Notes of an East Siberian Hunter

NOTES OF AN EAST SIBERIAN HUNTER

A. A. CHERKASSOV

1856-1986

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION, 1867

I write this foreword with only one purpose: that the reader may become, at least in part, familiar with me, and will neither search in my notes for what is not there nor judge them too harshly. Of course, if the reader is a passionate hunter like myself, he will not pay attention to the literary faults of my work. Rather, he will rather look for what is interesting to him, or for what is still unknown to him. Let the reader who is also a writer forgive the clumsiness in my writing. My passion as a hunter, and my desire to pass on the many truths and intimate facts known only to the hunters of East Siberia helped me to overcome my doubts in my pen handling, and so I decided to describe my hunting experiences. I am sure about one thing: that my work will be beneficial to many hunters. I do not wish for anything else.

I will try to write my notes in simple words, which everyone will understand, but excuse me: it will be with a Siberian accent.

The reader can rely on my notes, because I what I wrote was based on what happened. I do not report anything that I did not see or did not experience myself. If I borrow something from the words of other hunters, it is also based on the facts as I know them. Do not think that these are the notes of a hunter who likes to exaggerate (I am sorry that hunters have such a reputation), but rather take them as the notes of a passionate Siberian promyshlennik and an observer. *

*Promyshlennik is a Russian name for a Siberian hunter and adventurer who hunts for profit rather than sport, rather like an American mountain man or sourdough. Instead of gold, Promyshlenniks looked for the valuable furs of sable, marten, and other animals. Some hoped to make quick money; for many it simply became a way of life. [V. B.]

My descriptions are sometimes too detailed and sometimes too brief. I can’t help it… I am happy with what I have!

In the beginning, I wanted to describe everything related to hunting; but I soon saw that it would become a colossal work. One could write volumes about the technical side of hunting alone. And what might that lead to? To describe just the cutting and preparation of tree trunks, etc., could be the subject of a special manual! Therefore, when I deal with the technical part of hunting I describe only what every Siberian hunter should know. I leave alone all the well—known breeds of dogs, such as bird dogs, scent hounds, sight hounds, and training, but I describe dogs that are unknown to many hunters: Siberian dogs. Besides, I don’t know much about hunting with sighthounds and scent hounds, because since my youth I have lived in Siberia, where these dogs almost do not exist. I also do not mention bird dogs, because Siberians never use them in their professional hunting.

In order to introduce the reader to Siberian local jargon and technical expressions, I will use them when appropriate, always with explanations, because some of them will be not understood at all by anyone who is not a Siberian.

My work will consist of two parts. In the first part I explain briefly the technical part of hunting (mainly Siberian), about guns in general, and about dogs, equipment, and so forth. In the second part I will tell the reader about the animals of East Siberia, about their life, habits and how they are hunted. When the opportunity offers, I will tell him about the Siberian promyshlennik, his way of life, his habits and his superstitions. I will not write about bird hunting, because in Siberia it is insignificant by comparison with hunting for mammals. A Siberian hunter takes only capercaillies, black grouse, hazel hen [ V: this is the English for Tetrastes bonasia, a wood grouse like our ruffed grouse, found all through Siberia; I think it is more likely the bird he means than the true partridge of steppe and field, which barely reaches Siberia], swans (many natives do not kill swans), geese, ducks and the steppe bustard; he is unfamiliar with the rest, and they have not been made for him.PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

