368 
suddenly a ncblebuek steppe^ o ^ d gtood for a m0 ment 
right about thirty yards diet* • igbmen t. The situation 
gazing at the P art X “J Bt0 od with empty guns and our 
■was ridiculous. Th° r ® , tbe wagon some distance off. 
cartridges packed away u the eRrd> followed by the 
Suddenly theorack°*» * animal leaped into the air 
whiz of a bullet, and the Turning abouti we observed 
and fell dead m h.s tr^R { ^ frien | ,« Spoon Dl n ” pecr- 
the beaming coun “ ket As be ftppr cached us his face 
ing forth / rom . -mile of the most intense satisfaction, 
was lighted up w elongated when we informed him that 
which immediately < 310 g f ^ Nebraska game 
bi8 lucky shot was a MnouW ° f How ever, Petty 
laws, end worth to nim putting the carcass 
removed the hide, cut the heao , i gbe , „ 0n tbe 
into the w ^f-^ l “Sated?nquTries. “What have you 
way home in reply to P J. .. Sheep from a friend a 
got there, John . “e bul not very fat. 
ranch up in the coun xy. ^ 6 eV en, Rg far ^ poB . 
John sold his sheep i t n eft ching 8 the river, we crossed 
sible, on the 6*™® boat and commenced an indiscrimi- 
over to the island m a , ducks Leaving Collins and Petty 
nate slaughter, of geese an • d myse if proceeded 
iu charge of the boat H waded across to another 
up stream two ^ a flock of five ducks 
island. if'jiJSSck I killed three with three con- 
flew by, and out of thisno rifle AfU}r en]oying 
aecutive shots dur i nK which my friend Schuyler 
about two hours hunt; , d »“g pi cked up our game 
had killed two ge^ an^a ducK v ' P wbom 
and returned to nosiSaa! There was Collins in tbe 
found in a .most ouno P back upon tbo rudder- 
stern of the boa b s head wfty8 y „ 
post, and his hair ®tan g aleg and dangling in 
His feet right am waf extended in a direction 
the water, while his gu be geeQ floating off down the 
from which his hat bQw in balf _ rec lining position 
stream. Petty “ vain aUe mpt to shoot the noses off the 
amusing hl ® 9 ^ o9 gne-bottle 3 which were floating on the 
numerous c ^ a “, P ,^ d i 0 st their brilliant lustre, and the ues- 
water. f 0 r b im to endeavor to remove the head 
perate effort »t .Y^ntlles led us to suspect that the genial 
of 0U o ° f ^nt himself Rousing them from their sport, we 
John was not himsei crogsed t0 tbe main shore, and 
all tumbled into tb bome ward in the midst of 
Vliicb never ceatad unui alter we 
had reached Omaha. departure, and reached Des 
The next- morning I took my aep n i ^ received 5y tbe 
Moines, Io , w % d V‘ r ‘ n f S thflt c j t y GiviDg one exhibition here, 
Sportsmen’s Club o ^ at c ^ c h on Chicago, where, as all 
I made due J > ™ pa ^ t mor 8 had gone forth that in this metrop- 
my friends g 0 ", be slaughtered instanter. Enter- 
oils O .the W e n sl a ^ n a n 8 y l af iernoon K I registered my name at 
ing Chicago onaBuny Qnce look up my post of observa- 
the Palmer Houee sna rotunda . In a few minutes a 
tion behind apU ‘Yth ft stealthy step glides up to the register, 
man enters, and ft j B with trembling hands, his eye 
and turning over the l ng flrgt to the right then to 
lights upon mj na V ie ’ ,; OU8 i v about him, and when con- 
the left, he glaneed o^Lousiy mm ^ be made & bold 
vinced that no o big bft8te be stubbed his toe upon 
rush for the do ■ ,, Slubb » betrayed him ; for, in this 
the door sill, a ° d £rious individual, I instantly recognized 
anxious and mysten of lhe vVest r > Reaching the 
the “ Champion W^g the setliDg 8U n at the speed of 
street, he shot , be angles of his coat tails resembling 
sixty nulesanhour, the o{ « pullman . 8 botel carfl . Feeling 
SfVaRer thi“dfscomfiture of the enemy I started out on 
a ramble about town. a man employed in clean- 
Turning a corner, , 1 cam p amiliar t0 most of the world, 
ing a shot-gun, wbo‘ » fac Captain V” he looked 
Saluting b>m with How a^y , f “What 
up with a sussed ^ Mr g E. T. Martin was ah- 
d’yer soft? Ijoon w breatbed freer, for the coast was 
sent in the counoy, ® bo tel, j obtaine d a refreshing 
now clear ^timung tojjj ‘ rec ^ T ed a call from Sheri# 
night’s rest, and in the m & shooting Club of Chicago, 
Kero. Pres'^ofthe ^ ^ promine nt 
who was accompaniea y extended to me every 
men of tbe > V who d £ b ^ spi tality served to make my 
attention, and their g to be remembered. 
