The Large and Small Bore Gun 
Dr. W. S. Rainsford Discusses His Experiences in Africa—No Blow, Unless Rightly Placed, Will Knock Out a 
Charging Beast—Mr. Gilbert Talks On Guns For Boys 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your correspondent Bunduki Keebwa (Kubwa) 
brings up once more the old question of the rela¬ 
tive value of large and small bore rifles, used 
against dangerous game. With part of what he 
says most experienced hunters of dangerous game 
will of course agree. But it seems to me lie, like 
many another, is too ready to lay down the law, 
and doing so leaves out of consideration alto¬ 
gether one or two very practical points. 
Naturally every man is apt to stand up for his 
own favorite weapon, even if his experience of 
it is confined to killing but few animals, while 
the value of any opinion cannot be great, unless 
circumstances have permitted the hunter to kill 
all sorts of game, at all sorts of ranges, and in 
large numbers. I don’t know anything of 
Bunduki Ku'bwa’s experience, sb my criticism of 
his letter is in no way personal. But in my 
judgment he is in error, or too dogmatic at 
least. 
I have known a charging lion to take a .450 
high power rifle bullet full in the chest, at a few 
yards distance, and in spite of its rending wound, 
to rush in and kill his man. 
I have myself on more than one occasion shot 
a lion stone dead at the same distance with one 
bullet from a .256 Manlicher or a .350 Mauser. At 
six paces or so I have known an experienced 
hunter and a brilliant shot, hit a charging lion 
full in the shoulder with a Holland .450—no bet¬ 
ter rifle ever made—yet that lion rushed in, and 
almost killed a man, gripping his arm till he was 
finished by a second bullet in the head, the man’s 
arm still in his mouth. On the other hand, I have 
crumpled a charging lion up at 210 paces (meas¬ 
ured distance) as he was almost on top of a man 
he was chasing, and my gun was a Rigby 
Mauser .350. 
You cannot make rules about such matters. 
The modern bullet from the modern rifle is a 
terrible missile of death. A comparatively small 
one will kill anything it hits, if only it hits the 
right spot. A big bullet will not kill any angry 
beast, nor will it stop him, unless it, too, hits the 
right place. 
In my judgment to reach the vital spot is of far 
greater importance than the calibre of the gun, 
or even its striking force. 
As a general rule if a man must shoot to save 
life, he will be wise to employ the gun he knows 
best, the gun long usage has taught him to handle 
most quickly. 
There are few men, I take it, who are strong 
enough to carry a heavy double rifle under an 
African sun. 
Now, any one seeking real hunting, and deter¬ 
mined to take advantage of every chance coming 
to him, must in Africa or anywhere else, carry 
his own rifle. To have to turn to a gun bearer, 
however well trained he may be, and to reach 
back for the gun he carries, is to lose many a 
chance. To change guns hurriedly in the pres¬ 
ence of game is folly. Anyone with a prolonged 
experience of big game shooting will bear me out 
in this contention. I say, therefore, let the man 
who would do real hunting—who is no mere 
tripper—accustom himself to one good gun. The 
calibre is of no great importance. Let him learn 
it thoroughly, till he knows just what he can do 
with it. If he is a good shot—if he can com¬ 
mand his nerves—he will do well. If he is neither 
of these, he will be wise to confine himself to 
less dangerous sport; or, if he hunts in Africa, 
take a tried hunter with him. 
I have never seen the Boers use large calibre 
rifles. Yet one seldom hears of a Boer being 
mauled, and they kill many lions. 
t, of course, believe in a heavy rifle for special 
occasions, such as elephant or buffalo in thick 
coyer; but no double rifle can be fired as quickly 
as can a good repeater, and five .350 bullets have 
much to be said for them, as against two .450’s, 
especially if a beast comes charging in. I have 
known a so-called experienced hunter to plaster 
an elephant all over with .22—600 calibre bullets 
(the gun he used was an admirable weapon by 
Westley Richards), and that elephant was not 
bagged by that man at all; and I have seen ele¬ 
phants very neatly killed with not more than two 
bullets each. 
No blow will knock out an angry beast, not 
even a water-buck or a kongoni, unless it is well 
placed. Yours, 
W. S. RAINSFORD. 
TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA. 
By W. R. Gilbert. 
ROM time to time I received letters on the 
subject of the best way of introducing a 
boy to the proper handling of a gun, and 
this testifies to an interest which is, of course, 
personal. I have always been of the opinion that 
this subject has not received sufficient attention, 
for it is certain that it depends very much upon 
the weapon first put into the youngster’s hands, 
and the advice accompanying it, whether he 
grows up to be a true sportsman, or a menace 
to his fellows. Therefore, I need offer no apolo¬ 
gies for writing a short article on the subject. 
We all remember the way in which we either 
were taught to shoot, or learned without being 
taught; though for many of us, to be sure, there 
was little thought as to the ideal weapon which 
ought to be put into the hands of a boy of 
twelve. But It is an important question enough, 
and perhaps we will say that the “Pater" who 
first asked for other people’s opinions on the 
point will find himself a little puzzled to choose 
between the many courses that may be suggested 
to him, all of which may have answered well 
with different teachers and pupils. 
One difficulty is in choice of size. “A” advises 
a 20-bore, but “B" assures us that this would 
make a boy careless with his first barrel. “C" 
will say he commenced with a single 20-pin fire 
and believes that having only one barrel made 
him adopt a poking style, which it had taken 
him years to get rid of. Then others give such 
different advice that one is doubtful whether to 
choose a double 28-bore, a single 20, a single col¬ 
lector’s -gun, or a double 16-bore. After all, the 
original querist will probably not find his own 
personal inclination for a double 20-bore much 
shaken. Still “Long Shot“ will say that the sin¬ 
gle 20-bore with which he began taught him to 
rely on killing with his first barrel, since he had 
no second, and that no trouble was caused by 
developing a habit of poking. This may have 
been due to careful teaching but is plainly no ad¬ 
vantage in choosing a weapon which needs an 
extra amount of care and trouble on the part of 
the teacher to prevent a bad habit from being 
developed. 
The double 20-bore with only one barrel loaded 
seems to meet the difficulty of a hurried first 
barrel, and there must surely be an advantage in 
beginning with a double-barrelled rather than a 
single-barrelled gun. For the feel of the two 
guns, the way they come up on a mark, are two 
distinct things—or so it always seems to me. 
But as regards size and weight of guns in gen¬ 
eral, it is difficult to see how any hard and fast 
rule can be laid down. So much must depend 
obviously on the physique of the boy. 
One may propose a double 28-bore for a boy 
of ten, and though it is difficult to think that 
any boy of ten could shoot a heavier gun than a 
28-bore, very few boys of ten would be allowed 
to have a gun at all. Thirteen or fourteen is 
about the age, I suppose, when the average boy 
is allowed a gun, but there are boys of thirteen 
who are strong enough to shoot with a double 
16-bore, and others who would tire with a .410. 
The question to be decided in regard to individ¬ 
ual boys, surely must be first and foremost, 
rather the weight of the gun than the size of the 
bore. And, of course, bound up with the ques- 
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