354 
F O R E S T A X D S T R E A M 
July, 1919 
I N the good old days be- 
fore the War, when men 
shot game instead of ene- 
mies, American sportsmen 
swore by the B.SA. rifle. 
The unique B.S.A. “Lever 
cocked” air rifle and the 
B.S.A. JZ2 calibre target 
and sporting rifles, famed 
for their intense accuracy, 
were particularly favored 
by American rifle connoi- 
seurs. 
Write for further infor- 
mation and riHe booklets 
sent free upon request. 
THE BIRMINGHAM SMALL 
ARMS COMPANY, LIMITED 
Dept. 20, Bimungham, England 
During the War one great Amer- 
ican munition maker used 
B.S.A. .22 rifles exclusively in 
testing daily output. 
The War enhanced the already 
splendid reputation of theB.S. A. 
for reliability, accuracy and pow- 
er (when power was wanted). 
Millions of B.S.A. rifles were 
made for Allied land, sea suid 
air forces. 
It was the amazing B.S.A. ex- 
perimental work and machining 
skill which made the Lewis 
machine gun the wonderhd 
weapon it turned out to be. 
The B.S.A. of today is the re- 
sult of all the years endeavor 
that have gone before, and first 
fmits of gruelling tests of the 
great War. See our announce- 
ment next month. 
1 
J.KANNOFSKYci:::tot, 
and manufacturer of artificial eyes for birds, ani- 
mals and manufacturing purposes a specialty. 
Send for prices. All kinds of beads and skulls 
for furriers and taxidermists. 
363 CANAL STREET NEW YORK 
Please mention “Forest and Stream" 
ACCURATE 
SHOOTERS SUPPLIES 
T. T. Pierce 
Arms and Ammunit on Exnert 
253 W. 34th St.. New York Ci^ 
GUNS 
AMMUNITION 
GUN WORK 
SHOT GUN EVOLUTION 
THE GUN OF TODAY STILL LEAVES MUCH TO BE DESIRED 
FROM THE STANDPOINT OF CONVENIENCE AND HANDINESS 
By E. NEWITT 
HILE the rifle has 
been greatly improved 
in every feature which 
makes for power and 
efficiency, is it a just- 
ifiable reflection upon 
the ability of our bal- 
listicians or upon the 
progressiveness of our 
firearms industry that 
the shotgun remains 
very much where it 
was forty years ago? 
The mechanic, it is true, has applied 
breech-loading in single, repeating and 
automatic forms, and smokeless powder 
in many varieties has been adapted to 
shotguns, but can it be said that any- 
thing has been done in any way to adapt 
the gun to these newer propellants, with 
the definite purpose of realizing all the 
possibilities smokeless powders offer? 
From the first, smokeless powders, to 
use an untechnical expression, were 
stronger, and hence could have been made 
to generate the same energy as a charge 
of blackpowder, while occupying consid- 
erably less space, but, as it was too much 
to expect gun makers to alter stabilized 
chamber dimensions to accommodate a 
newcomer with a reputation still to make, 
the powder maker had no alternative but 
to accommodate his powder to the gun, 
which was done by bulking it with some 
inert component which did little more 
than fill space. 
But smokeless powders, in many forms, 
with many virtues, have now been with 
us for nearly 40 years. Their reputation 
is established to a point which has dis- 
placed the use of black gunpowder in 
some countries entirely and seriously 
shaken its pre-eminent position in this, 
and no doubts remain as to the per- 
manence of its position among the util- 
ities of the age. 
Save for the purpose of filling the 
space in a gun chamber, designed for an 
entirely different powder, there has never 
been any necessity for one-third to one- 
half of the bulk of most smokeless pow- 
ders. Condensed smokeless shotgun pow- 
ders, of which Ballistite is one example, 
have indeed also been evolved, and sim- 
ilarly established a reputation which in- 
sures their continued existence. These, 
needless to say, also demand the aid of 
space fillers in the cartridge to accom- 
plish the same purpose as that effected 
by inert material incorporated into the 
bulk powders, hence the necessity for 
special shells with coned base wads, ex- 
tra wads between powder and shot and 
such like expedients which do much to 
discount the many advantages these con- 
densed powders otherwise possess. 
It is perfectly obvious that with pow- 
ders available which, while occupying 
much less space will generate all the 
energy requisite it is equally possible to 
diminish the external as the internal 
dimensions of the cartridge, provided we 
are prepared to diminish our gun cham- 
ber dimensions as well, and it may easily 
be shown that there are sound reasons 
for considering an evolution such as this. 
The nature and construction of the 
double-barrel gun not lending itself to 
American interchangeable, high - speed 
machine production. United States manu- 
facturers have in the last 20 years or 
so evolved the repeating or pump gun, 
and later, the automatic repeater. 
In view of the diameter and length of 
existing cartridges the length of travel 
of the repeating mechanism renders un- 
avoidable a gun of dimensions which ad- 
mittedly leave much to be desired in 
point of convenience and handiness. To 
this is doubtless due the recurring de- 
mand for 20-bore guns, though it may 
be questioned whether sportsmen have 
correctly expressed their wants or gun- 
makers have correctly interpreted them. 
Sportsmen want a lighter, handier gun 
and not unnaturally azk for the only 
lighter and handier gun of which they 
have knowledge, but in interpreting this 
demand it behooves the maker to consider 
whether this want will be met by any 
gun having materially less shooting po- 
tentialities than a 12-bore. Moreover, 
the length of the 20-bore cartridge is 
the same as that of the 12 and 16-bore, 
and therefore promises little ameliora- 
tion of the difficulty, incidental to the 
length of travel, of the repeating me- 
chanism necessary to handle it. 
The capabilities of a 20-bore are, de- 
spite the asseverations of its votaries, 
not adequate to the general requirements 
of the average sportsman, hence a de- 
mand sufficient to reward the enterprise 
of producing a 20-bore in any shape or 
form is not in the writer’s opinion at 
all likely to materialize. 
Nevertheless, the demand for a lighter, 
handier gun is perfectly legitimate and 
may be adequately met if gunmakers are 
prepared to approach this novel problem 
as one to be solved only by an evolution, 
which in fact is already long overdue. 
Considering it from the sportsman’s 
standpoint and handling it after the 
manner of the modern ballistic engineer 
we first inquire what is the smallest shot 
charge adequate to general sporting re- 
quirements. The consensus of opinion, 
supported by many experiments at the 
pattern plate, tend to show that one 
ounce of shot will cover sufficient area at 
sufficient density to kill most of the 
winged game of America, while embrac- 
ing the shooting errors of the average 
sportsman. It is well known to ballis- 
ticians that a particular weight of shot 
is more efficiently handled by one par- 
ticular calibre than by any other ; experi- 
ments conducted by the writer proved 
that a calibre of .69 (a 12-borc is .726 
and a 16-bore is .671) gives better dis- 
tribution of a one-ounce charge than any 
other calibre which has been produced. 
(continued on p.age 373) 
