FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jax. 30, 1909. 
I 76 
.30-30 What? 
New York Citv^ Dec. 19. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Will you kindly ])ublish in your 
columns a description of the way rifle and other 
cartridges are numbered ? In other words, what 
is a .30-30 or a .30-40; and I even notice some¬ 
times a third number, say, .30-30-100 or some¬ 
thing like that. 1 have asked a number of peo¬ 
ple and none seem to have a very definite idea 
of what it is, so I think others besides myself 
would be interested. S. S. 
[The figures mentioned indicate caliber and 
weight of powder and bullet in the order men¬ 
tioned. Thus, .30-30 denotes .30 caliber and 30 
grains of powder; .30-40 denotes .30 caliber and 
40 grains of powder; .30-30-170 denotes .30 cali¬ 
ber, 30 grains of powder and 170 grains of lead. 
The figures thus in regular order indicate cali¬ 
ber, weight of powder and weight of lead. But 
further explanation of these terms is necessary. 
Originally, the caliber of bullets loaded in 
copper, and later in brass cases, by American 
manufacturers were measured in hundredths of 
an inch, and the diameter of the bullet bore a 
more or less accurate relation to the diameter 
of the barrel. But as the number of manu¬ 
facturers increased, and each one endeavored 
to bring out something new from time to time, 
the actual calibers of barrels and bullets were 
changed. For example, take the .22 short rim-fire 
cartridge. It was customary long ago to desig¬ 
nate it thus—22/100—when as a matter of fact 
the bullet was not actually .22 of an inch in 
diameter. Later on the micrometer caliper was 
employed by all manufacturers of rifle l)arrels, 
and in boring and rifling they worked by thou¬ 
sandths of an inch instead of by hundredths. 
Even then there was a variation, small but at 
times important. For example, when the big 
cases for the .45-100 long range target rifle were 
used, it was often impossible to force a shell 
into the chamber of one rifle after it had been 
fired in another of the same model, made by the 
same company. To make two boring or cham¬ 
bering tools of precisely the same diameter is 
often difficult. However, the rifles of to-day 
vary so little in this respect that the difference is 
of no importance save to the expert target shooters. 
An example of the variation in calibers of bar¬ 
rels made by different companies is found in the 
.32-40 rifles. The supposition is general that 
the bore is .32 of an inch. As a matter of fact 
some .32-40 barrels are as small as .315-inch, 
and others as large as .323. This is true of a 
number of calibers, particularly the .38 revolvers 
and the .38-40 rifles, one being about .350 inch, 
the other about .400 inch. 
Again, the rifle barrel may be measured in 
two different ways by as many persons. The 
diameter of the bore to the bottoms of the 
grooves may be from .002 to .008 inch greater 
than from land to land, and a rifle cut for the 
old-time paper patched bullets had very shallow 
grooves, while one made for canneltired bullets 
was grooved deeply. 
The method of designating calibers in thou¬ 
sandths of an inch, provided the actual caliber 
be given, is a simpler plan, for novice and ex¬ 
pert then understand the meaning of the term. 
Our manufacturers have adopted this plan in 
some cases, and as all mechanics employ the 
micrometer caliper in their work, and its terms 
are very generally understood, the plan is a good 
one. This is followed by British manufacturers 
who designate a ,45 caliber rifle as .450, and so 
on through the list, while French and German 
makers employ the metric system. 
When a cartridge is designed its caliber, weight 
of powder charge and weight of bullet are de¬ 
cided on after tests have been made. We will 
say these are .395 inch, 70 grains, and 300 grains 
respectively. For simplicity it may be Called 
.40-70-300. Tests under actual hunting condi¬ 
tions may cause the powder charge to be les¬ 
sened to 65 grains, and the bullet to 280 grains, 
but still it may be called a .40-70-.300 cartridge, 
in order to avoid confusion and endless explana¬ 
tions. Again, for special purposes the weight 
of powder and lead may be varied, say to .40- 
73-330 for target work, and to .40-65-250 for 
hunting. In that case the weight of the bullet 
alone would be changed in the stamp, so that it 
would still be recognized as a load for .40-70 
rifles, so long as the case remained unchanged. 
But if it is found that the charge proves suit¬ 
able to game hunting in magazine rifles, then it 
is likely a new case will be designed. For such 
purposes the case is generally tapered rapidly 
or restricted near the mouth—bottle-necked, as 
it is termed. Both forms are better for repeat¬ 
ing rifles, as they enter the chamber without 
jamming and are easily extracted. With the 
new shell it may be the load becomes a .40-65- 
250, and the cartridges will not interchange with 
those carrying the original loads, though the 
barrels' of both rifles may be bored and rifled 
with the same set of tools. 
The .32-40 cartridge case is tapered rapidly. 
