The Red Cloud chief., 1899-12-29
GUNS ARE NOW CHEAP
Changes in Sporting Weapons by
Smokeless Powder.
Different Materials ana Mechanism
Now In usc-Cut Prices and Sec
ond-IInnd pieces Figure I'm
the Reduction.
with every prospect Of a fine towing

With every prospect OF n fine fowling
and hunting season the sporisinen are
looking around for the iHtest things in
guns. IT looks as il pcricction had been
nearly reached 30 fur as Structural fea-
lures are concerned, and th, prrut PROB
lem Is which are tHr best ut certain lair
" new devices grated ou old standards.
The only really new item is "a gun which
has a movnbic brcoch. The C,tirc part
containing the lock mechHuisIu and the
chamber for the cartridge may be
taken uuj to be replaced uy another
tImitur piece. This b. Gu.. sH0G Tor rap
id firing, where loader. urc employed,
and although 1t bias gained a certain
amount OF favor in Europe 70 is notlikc.
Is to receive much notice from AmCri-
can spnrtsmcn.
The magazine fowliug piece proper is
receiving more attention than for years
past. Especially has this been the ease
with the reed bird and ti,c rail hunters
this fail. The single trigger gun has
failed TO take here, except as Il novelty,
and the loUiiug piece with auNitillt
chambers on each side of the barrel 60
hold two extra cartridges, did not APP
pear to sell at all. The truth is the
American sportsman is satisfied with
the performance OF the average high
grade American doublc-barrcied gun.
Possibly never before were guns SO
cheap as at present. II is said that the
cut price fever is responsible for this,
and that the secondhand guns 80 *
tensiycly advertised are second hand
in the same way as the bicycles were
when a ride around Central park had
%rouchencd the tires Il little and so en-
ablcd the dealer TO sell them At 'second'
hand prices without breaking his price
agreement. Certain il is that many oil
the guns at reduced prices show little
or no wear, and equally certain II il
that the fairly large profits ON these
goods will permit n smart dealer to
make u good thing out of the second
hand sales. The type Of gun has
changed also, owing to the use %
smokelcss powders. A few years age
when the everyday shooter knew moth
ing but black powder as u sporting eX
p~losivc, the lowest grade Belgian bar
rCls were good enoughfo guns made tC
sell at six dollars. and for ordinar,
amateur shooting filled the bill. Abou
the worst that happened in Ease of al
~oyercharge was that the barrel wa
bulged at the breech or muzzle, and
badly burst gun was the exception
Smokeless powder has all changed thu
situation. \ comparison OF IA u o
ten years ago and one of to-day vii
show material differences in the mech
anism of the breech, the thickness O
the brecch, and the construction of tn
body md action. All these changes ar
designed to Withstand the create
strain OF the nitro Of smokeless pow
dcrs.
The smokeless powders have ais
been extensively used in rifles. cspe
cially those of small caliber. The eN
p%erience in actual game shooting wit
these arms has been about the same a
in war. The bullet perforates withou
killing. In the Maine woods n fine dee
was well within shot OF n New Yor
man. and il was noticed that the tip
one antlcr was split in Il peculiar fasl
ion 50 as to distinguish the animal. II
= fired and apparently hit the deer jus
back Of the flank. The bullet wer
clean through the deer. and AWAY wer
the animal. Three weeks later. in ~
- other camp, the animal was shot by ~
other man and identified by the sp,
point and the wound mark which Ia
healed. An old-fashioned bullet wouI
have stopped the deer within 300 yard
In the same camp q deer was secur,
without a visible wound. Ii was sh'
at, threw up its head and dropped. Ju
as the guide reached it, knife in han
il rose, but its throat was cut before
. escaped. At first the impression W
that the knife caused the muscles to +
act, but investigation showed that Il
bullet struck the base of the horn al
was DETECTED, the shock stunning q
animal:-N. y. Sun.
COUNTED BY MACHINERY.