Feb. 27, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
337 
Small'bore Guns and Loads. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The articles you have recently published as 
to the relative merits of large- and small-bore 
guns are very interesting, but the statements 
contained in them that the small-bores exceed 
the large ones in velocity and penetration and 
hence in shooting power at long range do not 
accord with many experiments which I have 
made, nor with the literature on the subject 
which I have quite extensively e.xamined. I 
believe the most common error of amateurs who 
make experiments with a view of comparing the 
capacities of guns of different gauges lies in the 
fact that they do not sufficiently consider the un¬ 
accountable vagaries which are frequently ex¬ 
hibited by individual guns under different com¬ 
binations of loads, irrespective of gauge. To 
.say, as your correspondent Mr. Hedderly does 
when speaking of the fact that the size of shot 
used must be considered, "Sixes work splendidly 
in the sixteen, sevens in the twenty,’’ is ex¬ 
tremely misleading and far from being univer¬ 
sally true. It may be true of individual guns, 
yet the opposite be true of others. I had a six¬ 
teen made by one of the best American manu¬ 
facturers with which I made many tests and 
which would not shoot sixes well at all, but 
which gave better results with sevens than with 
any other size. A friend of mine has a twenty 
of fine foreign make which gives better patterns 
with fours and sevens than with other sizes. 
The 16-gauge above mentioned, when tested with 
several brands of powder and various quantities 
and sizes of shot, showed considerable variation 
in results. For e.xample, with 214 drams of one 
brand of powder and one ounce of No. 7, its 
pattern averaged 65 per cent., while with the 
same load of another brand it would average as 
high as 82 per cent. With other charges of shot 
and the same or other quantities of powder, 
similar differences were observed, varying in 
degree only. Now under these circumstances 
anyone might confidently assert that if open 
shooting was desired, the first mentioned powder 
should be used, while if closer shooting was 
wanted, the other brand should be employed. 
Yet that was true with that gun only. When 
these two powders were tested in my 12-gauge 
(a gun by the same maker) similar results de¬ 
veloped when one particular load only was used, 
while with all other combinations the powders 
showed exactly opposite results to what they did 
in the 16-gauge. In the 12-gauge with one certain 
load both these powders made a pattern averag¬ 
ing 78 per cent. Increasing the load an eighth 
of a dram the first mentioned brand developed 
only 71 per cent, while the other showed 80 per 
cent. This was similar to the result in the 16- 
gauge. But changing the shot to No. 6 in place 
of 7 completely reversed the result and the pow¬ 
der which before made 71 per cent, now made 
77 per cent., while the one that had previously 
made 80 per cent, now fell off to only 67 per 
cent. These are not the results from only occas¬ 
ional shots, but of averages produced by many 
trials and tests, and hence these conditions can¬ 
not be attributed to irregularly or poorly loaded 
shells. The ammunition used was always the 
best grade of factory loaded and the shells 
showed remarkable uniformity, varying little 
more than from 6 to 12 pellets between the tar¬ 
gets with the loads which were alike. 
All this goes to show very clearly that no just 
comparison of guns of different gauges can be 
made until the particular load which is best 
adapted to each individual gun, and which will_ 
bring out its best and strongest qualities, has 
first been ascertained; and this can be done only 
after making a long series of tests with various 
combinations of loads, having in view both pat¬ 
tern and penetration. That there is one particu¬ 
lar load best suited to each individual gun with 
which it will do its best seems to be generally 
conceded, but this fact is not kept in mind when 
comparative tests of two guns are made. Until 
this fact is remembered and the exact load for 
each gun is first ascertained, any comparative 
test will be valueless. 
I think Mr. Hedderly is mistaken in saying 
J. M. BLACKMAN WITH ONE NIGHT's CATCH. 
that “every test conducted in this or any other 
country has shown that with proportioned loads 
the small-bores excel the large in velocity.” Mr. 
Greener, in “The Gun and Its Development,” 
states that the London gun trial of 1879 and the 
Chicago trial of the same year were both held 
with the express purpose of ascertaining and 
determining the relative merits of large as com¬ 
pared with small-bore guns, and he gives an 
account of both those trials from which it ap¬ 
pears that in velocity and penetration the twelves 
exceeded the sixteens and twenties, and the tens 
and eights exceeded the twelves. Other expert 
writers have arrived at conclusions similar to 
those reached by Mr. Greener. 
On the whole I think Mr. Hedderly will have 
difficulty in persuading duck hunters generally 
that it would be well for them to discard their 
12-gauge guns in favor of sixteens or twenties, 
or that the twelves will not kill further than 
the smaller bores. Twelve-Gauge. 
A Museum for Louisville. 
A movement has been started in Louisville, 
Ky., by Brent Altsheler and other well known 
citizens, to establish an arts and science museum. 
As yet the plans of its promoters have not been 
fixed, but there is so much material available 
in the city and State that if a place to pre¬ 
serve it be established, the rest is assured. 
Louisville is especially rich in private collec¬ 
tions, and had proper provision been made fif¬ 
teen or twenty years ago, the city would at 
present be in possession of a number of rarely 
valuable collections whose worth cannot now 
be computed in dollars and cents. Notable 
among these collections which might have been 
secured was Mr. George H. Moore’s splendid 
collection of paintings, which, because proper 
protection in the matter of fireproof building 
could not be given, was distributed among his 
heirs. 
However, other valuable collections in art, 
science and history have been offered to the 
Mayor or the city, from time to time, and while 
some of them have passed out of reach it is 
still possible to secure many which will prove 
a worthy nucleus for a great institution which 
may in time become worthy of mention among 
the greatest in the country. 
Among these collections and evidencing the 
tremendous scope in the way of collection which 
the energies of Louisville people have found 
there may be mentioned: Archeological collec¬ 
tion of American Indian and mound builders, 
said to be one of the rarest and most complete 
in existence; Indian art work and handicraft, 
mounted heads of ungulates (North American 
large game animals), a large collection in 
natural history including both flora and fauna, 
the life work of a trained naturalist; portraits, 
guns, dress and other relics of Boone, Kenton, 
Clarke, Ballard and other Kentucky pioneers, 
including letters, manuscripts and other interest¬ 
ing historical matter of priceless value which 
other cities are seeking; rare old musical in¬ 
struments illustrating the development of modern 
musical appliances; paintings, carvings, bronzes 
and other works of art (made on journeys 
around the world by two well known Louis¬ 
ville travelers) ; collection of birds and bird 
eggs; various paintings and portraits by for¬ 
eign an^ home artists. 
One Night’s Catch. 
Uniontown, Ky., Feb. 10 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: I notice in Forest and Stream of Jan. 
16 an article entitled “In Pursuit of the Skunk,” 
and a picture of Mr. Christman’s neighbor, the 
hunter. The accompanying photograph is of 
my neighbor, J. M. Blackman, and one night’s 
catch. Mr. Blackman is our railroad agent at 
this place. After his trains are all past at 
night, he takes his dogs and goes hunting, and 
often catches as high as eight or ten skunks or 
opossums in one night, 
Mr. Blackman buys skunk, ’coon, opossum, 
mink, muskrat and wolf hides and occasionally 
an otter. 
■We have here a neighborhood hunt for 
rabbits. They kill from three to four hundred 
rabbits on each hunt, then sell them and with 
the money have an oyster supper for the whole 
neighborhood. J. M. Sample. 
