What Today's Sportsman Owes to the Cave Man
THE SIX
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THE FIRST MISSILE.
The Dramatic Story of the Onward
March That Has Raised Man
From the Skulking, Hiding Crea
ture of the Dawn of History to the
Mastery of His Earthly Domain.
Ebcu From "A New Chapter Id m Old Story." Reprinted by Corteiy
ol the Publiher.
HOW IT BEGAN .
I NAKED savage found himself
Id tbe greatest danger. A
wild beast huuirry and fierce,
was about to attack bim.
Cscape was impossible. Retreat was cut
oft. He must tight for bia life, but bow
Should be bile, scratch or kick?
Should be strike with bis list? These
were the natural defenses of his body,
but what were they against the teeth,
the claws and tbe tremendous muscles
of his enemy? Sbou!d be wrench n
dead branch from a tree and use It
for a club? That would bring bim
within striking disUuce. t be torn to
pieces before be could deal a second
blow.
There was but a tuomeut In which
to act. Swiftly be seized a Jagged frag
ment of rock from the ground and
burled it with all bis force at the bias
big eyes before bim. then another and
another until the beast, dazed and
bleeding from the unexpected blows,
fell buck and gave him a chance to es
cape. Be knew that be bad saved bis
life, but there was something else
which bis dull brain failed to realize
HE HAD INVENTED ARMS AND
AMMUNITION!
In other words, he had needed to
strike a harder blow than the blow of
bis Gst at a greater distance than tbe
length of bis arm. and tii.i brain slew
ed bim bow to do it. After all. what
is a modern rifle but a device which
man has made with his brain, permit
ting bim to sttiUe an enormously litird
blow at ii wo::iierf ul distance? Krre
arms ure reniiy but a more perfect
form f stone ibruwing. and this early
cave uiuu took the tirst step that Ii is
led down Hie aires to ureseut diiv nrn
and ammunition
This strauue story of a development
that bun been taking place slowly
through thousands und thousands f
years, so tb.it today you are ubie to
take a swift shot at distort g:iuie i:i
stead of merely throwing stones tlilH
story we shall briefly tell.
Ths Earliest HunWrs.
Tbe cave man and bis descendants
learned the valuable lesson of stone
throwing, and it made hunters of them,
sot big game hunters that was far too
risky. But once in a while a lucky
throw might bring down a bird or a
rabbit for food. And so It went on
for centuries perhaps. Early mankind
was rather slow of thought.
At last, however, there appeared a
great inventor the Edison of his day.
He added the second link tbe sling.
The Ue of Slings.
The new weupou worked with great
success, and a little practice made ex
pert marksmen. We know that most
of the e.u'ly races used it for bunting
and In war Wp find it shown in pic
tures rnuJe many ihousuuds of years
ayo iu unciciit Egypt mid Assyria We
find It In the Komiiu army, where the
slinsmuii was called a "funditor."
We rind It in the Bible, where it is
written of the tribe of Benjamin:
"Among till tlies" people there were
seven uundred chosen men left handed;
EVEHY ONE COCl.O SLINCJ A
STONE AT AN IIAIK BltEA DTI1
AND NOT MISS " Surely, too. you re
member the story of David and Goliath
when tbe young shepherd "prevailed
over the rhili.stiiie WITH A SUNG
AND WITH A STONE."
Something Better.
Yet they bud their drawbacks. A
stone Kiting might kill a bird or even a
man. but It was not very effective
against big game.
wht whs wanted was a missile to
r,i..,,e a thick hide: So through long
.,f eroiiiiz for "something bet
'th ho and arrow was evolved
and pluvcd a most important part In
the development of arms and ammuni
tion iu muuy lauds.
A Shooting Machine.
But the u "t machinery was com
ing on. Once Iu u while there were
jk I ft AAtiJ savage louna aiuiseu i uiaaj- kituis id wuicu ine uuw uuu r
I Id tbe greatest danger. A j row were constructed.