When the first edition of Notes of an East Siberian Hunter was published in 1867, the contemporary press published many flattering reviews. Being the author, I was very happy with this kind acceptance of my work, and even happier with the fact that my hunting notes made a pleasant impression—not just on hunters, but also on people who have only a vague idea about hunting. Understandably, such a positive response touched my then still-young hunter’s soul deeply. I straightaway decided to add to Notes and publish a second edition. But—oh, that but!—not all that is desired or designed can be done. Almost 14 years have passed since 1867, and I still have not had a chance to realize my desire; I had to be satisfied with adding a few more observations borrowed from other publications. There are not many, but they exist. On some occasions the observations of others are right to the point, because they characterize the subject and complement what I missed or did not notice. Since 1867, much water has flowed under the bridge, and many things have changed in the methods of hunting. However, the original techniques of the Siberian promyshlennik have remained the same, untouched by modern culture: naively simple, primeval, and unaware of all the applications of the wise West. Our Siberian hunting industry remains the same as it was in the time of Yermak Timofeevich. Understandably, the animals that I described remain the same, because 14 years is too insignificant a time for natural creatures, who escape the control of human will and cultural progress, to change their habits. This may be well, because otherwise, even our limitless Siberia with her vast forests and impassable taiga would not last long. Even now, it is very different from what it used to be. Every day, the gloomy taiga becomes more and more accessible and not so frightening. The endless forests become sparser every hour, and unfortunate animals decline in numbers or migrate to still-untouched, remote corners of the Siberian forests. To a hunter, all this feels sad, but time takes its toll and nothing can be done about it. Whether you will it or not, you have to accept it, and, uselessly, take a deep breath and recall the old times’ vast hunting grounds. You may sigh or not, but finally you must be happy knowing that there is still enough Siberia for our lifetime, and hope that, perhaps, something will remain for our grandchildren… .

Well, I am talking too long, like a hunter; forgive me, reader! Also, forgive me for not mentioning the modern hunting guns of the educated world in this second edition. Anyone who needs to will learn about them without any assistance from an uneducated Siberian. Indeed, there is so much written and rewritten about modern guns so that it is hard to decide which brand or manufacturer to prefer. The Journal Okhota i priroda [Hunting and Nature ] is stuffed with all kinds of views and arguments by modern hunters, and we can read about the daily innovations and often amazing modern techniques (and prices!) of the guns of famous masters and other hunting equipment. I sincerely sympathize with my brothers in arms, who can only read those fabulous catalogs, and once again I allow myself to think that maybe Notes of an East Siberian Hunter might be of benefit to them.

In the second edition I include a new article, Capercailyie, which had been written several years ago and was intended for a journal, but—again this but intervened!—my unfortunate Capercailye was resting in a pile of paper until the convenient chance came for me to publish it in the second edition. Forgive me; possibly the capercailye is out of place in my book, but I included it because this bird is highly respected by the Siberian promyshlenniks, and they shoot them in great numbers. Long ago I wanted to write about the birds of East Siberia, both the settled and the migratory masses of birds that fill the Daurian forests, fields, steppes and bodies of water. However this would be a big work and I became afraid. I justified my decision by the fact that this had already been done by S. T. Aksakov.

In these articles, when I talked about the time of some remarkable event, I have not made corrections. These notes are not historic documents, nor are they a pedigree record. I merely wanted to warn the kind reader not to judge my work as a scientific report, but take it as a desire to share my memories, observations and passionate love of hunting and nature, which even now sometimes excites my old heart and makes dreams come under my gray hair, with my brothers in arms. With all my heart, I wish young hunters to enjoy hunting not only for the fun of it, but also for the sake of science. Make your own observations, research, and conclusions. Keep hunting records, and create something serious and beneficial.

