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[Oct. 23, 1909. 
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Twin City Gun Club. 
Champaign, Ill., Oct. 16.—I am sending you under 
separate cover a complete record of our tournament, 
held here, on Oct. 6, 6 and 7. Weather conditions were 
perfect, and when you look at the list of shooters who 
competed at this tournament, you undoubtedly will 
agree with me that we had one of the fastest bunches 
gotten together in the Middle West this year, outside 
of the Grand American Handicap and the State shoot. 
We had with us one of the best fellows in the sporting 
world, Mr. Ernest Tripp, of Indianapolis. He was kind 
enough to spend one of the days with us, and it goes 
without saying that we truly appreciated his kindness 
and the entertainment he furnished us. With Everett 
Brown, of Renssaleer, Ind., as a side partner and Hugh 
M. Clark, of Urbana, Ill., we had a trio of truly good 
fun-makers. You will note that we had quite a good 
bunch to shoot through both days, and if we had not 
had the State Fair to contend with we would have had at 
least fifteen more shooters. 
Of the professionals, for the two days, Oct. 6 and 7, 
W. R. Crosby was first, Ed. Graham was second, R. W. 
Clancy was third. 
Woolfolk Henderson was first high amateur for the 
two days, second being a tie between Jesse Young and 
A. J. Stauber. Homer Clark was third; J. Barto fourth; 
J. Graham fifth, and Hugh Clark and Fred Ellett were 
in a tie for sixth. 
The first day was devoted to the Champaign county 
amateur contest and practice for shooters. 
R W Clancy. 
W R Crosby. 
H W Cadwallader... 
W D Stannard. 
Ed Graham . 
Neale Moore . 
H E Winans. 
Jesse Young . 
A H Amman... 
R A King. 
Fred Ellett . 
Homer Clark . 
Woolfolk Henderson 
J Graham . 
Joe Barto . 
Harry Dunnill . 
Geo Roll . 
A J Stauber. 
H Robley . 
Chas Ditto . 
Mark Arie .. 
Hugh Clark . 
T H Parry. 
A J Spinney. 
Peck . 
Ed Vorhis . 
Nelson Wise . 
Jones . 
C E Johnson. 
H D Burnham. 
H Carsten . 
C T Walton. 
Smith . 
Brown . 
Glover ...:. 
Bartell .. 
E H Tripp. 
Fred Ragle . 
Veach . 
Haws . 
Hefley . 
Bishop . 
Roebuck . 
Albright . 
Franke . 
E Miller . 
Geo Ruppert . 
Cody Miller . 
Vandeventer . 
Wiggins . 
Garver . 
Reed . 
f —Oct. 6—^ f —Oct. 7—■> 
Shot at. Broke. Shot at. Broke 
200 
192 
290 
188 
200 
19S 
200 
195 
200 
183 
200 
170 
200 
187 
200 
181 
200 
193 
200 
189 
200 
171 
160 
135 
200 
171 
200 
141 
200 
198 
200 
185 
200 
ISO 
200 
185 
200 
184 
200 
1S5 
200 
190 
200 
195 
200 
185 
200 
192 
200 
196 
200 
1S9 
200 
189 
200 
191 
200 
188 
200 
193 
200 
182 
200 
190 
200 
182 
200 
190 
200 
193 
200 
1 S1 
200 
194 
200 
iso 
200 
1S5 
200 
1S7 
200 
is9 
200 
179 
200 
177 
200 
179 
200 
1S4 
200 
186 
200 
169 
200 
187 
200 
i8i 
200 
146 
200 
178 
ieo 
137 
200 
170 
80 
64 
200 
176 
200 
179 
200 
176 
160 
126 
160 
126 
200 
175 
160 
145 
200 
162 
100 
78 
200 
161 
200 
169 
80 
62 
80 
63 
SO 
67 
160 
1.24 
80 
62 
200 
iso 
200 
173 
200 
174 
200 
164 
200 
183 
80 
62 
SO 
68 
The 100-target handicap of the first day was won by 
J. P. Lynch. The prize was a loving cup. Five, Wal¬ 
ton, Anderson, Gill, Powell and Lynch, tied on perfect 
scores, with the aid of their handicaps, as follows: 
Hep. T’l. 
