Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-06-06
Rifles and shot.Guns.

"Do you ever pick up any baro,;.
in secondhand, double barrel, bsal1s
loading shot-gunsP" a reporter as lsaeA>
gunsmith yesterday.
swell, hardly ever" he replied
turing on a Pinafore quotationinas,n,,,ea ven.
as he was surrounded with %reyo1rassals
and bowie knives. "The guns bsas
been in the market for such a comn lave
lively short time, that there have p lara
but few opportunities for obtaining a sesa
secondhand arms. They come s ~
very high price, you know, and WHOM
sportsman wishes to dispose of his as
he gives his friends the first chancas aa
bid for it.. Those who know its shooo.
ing qualities generally snap it IN. IL;
is really worth anything"
"But l have see any quantity =.
nice-looking guns in the windows =
pawnbrokers' shops!"
"Oh, yes, mice looking gun j.
plenty. If that is all you are lookina
after, it will be easy to make q bargain
But most people who buy a Shotgun
care for more than good looks. snS
want q piece that will shoot. As
general rule only the common grads1
Of guns find their way to the pawn
brokers, and from a casual inspection
these are "good looking" enough. /
few days ago q gentleman, who ouckl
tn have had his wits about him, cam,
here and told me that he had found ]
pretty gun in a store which displave
the sign Of three golden balls. He lad
handled it, and was so much pleased
with its appearance that he had aboul
made up his mind to purchase it fn
thirty dollars. Before buying it, how
ever, he wanted me to see what kind y
a gun it was"
"There was nothing mean about thai
proposition" the reporter suggested,
.'Well, he was an old customer Al
mine, and l was glad enough to accom-
MEDIATE him. l saw the gun and found
that,it was just as pretty as he had del
scribed. ] whispered in his cal, whia
the proprietor "a sounding it's praises]
that, if he wished, 1 would order !
brand new one just like it from the fael
tory for twenty-five dollars and,-
well, he didn't buy the gun"
sis it the same with riiles?" the rel
porter queried.
swell, no. Gunsmiths pick IN !
great number of first-class rifles durp1
the course of a year which they can sell
for q quarter of their original cost
Why, l sold a beautiful Snider rifle tb1
other day for $13, which couldn't ID
duplicated for $50. But speaking q
bargains in guns, just look at this,,'1
and the gunsmith drew from q corner 4
beautiful muzzle-loading rifle of 40 CALL
Der.
'"This was made to order a few yeatI
ago for a gentleman who did not be|
lieve in the new order of things. Mu1I
zle-loaders we're good enough for hI
forbears and they were good enough fol
him. Besides he didn't believe in put
ting a pinch of powder in a bit Of cop|
per and showing it into the breach y
the gun. Well, l made this gun fol
him and it cost every cent of $40, AMI
labor wasn't worth much in those daN
either. Now what do you suppose II
would sell it for? Just $40, and it is d
good as new. Why, the sights on it al
hardly give away q Misunderstanding gul
nowadays, and I might carry this )
stock for twenty years, without gettin|
a decent chance to show it even"
"You must have seen a great im|
provement in guns during your time.
l.. "Ihave, and l reckon l will hand]
arms that are more perfect yet before
die. When l was a boy, and thai
wasn't in your day either, we used d
shoot with telescope guns. Here is oud
which weighs sixteen pounds, and thai
was considered too light to be good fo4
much. If the barrel weighed twenty
pounds an old hunter might be brought
to look at a gun, but anything muclI
lighter than that wasn't thought fit fd
men. have seen, aye, and shot, ritej
that would turn the Balance at fifty and
sixty pounds. Of course one would us4
a rest in shooting with these, but
twenty pound gun wasn't too heavy fog
of-hand shooting. But we could pie1
Oft the turkeys and score up the bulls
eyes with these young cannons. If yoll
C got the gun sighted it covered thu
mark when you pulled the trigger and
didn't wave around in a circle. Ther1
was no recoil either, and you could lay
the gun on a table, send the bullet y
the mark, and the piece would scarcely
Stir. Now a sportsman can take ", !
little rifle weighing eight or ten pounds
and throw q bullet a full mile. Bug
they don't beat our old-time records m
bringing down the game, and that i
one consolation. -. tiffany Argas.
- - I'D
Try never to borrow, and you wiz
be less likely to be asked to lend.