AMERICAN

RIFLEMAN
JANUARY,

1935

Some Turkey RiflesPast and Present

By

ELMER

R O M the early Colonial period down to the present day,

turkey shoots nave always been a favorite American sport.
I n the early times the long-barrelled Kentucky rifles'were
the most popular, anifwere usually shot f r o m the offhand position. Some riflemen of today look with contempt upon these fine
old rifles, but considering the state of the gunsmithing art of
those days, with the crude hand tools that were used and the
limited knowledge of metals, one cannot but wonder how there
ever was accomplished the manufacture of so fine a shooting
weapon. While the early flint and percussion-lock hunting
rifles with plain open sights do not compare i n accuracy with
our modern match rifles, or with the heavy percussion match
rifles of an earlier day, they nevertheless do good work i n the
hands of men that understand them. I have seen these rifles
consistently beat many of our modern high-power sporting rifles
i n turkey matches, when the latter were equipped only w i t h
open sights. Those long barrels were the thing when open
sights were used.
A l l together I have owned more than f i f t y
of these old long-barrelled Kentucky hunting
rifles, i n both flint and percussion lock, and
used them a great deal f o r small-game hunting.
Once one is accustomed to them they give
remarkably good results i n offhand work, and
I have had several that would consistently
make one-inch groups at 50 yards. There is
nothing so deadly f o r its weight and caliber as
a round ball at the usual velocity of these
old rifles. I once killed 29 ground squirrels
w i t h one of these rifles, offhand, without a
miss, taking all shots as they came f r o m 25 to
70 yards range. I used such a rifle f o r practically all of m y blue-grouse shooting f o r a
couple of yearsall standing shots, of course.

KEITH

I n many places i n the South these old muzzle-loading hunting

rifles are still used i n all the turkey matches, against all other
.'types of rifles, and the results are not to be sheered at.
M y good friend D r . G. H . Parmenter has recut f o r me several
of these old rifles that were rusted in the bore. Doc is a rifleman and one of the gang, and spends most of his recreational
hours i n rebuilding or rerifling these old-timers, and i n hunting.
I had a .SO-caliber Hawken muzzle-loader that was i n bad
shape, and Doc recut and restocked i t . until it now makes oneinch groups at 50 yards with its half-ounce ball^ood enough
f o r competition against open-sighted hunting rifles at turkey
matches or for hunting. I have another percussion rifle, of .48caliber. that Doc made up himself. H e had an old rusty heavy
percussion barrel, and recut i t and also made the stock and all
remaining parts and fittings except the lock, which he cut down
from an old musket lock. Fitted *with crude home-made aperture sights, this rifle has given each of us one-inch groups at 50
yards. I had a .44-caliber flintlock rifle that
Parmenter had recut and that was very accur*
ate, i t usually making f r o m one-half to threequarter-inch groups at 50 yards. This rifle
was made during the Revolution, and after
Doc had recut i t to remove the pits i t would
shoot much better than many of our modem
hunting rifles.
Some fifty or more years ago a group of
New England riflesmiths turned out the most
accurate muzzle-loading rifles the world has
ever known. These were made primarily f o r
turkey match shooting. They had percussion
locks, and were very heavy, weighing f r o m
twenty to fifty pounds. They were equipped
with either peep sights or full-length telescopes, and used a two-piece plain patched

bullet. The t i p of this bullet was cast

hard and the base soft, the two being
swaged together.
I t was an .upsettage
proposition, and the base part-of the bullet had to be soft. The bullets were
cross-patched, loaded through a false
muzzle, and were driven by enormous
charges of black powder. These rifles
were made by a number of different rifle*
smithsvand were furnished in various;calibers. these usually ranging f r o m AS to .60.
William Billinghurst was one of the most
celebrated makers of these: fine match
rifles, which were described by Walter M .
Cline i n the M a y 1931 issue of T H E
A M E R I C A N : R I F L E M A N . 1 have owned only

