is not alone to the rifle, however, that the club is devoted, for a8 ' 

 fishers, flowlers and sailors also they have a tenacious ambition, often 

 gratified. In addition, the members value the personal advantages of 

 friendly meetings and do not drop the better social features of a pleas- 

 ant gentlemen's club. In a recent letter one of the officers wrote me: 



"We are gradually getting into shape as a shooting club, and expect 

 to have grounds at least this coming- summer to which we can invitei 

 our friends with some degree of satisfaction. Our yacht club also , 

 (the Illini Y. C.~) is flourishing. We have Fix steam and naphtha 

 launches in the fleet. The club bought an island in the river last fall, 

 s'x miles above Alton, containing about seven acres, upon which a club 

 house has been erected, or which at least will be finished this month, 

 with all the conveniences needed, good rifle and trap shooting ranges, 

 bowling alleys, etc. 



"We shall be glad to have a visit from you at any time, or times, 

 rather, and will try to make your stay a pleasant one." 



The feature of hospitality, it may be seen, is not left out. A visit to* 

 the Piasa Club must needs be pleasant, but he who takes it should 

 master the art of taking gracefully a defeat with the rifle, and maybe 

 other tools of the craft of sport. 



The Piasa Club is up to date in every regard, and therefore Forest 

 and Stream is its recognized journal. 



Steuber and Schm'dt. 



The last half of 100 shot match took place at the Miller Rifle Club, 

 Hoboken, N. J., March 8, and resulted in a defeat for Mr. A. W. 

 Steuber. The score is appended, 25yds.: 



A W Steuber 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 23 21 21—240 



25 24 24 24 24 23 23 22 22 21-232 



24 25 25 25 24 23 23 23 23 23—239 



25 25 25 24 24 24 24 23 23 21-238 

 25 25 25 25 25 24 24 24 24 23-244- 



L Schmidt 25 24 24 24 23 23 23 23 23 21-234 



25 25 25 25 25 25 24 24 23 23-244 

 25 25 25 25 24 24 23 23 23 23—240 

 25 25 25 24 24 23 23 23 23 22—237 

 25 25 25 24 24 24 23 23 22 20 -235-1190 



-1193 



ployed. America produces the best rifles for the money and, prob- 

 ably, for the purpose they are intended for. The American machine- 

 loaded metallic ammunition too is the best ammunition of its kind in 

 the world, but it is a mistake to suppose that other countries cannot 

 produce rifles of an equal standard of merit. The reason why the 

 express rifle is made to do its best and most effective shooting up to 

 a distance of 150yd3. only is not because European rifle makers are 

 not capable of making a rifle abroad to do accurate shooting at greater 

 ranges, but simply for the reason that it is not considered sportsman- 

 like (waidgerecht) to shoot at game at a greater distance. 



The European continental hunter draws a very strict line between 

 hunting and pot-hunting, or killing and butchering game. He dislikes 

 chance shots, and one who is fond of such is not recognized as a true 

 sportsman. A true sportsman is expected to protect and care for 

 his game, and to glorify the Creator through the creature, or as the 

 German motto for hunters reads: 



"Das ist des Jagers Ehrenschild, 

 Der treu beschiitzt und heg't sein Wild, 

 Das Waidwerk iibt wie sich's gehort, 

 Den Schopfer ini Geschopfe ehrt." 



The European continental hunter is seldom found hunting with the 

 rifle only. He uses either the rifle-gun— Buchsflinte— or the three- 

 barreled gun— Drilling. If he does employ the rifle only, he favors 

 the double rifle, a.very neat, well balanced and light weapon. He does 

 not want to carry more weight than he can help, and on this account 

 rarely uses a larger caliber than one equal to about our .45cal. This 

 amply efficient, too, for all kinds of game found on the continent, and 

 even a smaller bullet, one corresponding with our .38 long, will develop 

 a pretty good killing power. 