STAGES IN MAN'S
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THE SLING.
glimpse of more lowerful tiiid com
plicated device to be nwu among tb
A new weupoD now came to tbe cen-
ter of the stage. It was the crossbow,
the first real band shooting macbiue.
This was another big step toward tbe
day of the ritle. Tbe idea was simple
enough. Wooden bows had already
been made as strong as tbe strongest
man could pull, and they wished foi
st ill stronger ones steel ones. How
could tbey pull them? At first they
mounted tbetn upon a woodeu frame
and rested cue end on the shoulder for
a brace. Then they took to pressing
tbe other end against the ground and
using both bands. Next it was a
bright idea to put a stirrup on this
end in order to bold It with the foot.
Still they were not satisfied. "Strong
er. strongerP' tbey clamored. "Let us
try mechanics!'
So they attached levers, pulleys,
ratchets and windlasses until at Inst
tbey reached the size of the great
siege crossbows, weighing eighteen
pounds. These sometimes needed a
force of 1.200 pounds to draw back the
string to Its catch, but bow they could
shoot! Notice the pictures of the
crossbows and you will see that now
tbe weapons began to look a little like
guns as we know them They hud
shoulder pieces.
And Now For Chemistry.
Human muscle seemed to have reach
ed its limit, mechanics seemed to have
reached its limit, but still the world
ciiiuiored. "Stronger, stronger:" For
answer man unlocked one of tbe se
crets of u.iiure and toon out a terrible
force. It was a force of chemistry.
Gunpowder was probably first dis
covered ,by the Chinese, though our
civilization had to work out the prob
lem for itself.
It Is recorded that Roger Bacon, a
monk, discovered what was practical
ly gunpowder as far back as the thir
teenth century.
Berthold Schwartz, a monk of Frei
burg, studied Bacon's works and car
ried on dangerous experiments of his
own. so that be is ranked with Bacon
for the honor.
And then began the first crude, clum
sy efforts at gunmaking. Firearms
were born. '
It took centuries for guns to become
perfect enough to take the place of
bows and crossbows.
The Coming of the Matchlock.
Hand bombards and culverns were
among the early types. 8ome of these
were so heavy that a forked support
had to be driven into the ground, and
two men were needed, one to bold and
aim, the other to prime and fire. Hew
does that strike you for n duck shoot
ing proMsitiouV
Improvements kept coming, however
Guns were lightened and bettered in
shape. Somebody thought of puttlug
a flash pan for the powder by the side
of the touchhole, and now it was de
cided to fasten the slow match In a
movable cock upon tbe barrel and Ig
nite It with a trigger. These matches
were fuses of some slow burning fiber,
like tow, which would keep a spark for
a considerable time. Formerly they
had to be carried separately, but the
new arrangement was a great conven
ience and made the matchlock. The
cock, being curved like a snake, was
called the "serpentine."
A Nuremberg inventor In 1313 hit on
the wheel lock. In this a notched steel
wheel was wound up with a key tike
a clock.
Hint or pyrite was beld against tbe
Jagged edge of tbe wheel by tbe pres
sure of the serpentine. You pulled the
trigger, then "whir" the wheel re
voked, a stream of sparks flow off into
the flash pan, and the gun was dis
charged. And Then Came the Flintlock.
Everybody knows what the flintlock
was like. You simply fastened a Sake
DEVELOPMENT
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THE BOW AND ARROW.
of flint In the cock and snapped It
against a steel plate. This struck off
sparks which fell Into the flush pun
and fired tbe charge.
A Minister Takes a Hand.
Jompti.g over to the year 1.S07. wa
have the Itev. Alexander John For
sythe, LI.. D.. getting his petcnt pa
pers for somethiug far better than
even the steady old flint ll hni lit
vented the iierriiscion system. In some
form this bas been used ever slm e
Caps and Breechloaders.
