June 26, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
1033 
Practical Shooting Hints. 
In many callings, the expert not only knows how to 
accomplish results, but also has a comprehensive knowl¬ 
edge of the means by which the results are accomplished. 
Trapshooting, in this respect, may fairly be said to come 
under the head of exceptions. There is a reason. The 
average trapshooter exercises very little analytical effort 
concerning the ballistic properties of ammunition, aside 
from the rnere results of firing at an object, if indeed he 
may be said to exercise anj; analytical effort at all. Con¬ 
sequently. out of the multitudes of shooters, good, bad 
and indifferent, to be found everywhere throughout the 
land, there are few indeed who possess any accurate 
knowledge of the general properties of the ammunition 
they use, excepting the one consideration of firing it. 
And, in respect to the latter, a shooter may have many 
false and foolish notions; for, having used a certain brand 
of favorite ammunition for years, with good success in a 
practical way, his inferences as to his success may be 
erroneous. For instance, he may firmly believe that a 
cartridge which administers to him a good stiff kick at 
the moment of firing, is a good strong one, and better 
than one which gives only a mild kick, though the 
chronograph may show that the two give velocities about 
alike. Thus the inference from the kick is fallacious. 
Still the shooter erroneously accepts the kick on the one 
hand as indisputable evidence of high velocity on the 
other, whereas it does not necessarily indicate anything 
of the kind. 
The like loads of powder may give widely different de¬ 
grees of recoil on account of the differences in the 
wadding and crimping, something quite apart from the 
matter of velocity, although not necessarily apart from 
the consideration of pattern. 
If the shooter tries a strange load, giving a recoil to 
which he is not habituated, no information as to the 
goodness of it avails against his sensation of physical 
force and his pre-judgments. This load has become a 
part of his accepted standards of power and velocity, all 
confirmed by his prior experiences in which kick and 
power and velocity were corelatives, all well established 
in his mind by long-continued prejudices. 
In respect to the matter of careful and intelligent in¬ 
vestigation, the users of the shotgun are lamentably be¬ 
hind the users of the rifle. Indeed, there is hardly any 
comparison. There are many riflemen who are in¬ 
cessantly and intelligently experimenting on every phase 
of rifle shooting, on the shapes of rifle bullets, their 
proper degrees of hardiness, the correct twist for each 
kind, the properties of different powders, the different 
performances in winds, lights, temperatures, etc., with 
the most beneficial practical results, both to the marks¬ 
man as a marksman, and to the makers. 
Sometimes the experimenters are referred to as cranks 
on rifle themes, although they are really enthusiasts, a 
class from which true pro.gress always evolves whether 
we consider it in reference to projectiles or anything 
else. When a material gain is made in the rifle or am¬ 
munition, or both, the marksman increases the difficulty 
of his art by raising the standard of skill; as for in¬ 
stance by decreasing the size of the targets or increasing 
the distance of shooting, etc., thereby giving opportunitv 
for new high records under more modern and more dif¬ 
ficult conditions. Thus his improvements and his stand¬ 
ards of performance equally advance. This constant 
effort for progress is active within the ranks of the rifle¬ 
men themselves, and not from outside criticism as 
mostly obtains with the users of the shotgun. For in¬ 
stance, in the matter of the standard mark for shotguns, 
Ifiyds., there has been for a generation no material 
change, although guns, ammunition, skilly etc., have all 
been greatly improved. It has many times happened 
that many different trapshooting contests have shot 
through a programme without a miss, from the same 
old 16yds. mark.^a distance, in view of the improvements 
and efficiency in modern shotguns and ammunition, 
about right for a novice or schoolboy. So it goes, 
from year to year the same. 
In England, the standard mark is 18yds., yet the 
American shooters, who are pleased to consider them¬ 
selves the best in the world, have a lower standard of 
performance. 
To now introduce our purpose materially, let us 
first consider the matter of temperature in its effects 
on nitro powders. It has been found by repeated ex- 
A WORLD’S RECORD Jor 
BALLISTITE 
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At Pottsville, Pa., May 31st, Miss Anna M. R^eiker, 
of Lancaster, Pa., breaks the Women’s World’s Record at Live Birds, 
by killing 47 ex 50. 
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THE A. H. FOX GUN COMPANY, 4670 North 18th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Two World’s Records Ma^de by O. N. Ford 
At the Missouri State Shoot, St. Louis, June 12 and 13, shooting in the Regular Tournament competition, and using his 
NEW TR.AP GUN 
342 Straight. The world’s greatest straight score for an amateur. Broke 312 straight of regular program and 30 straight in shoot-off of gun event 
(a feature of regular program) World’s previous amateur record was 253 straight. 
446 ex 450. Official Progam. The official program called for 10 events of 20 birds each, and one event of 25 birds, known as the “Gun Event,” 
each day. By breaking 446 ex 450 , Mr. Ford established the new high average of 99 1 - 9 ^ for a two day tournament. 
505 ex 510. Actual Score. In gun event No. 11 , six shooters tied with 25 straight; Mr. Ford won the shoot-off with 30 straight. .The second 
day’s gun event also resulted in a tie; in the shoot-off Mr. Ford broke 29 ex 30 . 59 ex 60 in the two shoot-olfs makes the total score 505 ex 510 . 
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