21G 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 7, 1909. 
Velocity of Small-Bores. 
Hollywood, Cal., July 24.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: In a late issue “Twelve-Gauge” asks 
for other authorities than my personal experi¬ 
ence in support of my contention that small¬ 
bore shotguns exceed larger in velocity with pro¬ 
portionate charges. As he wishes to submit the 
entire case upon this one argument I will comply 
with the request, first stating that my object in 
precipitating this controversy was to add my 
mite to general experience by citing experiments 
of my own in the firm belief that tests of to¬ 
day are of more value than those of even five 
years ago, considering constant improvement in 
guns and ammunition. My definite statement re¬ 
garding velocity was taken from the experience 
of our leading gun .makers, whose expert testi¬ 
mony is of more weight with me than all the 
books ever written, being the result of exhaus¬ 
tive tests, gone into without prejudice or bias, 
and as a matter of business, seeking only defi¬ 
nite knowledge. Other things equal, they would 
rather make twelve-bores. There is no object 
to claim for the smaller gauges any advantage, 
and when their tests, based upon the mathe¬ 
matical precision of the chronograph, exactly 
tallied with those obtained by the crude methods 
possible to myself in my amateur investigations 
of the subject, naturally I accepted them as 
final so far as I felt concerned. 
To refresh my memory I wrote to a firm 
whose reputation has practically established the 
American shotgun as a worthy arm in the eyes 
of the shooting world. Their conservatism and 
immunity from fads is proverbial. They make 
all gauges from eight to twenty-eight and enjoy 
particular facilities for conducting comparative 
tests with guns as nearly in proportion as pos¬ 
sible. Here is their answer to my inquiry: 
In regard to the pattern of a 28-gauge, will say that 
we have made several comparative tests between the 
28, 20, 16 and 12 gauge guns for pattern and penetration, 
and by looking over our records, we find that the smaller 
the bore, the higher the muzzle velocity obtained, and 
the percentage of pattern for the 28-gauge is fully as 
much as for the 20-gauge. Of course, the quantity of 
shot used in the 28-gauge is very much less, and many 
people, by trying the different tests, might be of opinion 
that the patterns were not as good in proportion; but if 
they figure up the percentage of hits, together with the 
quantity of shot in the load, they will find that the 
percentage is about the same; in fact, it is fully as 
favorable to the small bcre as to the larger bore. 
Another firm of gunmakers writes: 
In the smaller bores, the velocity is absolutely all 
right. Of course, you will appreciate that the killing 
circle in a 12-gauge gun is 30 inches; in a 16-gauge it is 
28 inches, and in the 20-gauge it is about 24 inches. 
Several years ago the London Field held some 
comparative trials conducted by the late J. H. 
Walsh. A standard of 1,170 feet velocity was 
decided upon at twenty yards from the muzzle 
as the standard of comparison and experiments 
with different gauges were tried to ascertain the 
charge of powder necessary to build up that 
velocity in each with one ounce of shot. Six 
guns of each gauge were tested and averaged. 
In the twenty-bores, thirty grains sufficed; it 
required thirty-seven grains in the twelves. This 
is, of course, an awkward way of getting at the 
point under discussion, but Mr. Walsh, himself 
a careful student of ballistics, summed up the 
trial more definitely when he wrote in the Field: 
When we were asked last year to conduct a test of the 
powers of the 20- and 16-gauges against the standard 12- 
bore, we undertook the task without the slightest idea 
that either one or the other could hold its own, and all 
we contemplated was the arriving at the exact handicap 
between them. [Looking toward live-bird trap shooting.] 
We believed that in the hands of a weak man, unable to 
carry weight, the 20-gauge would be the best gun for game, 
but that a strong man could perform as well with one 
of these popguns as with the larger bore we never 
dreamed. 
Once more, however, we learned that nothing but 
actual experience is to be relied upon in gunnery, as in 
the present trial the 12-bores barely held their own at the 
40-yard range, if we take it for granted that our figure 
of merit upon which the trial was conducted is of sound 
principle, which we fully believe it to be. 
It is alleged the 30-inch plate just suits the small- 
bores, but then it also suits the sportsman, and has 
long been the accepted target for testing his guns. 
Manifestly, if a larger area is to be covered, 300 
pellets will do it better than 250; but if, as above stated, 
the sportsman is content with the 30-inch plate, and this 
being the case, the matter is set at rest, and clearly no 
allowance should be made at the pigeon traps for the 
small bores if the weight of the gun is not to be taken 
into consideration. 
Some years ago H. M. Dyer, well known as 
an expert duck shot in the Middle West, wish¬ 
ing to know something of the velocity of a cer¬ 
tain load he was using in a twenty-gauge gun, 
wrote a famous ballistic engineer, asking him 
to test these loads, which was done. Reporting 
in conclusion, he wrote: “These are better 
average ballistics than can be obtained by the 
maximum load in a three-inch case from a 
twelve-bore gun.” 
