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Ivlay 29 
LETTERS FROM SRORTSMEfL 
Targets. Rifles, etc- 
PocGUKEEPsiE, May 15. 
Editor Rod akd Gun: 
I have beeB a reader of the American Sport::man, now the Rod 
AKD Gc>’, for many months, and I think it is the very best paper 
for sportsmen now published. As I have never seen anything in 
your journal on the American Telescopic Tarj^t Kiflc. I have made 
ap my mind to send you a few words on this subject. I would like 
to know why it is that this class of fire-arms are tabooed at Creed- 
moor? And farther, why It is that we see no •‘muzzle-loaders” of 
either forei^ or American manufacture on the aforesaid grounds? 
The firm of Lewis, of Troy, and Billinghurst, of Rochester, can* turn 
out a muzzle-loader, of any desired weight the superior of the 
“ Sharps” or Remington,” ten to one. This is no idle boa-^t, I 
have in my possession a Lewis target rifle, weight 20 lbs., that at 
1000 yards will pick off a turkey twelve times out of fifteen, on any 
tolerably fairish day. Please bear in mind that this »hooting is not 
from a rest. The rifle is held m what is now known as the “Fulton” 
position. I stand here to say, and I can back it up at any moment, 
that this feat has never been accomplished by any breech-loader 
ever manufactured. 
I have a very high opinion of the Sharps and Remington rifles and 
believe them to be the very best of this class of fire-arms now made, 
nevertheless 1 am partial to the muzzle-loader, and always will be so 
as long as it remains without a superior. 1 will give you an item of 
what my muzzle-loader has done, weight 20 lbs., by attaching open 
sights, such as were used in the late international rifle maicb, and 
firing from an iron rest, made expressly for the purpose, and which 
is the only true way to test a rifle, I have repeatedly placed tw’enty- 
flte successive balls in an eighteen inch bull's eye, at LOfO yards. I 
used for this distance ninety-five grains of Orange powder. The 
Creedmoor* rifle, (Remington's latest,) which I purchased several 
months ago, weight 10 lbs., fired from tbe same rest, aud under (be 
same conditions, (i e. no wind) failed to do it, or any where near it. 
Now the weight of the gun of course, is not as much, but iu every 
otber respect it is identical. The balls of the Remington deviated 
to the right, and left aud np, no two balls striking *in or near the 
same spot. The first shot would be high and tbe very next w'ould 
wander off to the left. All these wanderings the reader must remem- 
ber took place inside the three feet bull's eye of Creedmoor fame; 
and for a target of that description and size, it might answer; but 
it must be held firm and true, and in the hands of a man well versed 
in the science of the wind. Now, on the contrary, a firmly built 
muzzle-loader in tbe hands of an amateur will do exiraorumary 
work, and should by all means, be choeeu. 
Of the “Sharps Cre. dmoor” I cannot speak as yet for I have 
never tested it, but am intending to purchase one shortly, and will 
give it a thorough trial, and mayhaps, give you the results. The 
sporting and hunting rifles of their manufacture are very good at 
short range, but worthless, i. e., not reliable, at such distances as 
800, 900 and 1 .000 yards . 
The Maynard rifle has received cousiderable uoiorii'ty in the col- 
umns of the lioD AND GcN. I have, for one, a few w ords to say on 
that subject. I purchased a Maynard many years ago. and have 
since bad quite a number of the late improvements added to it. I 
have never been able to make a decent, and hardly a respectable 
score at 200 yards; 1 have tried to do it time and time again, until I 
have grown weary of the attempt, and have now given np the task 
as a bad job It was not in the “man behind tbe gun.” as some cor- 
respondent of the Rod and Gcn has said, for it was always fired 
from a rest. I have simply given my experience with the gun; be- 
yond that I shall not go, as one of your celebrated w’riters, “Snap- 
Shot,” has seen fit to do. 