Ti.it to owe, editor „t tho OMoago 
b, m abeeot o„ a to 
S r„l:tesxhibiUo £ iaC S go 
1,000 spectators, and th ^ ^ k Un edilor of lh e 
was received ***£> ^sLce of Messrs. Kittridge & 
tous advertisem ° . r ’ 8tic y r i ng , ba s been widely copied, 
and PO^ p e f ad ° e f r to eidiance my financial interests and «ro- 
8 nd gone fwtber to en an f avor x bave received from 
fessional popularity : i Pacific coast. 
^P^.^L MiT^w-cordWly receiTed by Ed 
„? enCe ^d D Jotoay U Loug. witb whose assistance I shot a 
“Sc^MSitioj'm that city ^ ‘^ge ^sem. 
office of the Forest and Stbeam is luc u«. » ^ a long 
comfort, where the weary 8po F*f“ a b ’ d egt °to my many 
and tiresome journey, is certain t0 L Pacific to the At- 
friends scattered over the country from the I ac^um a ® ft j nt _ 
lantic Ocean I wish to say, do not J" 1 LSmmws. Hallock 
once of its editor and business j ' emitting at- 
^“o much toward making my 
^ testify to ffie fullest extent of my power in Iww of Uns 
remarkably perfect and complete weapon, as being abo 
nT MSW g- 
^ To e \heir a perSction in 
3ft d « jss» a ive^jM 
other rifle was ever subjected to. One case in particular I must 
mention, where I had discharged the piece m 
assails?^ xfiaaasi 
re ia b m about to publish the story of my life in boob ; form 
together with other interesting matter pertaining to rifle 
shooting, and I trust those perusing this letter, who are sen- 
ously interested in obtaining the most perfect rifle fo* use, 
wili y rend that work when published ai^learn more parUmi- 
larly of the excellent qualities of the Winchester rifle. 
Governor Winchester and his son W. W. Winchester, Esq., 
T feel very grateful for my delightlul visit .^ e 'Y,^ aven i 
To Col. Smith, President of the New Haven B\1ie Club, an id 
others I am indebted for many courtesies. To the public 
press everywhere 1 am deeply indebted for theu ' u niv ersa 
kindness and the flattering encomiums heaped upon me , 
aid I do Sot forget that much of the extreme kindness I 
have received is due to the courteous attendance of their 
reDorterial staff. I shall visit a few more of the prominent 
cities here in the East, and wind up by giving a ^a 1 exhi- 
bition in New York, upon which occasion I shall a t te “ p ^ 
to break with a Winchester rifle 5,600 glass balls in 500 
minutes being at the average rate of eleven balls per 
minute for eight hours and twenty minutes. If successful, 
f iEaU have Sn with a rifle the best shot-gun score on 
record This concluded, I shall cross the Atlantic and 
after exhibiting in Great Britain, France (the Pans Exposi- 
K Germany and perhaps other European governments, 
I shall procsecf to Africa on a hunt for large game. Thence 
^ te e; " lyi ° AugUB ^ - 
THE SPORTING RIFLE.— No. 4. 
went to Pittsburgh, Pa., and 
°n P ^iMtion' before' about 800 ex-rioters of that 
'^v ritv ThSce to the New York State Tournament at 
w d i y « where I spent three days watching the shooting. It 
.*5 h tS?toS tournament I ever witnessed, everything 
° S e in the most satisfactory manner by the 
ing conducted tlemen i n cbarge of the arrange- 
,rthy and cov ^®° b ^Semed anxious for me to shoot, 
sets. Every one 1 ^ th e proprietor of the 
d I bad consented do^ ^ ^ ^ ^ thg game {Qr two 
rk asked the sumo race-tracks, I proceeded 
urs, and as I ■’W Cleveland, Ohio, where I gave a 
tbout further delay to „ nec ; a i request journeyed to 
cce “ ful .effTa ^dYtSSSSttwi I was met 
editor of the Chronicle, and Mr. Messinger, 
Mr. McShea, editor club. I remained here 
esldent of o P r emnrk ably successful exhibitions, 
ree days, and gavel having a jolly 
ining in the general w ^tennett, the crack shot. 1 
55'd tSs'genUeman 
KoJSKSd VeS^fly tt tbe office of U,e FOB..T 
2J” li{! a man recaivea Vha true sportsman • gnp. The 
The questions of accuracy and force are, of course, the 
primary ones to be determined in selecting a rifle for shoot- 
ing game But I trust I have succeeded in showing that 
those qualities should be measured by a very different stand- 
ard for the sporting rifle from that demanded for very long 
range shooting, and that the latter does not necessarily in- 
clude the former. The powers of the long-range target rifle 
are no more needed in ordinary game shooting than those of 
o r ore-horse are needed for daily family service. 
