408 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[Not. 21, 1896. 
nine cases out of ten by men who aim to kill, imagining 
that they are shooting at four-footed game. 
These newspaper alarmists gravely aflBrm that the 
range (and when they say range they apparently refer to 
point blank range) of the small-bore smokeless powder 
rifles is four and a half miles. 
As a matter of fact the extreme range is about 
4,000yds,, or two and one-third miles. This great range, 
however, is only obtained by elevating the muzzle of the 
rifle at an angle of 45"; and owing to the resistance of the 
atmosphere and light weight of the bullet, which soon 
loses its velocity, the bullet strikes the ground almost 
vertically, the fall being much more rapid at the latter 
part of its trajectory than at the start. It then has a 
striking force about equal to that of a spent bullet fired 
by a .33-20 rifle, which is very trifling. 
But as a matter of fact very little big game is shot at in 
trees or on any rise that would necessitate such an eleva- 
tion, and firing point blank over level ground without 
obstructions the bullet would not be apt to go more than 
BOOyds. Accordingly the statements of Mr. Johnson and 
W. W. Leonard (I wonder if he ia the man of the bullet- 
proof coat) that there is danger to human life at a dis- 
tance of three miles from the firing point is unqualifiedly 
absurd; as absurd, in fact, as if they should assert that 
the guns with steel-jacketed bullets — which, by the way, 
are of no earthly use for hunting — would shoot through 
three miles of standing timber. And some of their re- 
marks seem to admit of such a construction. 
Steel- jacketed buUets should never be used in hunting, 
in the first place because they do not have the stopping 
powers of the soft-nosed bullets except within limitations; 
and also because in a flat, open country, such as some of 
the antelope ranges, they would ricochet and would ac- 
tually prove dangerous. The lead soft-nosed bullet ia not 
open to this objection, and in a wooded country neither 
bullet will go a rod further than the ordinary bullets fired 
by ordinary hunting rifles. 
Aside from antelope, there is practically no game in the 
tJnited States to-day that is commonly hunted with rifles 
in a flat, open country. 
In a mountainous country bullets are stopped by the 
ground within very short distances of the game at which 
they were fired, And similarly in a wooded country the 
flight of the bullet is checked by the trees around or be- 
hind the game. When shooting in a wooded country I 
have sometimes hunted up my bullets for one reason or 
another, and I always found them within a few rods of 
the point where the game stood. Of course there are 
cases where bullets will travel long distances without 
bringing up, as along lakes or streams; but a stray buUet 
has a big piece of the atmosphere in which to seek a rest- 
ing spot, and the chances are that it will not find a place 
in a human being. Just for the sake of theorizing a little, 
there are about 28,000,000 square feet in a square mile, 
and the chances of a bullet fired at random by a man 
within that square mUe hitting another man situated say 
half a mile from him are proportionately infinitesimal. 
Any kind of gun is dangerous under certain conditions. 
Rifles are not adapted for hunting near cities. Where 
large game is killed, however, they become a necessity. 
Here the smokeless powder rifle has its proper sphere, and 
its use is not to be condemned simply because it has a flatter 
trajectory than the black powder guns, and a greater 
striking powtr than any other gun of similar caliber. 
The small-bore smokeless powder rifle has decided ad- 
vantages in several respects ovet any of the black powder 
rifles. Some of these advantages, such as freedom from 
smoke and fouling, and flatness of trajectory, are well 
known and admitted. Some of the more important 
?oints of superiority are, however, frequently overlooked, 
he two distinctive advantages possessed by this class of 
weapon are, first, the high velocity secured at ordinary 
hunting ranges, and secondly the greatly reduced recoil. 
The first of these permits the use of a much smaller 
bullet for effective killing of game, and the second the 
use of a lighter gun. Weight of metal is no longer neces- 
sary, as it is in black powder rifles, to compensate for the 
excessive recoil of a charge sufllcient to kill big game. 
As an instance in point it may be stated that I shoot a 
.30 80 smokeless weighing but 61bs., which has not one- 
quarter the recoil of my last black powder rifle, a .40-82 
weighing ^Iha. I not only save a great deal in the mat- 
ter of weight, having a gun easier to carry and easier to 
shoot where quick shots are necessary, but I also can 
kill cleaner with it because I am not afraid the tang sight 
will take out one of my eyes at the moment of recoil. I 
have never shot more than 90grs. of black powder, and I 
have no wish to try 140, which some of the black powder 
exponents seem to think necessary. 
