23 JANUARY 1864, Page 23

The Sporting .Rifle and its Projectiles. By Lieutenant James Forsyth,

M.A., Assistant Conservator of Forests, Central India. (Smith, Elder, and Co.)—The writer contends that the rifles ordinarily con- structed are nearly useless for sporting purposes, though nearly perfect as military weapons. The great points in warfare are to secure the longest possible accurate range, the lowest possible trajectory at long ranges, and sufficient penetration at long ranges. On the other hand, for sporting purposes you want accuracy, and the least degree of eleva- tion, at a range of from 150 to 200 yards, while the penetration should only be sufficient to enter the animal's body, not to pass right through it, so as to give the greatest possible shock to the system, and kill the game outright, which otherwise escapes. For the same reason, the

projectile of the sporting rifle should have the largest possible striking surface. The military and sporting requisites, it seems, cannot be com- bined, and Mr. Forsyth prefers for sporting "a double-barrelled, spherical-ball rifle, 14 gangs, 26in. barrels, 9lbs. weight, charge 8 to drachms." For the reasoning by which this is supported we must refer our readers to the book itself, which is evidently the work of man who understands what he is writing about.