one o f the better class of these riflesa

.48-caliber weighing twenty, pounds, and
restocked by Hervey Lovell. This was
the finest specimen = of these; old heavy
match rifles that 3 have ever used.-Lovell
made a beautiful prone stock f o r i t with
close and f u l l pistol grip/cheekpiece, and
shotgun buttplate. The rifle had a very
heavy full-octagon barrel, an under hammer, adjustable trigger-pull, and the mainspring formed the trigger-guard. The tube
being under the barrel, no powder gas or
spark f r o m the cap could reach the eye.
I made a high Marine Corps front sight
f o r this rifle, and fitted a long Winchester
tang peepsight, as well as blocks f o r m y
5-A scope. The rifle had formerly been
used w i t h a twelve to twenty-power f u l l length scope.
This rifle threw a 480-grain bulA S-SHOT 60-YARD TARGET (EXACT SIZE)
let of pointed shape tapering out
FROM REST WITH k3S-CAL. POPE-BALLARD
ZLE-LOADER'WITH
S-AiSCOPE
gradually to the base, which had the
greatest diameter. I t was loaded
w i t h about eighty to one hundred
grains of Fg black powder, poured
through a small funnel so that i t
would settle closely and uniformly.
The bullet was started through the
false muzzle w i t h a bullet starter,
its cross-type patch being made of
oiled onion-skin bond paper. The
muzzle of the rifle was fitted with
a heavy bronze cross brace which
eliminated all chance of canting and
afforded a solid and even support
f o r the barrel on the rest. The rifle
was just as pleasant to shoot as a
,22, and was the best-holding rest
rifle 1 have ever come i n contact
with. I have seen that rifle, with
scope and f r o m a bench rest, place
five shots in the same hole at 100
r

Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas

when buffalo hunting. O'Meara fitted to
i t a.new heavy barrel of the same caliber,
and a new fore-end. I well remember
the first time I tried this big rifle i n a
match. I t was at a turkey shoot at Montana City, near Helena. I had been shooting the Springfield f o r some time that
day, prone w i t h sling, against the best
men the country had to offer armed with
everything f r o m Remington and Winchester hunting rifles, to Krags and Springfields. We were shooting at a six-inch
black at 200 yards, this bull being divided
by two inside rings. Up to that time I
had not shot out of the black, but had
not: won a single bird, when my mother
asked me t o change to the big Sharps.
1 had done a great deal; of experimenting
with the Sharps at home, and had finally
found the best bullet temper and thickness of onion-skin bond paper f o r the
patches, the old Sharps responding by
making splendid groups at 50 and 100
yards. However, 1 did not have the
slightest idea at that time as to where to
set the peep sight for 200 yards; whereupon they agreed to give me three sighting shots. I t was all rest shooting. ; I set
the sight by guess, and my first shot ivent
a foot high. Coming down, I sent the
next slug a foot low. I split the difference on the sight, and the third shot
landed center in the black. They shot off
seven more turkeys that afternoon, and I
took them all home i n spite of their
SHOT
kidding about m y old charcoalMUZburner. I had to shoot off three
ties t o do i t , however.
The big Sharps is a temperamental gun and requires very careful
loading f o r the finest accuracy. One
five-shot 100-yard group is illustrated herewith. The recoil of the
big rifle will shove a person back
f r o m the rest, but i t is really just
a big push, and totally unlike the
sharp prod of a modern high-power
rifle. This is a really good turkey
rifle; holds steady and is pleasant
to shoot, to say nothing of the f u n
that can be had loading the cartridges. I t is an upsettage load, and
the bullet must be small enough,
patch and all, to slide up into the
throat easily without tearing the
patch or requiring any undue pressure on the bullet.

measured yards; so close that i t was only

by moving the target on the backing paper
that we could tell that more than one shot
had gone through. The one trouble with
i t was the time and care necessary i n loading, and the hard work of swaging those
bullets and then getting them out of the
swage, the latter often having to be
warmed up to expand i t . -Of course all
bullets were miked, and were graded to
within one-tenth grain i n weight f o r fine
work, and the powder charge weighed.
- I f I had that rifle,nowr-^and;I wish I
hadI should have Lyman make up a
couple Of moulds and a more modern
type of swage. One mould would be f o r
a 500 or 5 50-grain "grooved bullet of the
Pope type, and the other f o r a plain
patched bullet. Then I would experiment
w i t h different bullet tempers until I found
the right one. The bullets would be cast
or swaged small enough so that they
would go through the false muzzle without any unnecessary pressure that might
tend to bend or upset them. And then
I would have a turkey rifle that could riot
be beaten at f r o m 60 yards up to and
including 200 yards, on a still day.
About ten years ago ;T used-.considerably f o r turkey matches a Sharps rifle,
and still use i t occasionaliyi; /This big
Sharps weighs 18 pounds, has double settriggers, and 1 fitted i t with peep sights.
The caliber is .45. I t was an old rifle
that Hank Waters had used f o r years i n