I wish to say ouc word to the party who published a communica- 
tiOQ in the Rod and Gun a few weeks ago, about patting a certain 
number of successive balls in a target two by three inches, distance 
130 yards, lie pretends to do this wi:h a Wesson rifle any day in 
the week, shooting off-hand. That this fellow know*» nothing of a 
rifle, I honestly bv.licve I cannot do this with ray tweiity-puiinder 
every day, nor do I think there is another rilleinan ■. i) in America 
who can do it. So much for this braggart. 
One of your correspondents has requested persons familiar with 
the life of the late ‘‘Frank Forester * to write it up. I second it. 
Cannot our genial friend “Boone” enlighten ns on this subject? 
One word more and I shall close. Several muutbs ago, Mr. 
Lewis, of Troy, undertook on a wager to shoot a turkey at the dis- 
tance of a mile, in twenty- five shots. On the fouitcenth round he 
won his wager! On this occasion he used a rifle of his own make, 
weight 30 pounds. How is this for muzzle-loaders? 
An Ex-Gunmakf.r. 
“ Snap Shot” on the Maynard Rifle- 
New Orleans, May 12, 
Editor Rod and Gun: 
“ Brandon” in an article in a late nnmbcr of the Rod and Gun, 
has made certain criticisms and remarks on an article of mine about 
the Maynard rifle, that call for a reply from me. 
1. The reason why I consider the tipping down make of the 
Maynard a defect, ib that I don't think rifles made wiih a moveable 
barrel are as strong or solid as those with fixed barrels. To prove 
this, friend “ Brandon,” I refer you to the history of breech-loading 
rifles for the last fifteen years, and you will find that the nearly uni- 
versal complaint of sportsmen n-ing “tip down” rifles that carry a re- 
spectable charge of powder, is that their guns get shaky and rickety. 
The English, who use in their sporting rifles much larger charges 
of powder than we do, and who look upon rifles of tbe calibre 
of the small Maynards (cal. 35 aud 40), and which carry such squirt 
gun charges as the Maynard does, with derision, have long ago found 
out that tip down rifles are subject to a severe straining when used 
with the charges of powder that large game require. Dougall, iu 
trying to remedy this defect, invented his celebrated system of 
breech-loading, which, by the way, is only a make shift, and is 
nothing more than a bad job patched up. 
Dougall says — “There is the best reason to believe that every 
breech-loader on this construction (the tip down barrel plan), how- 
ever tight themechauicjl fitting may appear, does so rise Uhe barrel 
ridug at the b reech at the moment of firing) and consequently dip- 
i l)ing at the muz/.lei: and the reason is plain thdihc barrels of 
neccsbity leap iipwardb at the breech from the vibration ai^ainst the 
horizontal part of the ac'.iou. Tins vibration extends iUolf by a 
natural law in the direction of least resistance, and the hinge being 
under the line of fire, the barrels strain, as it were, to revolve 
around that hinge." 
This tendency to revolve upon the binge not being checked in the 
first instance, necessarily throws a severe strain upon the 
mechanism, and despite every attempt by means of wedge fittings 
and other contrivances, the parts become loose as tae gun loses that 
solidity which is the first essential quality. 
To all this T expect “ Brandon*’ and other lovers of the Maynard 
will show the long time their Maynarjshave been in use, and the 
solid state they are in. But steady, my friends! The smaller the 
chargeie, the less are the e\il effects of the “ tip down” system seen. 
But hunting large game and shooting at long distances nquire heavy* 
charges. The English sporting rifles fbr use on large game in India 
take four and five drachms of powder. “Brandon” there is some 
difference between such charges and the ridiculous thirty grains oi 
powder of the Maynard. Bnt it is with our country and with 
American rifles we have to do. A rifle for hunting in the Far West 
should carry at least sixty grains of po\>der, Le^s than this does 
not give power enou 4 h to stop the large animals ahl doe.** not 
give (if used with a moderately heavy bullet) a flat cuough trajec 
torj for firing at game at long distances. 