A smaller bullet should, however, not be used for hunting deer or 

 other game larger than a roebuck, which is smaller than our Virginia 

 deer. This opinion, I fear, will not be quite in accord with the views 

 of some of our hunters, of whom perhaps a number will prefer a larger 

 bullet than .45, and others again will claim that a smaller bullet than 

 .38 will be just as efficient as the bullets of the larger caliber. These 

 sportsmen may again pror ounce my assertions as the doctrine of a 

 student, the same as my comments on the killing effect of shot were 

 at the time classified as a purely theoretical opinion— the belief of a 

 student. When I asked the gentleman who made such remarks, where 

 he had gathered his practical experience, he proudly replied, "Princi- 

 pally at the trap in killing live pigeons and in shooting a few quail and 

 partridge." I smiled, because I can modestly claim a better practical 

 experience in the premises. I have killed with the shotgun all feath- 

 ered game from the bustard down to the smallest species of snipe, and 

 hairea game from the wild boar down to the rabbit, and I have often 

 been one of the shooters when as many as 1,300 hares were killed in 

 one day. , 



I command a little practical experience in using the rifle for game 

 hunting also, and I have learned a great deal from the experience of 

 men who have killed over 1,000 roebucks and hundreds of stags and 

 wild boars with the rifle. They agree with me that a smaller caliber 

 than .38 should not be employed. "But," I hear some of our hunters 

 say, "have we not read recently that some fellow killed an antelope at 

 a distance of 303yds. with a .22cal. cartridge? How can Mr. Tenner 

 account for this fact?" I confess that I cannot account for such a 

 phenomenon. It was a chance shot in the full and extreme sense of 

 the word, and I have my own opinion whether the distance was meas- 

 ured correctly or not. I venture to say that the same party could not 

 repeat the trick once out of 1,000 shots. I certainly envy the gentleman 

 for his visionary power. Most men cannot take a good aim at antelope 

 at such a distance, I for one certainly not. 



Coming back to the express rifle I beg to say that the difference in 

 the twist between the former and the American rifles may affect the 

 accuracy of shooting especially at long ranges, but I hardly think that 

 this difference will have much of a bearing upon the penetrative 



P °ThB penetrative or killing power is governed by the velocity, the 

 former represents the square of the latter. Velocity is life force, and 

 this again requires a certain amount of energy and depends on the 

 powder charge. To throw a bullet of a certain weight a certain dis- 

 tance necessarily requires a corresponding propelling force, and this 

 force again is governed by the powder charge. 

 The extent of the work performed by a projectile is equal to half of 

 P " 



the mass M = -r- of its body in the square of its velocity, namely: 

 b 



2b 



Extensive tests have shown that the best results are obtained from 

 a load in the proportion of about 1 to 5, i. e., where the powder charge 

 represents about the fifth part in weight of the bullet. Of course this 

 rule does noL apply to the nitro powders, which, however, thus far 

 are very little employed for rifle ammunition in this country. But the 

 smokeless powders will eventually come into use too for the rifle. 

 Their advantages over black powder are even more marked in the 

 rifle than in the shotgun. 



But no nitro gunpowder is adapted for and can be used in the rifle. 

 The smokeless rifle powders must be especially made for the purpose. 

 As a rule thev, like the gunpowders, require a special primer, aud 

 they can seldom be loaded bulk for bulk with black powder, but I pre- 

 sume nitro powders answering this condition will soon be in the 

 market. It is, in my experience, much leas difficult to establish the 



suitable nitro powder charge for rifles of the calibers below .45, than 

 for those above. 



The smokeless rifle powders, as such, compare favorably with black 

 powder both in point of penetration and accuracy. But I caution the 

 riflemen against all attempts to find for thems' Ives the proper charge 

 of a nitro powder for the rifle. They may find such an undertaking 

 not only a very difficult, but also an extremely perilous task. There 

 is one requirement connected with the use of nitro rifle powders to 

 which I call attention. The rifle must be carefully cleaned within 24 

 hours after use. And in conclusion, I may add that the rifle powder 

 adapted for the small bore military rifles and the nickel or steel 

 shielded projectiles cannot be employed in the regular sporting or 

 target rifles. 



Lady Miller Club. 



The Lady Miller Rifle Club, of Hoboken, seems to be making good 

 progress both in rifle practice and in increase in its membership. At 

 the last meeting on March 5 four new members were added to the 

 roll. In the competition for class medals the following scores were 

 made, off-hand: Miss M. Miller 229, first medal; Mrs. D. Miller 210, 

 second medal; Mrs. Volk 216, third medal; Mrs. Meyns 223, Mrs, 

 Ahrent 205, Miss Begerow 204, Miss Saunders 202, Mrs. Stadler 208, > 

 Mrs. Fisher 206, Miss Mannheim 202. Stein 204, Miss Gerhard 201. 



Muzzle rest: Miss Olaussen 233, Mrs. Webb 218. 



Greenville Rifle Club. 



The weekly gallery shoot of the Greenville Club on Friday night of 

 last week brought 18 members together in competition for the club 

 prizes M Dorrler made the highest score of the night, his total being 

 248 Geo. Purkess was second with 242, W. C. Collins third with 289.. 

 Scores- Collins 239, Graef 211, Lutz 331, C. Boag 238, J. Boag 237, Hill 

 231 F. Wuestner 196, E. Wuestner 213, Daniels 20S, Robidoux235, Schee- 

 line 237 Purkess 242, Charlock 218, Holzapfel 225, Dorrler 248, Spahn 

 235, Plaisted 237, Dodds 236. 



PIASA ROD AND RIFLE CLUB,; 