Its powder charge ranges from 13 grains for 
short range use with a 98 grain bullet, to 40 
grains of powder and bullets of 150, 165 and 
even 185 grains. 
The .38-55 cartridge, once so popular, is gen¬ 
erally loaded with 48 grains of powder and a 
255 grain bullet. The shell is tapered. The .38- 
56 carries the same bullet and 56 grains of 
powder, but the case is not of the same form 
and will not interchange with the .38-55. 
The .38-70 has 68 grains of powder and a 255 
grain bullet, but the .38-72 has a powder charge 
weighing 72 grains ffiid a 275 grain bullet. 
When the powder charge and the bullet are 
changed, it is often necessary to rifle the barrel 
differently, and this being true, there is good 
reason for altering the chamber, too. A barrel 
which is rifled with a pitch of say one turn in 
20 inches will handle a bullet of a certain weight 
only and remain accurate. Increasing the weight 
of the bullet without increasing the powder 
charge proportionately will cause the bullet to 
wabble or to keyhole; that is, turn end over 
end instead of flying true. But if the powder 
charge is increased materially it will force the 
heavy bullet too much and it will still be in¬ 
accurate. On tbe other hand, if the bullet is, 
lightened and the powder charge increased, the 
twist designed for a heavy bullet will not be 
correct for the light bullet. 
The remedy is to change the pitch of the 
rifling until the happy mean between twist, depth 
of grooves and weight of powder and bullet has 
been reached. Thus, a rifle chambered and rifled 
for a .32-40-165 cartridge will not remain accurate 
with a 200 grain bullet and a larger powder 
charge, nor will it be satisfactory with half the 
powder charge and a light’ bullet. 'Variations in 
powder and bullets are of course possible in 
most rifles, but beyond certain limits they be¬ 
come inaccurate. 
An unfortunate designation was given a series 
of revolver cartridges some years ago. A re¬ 
volver of .44 caliber had become popular with 
target shooters, and the manufacturers decided 
that smaller calibers would also be liked; so 
they left all parts of the revolver just as they 
were save the barrel and cylinder, which were 
1 ored for two new cartridges. One of these was 
called .32-44 although the powder charge is only 
10 grains, and the bullet weighs 85; the other, 
.38-44, with 20 grains of powder and 146 grains 
of lead. In this case the affix “44” was intended 
to mean that the caliber was .32 (or .38) in the 
standard frame; or, as it was termed, “.32 cali¬ 
ber in the .44 frame,” something easily under¬ 
stood by revolver shooters, but Greek to the 
general public. 
In this case the shell was sajd to be a true 
cylinder inside and out. It was the full length 
of the revolver cjdinder, and the bullet was 
pushed down on the powder 'without crimp. By 
this means target shooters varied their loads as 
they saw fit, from 4V2 grains of powder and a 
55 grain round bullet for the .32-44, to heavy 
loads. So long as the bullet was flush with the 
mouth of the shell all was well. This of course 
is possible with many other cartridges, notably 
the .44 Russian, so-called, which in the full load 
carries 23 grains of powder and a bullet of 246 
grains. With round bullets of 105 grains or 
conical bullets of 115 grains and 6 grains of 
powder, some magnificent short range shooting 
has been done, while with the .38 revolver case 
loaded with 4V2 grains of powder and a 70 grain 
bullet, excellent target shooting is possible at 
20 yards or less.— Editor.] 
A Growl from Massachusetts. 
PouissET. iMass., Jan. 9 .—Editor Forest and 
Strcajii: 1 cannot agree with Mr. Parker when 
he compares Maine protection with that of New 
York to the advantage of Maine. The same 
abuses he objects to in New York exist to a 
considerable extent in Maine. The average 
length of snow hunting in Maine will not be 
over five weeks instead of eleven, while the 
source of Maine’s supply of deer is many times 
that of New York. Maine draws from Canada 
on the north and New Brunswick on the east, 
whereas New "li'ork depends almost entirely on 
what is bred there. 
The questions asked by “Interested” I can 
answer in part from personal experience. We 
have here in town two or three pot hunters who 
make a business of killing birds and selling 
them. So far we have been unable to catcb 
them, yet a .good many poor foreigners have 
been fined for hunting rabbits without a license. 
If the foreign element is exterminating all the 
game, why do not they exterminate the rabbits, 
which are still thick enough? I cannot take my 
bird dog into the woods anywhere without hav¬ 
ing trouble with them. 
To come back to tbe matter of IMaine and 
New York. There is plenty, of mountain veal, 
so-called, consumed in Maine the year round. 
Does Mr. Parker consider the area of land in 
IMaine and New York respectively? Does he 
suppose that deer are going to breed in people’s 
back yards? 
We are having troubles of our own over the 
new' $i license law'. . E. L. B. 
