Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-11
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AMONG SPORTS. ;
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shooting. although now but little used
except for ducks, will run from Z ga TO
~ IL. 1t is possible now to get a really
flrst-class hammerless shotgun with Da-
mascus barrels for $35. With such a weap-
on as good shooting may be lone as with
one costing ten times the amount, the
difference in price between a thirty-Hve
dollar and a Observation-Disclosures
dollar gun being mainly in the fneness
OF the material which forms the barrels,
the extra quality of the woodwork, AMI
the amount of labor expended on en-.
craving and in the enumeration of the
arm. II one expects to get the best re-
SUMS from his gun as much care should
De to insure a fit as if II were a
sult or clothes. A man with a short neck
usually requires what is called a straight
stock, while a ~aOng-neckedl individual
needs a with more drop. The amount
OF drcp which a gun has IS measured by
laying a straight edge along the rib be-
tween the two barrels and letting It pro-
Ject over the stock and measuring from it
to the bump at the fore part OF the stock,
winch is called the comb, to the top of the
putt PLATE, which is termed the. heel.
CHARLES Lancaster, the celebrated Eng
llsh gunn1aker, invented some years ago
a u in which the stock was sc ar
ranged that the drop could be either in
creased or decreased at will, so that if
the customer ordered a weapon from him
ne would use this TRY gum which could
pe loaded and fired the same as an or
alnafy arm, adjusting the drop at comb
and heel until the gun came up rightly
and good results We're obtained at the tar
ger. NThnn tho n,ct,p,oc ..4.u. 4
with the amount Of drop Of the try gun
lt served as a pattern Of the new weapon
about to be ordered.
We are somewhat prone in this coun-
try to laugh at the Englishman's idea Of
a rifle, bu there are some points about it
which are very good. The Englishman's
main idea in selecting one is TO get an
arm mat will balance, hang and fit him
IN about the same manner as his favor
tie shotgun. AS a matter of fact, the Eng
fish double rifle is built on shotguntlines,
and at some distance from the observer
could easily be mistaken for the smooth
bore weapon. There is a good deal of
sense in this, as it is an axiom among
shooters that the man with one gun is
the individual who will do the best work,
and the nearer ones gun resemble each
other in the matter Of 1T and dimensions,
he better the results. The Elglishman
laughs at us also, and he probably has a
good reason for his mirth. We, on this
of the water, while particular that
our s%hotguns have just the right amount
of drop at comb and heel, often going to
the expense of having them made to or
der Tor this purpose, will take any rifle
whose calibre suits us, direct from the
factory or the retail dealer a md fhor
try to adjust our neck and arms to fit
the gun. While there is no doubt about
1T, that the American-made rifle is pro-
badly the, most accurate bit of firearm
ever produced, there is something more
than extreme accuracy to be thought of
in a hunting weapon. If the deer We're
like q. target, stationary, standing at a
certain known distance from the marks
man, quietly waiting to be perforated,
there would be plenty of time for a long
necked man to get his eye down in such a
position that he could do good shooting
with. a straight stocked rifle. Unfortu-
nately, however, the deer has so little
consideration for the hunter that he is
very apt to vacate the premises without
a thirty-day notice. The Englishman
realizes this fact. and endeavors to pick
out an arm in which the length of stock
ana the drop OF the same VIII 'De such
that the gun will almost automatically
all into a position for a quick shot. The
fact hat the projectiles from his double
barreled rifle will cross each other at a
certain distance from the muzzle does
not worry him particularly. What he
wants is a quick shot which will come
within a reasonable distance of a vital
spot on his game, and the ability to fol-
low it up quickly with another, and fast
as the repeater is in it's action, the double
barrel hammerless rifle is faster yet, and
the Englishman never can understand
why we, with all our shooting experience,
While insisting on absolute fit in
the shotgun, whose charge will cover a
3O-inch circle in as many yards, are will
ing to take any old thing in the matter of
stocks when it comes to a weapon which
has only one bullet at a time to do the
business. Of course the English weapon
costs a great deal: the English double
barrel rifle will cost rather more than a
we'll made. shotgun of the same grade,
while on the other side of the pond a
man who shoots an eighty-dollar grade
shotgun is very apt to be contented with
a rifle which costs him from So to $13.-
Breeder and Sportsman.