To return to the first point, namely, that the high 
velocity of the full-strength smokeless powder permits 
the use of a smaller bullet than can be effectively used 
with black powder. The stopping power of a bullet de- 
pends to a considerable degree upon its velocity. A .23 
short will frequently pass through a squirrel without kill- 
ing it. The .22 long rifle, however, with increased veloc- 
ity, kills cleanly in most cases. 
Take all the powder but a few grains out of a .45 90 
shell and shoot a partridge with it. The bird will not be 
torr ; but shoot the same bird with the standard cartridge 
and little will remain besides the feathers. Of course 
these are rudimentary principles, and every rifleman 
knows them. 
Now turn to the .30cal, rifle. Load the shell with black 
powder and the steel bullet, and try the result. The effect 
will be less than if a ,33-40 black powder rifle was used. 
Replace the black powder with the regular smokeless load, 
which doubles the velocity, still using the steel bullet. At 
short ranges, if bones or anything offering great resist- 
ance are struck, the effect will be exactly as if an explosive 
ball had been used, and the wound will be a shocking one. 
When the Cubans were using similar ammunition at short 
rang© the Spaniards thought they were firing balls filled 
with fulminate, and their surgeons reported that they 
had never seen such wounds. 
But try the steel bullet at longer ranges, where it has 
lost something of its initial velocity and settled to a regu- 
lar flight without the buzz-saw motion that it first pos- 
sessed, and the small, cleanly punched holes so frequently 
mentioned will result. 
Nl>w make a still further change. Load the ammuni- 
tion with a soft-nosed bullet, in which the steel jacket 
covers not more at most than that part of the bullet where 
it bears on the rifling, and try the effect. This ball expands 
when it first strikes the game, and imparts to what is hit 
the whole force of the tremendous velocity behind it as 
well as its tremendous rotary force. The bullet where 
it passes out on the other side frequently makes a hole 
that a man could put his band and arm in. As Ira Dodge 
expresses it, when the inwards are taken out of an animal 
struck by this bullet "you can see daylight through." 
One reason why we see so many conflicting statements 
about these small bores is that unsuitable bullets have been 
used. Frequently steel bullets have been tried, with the 
result that little shock was imparted in most cases, while 
once in a while a terrible wound would result. (These 
latter were always at short ranges.) Later, before our 
own cartridge companies began loading the ammunition 
on a large scale, cartridges used on tough-skinned animals 
in India or Africa were tried. These had a hollow in the 
front end filled with wax, and were not suitable for our 
game because they passed through too easily and required 
too much to make them expand. 
The ammunition as loaded by our American companies 
at present seems to have obviated this difficulty so that 
the great velocity of the bullet's flight is fully utilized, 
and imparts a shock to the game that is hit fully as great 
as most of the black powder hunting rifles now in use, 
I would not have taken up so much space in writing 
about this matter but for the fact that I see so much 
plausible nonsense printed on the other side of the ques- 
tion, apparently written by men who never saw one of the 
guns they condemn. 
Take, for instance, the case where a correspondent 
argued that the rifle lacked accuracy. He based his 
statements on the tests of the New York Board for the 
Selection of a Militia Arm, and gravely quoted results 
obtained on the target in a test of rapidity of fire, as 
though they had been made for accuracy. His deductions 
from his false premises were that the gun was inferior in 
the point of accuracy to any black powder rifle. Later 
he must have discovered his mistake, for one of the rifles 
criticised won an unusual showing of prizes at Sea Girt 
in competition with black powder rifles fired by some of 
the finest marksmen in the country, but he failed to come 
to the scratch and acknowledge his mistake. 
There are undoubtedly better hunting rifles for certain 
uses than the new small bores, and guns that will kill 
more surely, but for a gun that I am willing to carry and 
shoot the .SOcal. is away ahead of anything I have seen, 
J. B. B. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
In your last issue I notice a statement signed .44, toward 
the close of which the writer afiirms that the modern 
small-bore smokeless powder rifle is n. g. for game shoot- 
ing. In support of his theory he says that Gen. Flagler 
in the ordnance report shows that the steel- jacketed bul- 
let has no stopping power as compared with the .45cal. 
Springfield rifle, and that the soft-nosed bullet lacks ac- 
curacy. Therefore, the writer argues, the gun is not a 
desirable hunting weapon, lacking the deadliness of the 
larger caliber?. 