Both dealers and purchasers of arms ought constantly to 
i° mind that the essential qualities of a rifle intended 
for shooting game are comprised in the elements represented 
hv the staSdardsI have given. Being assured of these the 
next thing in making a selection is to find the gun in which 
toev are comprisediuthe most simple and compact form 
which in all respects, including ammunition and al 
and wmen iu k ^ a endageS( mvo lves the least 
Sossiffieneclssftv of labor and care, and the least liability to 
possioie necc - frQm accident 0 r exposure. 
d X D eTa d amminUion, I greatly prefer that which I can 
nrejfato 6 for myself rather than being dependent upon 
p: rep ‘ r ® -nnile cartridges, which can be used only once. 
WiSTheTormer the hunter may cast his own bullets and 
Set bis own quality of powder, and indeed wherever 
8 e j® c iJ and lead are to be had he is as independent as 
Ff his gun was a muzzle-loader, and the expense also is 
m Ex h olosi've bullets are now sold in New York, the efficacy 
Explosive tested by very Btrong certificates. They are 
stoffiy idinwy bulleto, with a hole in the front end in which 
u toSrted a small pistol cartridge, which is exploded by 
is lnsertea a v ^ g ome ten or twelve years 
sFnceTtried some shells 3 of precisely the same kind, which 
were furnished with a large bore, Jacobs rifle, made by 
Daw of London. The bullets weighed nearly two ounces, 
nmTt’he cartridges in them were much longer and larger 
Znanvlhav! seen of the Mead patent. On firing into 
a bFock of pine timber, eight inches square, it was evident 
fhit thev exploded at the moment of impact. The block 
w£s soUt but not much shattered. The penetration was not 
more than two or three inches, and the shell was blown into 
Shapeless mass of lead. I preserved a good many speci- 
men of them, which, with a large col ection of similar 
Ss of my experiments, were destroyed in the great fire in 
Ch T?e a ut° Jam^Forsyth, of the Bengal Service, is the author 
nf^n exceedingly interesting and valuable treatise on The 
Snorting Rifle and its Projectiles,” in which the question of 
explosive shells is very fully discussed. He condemns the 
WotS shells as utterly inefficient and uncertain for sport- 
w nil rnoses and cites numerous instances of Ins own ex- 
ing p P < . 0 toers in proof of his assertions. He 
^’“u T bave fired one through a tiger at two yards’ distance 
w^hnnt anv explosion, and 1 have seen another burst on the 
Sin and fly back without penetrating an inch. E ^f n wh . e “ 
do burst in an animal, the effect is less than that of a 
Sar solid bullet, for the shell does not fly to piece®, but 
““x nnl at the tip, While, of course, its penetration is 
checked, ^and the killing effect ot a through and through 
wound is lost.” 
Finding these so unreliable, he tried a great number of 
with a bone or wooden knife. The shells preparea witn 
this mixture,” he says, “are really tremendous m the r 
effects 1 have dropped tigers over and over agam when hit 
m places where an ordinary bullet wouffi have had btUe 
no effect and I have never known an animal hit torwara in 
the body with one of these shells to leave the place after- 
M?’ Edward Stabler, of Maryland, a veteran sportsman of 
84 and a man of great scientific attamtmeDts, writes me a 
very 'interesting lefter in. reply to my inquiry relate g to his 
nxnerience with these missiles. He says : 1 have usea ex 
nlosive shells on my hunting excursions for som « y e " 8 - 
even before the Mead patent, on deer and other game, and 
8 Ub, Tl lj f ° n J 
when 8 ! prepared them for myself, and exploding within the 
hndv of the animal usually disables it; but in no instance, I 
in the body, and tn one or two cases have known antelopes 
to run half a mile and lie down, then start again and 1 require 
o ^run down with a horac. The stall explodes oq «nt 
ing, and I have seen them strike and heard them explode m 
long-range shaoting on the plains. _ QO » na Tf used in the 
“1 do not now use them, for several reasons. If used in tnc 
brush and they strike a twig, they explode, and your shot 
Xst. On the open ground they answer better but when 
oxnloded in the body, the entrails are 90 cut up that h dis- 
