Griggs courier., 1897-12-24
DANGER IN NEW HUNTING RIFLES
sport.men Afraid of Their Long
Range and Power of Penetration.

Range and Power OF Penetration.
When one comes to discuss rifles,
range and the average distance at which
game is shot one is likel, 10 strike cor
opinions. a prominent hunt
er, in speaking recently of the great eff
fectiveness iof the American rifle, said
that in his experience elk, moose, bears
and white-tailed deer were most gen.
orally killed within a range of l75 yards,
and that this was SO because they were
apt to be discovered within this dis
tance; not because of any lack of car
rying power in" the rifle. When this
statement is conirasted with the pros
pectussof the latest rifle. which has n
firstsight of $50 yards. fiat trajectory
and a maximum range of 1900 yards,
what is the average'huntert to think?.
OF one thing there is no room for
doubt, and that is that this year many
people are preparing to go to the woods
deer shooting. and will take with them
the new rife. ItsMonderful range and
penetration are due to the new smoke
less powder employed in conjunction
with a bullet 'sheathed in copper SO as
to present a harder surface to the rifling
than lead. This projectile is forced
through barrel from 20 to 24 inches
long, the rifling of which has about one
turn 10 every eight inches. The great
objection raised by experienced hunters
to such an arm as this is that with the
long range one never knows where the
bullet is likely to bring up once it has
left the gun. a few years ago hunter
fired at deer at distance of 1873 yards
as measured after death. The animal
was standing at the foot of slight
bluff of loamy sand in which not a
stone or rock was to be seen. The rife
was fired and the deer fell, the bullet
having gone clear through the heart
ard missing the ribs on both sides.
Immediately after hail was heard
from Il point about 200 yards back of the
shooters, and an angry man was heard
asking where in thunder they were
shooting, as the bullet had just skinned
over his head. \ close examination
showed Craze and leaf holes above the
heads of the other party of hunters,
and it would seem that the bullet had
traversed two sides of triangle. from
the rife to the quarry, and back from
the quarry to the other base corner of
the triangle. If such thing is possible
with an ordinary rife sighted to 100,
$50. 800 and 500 yards, what would be
the possible result with the copper.
sheathed bullet. low trajectory and
",200-yard range in wooded district?
In still another case IL well-known
hunting writer from the west now re.
siding in New York CHANGED upon a
moose feeding about 200 yards away,
and, with the idea of taking the second
shot himself, told his companion. an
amateur, to try the first shot. The bvl-
let was seen to strike the ground nearly
four feet in front of and about six feet
short of the moose. When an examina.
tion was made it was found that there
had been two moose feeding within a
hundred yards of each other, and that
on the trail of the far one was blood
Following the trail, the moose was
eventually bagged, and it was found
that the bullet had entered at the
lower side of the stomach and was
lodged in the fat of the hump, showing
clearly that the animal had been hit
by the ricochetting missile. An exam
ination of the spot where the turf flew
showed fiat piece of rock an inch or
SO under the surface which the bullet
had hit and glanced from. Many similar
stories might be related of the vagaries
of glancing bullets, and the possible
dangers are making a number of hunt.
ers very chary of going out with these
new rifles, which, whatever advantages
they may have in other places, are not
believed to be suitable for deer shoot.
ing in the eastern states. Apparently
English sportsmen are also entertain.
ing similar fears, for prominent big
game shot recently advocated re.
striction in the matter of the rifling.
Both English and American hunters
appear to hold the idea that the wound
inflicted by the metal-sheathed bullet
fired from the exceedingly long-range
rifle is not of the type best calculated
to stop the game, but that the bullet
will rather pass completely through the
body without shattering opposing
bones or tearing large hole in the
softer opposing substances, SO that if
the animal be not hit in the brain or
heart it may travel a long way off before
loss of blood brings it down. The ex-
perience of most hunters is in favor of
a 45-caliber bullet composed of one part
tin and 40 of lead, weighing $50
grains and propelled by from 80 to 100
grains of good black powder. This bull
let will not have the same ricochetting
power as the other.-N. Y. Sun.
bicycles in Pawn.
One curious feature of cycling in
France is the use made of the state
pawnshops by cyclists as storehouses
during the off season. AS soon as the
season draws to an end there is reg
ular rush, as many as 40 per diem being
taken. AS they are carefully stored. If
the precaution he taken of we'll oiling