Needing a smokeless rifle answering to the above requirements, I first tried gallery ammunition in a .303 rifle, double rifle.
I found the weight of the rifle was too great and the calibre too small.
I then tried a .400 double rifle, lightened very much and shooting a small charge of smokeless powder, I got the weight down to that of a double 12-bore pigeon gun.
Then I discovered there was danger of getting a full charge cartridge into the rifle by mistake and bursting it. The difficulty was solved by having a special chamber and a straight cartridge of large calibre, and small powder charge of cordite. No high power cartridge can be got into the chamber of this rifle, as they are all bottlenecked so there is no danger of shooting the wrong ammunition. This double rifle is light and handy, very accurate up to one hundred yards and all it hits it knocks down like Thor’s hammer.
Unfortunately, the automatic pistol also has been “improved” on modern rifle lines.
The utmost possible power has been put into the cartridge and the pistol has to be heavy and clumsy to stand this and it has a big recoil and a terribly loud report.
As it is, at the first shot, all within hearing scuttle underground like rabbits, under the impression that an air raid is on.
A full charge automatic pistol is such a nuisance in a pistol gallery, owing to its deafening noise, that nobody cares to use one there, and if he did, he would very soon be asked by the other shooters to desist.
Inventors vie with each other as to who can produce an automatic pistol having the most powerful cartridge, just as rifle inventors do.
What is wanted is not a more powerful automatic pistol, the present ones are far too powerful, but a weak power, large bore one with an extremely light charge corresponding to the duelling pistol, that is to say, one shooting a round bullet of .44 calibre with a very small charge of smokeless powder.