Daily camera., 1898-01-14
THEY ARE DANGEROUS GUNS.
The New Hunting Rifles Menace
to Human Life.
They Throw q Bullet So Far There
Is No Telling What Damage
They May Do-NarrOw
Escapes.

When one comes to discuss rifles,
range and the average distance at which
game is shot one is likely 10 strike con-
Trajectory opinions. A prominent hunt
er. in speaking recently of the great eff
fectiyeness of the American rifle, said
that in his experience elk, moose, bears
and white-tailed deer were most gen
orally killed within a range of IT'S yards,
and that this was so because they were
apt to be discovered within this dis
ta1ce, not because of any lack of car
rying power in the rifle. When this
statement is contrasted with the pros
pectus of the latest rife, which has a
first sight of $50 yards, fiat trajectory
and a maximum range of 2,2o0 yards,
what is the average hunter 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 viii take with them
the new rifle. Itswonderful range ard
penetration are due to the new smoke
less powder employed in conjunction
with bullet sheathed in copper so as
to present harder surface to the rifiing
than lead This nrojectile is forced
through a barrel from 20 to 24 inches
lorg, the rifling of which has about enc
turn to 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
fred at deer at distance of 1873 yards
as measured after death. The amin al
was standing at the foot of a slight
bluff of loamy sand in which rot a
stone or rock was to be seen. The rife
was fired and the deer fell, the bullet
having gone clear through the heart
and missing the ribs on both sides.
Immediately after hail was heard
from a point a bout 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. A close examination
showed Craze arA is;;I nuies 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 a thing is possible
with an ordinary rifle sighted to 100,
$50, 800 and 500 yards, what would be
the possible result with the copper
sheathed bullet, low trajectory and
2,200-yard range in wooded district?
In still another case well-known
hunting writer from the west now re-
siding in New York Glanced 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 bull
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
nation Of the spot where the turf flew
showed q fat piece of rock an inch or
so under the surface which the bullet
had hit ard glanced from. Many similar
stories might be related of the yagaries
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 a prominent big
game shot recently advocated re-
stricticn in the matter of the rihing.
Both English and American hunters
appear to hold the idea that the wound
inflicted by the metal-shea thed bullet
fired from the exceedingly long-rarge
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
bores or tearing a large hole in the
softer opposing substances, so that if
the animal be not hit in the brain or
heart it may travel long way eff before
loss of blood brings it down. The ex-
perience of most hurters 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.
a Good Bee Dog.