Year: 1862




How to choose a rife is at once mys-
terious and ponderous question. not only
to hundreds but to thousands of persons
A contributor to the atlantic Monthly
gives some very good advice to assist all
those Rhuhave either the curiosity or The
ambition to become marksmen, in select
ing their shooting irons. The first
part of the advice is as follows: Never
buy gun, and least of all rife, without
trying it, and not be satisfied with trial
in a shop or shooting gallery, but take it
into the field, and if you distrust yourself
get some one in whom you have conf
dence to try it for you" This is all very
well, but no stranger could 60 into a gun
store and honestly ask for one or several
rifles TO give them the benefit of a field
Trial, as the preparatory process towards
buying one; still In the. selection of
first rate rife such trial should always
be first made. The way to do this is
gwen as follows: Choose a perfectly
calm day. Have a rest prepared upon
which not only the gun may be laid, but
support also secure for the elbow; the
shooter being seated. By this means,
and with the aid of globe and peeksights
(Which should always be used in trying a
gun) 1t may as certainly be held in the
same position at every shot as is If it
were clapped in machine. For The
target take sheet of cartridge paper aud
draw on it a circle of foot in diameter.
and inside of that draw another four
inches from it and paint the space between
| black, leaving a white bull'S-eye four
inches in diameter against which the
globe sight will be more distinctly seen
Than if il were black. The target should
be placed so that the sun will shine on
your back. On very bright day brown
paper is better than white. Begin shoot
ing al 100 yards, and fire ten shots aimed
directly al the bull's-eye' without wlping
the gun out after each shot. Do not look
TO see where you have hit ill you have
| fred the string of ten shots. If
you find, when you get through, that all
The shots are close together. you may be
sure that the gun shoots we'll, though The
hits may be some distance from the place
aimed at. That would only prove that
line of sight was not coincident with the
line of fire, which can easily be rectified
by moving the forward sight TO The right
or left, according as the variation was TO
one side or the other. Having fired the
slring of Ten shots, take PAIR of dIvl
derS, aud with radius equal to half the
distance between the two hits that are
most distaut from each Oiher, describe a
circle cutting through the centre of each.
From the centre of this circle measure
The distance TO each of the hits, add these
distances together and divide the sum by
ten, aud you have the average variation,
whlcl ought not to be over two inches al
the utmot. If the gun is what it ought
to be, and fired by good marssman,
1t will probably be much less. This Is
a sufficient test for precision for that DIS
lance, and the same method may be ad-
opted for longer ranges But ii the gun
shoots well at one hundred yards, Its ca
pacity for longer ranges may be proved
by lis penetrating power" j" When fired
at target of dry pine set at a hundred
Yards distance, if the bullet penetrates
nine inches it may be considered equal
1 TO range of six hundred yards If il
prnetrates twelve inches it taay be con-
sldered equal to a range of one thousand
yards. Many persons suppose that the
best way 10 increase the range Is 10 in
crease the charge of powder, and that a
certain amount of powder, varying for
every range should be used. But 1t IS
held by first-rate marksmen that specif-
/ ic charge should be used for all ranges
and that the increased range should be
obtained ty elevating The sight. The
contributor to the .4tiaHtic Monthly states
The proper charge of powder for every
rife IS about one seventh the weight Of
, The bulIel." A very common way Of
testing the charge capacity of rifle is tc
commence a series of shots with small
charge and increase the quantity every
shot until the rife kicks, whenthe charge
Z used for the previous shot is selected 81