Judging from these remarks, it is safe to assume that 
the writer has not seen Gen. Flagler's report, but bases 
his remarks upon some newspaper summary. He falls 
into the error, which is common with those who have 
had no practical experience with the arm in question, of 
assuming that because the rifle with steel-jacketed bul- 
let lacks stopping power at long ranges, this also ap- 
plies to short ranges, including the distances at which 
game is commonly killed. In this he is mistaken, for 
Gen. Flagler expressly acknowledges the great tearing 
qualities of this bullet at short ranges, specifically men- 
tioning its well-known "explosive effects." It is only at 
mid range and long distance shooting, which in the army 
means a great deal more than the same terms applied to 
the hunting world, that the cartridge and weapon are 
found to lack stopping power. And it was for these 
ranges that the army experiments with soft-nosed buUets 
were made. The half mantled bullets were found to 
have ample stopping power at any range, but conversely 
they lacked penetratiou, and were useless for dislodging 
troops behind fortifications, and for this reason it was 
deemed better to stick to the full mantled bullet as the 
standard for service ammunition. 
Thus it becomes evident that what is in reality a strong 
argument in favor of the use of the small-bore smokeless 
powder rifles for hunting has been perverted to do duty 
for the other side of the argument. 
The fact of the matter is that these small bores, with 
the soft-nosed bullets — for no one who hunts thinks of 
using the steel bullets — have a stopping power sufficient 
for any game on the continent, and tear worse than the 
larger calibers. It is easy enough to argue theoretically 
that they are all wrong, but I have noticed that men who 
take this side of the argument generally change their 
opinions when they actually come to use the gun. 
.30-30. 
The Bowley's Quarter Pheasant Poisoner. 
Baltimoke, Nov. 20.— Editor Forest and Stream: It 
will no doubt be interesting to the many readers of the 
Forest and Stkbam to know that James T. Butler, 
charged with poisoning 3,000 English pheasants at Bow- 
ley's Quarter Backing Club, was pronounced guilty and 
sentenced by Judge Burke, of the Circuit Court of Balti- 
more county, to three years in the House of Correction. 
House of Correction sounds rather mild for so diabolical 
a crime. Let me say to the readers of the Fokest and 
Stream that the House of Correction is the most despised 
prison we have in Maryland, not excepting the Peniten- 
tiary. The treatment is just as severe as in the Peniten- 
tiary, and the prisoners are made to work, Under the 
statutes of Maryland Butler could only be tried for cruelty 
to animals, which is a misdemeanor. Judge Burke im- 
posed the severest penalty that could be imposed. 
George W. Massamore, 
Sec'y-Treas. Maryland G. and F. P. A. 
To Whom Does the Guide's Game Belong? 
Utica, N. Y. — It has been my experience in shooting 
with guides that they considered the game shot as the 
property of the employer. But some guides I know have 
two prices for their services. For one price you have all the 
game shot and for the other you only have what you 
yourself shoot. If this fact is thoroughly understood 
when you start out, it makes little difference which plan 
you follow; in either case you are not apt to get too much 
game. Moderation. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
In Old Mississippi. 
Chicago, 111., Nov. 6.— Years ago, when I was just 
starting out in life, I was taught that it was one of the 
duties of a gentleman never to use in any public way in- 
formation which he received in his private correspond- 
ence. Some years since, however, I gave up the business 
of being a gentleman, because I found there was nothing 
in it, and since then as a newspaper man I have used in- 
formation whenever I got hold of it, this being as I under- 
stand it a very cheerful and pleasant way all around, 
especially since it is all in the Forest and Stream family, 
where there are no secrets. These words of apology I do 
not consider strictly necessary as prelude to a good slice 
stolen out of a letter from Mr. T. A. Divine, of Memphis. 
Should he object he must remember that to be great is t6 
be public. It seems that Mr. Divine made a visit to his 
old friend, Capt. Bobo, the bear hunter, and in the 
absence of the owner went wandering over the place as is 
the custom of the land. He says: 
"I got to thinking that it was on the 25th day of Octo- 
ber, 1883, that I met Bobo for the first time, within 
200yds. of where his house is now located. I was with 
an engineering party who were then locating the present 
Mississippi Valley R. R. Like all good railroad men, we 
were keeping the Sabbath, when Bobo rode up on a little 
country-raised horse, with a bear's leg dangling down on 
either side of his flank. He deposited the bear in our 
camp, and we sat there together. That was the begin- 
ning of the acquaintance of Bobo and Divine, and as I 
walked over these grounds and looked at the acres in cul- 
tivation I couldn't help noting the difference between 
the present picture and the picture as it was shown to me 
on that same day nearly fourteen years ago. Where I 
was walking on that glad October day was a dense 
thicket of vines and cane, and struggling up through this 
the most magnificent gum, ash and hickory man ever 
looked upon. Under this grew grapevines and musca- 
dime vines festooned from tree to tree. There was no 
sound save the woodpecker's tune on the dead limb above 
us, and the sigh of the great swamp. To-day these trees 
and vines have all gone, and in their stead is growing the 
most magnificent com, cotton, potatoes, barley, rye and 
wheat that one ever saw, 
"I stood on the eastern end of his house and gave one 
blast of the horn, and Jas. Fitz. James may not have 
been more surprised at the response which greeted the 
whistle of Bob Roy than I was when from the gardens 
came and greeted me about 100 tried and true bear dogs. 