THE

AMERICAN

RIFLEMAN

THE HEAVY-BARRELLED

DODGE-WINCHESTER

S2

A f t e r using the Sharps f o r several years Schuetzen gives fine accuracy. This rifle cut all cases i n two, and drove the forfor turkey matches 1 decided to try; the has the finest offhand stock ( b y Schoyen) ward portion up into the barrel as before.
fine old "Ballard Schuetzen rifles, with the 3 have ever seen. The cheekpiece fits By breathing through the bore until the
result that I still use them as well as the completely around the jaw, and the big powder fouling was wet I was usually able
Sharps. I also tried several fine Sharps sun-perch belly rests against the chest to remove these broken cases by pushing
Creedmoor rifles, with much; lighter bar- muscles. Though uncomfortable i n the another bullet; down f r o m the muzzle. I
rels, but they would not give nearly as prone position, i t cannot be beaten f o r an have never found a rifleman that could
good rest groups, owing to their lighter offhand match, and I also use this rifle a explain the cause of this action, but pergreat deal f o r offhand work on chucks haps; some reader can. I spent a good
barrels, as the 38-pound buffalo gun.
I had a Zischang .32-40 with a heavy and ground squirrels. The rifle complete part of m y spare time f o r over a year
28-inch barrel on a Ballard action,: and weighs about fifteen pounds. I f we could experimenting w i t h this barrel, but whenusing a 198-grain Zischang bullet and 12 have free rifles stocked as this old ever I increased the charge to over
grains of duPont Shotgun I obtained very Schoyen is we would do f a r better off- grains of Schuetzen and 30 grains of
black powder, the cases were cut i n two.
fine accuracy w i t h i t , often putting five hand work i n any kind of match.
M y other Ballard has a fine engraved This appears to be the maximum load the
shots under a dime at 60 yards. However, either the shotgun powder, the cor- Schuetzen action, to which I fitted a per- rifle will handle. I tried straight black
rosive primers, or^ the bullets themselves fect No. 4 full-octagon Pope barrel. This powder,'but found i t so dirty that i t was
wore the throat in the barrel somewhat is a muzzle-loader, i n .35 caliber;-. I t uses next to impossible to put the next bullet
before I disposed of the rifle. 3 won tur- .38r55 cases swaged down to straight- down f r o m the muzzle without too much
keys with the outfit, though, and i n tough taper .35 caliber. The bullet weighs 244 pressure on the rod, which upset or othercompetition, around Baker, Oregon. I grains and is of the regular Pope form. wise deformed the bullet and caused a
never could make No. 80 powder shoot as This is the most temperamental rifle I variation on the target.
3 have never owned, or seen, a more
well i n this rifle as the load of shotgun have ever owned. I t is very closely
powder. The barrel must at one time chambered, and is the most finicky rifle accurate rifle f o r .its weight than this,
have been shot with a tremendous load about its powder charge that I have en- when properly loaded. 3 have made
of some kind of smokeless powder, as the countered. A straight charge of Schuetzen many 60-yard groups of five and ten
chamber was bulged and I had to expand would often cut the cases i n two about shots that could be covered by a dime.
cases to f i t i t . I always loaded the bullet HHnch f r o m their mouths, driving the The rifle has never failed me at turkey
ahead of the case with a bullet-seater, forward portion of the case up into the matches, even against match Springfields
using one card wad over the powder. I t rifling a foot or more, when I had the and small-bore rifles, i t always getting its
devil's own time removing i t without i n - f u l l share of meat. I am showing one
was a good turkey rifle.
I next acquired a pair of fine Ballard juring the fine mirror-polish that Harry five-shot group which is typical of this
Schuetzen rifles w i t h engraved actions and Pope always puts i n his barrels. A f t e r rifle at 60 yards, and I have several
Schuetzen levers. One, a breech loader, this experience I tried 5 grains of Schuet- machine-rest groups f r o m this barrel but
was a Schoyen .32-40 with No. 5 f u l l - zen and 35 grains of F g blackwhich load on another action, that are all well inside
ootagon barrela wonderful piece of
of a three-inch circle at 200 yards,
A 5-SHOT 60-YARD TARGET SHOT FROM
PRONE
work by a fine riflesmith formerly
with many inside of a two-inch cirWITH DODGE-WINCHESTER
52 AND 5-A
SCOPE.
i n partnership w i t h A . W . PeterTARGET IS EXACT
SIZE
cle, and some groups even smaller,
son, of Denver. I secured many
For best results I have found
fine groups and won a good many
that these Schuetzen rifles should
turkeys w i t h this rifle, using the
be handled the same as a .22 smallZischang 198-grain bullet, a charge
bore. They should have the barrel
of 3 grains of duPont Schuetzen
fouled before beginning a group or
f o r a primer, w i t h 30 grains of
entering a match. They do not
black powder on top; then a thin
shoot as well f o r me i f I clean them
card wad to hold the powder in
after each shot. I like to breathe
place. The bullet was always seated
through the barrel of this Pope
a quarter of an inch ahead of the
after each shot, to moisten the
shell with a bullet-seater. The only
residue; then seat the next bullet.
trouble with this load was that the
A t one time I used a heavy-barZischang bullet was a little too
rel Springfield f o r turkey matches,
large to seat easily, and I changed
and w i t h fine results. Owing to its
to a Pope bullet, which did the
fine prone stock i t was a very combusiness and gave very fine accufortable rifle to shoot, either prone
racy. A f t e r eroding the fine Zisor f r o m a rest. As most turkey
chang barrel I was afraid to use a
matches were at f r o m 60 to 200
straight smokeless charge i n this
yards I saw no reason to use f u l l rifle, though a charge of straight
(Continued on page 35)
;

