Oct. 27, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
671 
§ 
§ 
$ 
U. S. Government 
Ammunition Test. 
Accuracy test of Krag-Jorgensen .30-Caliber Cartridges held at Springfield Armory 
by order of the Ordnance Department, United States Army. 
TESTED —Ammunition of all the American Manufacturers. 
CONDITIONS— 10 and 20 shot targets, muzzle rest. 
10 and 20 shot targets, fixed rest. 
DISTANCE— 1 .000 yards. 
RESULT and OFFICIAL REPORT: 
U. S, Cartridges excelled all others. 
MANUFACTURED BY 
UNITED STATES CARTRIDGE CO., 
LOWELL. MASS., V. S. A. 
Agencies: 497-503 Pearl St., 35-43 Park St., New York. 114-116 Market St., San Francisco. 
Garfield Gun Club. 
Chicago, Ill., Oct. 21.— 
-The scores 
made 
at 
the 
shoot 
of the Garfield Gun Club 
to-day 
were as follows: 
Events: 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
Targets : 
15 
25 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
McDonald . 
.. 13 
23 
8 
9 
6 
10 
10 
9 
Meek . 
... 14 
21 
8 
8 
9 
7 
7 
Thomas . 
... 13 
18 
8 
8 
8 
6 
7 
9 
Eaton . 
... 12 
22 
8 
9 
9 
7 
7 
8 
Dr Stewart . 
... 12 
20 
4 
7 
9 
8 
Blowffleur . 
9 
16 
7 
2 
3 
George . 
... 13 
17 
5 
5 
Herr . 
... 14 
19 
9 
8 
Dr Reynolds . 
18 
5 
6 
4 
Aldcrson . 
9 
6 
7 
No. 1 was Dupont cup. No. 2 was trophy event. 
'Rifle 'Range and Gallery . 
Rifle Practice at Home. 
Indoor rifle practice will soon be seasonable, and a 
few remarks on the subject may assist beginners. 
Those who can find it convenient to practice on a club 
or armory range have the advantage of others, who must 
provide their own ranges, but the latter class has some 
advantages not possessed by the former. Any one who 
has a fair knowledge of simple mechanics, and at whose 
home there is a basement or cellar, can fit up a rifle 
range that will answer all practical requirements, and 
cost very little. Given the available space, he can make 
it as elaborate as he likes, but for his own use alone a 
target backing, a target and means for lighting the same 
will serve. 
Generally a space 60ft. or more in length can be found 
m a basement, cellar or barn, where, at night, one may 
practice rifle shooting for an hour without annoyance or 
harm to any person, however sensitive. A .22 caliber 
rifle fired in a basement can only be heard outside by 
those who are familiar with its report, and a .22 caliber 
revolver report is much louder and more penetrating, 
but neither one will annoy persons in neighboring 
houses. 
The simplest arrangement is to secure a block of wood 
for a target backing—a section sawed off a log a foot or 
more in diameter and of equal or greater length. Shoot¬ 
ing into the grain, the bullets will not only make no 
noise, but it will take a long time tO' use up the log, 
and if its face becomes so much hollowed that there is 
no firm backing for the cardboard target, why nail an 
inch board over that end and tack the target on it, or 
reverse the log. Its weight is in its favor, as it will 
stay where placed—another advantage. Seasoned wood 
will be pulverized more quickly by bullets than green wood. 
A place having been decided on for the target, set it 
up at least four feet from the floor, and with its face 
exactly at right angles to the line of fire, then put 
blocks under it, so that it cannot be accidentally moved. 
Of course, it is understood that a solid stone or brick wall 
is behind the target backing, precluding any chance of a 
.stray bullet injuring or even frightening a neighbor. 
A gas jet, if one is handy, equipped with an ordinary 
mirror reflector, so that the face of the target will be 
evenly illuminated, will give a fairly satisfactory light, 
but the light from a single jet must be in front of or 
one side of the target, in order to obtain the best results. 
Where oil must be depended on, place two ordinary 
lamps with silvered reflectors, in brackets, so that they 
will represent the ends of an inverted V, with the bulls- 
eye at its apex. Some prefer the light from an acetylene 
gas bicycle lamp. So long as no shadows are thrown 
on the target, and the light burns evenly without flicker¬ 
ing, one should be able to see the target plainly, but the 
subject of properly illuminating a target so that the 
bullseye may be plainly seen at a distance of 60 to 75 
feet, with the unaided eye, often comes up for discussion, 
showing that the difference in eyesight accounts for many 
opinions that vary. If telescope sights are used on the 
rifle, the quality of the light may not amount to so 
much as if the rifle has plain sights, although, with some 
men at least, magnifying the object has a different bear¬ 
ing on the kind and power of the light used. 