Jas Arie . 20 76 
C E Anderson.. 15 86 
H T Walton.... 25 69 
H Gill . 20 82 
J P Lynch. 30 87 
A J Powell. 30 71 
B Buyman . 20 72 
Hep. 
T’l. 
W Richmond... 
20 
76 
S F Hutson. 
20 
75 
Mark Arie . 
0 
94 
C T Walton. 
15 
S8 
C E Johnson.... 
Chas Wiggins .. 
0 
72 
0 
88 
Hugh Clark .... 
0 
92 
C. E. Johnson, 
Sec’ 
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Hudson Gun Club. 
Jersey City, N. J., Oct. 10.—Find herewith scores of 
L h u reg j r bi-monthly shoot, of the Hudson Gun Club, 
held to-day at Jersey City, with an attendance of twenty- 
one shooters. 
The day was warm and pleasant, with very little wind 
blowing, which made it ideal for trapshooting, and some 
very good scores were made by several of the shooters 
present. There was a 24 by Schorty. W. O’Brien was 
high pinnacle for the day. Schorty was also high gun 
*° r 3 P r °g ramn ie events with 87 per cent., while 
Y\. U i.rien was the runner-up with 84 per cent. Both 
men shot very consistently throughout. 
Event No. 4 was a handicap cake shoot for a prize 
donated by our club member, Mr. L. Gille, and after 
several ties were shot off for it, Mr. Emmons was de¬ 
clared the winner, finishing up with a straight score. 
Seven of our charter members took a look in to-day- 
some of them for the first time in two years, and after a 
Jot ot hand-shaking and introducing to the strangers 
present, they got busy with their guns and gave a dis¬ 
graceful exhibition of the way to break targets, so after 
shooting at 25 targets each, they gave it up for a bad 
job and begged the secretary not to publish their 
scores, but they would be on the job at the next shoot 
and promised to do better. Better show up on the next 
shooting date and make good, beys, or you will see your 
names in the several sporting papers’ next issue, showing 
your friends how you can score 2 out of 25 and 6 out 
of 25. No bluffs, you fellows, but get on the job and 
redeem yourselves at the next shoot without fail. 
We shoot again on Oct. 24, and we extend a hearty 
welcome to all trapshooters, and their friends to come 
out and see us, and spend a pleasant morning at the 
traps of the Hudson Gun Club. 
Events: 1 2 3 4 5 6 
Targets: 25 25 25 25 25 26 
Van Duyne . 13 15 15 14 .. .. 
H Pape . 18 13 21 17 16 17 
Engel . 19 20 15 18 .. .. 
Kelley . 18 20 23 21 22 .. 
Strader . 15 6 17 17 15 .. 
Craft . 19 16 17 17 21 19 
Baker . 13 12 11 .. .. 
W O’Brien . 24 21 22 17 .. .. 
Brewer . 19 14. 
Williams . 20 20 22 20 .. .. 
Emmons . 11 18 19 19 21 .. 
Gille . 12 11 10 11 .. .. 
Schortey . 23 19 24 23 20 18 
Haddow ... 15 17 .. 
Dr Groll . 14 11 12 10 10 10 
J Pape . 14 22 20 18 .. 
J Hughes . 18 20 . 
Malcomb . 7 18 12 .. .. 
Dr O’Brien . 16 16 15 17 14 11 
Kurzell . 10 11 .. 
Jackson . 14 14 13 .. 
T. H. K., Sec’y. 
Some Problems of the Shotgun. 
Experiments with shotguns seldom take the form, so 
usual with rifles, of testing their ability to hit a mark. 
Yet this comes nearer the conditions of practical use 
than many of the other tests that are made. More 
shooting at game or clay birds tells only a small fraction 
of the whole story, for a kill results from the action of 
a few pellets in the charge, the position of the rest being 
entirely unrecorded. A gun, or either of the barrels of a 
gun, might so throw its charge that the top edge only 
of the pattern struck the point aimed at. A consistent 
and skillful shooter might with such a gun make good 
average shooting, in complete ignorance of the fact that 
the whole of the killing was being done by the upper 
half of the pattern, say 14oz. out of the total charge. 