This was a singular picture; the garden overgrown 
with beautiful roses, neglected so much as to leave the 
ground covered with soft grass, in which the hounds 
were lazily enjoying themselves, waiting for the sound 
of the horn they know so well. 
"Bobo returned at night and we talked over the vari- 
ous things of our lives, the many changes that had taken 
place, and spoke particularly of you and Money. You 
know, Noel Money sent Bobo several fine English iiounds. 
Among the lot were some young puppies, two of which 
died before they were christened. The others' names 
were respectively Hough, Money, Foster and Divine. 
Daar me! I wish you could see Hough and Fosterl They 
may be fine hounds, but they are the sorriest looking 
ones I ever saw; and somehow I consoled myself with 
the fact that the one named for me had died, and I feel 
sure that Money will be glad to know that the one which 
was named for him went mad and had to be killed. 
Foster, like the man he was named for, seems to be will- 
ing t)0 do a great deal of sleeping, and when he was 
called up by the blast of the horn he put down one leg 
and carried three, or tried to do it. Bobo says that 
Hough is a very fine dogl The following dogs of this 
pack which you knew are still there: Bad Eye, Good 
Boy, Ball, Jolly, Fly, Ronco, Dan, Dollar, Ben and Al- 
corn. Strange to say, Alcorn's jaw is entirely well and 
he is able to go in the ohase as good as ever. In fact, in 
a big bear fight which they had last week, where they 
killed a 400-lb. bear, Bobo tells me that Alcorn showed 
himself to be as good as ever he was in his life. (Alcorn 
is the dog that had his jaw shot off last year in our bear 
hunt) 
" 'Bill Bobo,' our colored hunter, is here. Bill has more 
clothes than a New York dude, of various colors and fit, 
because they comprise a part of yours, mine and Money's 
wardrobes. The next morning Bobo and myself con- 
cluded to have a little di'ive for deer, and as I was not 
prepared with hunting clothes, I asked Bill if he couldn't 
fix me up. He said he had a pair of breeches belonging 
to Mr. Money, I said, 'Well, Money's pants fit me*exactly, 
except the legs are too long,' He said, 'By Gad, sir, they 
are knee breeches.' I told him to bring them in, and 
they were fine white English corduroy knee pants, that 
fitted me to a T, full length, and Bob Bobo was unkind 
enough to say to Bill, 'Negro, you had better watch your 
pants or that fellow will take them home with him,' and 
Bill laughed his great horse laugh and said, 'That's what 
they said he wanted to do with Mr. Money's buckskin 
pants.' 
"All this comes, you know, from bad association. In 
fact, between you and Money, I have very little reputa- 
tion for veracity left; but thank God! there are millions 
of people who do not read your articles and do not follow 
your footsteps, 
"James Whitcomb Riley makes one of his characters 
somewhere say, 'I just like to go in the kitchen and sit 
by the fire and see them make batter cakes, like your 
mother used to make them — it rests you sol' That thing 
kept running through my head all day. 'Great God, we 
thank Thee for this beauteous land, this birthright of the 
free,' where we can just go right out in the country, sit 
on the kitchen stool and watch Lula make cakes, and 
Lord I how it rests you, how it rests the heart, after the 
cramped streets of the city. Your heart throbs with a 
new vigor, and your mind is fresh. Excuse me, I am only 
trying to make you feel badly. 
"Come and see us. We are with you, like all true Mis- 
sissippians, whether you are right or wrong, and I want 
to say that if you do not come to Bobo's this fall you are 
an ingrate of ingrates. Come down here in December, 
and we will go up to Dr. Taylor's and shoot a day or two, 
and then go to Bobo's and kill a bear. Easy, nice work, 
and the music of the hounds will make you a young boy 
again. 
"Irby Bennett will be here Sunday. On the 20th he 
leaves for New Haven for good. Too bad! I am ruined. 
Such a companion I will never have again. 