The writer has employed as a successful backing for 
the target, hard pine planks, 3in. in thickness 
and a foot in width. . cut say 3ft. in length. Three 
pieces of this size can be lightly nailed together at the 
ends, and after the target has been tacked near one end 
long enough for a hole to be cut out, place it near 
the other end until that gives way; then turn the planks 
around, using the back, and finally take the three apart, 
reverse and nail them together again, giving you a sound 
plank for the face of the backing. Such an arrangement 
will last a long time, is cheap, the backing will stand 
alone without supports, and can be moved readily for 
different ranges. 
Still another plan is to obtain a pine box, say, 18in. 
across and 6in. deep, fill it with sand or earth and nail 
the top securely, then nail a second top on, with the 
grain running at right angles to that of the first one, 
renewing one or both as it or they become cut up. If 
the earth is packed hard before the top is nailed on the 
box will serve for thousands of shots. A large electro¬ 
type plate, set in the bottom of the box, with its type 
metal face down, and the earth packed over it. will stop 
any .22 caliber bullet, even after the hardwood base of 
the plate has been punctured repeatedly. Such plates 
can be obtained in any publishing house for a few cents, 
if they cost anything; but preference should be given 
those that have heavy plates, some half-tone plates 
being made quite thick. After being once used, a half¬ 
tone plate, costing from $10 to $20, is worth about as 
many cents, for it only represents so much metal to the 
electrotyper. 
After the target backing is settled on, and some method 
of lighting the target devised, the question of targets 
comes up. At 60 to 75ft. the regulation ring target with 
2in. bullseye and I4in. rings is the one most commonly- 
used, and is obtainable, printed on cardboard 6 X 6in. 
in size, at low prices. These targets are better than 
paper, and one can be suspended by means of a spring 
clip fastened to a lath, so that it will hang 4 to 6in. in 
front of the backing, and splinters of wood will not 
mar it, as may happen if it is tacked on the backing. 
The clij) and the support holding it must be rigid, else 
the target will swing from the impact of bullets, and 
disturb one’s aim. 
The trolley system is of course the most handy one, 
and it can be installed by any person who can handle 
tools with ordinary skill; but it must of necessity be a 
permanent fixture, and is therefore not adapted to use 
in a room that is much frequented by persons not in 
sympathy with one’s target practice. Primarily this sys¬ 
tem consists of an endless cord or wire stretched over 
two grooved wheels or disks, one .behind and above 
the target and the other over the firing point, with a 
hanger attached to the upper wire carrying a clamp 
holding the cardboard target. Generally these grooved 
wheels are 10 or 12in. in diameter. At the firing point 
a tireless bicycle wheel may be pivoted. A handle is 
attached to the wheel half-way between hub and rim, 
the endless cord arranged, by means of small stationary 
pulleys, to run over the wheel with the least friction 
possible, and then tightened, so that it will not fly off 
the wheel when this is turned rapidly. 
By this means the target can be moved very quickly 
between firing point and backing. A wheel so large as 
this is not necessary, and one a foot in diameter will 
serve; but the target hanger’s speed between backing 
and firing point is increased in proportion to the size of 
the wheel employed, and an old bicycle wheel is handy. 
The cost of the trolley system need not be important, 
depending on whether one can pick up old wheels in a 
junk shop or must buy them new, and when one uses 
a telescope to spot his shots—if his rifle is not equipped 
with one — he can do without the trolley; but where two 
or more persons practice together, the trolley becomes 
a safety device, obviating the necessity of going to the 
target, and lessening chances of accidents. 
So- great has become the demand for telescope sights, 
however, and so much of an improvement are they for 
all forms of rifle-shooting, that the man who is fitting 
up his own range should use one. Sooner or later one 
who practices alone will settle down to shooting for 
groups, particularly if he employs a muzzle rest, and a 
black paster on a white card will become his favorite 
target. These pasters can be purchased in thousand lots 
in sizes up to lV^in. in diameter; and while the larger 
size makes a good bullseye for the basement range and 
ordinary sights, cutting a hole in the center with a 14m. 
punch, so that the center will be white, makes the best 
sort of target when a telescope sight is used. The writer 
follows a method that saves time and steps by placing 
four pasters on each white card, so that four 5- of 10- 