JANUARY,

3935

SOME T U R K E Y R I F L E S
XContinmd from page T)
power loads, and usually used 37 grains of
Hi-Vel and the 172-grain 9-degree boat-tail
bullet i n this rifle. The rifle was equipped
with set-triggers, and Lyman 48 and
hooded aperture front sight Later I found
that by using m y Howe-Whelen peep sight
and thus bringing the aperture back closer
to the eye 1 could reduce the size of my
groups; and I found this a better sight f o r
either turkey matches or hunting than the
regular graduated target 48. I used this
rifle f o r coyote and eagle shooting, and f o r
match work the two years I was at Perry,
finally wearing the throat somewhat; but i t
was still a wonderfully accurate rifle when
I disposed of i t , Anyone is well equipped
for any kind of turkey or long-range
match / w i t h a heavy-barrel Springfield.
However, they are at their best with a
fairly powerful load and metal-patched
bullets, and when I wish to shoot lead
bullets of various tempers I would rather
use one of the o l d : Ballard. Sharps, or
muzzle-loading rifles.
Some time ago I sent Paul Dodge, of
Yreka, Califorhia^ an old Winchester 52
action, and had h i m fit i t with a very
heavy 29-inch Winchester barrel. Dodge
finished the outside of the barrel, chambered i t very closely for the 22 l.-r., arid
fitted it to the action without any excess
of headpiece. He fitted blocks for my
scope, and after getting the blocks i n
place he fitted a new beavertaij Winchester stock, carefully hand-checking the
stock and fore-end. He greatly speededup the action, and fitted a trigger-stop
screw, which latter is a great help as i t
leaves the trigger finger well supported
after the striker has been released, without any back jerk. Altogether Dodge did
a wonderful job on this rifle.
A f t e r getting the big rifle home and
testing i t w i t h the scope, 3 decided that
it was well worthy of the best sights
possible to procure. Worthy to be sure,
for w i t h its own choice of ammunition i t
would put five shote on a tack at 60
yards, i f I could hold i t . I have owned
and used many fine small-bore rifles, but
never one that would shoot w i t h this
Winchester-Dodge - combination. 1 ordered a Lyman 4S-J rear and 17-A front
sight, and had H . W . Bradley, of Salmon,
Idaho, install them. He did a beautiful
job, making a long, low ramp f o r the
front sight, which put on the final finish.
Dodge had found that this rifle performed perfectly with plain Remington
Kleanbore ammunition. 1 was unable to
get this in Salmon, but found that the
cheaper grade of Remington Kleanbore
greased Hi-Speed did all that I could ask
of any small-bore ammunition, and even
more. I t was purely a matter of holding,
and the size of the group was all up to
me, f o r the gun would put ten straight
JANUARY,