Primers were tried In ilifTero:i! fo-m
; called "detonators.' but the familiar
I little copper -a; was the most popular
But uow we MMtie to another ureal de
velopment. the breechloader
Although found in a crude tunii n
j far back as it wa.-u't uiiti: x
i ammunition me tutu use thai the
breechloader reall.v c.-inie to a. t"
that was only the other da;. Yo'i r
memlier that the civil war bcgu.-i v,:'i
muzzle loaders mid ellilctl with In'. .!.
. loaders
France Contributes Cartridge Idoa.
Houiller. the French gunsmith, nil
an the great Idea or the cartridge If
you were going to use powder, ball
and percussion primer to get yo:.
game, why not put tbetn all Into h
a eat, bandy, gas tight case? Simple
enough when you come to think of It.
like most great Ideas. But it require?
good brain stuff to do that thinking.
THE ROMANCE
OF MODERN ARMS
A Refusal and What Came of It.
WO men, a smith and bis sod.
both named Ellpbalet Rem
ington, in 1810 were working
mil
busily one day at their forge
In beautiful Uion gorge when, so tra
dicion says, tbe son asked bis father
for money to buy a rifle and met with
a refusal Tbe request was natural,
for the surrounding hills were full of
game Tbe father must have bad hit
own reasons for ' refusing, but IT
MADE REMINGTON ARMS!
Eliphnlet Junior closed bis firm Jaws
tightly and began collecting scrap Iron
on h own account. This he wplded
skillfully Into a gun barrel, walked llf
tevn miles ro L'tica to have it rifled
and finally had a weapon of wni-b be
might well be proud.
In reality it was such a very good
gun that soon the neighbors ordered
others like It, and before long the
Remington forge found Itself bard at
work to meet the Increasing demand
Several times each -.week the stalwart
young manufacturer packed a load of
gun barrels u(on his back and tramped
all tbe way to Utlca. where a gunsmith
rifled and finished them. At this time
there were no real gun factories in
America, although gunsmith were lo
cated In most of tbe larger towns. All
gun barrels were Imported from Eng
land or Europe
A Machine to Save His Shoulders.
Tbe broad shoulders of Ellplialet
Junior must have ached under his load,
for his busy brain soon devised ma
chinery with which he could do the
rifling for himself. Thus the forge b"
came a complete gun factory, recciv
Ing material as scrap Iron und ti'nilng
out finished rilles. Shotguns iU were
made. Up In the gorge was u U-.'.w of
red sandstone This furnished the
first grindstones, which ground down
tho burrels to proper form by power
from the brook. Thus father und son
worked awny briskly, creating a brand
new American Industry.
Purcting the Shell.
In 1828. the same year that the elder
Remington met his death through ac
cident, the business outgrew the little
shop by the brookslde burst its shell
like a "seventeen yeur locust" and
bought a large farm near the Erie ca
nal. There today the great plant
stands.
In "A New Chapter In an Old Story"
several pages are given to the thrill
ing story of the part played by the
fast growing Industry In map chang
ing wars and In tbe progress of na
tion the world over.
Ammunition Now Receives Attention.
It take mure than a perfect gun to
make good shooting the ammunition
also must be right. So it was only
natural that, spurred on by tbe Icssona
of the civil war. the country should
look for wotulllc cartridges for tntf
new hreechioudlng uruis. Marcel!us
Hartley, prominent In the firearms and
OF HIS MEANS
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THE CROSSBOW.
ammunition business of the period ami
in later years a guiding spirit In the
Remington organization, interested his
partners und others In the opportunity,
and on Aug. I), IS07. the Utiiou Metal
lic Cartridge company wns Incorporat
ed. Iu later yearn combining with tfco
Remington Arms Couipmiy. The oak
bud taken root.
At first the new firm miide rim Ore
cartridges (for the center lire bud not
been Invented), percussion cups ami
shotguns, but soon dropped the g)iis
to concentrate on ammunition
The Genius Comes.
