The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-11-21
[CoPYRIGHT, 1901

fifty yards, at will Most sportsmen
understand that by varying the num-
Der and position of the wads in a
cartridge, they can cause the shot to
SPREAD wide or to shoot close with al
most any gun land to tho novice moth
ing can be more interesting than to
take his gun during the summer and
demonstrate this fact on paper targets),
but beyond that, few have any definite
idea of how it is to be done. The most
efficient old method was to run melt
ed mixture of bees wax and tallow in
among the shot, but the satisfactory
result of this was found to depend so
much upon the temperature at which
shells had been kept. that it was seldom
used except for deer or bear.
The new device is known as the
Shrapnell shell and consists of brass
ball, slightly smaller than the bore
CT the gun, which is divided into two
halves, each half being fitted with two
small Ranges, each tlange having a tiny
hole in it, through which steel wire
can be passed. The shell is filled with
any size of shot desired, and the wire
being passed through the holes, the
halves are held together, making solid
bail. AT the bottom end of the shell
a thick felt wad is fitted of the size to
lit the bore Of the gun. The cartridge
is loaded with powder in the usual way,
with the usual wads, and on the top of
these the Shrapnell shell is forced down
so that the wad at the bottom of the wire
tx |, Il
der, and the brass shell lies snug with
in the cartridge. When the gun is
fired the wad fits the barrel and pre-
vents any escape of gas and SO leaves
the mUzzle behind the shell. As it
strikes the air the wind catches the
edges of the wad, which is slightly
larger than the circumference OF the
shell, and so draws the wire slowly out,
and sets free the two halves of the
Shell, when the Shot spreads as if just
leaving the muZzle of the
gun. With this equipment
have Shot curlews at distance of one
hundred and forty-seven yards with an
ordinary twelve-bore gun, of which the
average range may be said to be fifty to
sixty yards. BY cutting the wire with
pair of sharp nipperS (bcing careful
not to leave any rough overhanging
edges to catch IN Z " >'e't - Voc hOlcs)
the spread of She ., -" a. made 20
take place at almost any distance. as
the shorter the wire the sooner it is
Withdrawn by the force of the wind on
the wad, and the shorter the range at
which the shot is liberated. These
shells are great acquisition to the sea-
bird shooter, especially those who shoot
along the shore, as they give the maxi
mum range with the minimum weight
to carry, an cight-pound gun having the
range of one weighing ten or eleven
pounds. For tho land or forest sports
men they are equally useful, especially
in case one unexpectedly meets bear or
other large game; as the wire can be
bent over the brass shell by the fingers
in an instant, and the shot-shell be-
comes solid bullet, with an accurate
dead-line range of eighty yards.
They are made to fit four, eight,
ten, twelve or siXtcen-hore guns
and are imported from Edinburgh.
They can be used in a manufacturing
gun, by having a ramrod made with a
tubular iron end, which would fit over
the wire, and down on to the brass shell
Hitherto the practice has always been
TO place the choke" which governs the
speed Of the shot in the barrels of the
guns. The new idea is to give the gun
barrel Il cylinder finish without choke,
which gives an open, well spread pat
tern of shot at a thirty yard range. The
choke is placed in what is called the
''attachable muzlle.' which consists,
literally, of a piece of barrel, two inches
long, to be firmly fixed to the cylinder
barrel by screws thereby, increasing the
range of the gun to sixty Or seventy
yards.
In this connection it may be as we'll
to mention that ! have recently seen
choke" defined by one or two daily
papers in answer to correspondents, as
"a constructing Of the muzzle of gum"