1935

into a space so small that most riflemen

would swear that. I was crazy were I to
give the size. Dodge sent me several
targets shot by himself with straight Remington low-velocity Kleanbore, and these
confirm my opinion of the rifle. I have
proved to my own satisfaction that this
rifle w i t h the above-mentioned amrnuni-tion will consistently group inside of the
X-ring of our standard N . R. A . smallbore target on a still day, I include one
of my targets shot at 60 yards with 5-A
scope. I f I had not made several others
like this I would consider i t just one of
the exceptional groups that occasionally
crop up. However, this rifle has done the
same thing too many times to leave any
doubt in my mind. 3 wish I could hold
this well at all times.
This rifle has a much heavier barrel
than the regular Winchester heavy-barrel
52, the barrel also being one inch longer.
Dodge made up f o r his own use another
rifle with the same kind of barrel, and
used the same chambering reamers, but
fitted it to a Ballard action, and he has
been getting the same results with it as
I have with mine\ which speaks very well
f o r these heavy barrels. He made a high*
comb scope stock f o r his rifle, and fitted
a high Lyman 48 and high front base f o r
Lyman 17-A that can be removed when
scope is used, thus having both the scope
and the iron sights at the same height.
I killed all the ground squirrels and
chucks on my little ranch w i t h this outfit
last summer, and then cleaned up some
neighboring ranches. I used the scope
and held f o r the head. When the scope
is used i t is surprising how far the little
rodents can be killed with the rifle sighted
to shoot center at 60 yards. Of course
much of the success is due to the fine
ammunition now being turned out, and to
the fact that this ammunition apparently
fits this particular barrel perfectly.
I took particular pains to sight-in this
rifle at 60 yards at a turkey match this
f a l l , i n a strong wind, and then took the
first two birds w i t h absolutely center
shots, rest shooting. 3 then handed the
rifle to a frienda fine riflemanand he
took the next two birds with center shots.
Such a performance is not accident, but
is rather a combination of fine holding
and perfect ammunition, plus the most
accurate small-bore rifle I have ever
known. On still days or i n a steady and
unvaryng wind 3 will take my chances on
this small-bore, but i n a puffy or variable
wind any of the other turkey rifles I have
mentioned would be more reliable. From
years of experience I have found that a
sudden gust of wind will kick the little
bullets out of the ten-ring when a larger,
heavier bullet, even at lower velocity, will
Stay in.
For all-around turkey-match shooting,
day i n and day out, a large bore is much

superior to a small, not only on account

of wind, but also because of the occasional shot that goes' into some other
bullet hole. A large bullet will cut the
hole out larger and leave no doubt as to
the shot, whereas a .22 w i l l often go
through and leave no trace of its having
done so, unless (as is often not the case)
the targets are marked as they should be
will a clean sheet of paper that is moved
slightly behind the target after each shot.
I t is much more convenient to load a
modern heavy-barrel Springfield, a smallbore rifle, or even an old Sharps, during a
cold day a t a turkey match, than the
Schuetzen rifles or muzzle-loaders; still,
I would not take a lot f o r the f u n and
experience 1 have had with the latter i n
tough competition. Also one learns much
f r o m these fine old pieces that is of help
w i t h modern equipment.
I consider a properly-managed turkey
match one of the finest, cleanest sports
we have during the winter months.

A GOOD 1SJFLE
(Continued

from

page.M)

f r o m i t . 3 had to take the shot standing in

the moving boat, and 3 am not a good shot.
The boys slopped paddling, and 3 asked
the helmsman to keep the bow of the canoe
headed ?tead)iy -in.one ;direction.-.-'Everi.so
how that picket-post sight jumped around!
Finally 1 squeezed her off. There was a
splash and the head disappeared. When we
reached the spot there was a pool of blood
in the black water, but the game had sunk
and we lost i t , much to the dismay of the
natives, who love tapir meat. The terrific
amount of blood on the water was conclusive evidence of the explosive effect of this
100-grain bullet. The beast disappeared immediately after the shotkilled instantly!
Last f a l l , while hunting in the Adirondacks, 3 saw a deer Jdlleo' '-deap .wifli.^iie.
shot f r o m this Peters cartridge. The animal was leaving on the run and the bullet
struck just left of the tail. When the deer
was dressed we found the lungs and heart
sadly disorganized. That buck scaled just
over 200 pounds, emptied.
As to the 87-grain bullet, the high veloci t y does some queer things to smaller
game. I t is terribly destructive at times,
i f meat is required" f o r th,e .table, but is
very convincing on woodchuck, which is
what interests me.
The accompanying pictures show the
two scope mountings. A l l that is l e f t of
the original 8-mm. Mauser is the action
but it's a peach!
There must be something fundamentally
sound in the .250 Savage cartridge, when
we consider how all the cartridge companies have recently taken it up and i m proved it, and when we note also how many
rifles are built i n this caliber.
)

35