Such has been my experience, aud I believe everyone who has 
bunted any length of time in the fur west will say the same. 
“Brandon** t^ie^ to get over this by saving that the 40 caliber May- 
nard car be used with an explosive bullet which would make it a 
more deadly weapon than a 5J caliber Springfield with a common 
bullet. 
“Brandon” forgets here that “what is sauce for ihe goose is sauce 
for the gaider.” is •‘Brandon” ignorant of the fact that there is an 
explosive ballet for the Springfield caliber 50. and that it is irameasur- 
ablv more deadly than the Maynard explosive calit>er 40, us tbe 
Springfield bullet is much larger and heavier, and it is propelled by 
a much larger charge of powder (70 grains). The charge of the 
Maynard 50, I do not recollect at present, but I am under the im- 
pression that it is also too small. Cleveland (to whom Brandon re- 
fers) says of the Maynard. 50. 
“It is too light for the charge it has to carry, and the recoil is so 
severe as to neutralize the effect of the increased charge.” 
To sum up under this head— the Maynard carries too small charges 
of powder for a successful rifle to shoot big game ut long distances. 
The “tip-down” system does not admit of laige charges being used 
for any length of time, without constant repairs. 
The Maynard is made on the “lip-down ’ plan, consequently the 
Maynard is not the rifl.* for the plains or the hocky .Moiiutains. 
2. In reference to the “ejecliiig of the shells.*' This is my ciiief 
point of grievance with the Mavnard, aud it is here that I think 
Brandon makes his weakest argument. 
The advantage of a rifl#* throwing the shell clear of the gun is to 
enable the piece to be quickly reloaded, a vital point where the 
hu ter has got into a herd, or has wounded an animal and wants to 
get a shot ut biin before he gets over the next htil, or when cue is 
hunting dangerous game. 
But “Brandon’* says it takes a^» long to slop and pick up the empty 
shell from the ground where it fell as to pick the partly pushed out 
shell of a Maynard. But what hunter, I should like to know would, 
under the above circumstances stop to pick up tbe shells. On tbe 
contrary, he would be firing away as rapidly a.s po<isible. letting the 
empty shells stay on the ground till the crisis was over 1 have 
often got into a herd of elk, and firea five or six times and even 
more, before they got out of range, and never altempied to pick up 
the shells till after the need of quick shooting was over, and I don't 
think 1 ever lost more than two or three shells, and what were they 
compared to the game secured? 
Again, “Brandon'’ says it may l>e all well enough for the Maynard to 
throw out its shell if it were a copper one, but that the May nard’s 
bras.< shell must be kept for reloading, etc. 
“Brandon” implies here that the shell thrown out by the Spring 
field is a copper one and cannot oe reloaacd. This is all a groj- mis- 
take. My bpnngfield, “Brandon,” uses a brass Berdan shell, and i 
will wager that I reload my shells a.s often as you do your Maynard's. 
Id fact, 1 reload as long as the shell lusts. 
I have been convinced by practical experience that the ejecting of 
the shell is one of the most important points of a sporting rifle to be 
used in the far west, and in choosing a rifle 1 w’ould make tbe eject- 
ing of tbe shell the first test. 
No matter how perfect a rifle might be in every other particular, 
were it to fail in throwing out the shell I would have nothing to do 
with it. 
In hunting squirrels, etc , in the woods of the States east of the 
Missouri, it may not make so much difference, whether the shell 
thrown out or not, but it does make all the difference in the world in 
buiiiiDg large game in the Rocky . Mountain country. as any one knows 
who has hnnted out West with a rifle that wouldn’t eject the shell 
clear of the gun. compelling the hunter to try and pick out the shell 
with his knife.or to borrow a ramrod from >«orae one who haa a Spring- 
field, and punch out ibe shell with the ramrod. I think sticking 
shells have caused as much bad humor, disgust and profanity as a 
bucking mule, and that is saying a good deal. To sum up under the 
second head: The Maynard is not the rifle for the West as it fails in 
the first requisite of a rifle for hunting large game— throwing tbe 
empty shell clear of tbe gun. 