Mr. Hartley and tils associates by
their business saua. It. had treated the
apportuiiity and were on the lookout
for a me -Maulcal genius He came
His name was Alfred C llohbs, suer
liitemlent or the llowe Sewina Ma
chine company After five years Mr
llobbs brought his v'reat liiircnuil V
solely to the problems of cartridge
making.
For twenty years he remained In
charge. Inventing nearly all the special
machinery that made the business so
successful It Is dltttemt to gel a HT
mlt to visit the Bridgeport factory -the
mechanical sivrets are so valu
able Paper Shells Are Made.
In 1S7:I the company bought from
C. D. Wells of Springfield his equip
ment for making paper shells which
were practically all handmade Soon
machines were Invented for this work
an lmrtant development, because
shotguns were rapidly Increasing In
use. This was due to the fact that as
the country became settled and big
game grew harder to find sportsmen
gave more attention to wing shooting
A supposedly ample stock wns made
up, and tbe company advertised thai
such a shell was on the market Or
ders aggregating 10.000.000 fairly flood
ed the plant, thus showing the power
of nd vert islng ni.d the size of the unit
ket
The first U M ' shot shells wr:v
of hras. but the paper s!:cll followed
A: i.i i ft'rnisl.eil to I- i . . . I ' u
po: !-... i:. the f to-. y heuMii s'.tp1 '.V
i:-.u I!;.-! ready ! 'ded In the viz'.,: s
T. i;.i .,-veral i : . -ired millions are
turned o;;t each . ear
A dimple at Ammunition Making.
Doesn't it strike you as rem.irl.al'
t li-i i ii aii ou p;:; of something ll!;c
4.;j:,it.Mili per day every cartridge should
be perfect
Such thitU's are not accidental. The
secret Is IN INSPECTION. , Let us see
what that means. It means laboratory
tests to start with. Here are brought
many samples of the body paicr. wad
paper, metals, waterproofing mixture,
fulminate of mercury, sulphur, chlo
rate of potash, antimony sulphide, pow.
der, wax und other lugrediuuts and
even tbe operating materials, such as
coal, grease, oil and soaps. In this
room we see expert chemists and met
allurgists with their test tubes, scales,
Bunsen burners, retorts, tensile ma
chines, microscopes und other scientific
looking apparatus busily bunting for
defects
For example, one marker Is examin
ing a supply of etipro nickel such as
Is used lo Jacketing certain bullets. A
corner of each strip Is first bent over
at right ii rifles, then back in tho other
direction until it Is doubled, then
straightened. It does not show the
slighter sign of breaking or cracking
In spite of the severe treatment; there
fore It Is perfect. Let but the least
flaw appear and the shipment Is re
Jected
Just read this little summary of one
itage only in the inspection of empty
shells:
"SHOT SHELLS are received by in
spection department after the beads,
tubes, tun lies, primers and buttery cups
have teen carefully examined, gauged,
sized and tested. They are then
"First.--Gauged for body diameter
In chamber gauges
"Second.- Gauged for head thickness
and bead diameter, and if any quantity
of these defects bo found all shells iu
Inspection department of that particu
lar brand are returned to manufactur
ing department to be either corrected
or scrapped.
"Third.- I'rtmers carefully examined.
"'Fourth. -Entire shell examined for
auy blemish which might mar tbe gen
eral appearance. Slight scratches on
bead or spots on bodies ure sufficient
causes for their reject iou. The aver
age consumer would bo unable to de
termine In many cases, if shown our
scrap iile. why the bliells in question
bud been rejected."
