502 
Forest and Stream 
*^Take any one but that, 
Jim — that^s my FOX.** 
D ON’T blame you in the least for 
picking it out — I’d have done the 
same. But I’m going to be selfish 
enough to keep the FOX for myself. 
Hope you won’t mind-take your pick 
of any of the others.” 
"No need to apologize, Bob— I know 
just how you feel, I feel the same way 
about my FOX — certainly would have 
brought it along if I’d known there 
was a chance to do some shooting.’* 
Gun lovers place the FOX in a class 
by itself. It’s the one possession they 
don’t care to part with — even tem- 
porarily. 
FOX GUNS are madeby truecrafts- 
men whose task means infinitely 
more to them than a mere’means of 
gaining a livelihood. Into the making 
of each FOX enters some part of the 
heart and soul of those who fashion 
it. Love of work, pride of reputation, 
and long years of experience guard 
the perfection of every FOX. 
Our catalogue explains the details 
of FOX construction, with much 
otherinformation valuable to every 
gunner. "Write today for your copy, 
orgetitfromthe nearest FOXdealer. 
The lock mechanism oi the Fox Gun 
5s the simplest and strongest known. 
The hammer strikes the primer direct, 
eliminating the usual delicate, trouble- 
some firing pin. Made heavier where 
the greatest strain comes — unbreakable. 
Only Three 
Working 
Parts 
The mainspring is made of the finest 
pjano wire, carefully tempered and 
tested. It is permanently guaranteed 
against breakage. 
The sear is made of special drop- 
forged steel. It will withstand long, 
hard service, always giving uniform 
results. All parts are guaranteed; 
should a defect be found at any time, 
replacement will be made gratis, 
A. H. FOX GUN CO. 
4674 North 18th Street 
PHILADELPHIA 
SHOTGUN DEVELOPMENT 
MODERN SCIENCE HAS DISPELLED MUCH OF 
THE MYSTERY THAT USED TO SURROUND IT 
By E. NEWITT 
T would seem that, 
since the days when 
sportsmen put 2 oz. 
of shot into a 24 
gauge, measured 
loads by the clay pipe- 
ful, punched wads 
from old hats, and 
seriously prescribed 
the admixture of 
onions with powder as 
a means of strength- 
ening it, science has 
bereft the shotgun of much of the mys- 
tery with which our forefathers sur- 
rounded it; but tradition dies hard 
nevertheless. Not a few to-day retain 
profound faith in the special virtues at- 
tached to an extra inch or two of barrel 
length, a particular size or charge of 
pellets, a grain or so more or less of 
powder; while guns are spoken of as 
“hard hitting” and said to give extra 
penetration as a function pertaining to 
some feature in the gun rather than the 
size and velocity of the pellets. 
I T was the writer’s fortune or misfor- 
tune to have had a technical educa- 
tion. To him the gun was but the first 
of many types of internal combustion or 
thermo dynamic engines, which have 
found their latest expression in the gaso- 
line engine, and viewed from this stand- 
point the veil of mystery falls, and many 
things appear in another light. The en- 
ergy generated in any other engine is 
transmitted to the point at which it is 
utilized by means of shafts, belts, chains 
or some kindred connecting medium. 
With a firearm it is otherwise. The 
transmission medium is a projectile or 
plurality of projectiles, as the patent 
lawyer would say, directed towards the 
point always more or less distant, at 
which it is utilized by a barrel pointed 
by human agency, and whether it is 
utilized or not as intended depends upon 
the projectile and objective intersecting 
the same path at the same point simul- 
taneously. 
Such highbrow language is pretty 
heavy stuff with which to describe the 
simple function of shooting and hitting, 
but it sets us thinking differently and has 
its uses. 
It is open to us to utilize the energy 
we generate in a gun in two dimensions — 
length and breadth. With a rifled gun 
we concentrate it into one projectile and 
get length of range, but small striking 
area; with a shotgun we divide it 
amongst some hundreds of projectiles 
and get breadth of range or large strik- 
ing area, at the sacrifice of length. Both 
have, their uses; both are, within limits, 
under control, and upon our own choice 
^^•lll much depend the efficiency of the 
gun for the purpose to which it is ap- 
plied. 
Where range is long and striking 
area small the importance of the barrel 
as the directing medium of the projectile 
is paramount; even then so many cir- 
cumstances combine to influence the 
flight of a bullet that when fired under 
natural conditions the distance at which 
hitting is reasonably practicable is rarely 
one-tenth of the distance the bullet will 
carry. With the shotgun the problem of 
hitting is, if possible, more intricate, in- 
asmuch as the objective is always, or 
almost always, in rapid motion. The 
barrel in this case, while serving- as a 
directing medium, is also charged with 
the function of regulating the breadth of 
the range or area of distribution. 
The general tendency of a charge of 
pellets is to spread laterally and string 
out longitudinally, and most pellets re- 
tain sufficient velocity at 40 yards to have 
the striking energy necessary to kill, 
hence barrels are adjusted to concentrate 
the charge of pellets into such an area 
at 40 yards as to insure a number strik- 
ing an objective of the size for which 
shotguns are usually employed to kill . 
While there are physical limits to our 
ability to concentrate the charge, there 
are also limits imposed by consideration 
of prudence. 
A charge which opens out from about 
one inch in area at the muzzle, another 
inch for every yard it travels (we ignore 
the thinly-covered fringle of the pat- 
tern) will cover an area of 20 inches in 
diameter at 20 yards, 30 inches at 30 
yards; at the first distance with much 
more than sufficient density to kill, at 
the second with ample density; but as 
hitting is a condition precedent to killing, 
the area covered must also be sufficient 
to embrace our shooting errors, if not, 
its killing potentialities are of little 
value. 
In trap shooting the objective is dis- 
charged at prescribed angles at an even 
pace, and does not constitute nearly such 
a test of marksmanship as shooting game 
under natural conditions. Hence we 
may sacrifice some spread to getting a 
density certain to kill ; even so, it is an 
open question whether the majority of 
trap guns are not too close'}' choked. So 
evenly are the birds discharged and so 
rhythmical becomes the function of 
shooting that the average trap shooter 
breaks 90 per cent, of his birds at pre- 
cisely the same distance, careful obser- 
vation showing this to be just about 32 
yards. If his gun is choked to give a 
larger pattern at 32 yards it would still 
be dense enough to insure a kill and 
allow so much more scope for shooting 
errors. 
I N game shooting under natural con- 
ditions, where distance may be tlie 
limit, angles and speed anything, a much 
greater premium is put on marksmaji- 
ship, and the largest pattern consistent 
(Continued on page 522) 
In virWng to AAvertiaers mention Forest and Stream It vnJl identxfy you. 