As to the third point, the shape of the stock, that is a great deal 
a matter of taste. AUhoug i 1 don't think a rifle with tbe lean 
“sawed out of a plank" looking stock of the Maynard, comes up to 
the shoulder as well as a rifle with the common kind of stock. 
After all friend “ Brandon,” the “proof of the pudding is in tbe 
eating.” We, both of us, might write till doomsday, and the facts 
of the case leinain tbe s.imc; and to prove what I stated, that the 
Maynard is not the rifle for the Far West. 1 will call youraitenti n 
to the fact that it is not used by the hunteis to any exunt, as 1 said 
before I can not recollect six Maynards that I have seen used by the 
hunters and trappers of the Rocky Mountain country. And these 
men are generally very intelligent, and a •« always desirous of get- 
ting the best arm that money will buy, and many of them send 
directly to the Eastern factories when they wish a new gnu, getting 
their g uns resigbted, ftowever, iu the West. b4<'AP 8 uot. 
Cdds and Ends 
Warwick, Orange ('o., N. Y., May 18. 
Editor Rod and Gun: 
I am jnst in receipt of Rod and Gun, May 1. The article of Mr. 
Charles Linden therein is most interesting to me. It is ably writ- 
ten, and his descriptions arc true in every respect. 
Pigeons have been verv numerous in this neighborhood this sea- 
son, but they are trapped bv thoasands, and soon we shall see them 
no more. Wild fowl have also disappeared. Fishing i^retty good. 
I caught fourteen brook trout in a day's fishing last week. 1 was 
well satisfied with my catch, but this is exceptional, as we often do 
not catch moie than three or four. We have been having another 
fox chase in the good old style, bnt I did not much enjoy it. Horses 
trained to the saddle are very scarce in this neighborhood, and such 
as are trained to jump still more so. Mine had been imt>€rfectly 
trained, and would only after considerable nrg ng trust himself to 
jump. Onr fence was too high for him, and he went over back- 
wards, and that was the last of my participation in ihc chase. I 
was luckily not l.urt beyond a few Ibises. Tbe others continued 
the hunt. After a chase of an hour Reynard was captured, 
C. S.. an inveterate sportsman wheel-wnght of our village, 
was the victim of the following joke: The taxidermist of onr town 
had occasion to take out tbe eyes of a stuffed hawk for other use. 
He tiion took the hawk and ^ecurely fastened it to a hi gb limb of a 
tree in the neigh b»>rhood. A boy was sent over to C. S.’s shop, 
and entering he calK^d out Charlie— “ A hawk! tree! railroad! 
hawk!" Charlie took in the siination at a glance. Running into the 
blacksmith shop, he hastily enqnired for the gun. The blacksmith 
did not have his on hand, but suggested an iron rod for a spear. 
Charlie gave him a speaking glance aud left. Running to the Uixi- 
derraUt's shop he enquired for his gun, “ There, in the corner, 
both barrels loaded,” was the response to his inquiry. Charlie 
eagerly snatched it up, and made for the hawk. After changing his 
posUion several times Charlie drew a bead and let drive. A few 
feathers was the result. Charlie looked frightened, but soon re- 
gained bis courage and composure, and taking aim for the second 
time before it could rise, he thought, and he blazed away. here 
the hawk sat, and seemed to be laughing at him. By this time sev- 
eral of those wlio were in the secret had arriveil, and began to gig- 
gle. Charlie saw the sell, and invited the Iwys to come up to the 
hotel iu order to buy silence. But Che secret soon leaked out . 
Leonard. 
Quails and Shells 
(^I'lNCV. III., May 18. 
Editor Rod and Ovn : 
Friend H., come ov»*r and see us! Sam and 1 wem out yesterday 
ifteroqou. and found plenty of Jack snipe. Bring a frien«l with you, 
'iiy house is open for you. 
