November, 1921 
and the 22 Special rim-fire cartridges 
(22-7-45) would give all the necessary 
range and killing power. 
T HE best cartridges for accurate 
shooting are those having bullets 
with ogival or modified ogival points. 
Express, or hollow - point bullets, are 
never so accurate as those with solid 
heads. Bullets with 
flattened points, like 
the 32-20, 38-40 and 
44-40, are accurate in 
lowrpower rifles. Bul- 
lets of this style are 
necessary for use in 
repeating rifles hav- 
ing tubular magazines 
to prevent premature 
discharge on account 
of the primers and 
bullets touching as 
they lie in the maga- 
zine. 
For all-around use 
in hunting, the 30-30, 
303 Savage and 32 
Special cartridges 
rank very high. They 
have been popular for 
many years, and al- 
though a large num- 
ber of new cartridges 
have been put on the 
market since their in- 
troduction, they have 
continued to hold 
their own and are 
among the most wide- 
ly known calibers in 
use to-day. With ve- 
locities around 2,000 
feet per second and 
striking energies 
ranging from 1540 to 
1686 foot pounds, they 
can deliver a fatal 
blow to most all of the big game at 
all ordinary shooting ranges if the shots 
are well directed. These cartridges give 
the choice of an automatic, trombone 
action or a lever-action hammer or ham- 
merless repeater. By using reduced loads 
of the proper brands of smokeless pow- 
der and alloy bullets of under 150 grains 
weight, these rifles can be used very 
satisfactorily for small-game shooting. 
If the reduced loads are prepared by the 
shooter making the bullets himself and 
saving the empty shells to be used over 
again, an excellent load for shooting 
up to 300 yards can be produced at little 
expense. However, it must be remem- 
bered that any deviation from the stan- 
dard load, for which the gun is sighted, 
requires a different adjustment of the 
sights if real accurate shooting is to be 
done. 
In selecting a 22-caliber rifle it is best 
to get one that will handle the 22 long 
rifle cartridge, which is the most accurate 
of the 22 rim-fire cartridges. This load 
gives a muzzle velocity of around 1,100 
feet per second and develops a muzzle 
energy of over a hundred foot pounds, as 
against about 55 foot pounds for the 22 
short and a little over 85 for the 22 long 
cartridge. The 22 Special cartridges are 
a trifle more powerful than the 22 long 
rifle, but as they are inside lubricated 
FOREST AND STREAM 
they are much more expensive to use. 
If the shooter wishes to get the best 
results from a 22 rifle, cartridges loaded 
with black, semi-smokeless or lesmok 
powders should be used, as they are more 
powerful and more uniform in their 
shooting qualities than those loaded with 
smokeless powder. The development of 
smokeless powders has not yet reached 
a point where they are as satisfactory 
as the black or semi-smokeless powders 
for use in small rim-fire cartridges like 
the 22’s. Twenty-two-caliber rifles can 
be obtained in a greater variety of styles 
and makes than any other caliber, and 
along with the plenteous supply comes 
a conglomeration of cheap makes that 
the prospective buyer would do well in 
avoiding. 
T N selecting a rifle, a take-down gun 
*■ should in most every case be given 
preference over the solid frame arm. 
While some solid frame rifles can be 
dismounted, they are never so satisfac- 
tory for all-around use as the take-down. 
A soldier demands as near a solid one- 
piece gun as can be manufactured, as 
his weapon may be called upon to take 
the place of a club as well as a gun for 
defensive purposes, as the case may be; 
but the sportsman demands a gun that 
can be conveniently carried about, is 
easily cleaned and well balanced so that 
it can be thrown into correct position at 
the shoulder and fired with accuracy at 
a moment's notice. The take-down gun 
generally has many advantages over the 
solid frame when it comes to cleaning 
the arm after a day’s shooting. 
It is quite difficult to clean some of the 
solid frame guns on the market without 
503 
going to the trouble of dismounting them 
more or less in order to have free access 
to the enlarged shell chamber and clean 
the barrel breech. The take-down rifle 
is easily taken apart for carrying in a 
handy gun case or a trunk, a feature that 
appeals strongly to all sportsmen who 
travel any great distance to hunt. 
There are three systems generally em- 
ployed in separating 
the barrel from the 
stock of take-down 
rifles, namely, by un- 
screwing the barrel 
from the receiver, 
by disconnecting the 
stock and barrel by 
loosening a set-screw 
and by separating 
the stock and action 
from the barrel and 
receiver by means 
of a take-down screw. 
All three systems, if 
given the proper care 
and kept well oiled, 
will keep the barrel 
rigid to the frame or 
stock. 
A rifle with a round 
barrel has many 
points in its favor 
over one with an oc- 
tagon barrel. The 
octagon barrel is not 
so popular as it was 
years ago, and there 
should be little de- 
mand for an eight- 
sided gun barrel. 
Rifles of to-day de- 
pend more upon their 
streamline appear- 
ance, good balance 
and ease in handling 
than upon a bold out- 
line form that was so 
noticeable in firearms of years ago. Oc- 
tagon barrels are heavier than round bar- 
rels, and they do not add any appreciable 
strength to the barrel itself. Besides being 
more difficult to manufacture, and costing 
more, they do not possess any advantages 
over the plain and neater-looking round 
barrel. One of the common objections 
to the octagon barrel is that after the 
gun has been subjected to use the finish 
wears off along the angular corners, 
giving a reflecting surface and appear- 
ance of much use. 
Repeating rifles are generally pre- 
ferred for hunting purposes, as they give 
a reserve of extra shots in the case of 
misses or wounded game and save valu- 
able time that otherwise would be lost 
in extracting the empty shell and loading 
the gun with a fresh cartridge from the 
belt or pocket. Repeating rifles are just 
as accurate in shooting as single-shot 
rifles, and should the shooter choose, he 
can generally use his rifle as a single- 
shot by feeding it with a loaded cartridge 
each time the action is opened and thus 
save the full magazine for use in event 
of urgent need. 
There are four classes of repeating 
rifles in general use to-day: automatic, 
lever action, trombone action and bolt 
action. The lever action is the most 
( Continued on page 518) 