Here are Mr. Dyer’s personal conclusions, 
based on many years’ experience, and flanked 
with the authorities already cited; 
The gun of full weight will always outshoot the same 
bore in the light weights, and as the latter can never be 
loaded to develop its maximum capacity, the gun of 
smaller bore, but of sufficient weight to use full charges, 
will always be the better performer, the handicap of the 
reduced shot charge being more than offset by the in¬ 
creased velocity of the pellets, and the ease with which 
the long, slender barrels of the small-bore may be 
aligned, insuring more careful and correct aim, which 
after all counts for more than indifferent aim, assisted by 
large spread of shot. 
Should any one care to pattern a 12 against a 16 or 20- 
bore, he can greatly simplify his operation after the 
first shot by confining his efforts to pattern alone, as 
the velocity will be so overwhelmingly in favor of the 
small-bores that there will never be any necessity, much 
less inclination, for continuing the test. 
Speaking of “stringing out” of the larger shot 
loads used in the twelve-bore, Dyer writes: 
The pattern plate is only useful in so far as it records 
the ultimate arrival of a certain number of pellets over 
the 40-yard range. The outside pellets may not have 
sufficient force to make an indentation in soft pine 
wood, which means they were strung out far behind the 
main body Of shot, and consequently could not be taken 
into account as forming a part of the killing charge. 
I have written a number of Birmingham and London 
gun-makers on this point, and the reply in every instance 
has been the same: That loaded with the maximum 
charge, the 20-bores register more speed than any load 
that can be gotten into a 12-bore case. 
In the limits available for this discussion it 
is utterly impossible to more than suggest the 
general points of argument bearing upon the 
principles involved, and I regret exceedingly that 
it is not permissible to go into the subject more 
thoroughly in view of the general interest in 
small-bores being manifested by the shotgun 
fraternity at the present time. Nitro powder 
has changed shotgun ballistics very materially, 
as anyone who ever tried to shoot it out of a 
brass shell and ahead of a No. 2 primer must 
have learned; in fact, it seems to me that the 
nitros are particularly effective in the small- 
bores where the ratio of primer to bulk of 
powder charge is so much greater and the igni¬ 
tion so simultaneous. Edwin L. Hedderly. 
Game in Connecticut. 
New York, August 1. —Editor Forest atu 
Stream: I am greatly interested in- the letter 
from Mr. Chase and Mr. Kimball, printed 1 
last week’s Forest and Stream, and would lik 
to say a word about deer in Connecticut. Ther 
are a good many there, that is to say they ar 
seen more or less frequently down toward th 
shore, and in the northern part of the State, i 
we may believe the agricultural papers, there i 
great complaint among the farmers of the dam 
age caused by deer. In these papers I frequentl 
see letters from farmers in Connecticut wh< 
speak of the deer as pests, and declare that the 
prevent the practice of agriculture. Such state 
ments are perhaps exaggerated, but no doub 
they have some basis in fact. I do not knbvj 
that there are any statistics showing what harm 
if any, has been done by the deer; or how muc! 
money in damages has been paid out by the State 
Not very long ago I spent a Saturday am 
Sunday in Connecticut and what I saw ther 
led me to think that game prospects for th 
coming season were rather bright. The eveninj 
of my arrival while sitting on the piazza, jus 
after the sun had gone down, a big doe appearei 
in a field and walked and trotted across in fron 
of the house about thirty or forty yards away 
The following morning, while walking througl j 
a piece of woods, I came on an old ruffei I 
grouse, winch evidently had with her a brooi 
of young, for she tried to lure me away fron 
the spot where her young were hidden and sue 
ceeded in doing it, too. I was afraid that i 
I remained I might step on some of the chicks 
That afternoon two cock quail were whistlim 
quite close to the house, one of them not mor 
than twenty yards from a public road. I sav 
him standing on a fence post, and getting a pai 
of glasses watched him for some time. Pres I 
entlv I saw him crouch down on top of the pos 
and almost disappear, and for a moment I dii 
not understand it, until I saw that a little chili 
was coming along the road. After the chili 
had passed by, the quail slowly stood up again, 
and after a little while began to whistle. Late 
a person passing along the road alarmed it, am 
it flew from its perch and passed not ten yard 
in front of the house, and a little later I heari 
it whistling from the other side. The next daj 
while walking in the woods, I crossed a littl 
bit of now dried-up swamp, and while pushing 
through some white birches, as T ascended th 
knoll beyond, a big woodcock jumped up fror 
the dry leaves in front of me so close that 
heard the fanning of his wings and his whistlJ 
I thought if all Connecticut was like this, oh 
times had come back again. Naugatuck. 
Fire on Martha’s Vineyard. 
A REPORT has been current that a recent fir 
on Martha’s Vineyard destroyed a great man; 
of the heath hens. On this report E. H. For 
bush, the Massachusetts State Ornithologist 
visited the island and investigated the fire. I 
was a serious fire, but fortunately was stoppei. 
on the road bounding the reservation on th 
east and burned very little land frequented b; 
the heath hens, which are found more on th 
reservation, and to the north and west of it 
Probably few. if any, of the birds were de 
stroyed by this fire, and there is no reason to be 
lieve that their increase has been checked as yet 