Such was (he invite I received on the 10th of last month Irom (bat 
splendid good fellow, J. S , of Edina. Mo. 
Tlie morning of the 13th found ihat veteran sportsman. Col. W.. 
Hiid your humble servant aboard the il., M. A I*. U K., in charge 
of that model conductor, Wallace, when in due lime we arrived at 
Edina and found our friend J. S., with hie pair of spanking bays 
that can go t«»ge(her iu tiiree luiniiteB, wailing for ns. With a 
hearty shake, and “all aboard for dinner,*’ which we got at bis 
home, and then away wc went over hill and dale for a six-mile drive 
through as pretty a quail country as you ever saw. “Jessr,” said I, 
“how many quails per day is the luost yon and Sam ever got in this 
couBlry?” “O, not very many; you know Sam and 1 are not very 
good shots, but we did kill and bag 75 one day last fall.” “How 
many of them did you ‘bunch ?” “Nar)’ a ‘bunch*; all good, hon- 
est birds, one at a time, ani no [K>t-hunting fur us. thank you.” 
‘'Look, II., there is our greund for snipe,” says Sam, as we come 
over the top of a bill and saw spread out before us a level piece of 
bottom land about two miles long and half mile wide. Down the 
hilt we go, luru round the fence coruer. and here we are. Each one 
hurries as fast as pos-ible, gets out bis breech-loader, and shells; 
spread out and hunt tbe east side of tbe bottom first; walked a 
quarter of a mile before the first one was found and was neatly cut 
down, aud the first blood for H. “As nsual,” sings out the colonel. 
We found the bird<i wild, but in good conduioo; wchuatedthe 
ground over from ‘2 p n. until 5:30, and i.be next moruing from 8 
until 12o*clock with the following result: Sam, 44; J S , 44; Col. 
W.,77; H., 93. Total, 258 Wilson snipe in less than eight bears' 
hunt, and I believe the birds were killed on au average distance of 
40 to 50 yards rise. Many of the birds were cut down clean at 6 * 
yards. For close, strong shooting breech-loaders are as much 
ahead of muzzle-loaders as a **Joe Manton*’ is ahead of a “Tower 
musket ** By the way, Mr. Editor, I bought and loaded up 100 Nc. 
12 paper shells, manufactured by the Union Metallic Cartridge Com- 
pany, Bridgeport, Conn., under A. C. Hobbs and J. Orcutt’s patent, 
and not more than one-half of them would explode. What was the 
reason? I would have got 30 or 40 more birds had the shells been 
good, load 100 of Ely’s shells along and found no trouble with 
them and I have since learned that some of my friends have been 
fooled in the same way w'ith them. Please tell us something about 
it in your next We shall try the quails next fall around Edina and 
may send you the result. U. 
Calirornia Quail 
Trenton, N. J., May 12. 
Editor Rod and Gun: 
In a former article of mine, entitled “ Protect the American 
Quail.” I made use of the remark that “judging from what natur- 
alists tells us, tbe Quail of California, would probably not show 
sport for Sportsmen. ” I now find, thanks to “ Deaf George,” and 
“J. K. O.,*’ that I have been misinformed on this subject, at least 
iu regard to the babits of the “Valley Quail.” Allow me, therefore, 
to thank your correspondents above mentioned, for their kind cor- 
rections. 1 should much like to accept of J. K. O’e kind invita- 
tion; bnt as that is not in my power, I will only ask of him to in- 
form ns if in his opinion, the bird he speaks of could be introduced 
into the EaMern and Middle States: and if they would, with proper 
protection, be likely te stand our w'iuters, and do as well as in their 
native State. 
Although “Deaf George” says he never wrote for a paper, before, 
I think both he aud “ J. K. O.,” do it well, aud I only hope they 
will post us Eastern WTiters up on this subject. Kecai’psk 
J 
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