S in7 mass of matter is the result. I should consider my- 
feff better prepared against an attack from a d«m«rou8 or 
wounded animal by my hard point or hardened lead bullets, 
whether using a 4-10 or a 5-10 calibre, than to use explosive 
Juliets of same calibre, the penetration being three or four 
times greater. This was proved to my entire satisfaction 
^ihile experimenting with both on the plains While the 
shell would explode on striking, and always at the sutface, 
f har d point bullets would pass quite through both 
shoulders, ^bonea and all, of a bufialo bull at three or four 
hU “T wouldno't use the explosive bullets in a magazine or re- 
seating rifle for fear of accident. I have six repeating 
Fifles two each of three models. In four of them the 
cartridges press on each other in the magazine, as in the 
Soencer and Winchester rifles, and in these I do not think it 
safe to use explosive^ shells, unless loaded singly by hand 
for each shot. I know they may be exploded by striking he 
caD with lead, for I have so exploded them and I fear the 
recoil with a heavy charge of powder, and the weight of a 
dozen or more cartridges pressing on each other, and the 
sS included, might explode them. Two of my repea ers 
use Tong steel shellsf and no projection of the bullet when 
loaded. 6 With these the explosive bullet may be used with 
safety I have used the detonating powder described by 
Forsyth, and prefer it to the bullet with the cartridge inserted 
in it for I think the explosive power is greater and the dangei 
possibly less. But I should not consider either safe in a 
magazine rifle, where they are liable to be jammed against 
each other by the recoil or a smart jar. I have found, after 
firing half the cartridges from tbe magazine of a Winchester 
Fifle 6 thatthe ends of the remaining bullets were jammed 
out of shape by tbe recoil and the force of the spiral spring; 
indeed they were too much battered up to be reliable for very 
accurate shooting. Admiral Lee reported a case to me of a 
marine on drill exploding a cartridge in a Spencer carbine 
magazine by dropping the breech heavily on deck, the weight 
of the other cartridges forcing a bullet against the cap of 
the next one, and the magazine was torn to piece. 
It is a proverb amoDg sportsmen in India that one should 
“never go out to shoot a hare without being prepared to 
meet a tiger,” and with such a possibility, and always at 
dose quarters, it is obvious that large bores and explosive 
bullets may be essential to comfort, but except the .gnzzly 
bear we have no game on this continent for which such ap- 
pUances are necelsary. For any game that is fOund east of 
the Missouri it is certain that a 4-10 calibre rifle is enough, 
with a supply of hard pointed bullets in case there is liability 
of meeting moose or bear. With the rifle I have heretofore 
spoken of I have shot a cylindrical bullet with a zinc point 
through seventeen inches of green cedar— a force sufficient 
to smash or penetrate any bones it might encounter. 
Boston- Walnut Sill, June 5.— As the shooting progressed 
a stormy, blustering wind, changing from nine to twelve 
o’clock in a way that baffled the rifleman s best calculations: 
W H Jackson. 
5 4 B B 4 8 
4 6 5 6 4 6 
4 6 3 4 6 5 
W O Howard. 
6 6 4 6 6 3 
4 4 6 5 0 
8 6 8 3 3 
8 Wilder. 
4 6 5 5 5 
4 4 5 6 A 
8 4 6 3 8 
J F Brown. 
6 6 6 5 6 
6 3 4 6 3 
6 2 6 3 3 
J c Chadwell 
6 6 5 6 6 5 
4 3 4 4 5 
0 0 4 2 4 
A Hebbard. 
2 8 6 4 6 
8 8 6 8 2 
4 5 6 4 5 
H L Lee. 
8 6 5 5 5 
6 0 0 3 4 
4 8 6 0 5 
B William*. 
2 2 4 4 4 
8 6 3 4 0 
8 3 6 0 4- 
J 8 Sumner. 
8 4 5 8 4 6 
. -446448 
Withdrawn. 
J. Smith. 
.4 4866866 
.0 8255348 
.Withdrawn. 
800.. 
900.. 
1 , 000 .. 
800.. 
900.. 
1 , 000 .. 
800.. 
900.. 
1 , 000 .. 
800.. 
eoo.. 
1 , 000 .. 
600.. 
900.. 
1 , 000 .. 
800., 
900.. 
1 , 000 .. 
800.. 
900. 
1 , 000 . 
800. 
900. 
1 , 000 . 
800. 
900. 
1 , 000 . 
8 8 
800. 
900. 
1 , 000 . 
5- 69 
6 - 01 
B _69— 199 
6-09 
6—63 
4— 61—193 
5— 10 
6— 68 
6—59-192 
6-10 
5— 59 
4-61-190 
4-1# 
4—93 
T — 40—H9 
4—60 
4-50 
6— 61—160 
0-66 
8-48 
2 — 48 — 102 
6-69 
3—49 
3-41- 
8-61 
6-63 
6—66 
0-61 
-149 