Similarly metallic cartridges must
OF DEFENSE AND OFFENSE
THE FLINTLOCK.
bavo shells gnugiH? fur sire of pocket,
i heads gnugrd for diameter, shells care
, fuily Inspected Inside and out for flaws,
- dents and buckled necks, primer pock
ets examined for shape and condition,
shells gauged for length, shells gntixcd
lu chamber gauge for body diameter,
necked shells gauged for profile and dis
tance from bead, shells examined for
depth of primer seating, condition of
anvil and exploded primer and shells
tlmdly gone over for general defects
that may have escaped other lnsec
I lions
Weighing Bullets.
In the same spirit workers with deli
' cute scales, like those you see lu a
druggist's prescription department, are
I weighing the bullets can-fully, one by
! one. hour etcr hour, day after day.
. giving nil their thought and attention
to this one thing, while other employ
ees explode alsnit 'J.ooii.O hi primers a
year In testing their sensitiveness.
The loaded shells und cartridges go
through a series of gauges und tests
seemingly unnecessary after all that
have preceded the loading. For exam
ple. It docs lool; a little wasteful to
see men take shells ut random from
the various loading machines nud
packing tables In order to cut them up
and examine the eoutetits When we
learn that a half million perfectly
good shells are thus destroyed each
yenr It Impresses us as painstaking
run mad. hut It helps to explain why
there are no misfires In your U M C
box.
Testing For All the World.
And then at last come the shooting
tests. File hundred thousand rim fire
cartridges, 250.000 center fire car-
it ridges and 500.000 loaded shells must
still be sacrificed ou the various shoot
ing rouges each yenr In order to study
velocity. Intensity of sound, peoetra
tloii. pressure and shot pattern; also
the mushrooming qualities of soft
point bullets and the rigidity of those
with metal cases. Each of theso points
lu what Is known as the "ballistic"
work has special experts and ap
paratus There Is no guesswork any- i
where ;
How Shot Is Made.
How many of our readers have ever
seen a shot tower? The great building
at Bridgeport, of solid masonry, metal
and concrete. Is a sight worth mile of
travel. Two large Iron cylinders de
scend in the center, coming down
through the celling from above. We
are Invited to look through on open
port in one of these.
Raining Shot,
We ace uothlug but tbe whitened
opposite well, against which a light
burns.
It appears absolutely empty, though
within It is raining such a swift show
er of invisible metal that if we were
to stretch our hands Into the apparent
ly vacant space they would be torn
from our arms.
A large water tank below is churned
into foam with the Impact of tho fall
ing shot, and as we look downward we
make out finully the haze of motion.
It is so Interesting that we take the
elevator mid rise ten stories to the
source of I he shower.
Hero high In the air ure the large
caldrons where many pigs of lead, with
the proper alloy, are melted Into a
sort of metallic soup. This Is fed Into
small compartments containing sieves
or screens, through the meshes of
which (lie shining drops appear und
then plunge swiftly downward
Cascades of Shot.
IHit ili! only begins the process.
Taken from tho water tanks and hoist-'
oil up n gain, the shot pellets lu a sec
ond Journey down through complicated
devices are sorted, tumbled, polished,
graded, coated wltli graphite and final
ly stored,
Tbe biilliiiug Is inmost bare of work
men: everything i'1 mechanical
One p:vtt. slglil is that of cascades
of shoi pouring out of spouts and roll
ing smoii'tily down class Inclines, Her
above tier Here perfect shot, moving
more swiftly than the occnslnnul lm
pel fitt ones, shoot over low partitions,
which check tin- i.i . t or and drop them
Into separate iilns.
Seme Secrete ot Arms Manufacture.
From liie u in in i jii I Uoi i plant let us
travel to the great factory at I Hon that
wus once a foi-,e simp As In the car
tridge factory, we find here similar vis
tas of swlltly wiiii.iui; shafts, belts
and pulleys, long rows of resounding
machinery and armies of operator
Making Carrels.
One of the must' important features
la, of course, the muklng of burrels.
