The operator obtains 
a direct reading of 
the instrumental ve¬ 
locity from the re¬ 
corder tube of the 
Boulenge chrono¬ 
graph. He records 
this and the data 
from the firing range 
on the ballistic sheet. 
The complete cycle 
can be effectively 
performed w i t h in¬ 
terval of only 18 
seconds between 
shots 
Hercules Tests the Shotgun Compensator 
By Frank F. Reed and L. C. Weldin, Ballistic Engineers , Hercules Powder Co. 
T HE Cutts Compensator is now well 
known to all those who follow the 
shooting game. The value of this invention 
has many times been proven and demon¬ 
strated by practical use and scientific tests. 
The Marines have found it of greatest value 
on their submachine guns, and we believe 
that all such arms in the service are now 
equipped with the compensator. The Army 
has found the compensator to be a very de¬ 
sirable adjunct to the automatic and semi¬ 
automatic rifles when these are being fired 
from the shoulder. 
The various articles published in The 
American Rifleman, Forest and Stream, 
Outdoor Life, and Army Ordnance have given 
very clear accounts of what the compensator 
is, how it functions, and its value for either 
rifles or shotguns. We have always been 
favorably impressed with what we have read 
and heard about Colonel Cutts’ invention, 
and it seems as if the compensator was the 
one thing needed to make all forms of shot¬ 
gun-shooting a pleasure. 
Recoil or kick has always been a serious 
handicap to shooting the scatter gun. The 
sport of trap-shooting has lost many follow¬ 
ers because beginners have been so severely 
punished by the recoil on their first attempt 
to break the clays. This same recoil is still 
responsible for a great many lost birds even 
with the hardened trap-shots. If there were 
nothing else accomplished by the compen¬ 
sator, the reduction of recoil should make it 
welcome to the shotgun fraternity. 
During the past season we have had nu¬ 
merous inquiries about employing the com¬ 
pensator on shotguns that we could not an¬ 
swer. For example: What is the effect, if 
any, on the velocity and pressure? What is 
the actual amount of the reduction in recoil? 
Does the compensator give a more uniform 
distribution of the pellets in the pattern, or 
does it give a patchy pattern? And, above 
all, can a higher pattern be obtained by 
using the compensated gun? Similar ques¬ 
tions had occurred to us, and being curious, 
we decided to make a comprehensive bal¬ 
listic study and publish the facts as we 
found them. 
Our experience in shotgun-testing indicated 
the folly of trying to judge the performance 
of a load, gun, or any factor relating to a 
shotgun by testing anything less than 10- 
shot series, and repeating the test on ten 
separate occasions. Sometimes we think even 
such a program may be open to criticism for 
its brevity and lack of sufficient data. How¬ 
ever, it has proven reliable to date and gives 
a wealth of information concerning ballistic 
uniformity and the rules for fluctuation of 
patterns which can not be determined accu¬ 
rately in one day. We decided that, regard¬ 
less of how much or how little testing was 
done, nothing less than a ten-day test would 
be considered. 
We next had a long discussion as to just 
what loads should be used. The load trap 
was of course of first importance, as the 
compensator, to be of any value, must perform 
satisfactorily with this load. The second 
load finally selected was one corresponding 
to that of the heaviest 12-gauge load found 
on the market. Available funds to carry on 
this investigation did not permit more than 
two loads, nor would it be possible to use 
more than one pattern-control tube on each 
load. 
The shells were all hand-loaded in our proof 
house under the most carefully controlled 
loading conditions possible. For instance, the 
exact powder charge was actually weighed 
with an analytical balance. All of the wads 
were seated with the same pressure by using 
The test gun after being compensated, and the entire set of control tubes. All tubes and the wrench can readily be carried in 
the pocket of your hunting coat 