The tendency of his own personal error might be to 
shoot beneath his bird, so that a very slight deviation 
from a true aim would carry the boundary edge of the 
pattern below the bird. The relatively large margin 
which exists to correct shooting over -the bird would so 
seldom come into use that the lower portion of the 
pattern, could be written off as so much waste. The 
shooter’s requirement is a gun which will center the 
charge on the mark aimed at. A slight tendency on the 
high side is not a bad thing to correct the tendency 
among most shooters to aim low. Too much artificial 
allowance is undoubtedly a bad thing, because it places 
a premium on aiming off the object, when the first prin¬ 
ciple of shooting should be to aim dead at it, subject only 
to an allowance or lead to cover the movement of the 
bird during the time occupied by the shot charge in 
covering the intervening distance. 
It is difficult to lay down any hard and fast rules con¬ 
cerning the properties of shotguns in general as regards 
their power to center the charge around the point 
aimed at. simply because there is a striking dearth of 
experimental data concerning this particular aspect of 
shotgun behavior. Great importance has always been 
attached to the registration of pattern on the plate, and 
it has been customary for the 30in. circle to be drawn 
around a selected center, it being assumed that the de¬ 
viation from the mark aimed at is the personal error of 
the shooter. In a large majority.of cases this explana¬ 
tion no doubt fits the facts. It certainly seems won¬ 
derfully difficult to hit a sitting rabbit. But it is really 
remarkable that the use of a rifle rest beneath the fore 
end frequently fails to eliminate these unexplained di¬ 
vergencies. For example, a gun which has received a 
considerable amount of use was found, when tested, to 
shoot a fairly consistent lOin. low at 40yds., so minimiz¬ 
ing the value of the spread by this self-same amount. In 
other words, 12in. low would in all probability mean a 
miss, against which the power to err without penalty 
3ft. in the opposite direction represents but poor com¬ 
pensation. Alignment, was taken with the eye looking 
over the breech and just seeing the foresight and per¬ 
haps an inch or two of the muzzle. Owing to the 
greater thickness of metal at the breech end of the gun 
as compared with the muzzle, the line of aim makes an 
angle with the axis of the barrel representing at least 
LlOin. elevation per yard for all ranges. This would give 
4in. at 40yds., which exactly covers the drop of the shot 
due tp gravity, while traveling that distance. There¬ 
fore, in the gun under discussion, there remained a 
further lOin. of drop to be accounted for by recoil 
phenomena not as yet fully understood. That is to say, 
finding the shot strikes low, one assumes the muzzle 
aips. On the other hand, if it was found to strike high, 
it would be quite as simple to find an explanation based 
on up-throw, due to the butt being beneath the line of 
the barrels. However, the gun was sent to the makers 
for the stock to be straightened, so that the bend at the 
butt was reduced from 2%in. to l%in., with something 
intermediate at the comb. 
It was then decided to test the patterning properties 
of the gun, paying due regard to the position of the 
selected circle with reference to the mark aimed at. The 
alignment of the first five shots was taken hy bringing 
the eye down to the level of the breech, notwithstanding 
that the altered shape of the stock made it difficult to 
get so low down. This test gave the shooting of the 
barrels. The remaining five shots of the ten-shot series 
were then fired with the cheek and eye taking up the 
position that would be adopted when handling the gun 
in the ordinary fashion. That is to say, the eye was 
about ’Ain. above the level of the breech, and as the 
distance from the eye to the muzzle is as nearly as 
possible one yard, this represented lOin. at 40yds. of 
extra elevation. The following were the results obtained: 
Table I.—Combined test of pattern and position of 
selected 30in. circle, with reference to spot aimed at- 
charge used, 1 l-16oz. No. 6 (289 pellets): 
right barrel. 
Pellets in Position of circle. 
30in. circle ,- -A—i^ 
at 40yds. Elevation. Laterally. 
1. 100. true 12in. right. 
2. 132. 6in. low 2in. right. 
3. —.. Cartwheel pattern. 
4. 175.6in. low true 
5. 103. 6in. low 3in. right 
Average.4.5in. low 4.3in. right 
6. 100.2in. low true 
7. 155..... true true 
8. 120..... true true 
9- 134. 3in. high 6in. right 
10. 125.5in. high 2in. right 
Av. 127 1.2in. high 1.6in. right 
LEFT BARREL. 