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THE MODERN AUTOLOADING RIF I C
iTte machines for drilling and boring
are the best that money cau buy aud
the operatives tho most ski lful to I
found anywhere. Car at Ibis stage
reduces the necessity for straightening
later. Every point la given the minut
est attention. In drilling 22 calibers,
for example, the length of the hole
must bo from lOO to 123 times the dl
h meter of the drill.
Taking Off 2-1000 of an Inch.
The boring Is an esissially delicate
task. In chokeboiing your hotguu.
for example, the final reamer look off
only 2 ltmu or an Inch. Think of such
a gossamer thread of metal! Hut It In
surra accuracy.
Looking at Reflected Lines.
But here Is the lnssctloti depart
incut Hanging In the windows are
translucent f mines with a black line
across Ihu center of each. You will
see one of the Inspectors lake a barrel
from the walling ruck, hold one end
toward the light, squint critically
through the tub ami lay It aside ap
provingly You pick It up and follow his exam
ple. First you olot It straight at the
black cross Hue on the frame The.)
you tip up the farther cud ever so lit
tie aud see how two reflected shade
Hues form on the shining Inner surface
aud run down the barrel toward your
eye. These lines ure straight us a die;
then-fore the barrel Is perfect Should
either one waver the slightest frm-llou
the Inspector's quick eye at once de
tects It. -
There are 2-40 inspection points and
517 gauges must be used forty-nine
on the guard, forty-six on tho receiver,
thirty on the breech block, and ao on.
On the receiver for tbe No. 10 repeat
ing s hotguu. however, seventy gauges
are nsed, and thirty-one for the trig
ger alone. .
Beyond the Power of Sight.
Some of these gauges are uinrvcla of
delicacy, but tlicro Is one machine used
which ierhaps has never been equaled.
Not only will It make measurements
to ouo twenty -thousandth of an Inch,
but It Is actually sensitive to differ
ences of a ONE II ENDUED THOU
SANDTH OF AN INCH Such a mi
nute dimension we cannot even
Imagine It Is beyond the range of the
most iiowerfiil mlcroscoe. and yet
here Is a piece of mechanism which
can really detect It
Testing With Leads.
First, then. Is the barrel aa perfect a
we believe It? We know that It Is
perfect In gauge uud workmanship,
but Is there the slightest chance of an
Invisible flaw lu material? The orlgi
ual tests of material made this very,
very unlikely, "lint we will take no
chances. If there be such a flaw It
nm burst nt more than double the
service charge.
Accordingly the gun la laid In a rest
with Its muzzle pointed through an
opening In the wall Into a bank of
sand We get behind a steel plate for
safety uud put cotton in our curs. The
trigger Is pulled by means of it string.
Bang: The gnu Is unl.ijured. Its
strength has been assured
Then i follov. tests for action and
speed, and if the gun be nn auto load
er the swift rattle of Its discharges Is
surprising The well gauged parts
move as smoothly as the works of a
watcb. And finally there are the tar
get tests.
Firing at Targets,
Kll'e lifter rllle In succession is laid
in u rest and tired at a mathematically
divided target upon the hillside.
Tho results are noted through a tele
scope. liHTlctilty at this point Invaria
bly rejects tlm rllle
Shotguns are discharged ut paper tar
gets In the shooting gallery. We walk
through th'j hallway Unit runs outside
to the point where a boy is handling
the targets. We heur a distant bung.
Tbo boy pulls a handle lu the aide of
tbe wull aud a frnmo emerges beating
a well peppered sheet of paper. This
be unfastens and hangs up for refer
ence, pinning a fresh sheet In Its place.
These lurgets must ull be examined
and every shot bolo be counted. If In
any case there bo found less tbau 75
per cent of the shot within a circle of
thirty Inches from the center tbe gun
Is ut once rejected
e . e
Here we find, a long way from the
cave man. thousands of skilled me
chatilcs producing arms and ammuni
tion very different from the thrown
missile of tho stone age. Aod the part
played lu the wars or tho earth has
given way Inrgely to the serving of
peaceful burners and murkstneu.