Modern Shotguns and Loads by Charles Askins

Description

This is a facsimile of the 1929 book by Colonel Charles Askins Modern Shotguns and Loads, which provides information on shotguns and shotgun shells.

This book covers shotguns, their shooting, and the ammunition used in them. All matter of American shotguns are described, double, single, automatic, and pump, their models, makes, and mechanism. Askins levels criticisms and praise where it is due based on his years of experience and expertise with shotguns. Time is devoted to the history of the shotgun, the modern shotgun designs of the time, the different gauges, and ammunition—both factory and hand-loaded shotgun shells. The second half of the book covers the use of shotguns, techniques for wing shooting, and the shooting of different game birds.

For an equally comprehensive book about shotguns by a contemporary of Charles Askins, we recommend Shotguns by Keith, by Elmer Keith.

About the Author:

Colonel Charles Askins (1907-1999) was an American sportsman, soldier, law enforcement officer, and writer. Askins served in World War II and as a Border Patrol agent. He was an accomplished big game hunter and a champion pistol shot as well as a prolific writer, contributing to numerous magazines and writing several books with subjects including hunting, shotguns, and handguns.

Chapters:

Part I
1. A Retrospect
2. Double Mechanisms
3.Special Mechanisms
4. Double Shotgun Construction and Finish
5. Engraving
6. Stocks and Stocking
7. Utilities, Fads and Fancies
8. Choke Boring
9. Choke Boring (Continued)
10. Gages and Their Use
11. Boring and Barrel Length
12. Patterns
13. Pellets per Load
14. Popular Shot Sizes
15. Factory Shotgun Shells Loading
16. Factory Ballistics
17. Testing Factory Ammunition
18. Ammunition Performance at Long Range
19. Velocity, Energy, Pattern and Range
20. Range of Small Bores and Small Shot
21. Range Based Patterns
22. Pattern Tests on Game
23. Fitting the Cartridge to the Gun
24. Smokeless Shotgun Powders
25. Shot Stringing
26. Hand-loading Shotgun Shells
27. Special Hand-loading Problems
28. Care and Cleaning of Shotguns
29. Glossary
30. Facts and Figures

Part II
1. An Essay on Wing-Shooting
2. Aiming
3. Lead
4. Swinging and Snapping
5. Correct Positions
6. Mechanical Execution
7. Class, Form, Style and Time
8. Psychology of Wing-Shooting
9. Flinching
10. Hitting vs. Missing
11. Using the Second Barrel
12. What Constitutes Good Shooting?
13. The Boy and His Gun
14. The Woman Afield
16. Free Shooting