11. 199. 6in. low 5in. right 
12. 182.8in. low 5in. right 
13. 169.12in. low 2in. right 
14. —. Cartwheel pattern. 
15. 126.17in. low true 
Average.10.8in. low 3.0in. right 
16. 155.. 6in. high lOin. right 
17. 177.3in. low 5in. right 
18. 193. true 5in. right 
19. 175. true true 
20. 197. true true 
Av. 175 0.6in. high 4.0in. right 
The first five shots were aimed with the eye close 
down over the rib. 
The next five were aimed with the cheek resting natu¬ 
rally on the stock. 
The first immediately interesting fact is that it at once 
becomes absurd to give any numerical pattern value to 
the cartwheel formation to which a proportion of all shot¬ 
gun patterns seem prone to take on. The point of aim 
being practically free of pellets, the circle would need to 
be scribed some 2ft. therefrom, and as there are nearly 
an equal number of pellets in every part of the annulus, 
it would matter little whether the circle was drawn high, 
low, right or left, so long as it is nowhere near the point 
aimed at. The other patterns from the right barrel were 
by no means regular enough to form a nice series, a cir¬ 
cumstance which made it at times difficult to select one 
place more than another as the center for the 30in. 
circle. However, the first five rounds gave four records, 
of which three were 6in. low, and the other, round No. 1, 
was correct in elevation, but diverging 12in. to the right. 
The corresponding shots from the left barrel contained 
another cartwheel pattern, and a moderately consistent 
low elevation with an average of rather more than lOin. 
low. The mark aimed at was a circle of about 4in. 
diameter roughly drawn on the whitewash. Aim was taken 
at the bottom edge of this mark, and all measurements 
were recorded therefrom. Perhaps the center would 
have been a better zero point to adopt, 'this would con¬ 
vert the lOin. low into 12in. That the right barrel did 
not shoot so far down was either the chance behavior of 
these shots or the difficulty of correctly locating the 
center of the wide spread which a cylinder pattern rep¬ 
resents. The second half of each series of shots was fired 
with the artificial elevation given by the shape of the 
stock, and it was really remarkable to find how won¬ 
derfully well the zero had been adjusted. The persistent 
right-hand tendency of both barrels is difficult to account 
for, supposing it really exists. Alignment was in every 
case very carefully taken from the exact center of the 
rib, and therefore the throw to the right must be classi¬ 
fied as another recoil phenomenon or peculiarity due to 
the barrel itself, for which it would be quite as interest¬ 
ing to know the explanation as the remedy. Lateral 
deviation cannot satisfactorily be corrected by greater or 
less cast-off, because the shooter naturally endeavors to 
handle his gun in a manner that will bring the aligning 
eye central with the rib. 
The shooter is indeed fortunate who possesses a gun 
which throws its charge in the true line of the barrels 
without the necessity to elevate the eye abnormally above 
the rib. A defectively aligned gun may be used for a 
lifetime without the fault being suspected. Like irregu¬ 
lar patterns, it may militate against the user developing 
the. highest grade of skill. Certainly greater possibilities 
of improving one’s shooting exist when the gun mounts 
readily to the shoulder, takes a natural bedding in true 
line with the eye, and places the charge of both barrels 
on the required spot, than is possible where true sighting 
produces a false result. The growing use of light 
charges, whether fired from 12-bores or 16-bores, provides 
evidence that our gunmakers, with the help of shooting 
schools and gunfitting appliances, are becoming increas¬ 
ingly capable of building guns capable of centring the 
charge in the fight place. Ten or even twenty per cent, 
reduction of the charge is not felt if the remaining pellets 
are disposed to the best advantage, and it is in further¬ 
ance of the desire to increase this advantage to the 
greatest possible extent that more detailed attention will 
be paid in the future than in the past to the position of 
the pellets with reference to the mark aligned at. That 
guns are not all perfect in this respect has several times 
been suspected from the persistent tendency of a particu¬ 
lar barrel to take a line of its own. As a general propo¬ 
sition it may be put forward that high quality barrels, 
symmetrical inside and out, and truly made on the most 
approved principles- ~*ould be more likely to shoot in 
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