July, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
425 
How many birds get through 
your shot patterns? 
-NO 
BLAST"- 
I T is not enough to know that your 
shells shoot hard, that they are sure 
fire and water proofed. It’s the 
pattern that counts. 
The secret of good patterns is in the 
wadding. Good, close shooting, evenly 
distributed patterns are the direct result 
of a correct system of wadding scien¬ 
tifically adjusted to the bore of your gun. 
The wadding, like the piston head of a 
gas engine, must give the explosion some¬ 
thing solid to work against so that the 
shot may be pushed out evenly. 
It must expand and fill the tube of the 
barrel, completely sealing in the gas be¬ 
hind it. No gas must escape to scatter 
the shot. 
It must offer just the right amount of 
resistance to the explosion so as to de¬ 
velop uniform pressure and high velocity 
without danger of jamming the pellets 
out of shape at the “choke” or muzzle 
constriction. 
The illustrations at the side of this page 
show actual test patterns, 50% to 70% 
faulty, the result of poor wadding. 
The Winchester system 
Winchester Wadding is the result of 
repeated experiments to determine the 
most efficient control of the gas blast. 
The special construction of the Base 
Wad gives what is known as Progressive 
Combustion to the powder charge. 
Combustion spreads instantly through 
the powder charge. By the time the top 
grains of powder become ignited the full 
energy of the burning powder behind is 
at work. Though the explosion is al¬ 
most instantaneous, it is none the less 
Progressive, the final energy and maxi¬ 
mum velocity of the completely burned 
powder being developed at the muzzle, 
where it is most needed. 
Meanwhile, under the heat of combus¬ 
tion, the tough, springy, Driving Wad has 
expanded to fill the barrel snugly all 
around. No gas escapes. It is completely 
sealed in. The wadding pushes up the 
shot evenly. 
At the muzzle the shot pellets slip out 
without jamming while the wadding is 
checked for a brief interval by the con¬ 
striction of the muzzle. It follows some 
distance behind the shot pattern. 
The shot cluster travels on, unbroken by 
gas blast or wadding, and makes the hard¬ 
hitting, uniform pattern for which Winchester 
shot shells are world famous. 
Fish-Tail Flash. All Winchester smoke¬ 
less shells are made with the new Winchester 
No. 4 Primer-—The quickest and most power¬ 
ful shot shell primer made. Its broad fish-tail 
flash gives instant and thorough ignition. 
Every grain of powder is completely burned 
up before the shot charge leaves the muzzle. 
The Crimp. The required degree of pres¬ 
sure necessary in seating the driving wads is 
worked out in combination with the hardness 
or the softness of the crimping required for 
any particular shell. 
Water-proofing and lubrication 
In the cold, damp air of the marshes or 
under the blazing sun at the traps, Winchester 
shells will always play true. Winchester wa¬ 
ter-proofing process prevents them from swell¬ 
ing from dampness. Special lubrication of the 
paper fibres prevents brittleness and “ split¬ 
ting off” in dry weather. 
Uniform Shells. From primer to crimp, 
Winchester shells are constructed to insure 
the maximum pattern possible from any load 
and under all conditions. $100,000 is spent an¬ 
nually in the inspection and testing of finished 
shot shells. 25,000,000 rounds of ammunition 
are fired every year in testing guns and am¬ 
munition. 
Clean hits and more of them 
To insure more hits and cleaner hits in the 
field or at the traps be sure your shells are 
Winchester Leader and Repeater for Smoke¬ 
less ; Nublack and New Rival for Black Pow¬ 
der. Write for our Free Booklet on Shells, 
Winchester Repeating Arms Co., Dept. 
1631 , New Haven, Conn. 
The Winchester pattern: $20 
pellets out of every possible 
43 h or 74 % of the shot 
charge, evenly distributed, no 
birds get through. 
Effect of bad loading of wad¬ 
ding increases breech pres¬ 
sure. Violence of explosion 
“jams” and mutilates pellets. 
Actual test target 160 pellets 
Effect of weak wadding 
pierced by the gas blast. 
The blast blozvs into the shot 
cluster scattering the pellets 
•in all directions. Low pres¬ 
sure and poor penetration. 
Actual test target 178 pellets 
checked by friction or mus¬ 
cle choke, it is blown through 
the shot cluster scattering the 
shot. Actual test target 221 
pellets 
Winchester 
World Standard Guns and Ammunition 