A. A. Cherkassov (1834-1895)

PART ONE

TECHNICAL PART OF HUNTING

INTRODUCTION

The Siberian promyshlennik (in Siberia any hunter is called a promyshlennik and any hunting is called promysel) is not familiar with that high-style hunting in which a well-trained bird dog plays an important role, such as hunting snipe, great snipe, young black grouse, etc. He cannot even shoot birds in flight. If he saw, somewhere in the middle of the Siberian nowhere, a hunter shooting birds on the wing, he would take it as a devil’s mirage; he would spit and walk away and, perhaps not even talk to such a person. Most likely he would probably shrug, smack his lips, and scratch the back of his head. In short, he would be very surprised. A Siberian hunter does not know the beauty of that magical moment when a well-trained dog makes his stand! If a Siberian hunter traveled to European Russia and was taken to hunt wading birds in the swamps, he would be totally lost, because he does not know what a snipe or a great snipe is, and does not appreciate the beauty of that aquatic world. Poor unfortunate, many hunters would think, how it is possible not to know of a snipe? How it is possible not to know of a great snipe? However, if such a scoffing hunter came to our country in the East, or if he went with a Siberian promyshlennik, the promyshlennik would show him his skills. Then, the European hunter would become envious of how keen the promyshlennik’s eye is, of his endurance, his knowledge, his expertise and marksmanship. For such a hunter, it would be hard to get accustomed to Siberian hunting; it takes a lot of time to find out all of its secrets. All these things were true for me, when I arrived from Russia to Eastern Siberia, and was familiar only with snipe, swamps, lake ducks, forests and hazel grouse, fields and hares. I could not understand local hunting, and heard many sarcastic comments and justifiable jokes from seasoned hunters until I got accustomed to the taiga and became a real hunter. Now, I see snipe with the same eye as a true Siberian hunter. This is because of the prevalence of a different kind game in our country. Once, hunting with a local big game promyshlennik, I shot a snipe and brought it to show him. He turned it over in his hands, looked at me oddly, tossed it in his hand and said: Why did you shoot such a disgusting thing (stramida) ? What is the use of it? You can not eat it and be full; there is no use for it, but it is hard on the pocket. Perhaps he was right. With the same shot one could kill a steppe hen or a roe deer; here, the value of game is measured with a balance for heavy loads; it is valued for size and great weight. Truly, I believe that even in Russia, a hunter would not go after a snipe when he could shoot a capercaillie or a goose. Thus, one hunter is different from another: each is good in his own fields and surroundings. Who should be called a true hunter? I do not have the answer. Is it one who shoots precisely at snipe, or one who has the courage to go after bear or wild boar? Or, maybe it is one who would spit on a snipe and save his charge for big game, to stalk a wild bear and kill it with a single shot? It is a hard problem to solve, but I think the true hunter is one who can hunt any kind of game. In East Siberia, it is hard to find a home in which there is no gun, and many have several guns. Here, it is a rare man who is not a promyshlennik. Of course, there is no rule without exceptions; there are Siberians who have never fired a shot in their life, but they are very rare. Here everyone, old and young, knows the simple, regular techniques of hunting.

A. THE GUN

In most places, the word gun is used for any gun, whether single-barreled, double-barreled, rifle or shtutser [modern rifle]. However, a Siberian hunter rarely uses the word gun; he would call a fowling-piece a shotgun and call a rifle or a shtutser a pishchal (arquebus). Nowadays, it is inappropriate to talk about the famous old gunmakers, such as Starbus, Morgenrot, Lazaroni (Kuminacho), Kilents and others. Why speak of them, when modern guns from well-known makers are far superior in craftsmanship and precision? During recent times, gun manufacturing has advanced considerably, while the old celebrities became rare and now serve only as ornaments in the homes and offices of the rich and famous. Now there are so many good gunmakers that it is hard even to remember the names of them all. It is hard to decide who is best, because they all are very good. Nevertheless, I cannot fail to mention shotguns from LePage, Mortimer, and Collet, and the shtutsers of Lebeda. Among the Russian makers, I have had good ones from Goltyakov. I have two English-made shotguns from Mortimer and Richardson, and must admit that I have rarely seen their like. What durability, elegant craftsmanship, strength and precision! Recently, shtutsers have made a lot of noise and created worries, not just among hunters, but all over the world; they started a revolution in military troop formation. The construction of these rifles is rather diverse, but their differences haven’t had any effect on hunting. Their ability to shoot at long range affects the military, but in the hunting world that is not as important. For example, why would a hunter need a military shtutser shooting as far as 1,600 paces? No one usually needs to shoot that far, and if he did, it would be difficult to aim.

If a shtutser shoots well at 100-150 sazhens [one sazhen = 2.13 m V. B] then it is very good, and a hunter needs nothing more. With such a shtutser one can shoot anything.

What will you see further away than 100 sazhens in the Siberian wilderness forest, in the taiga? Just try to tell a local promyshlennik that you have killed a roe deer (Capreolus pygargus ) or a wolf at 200 sazhens or further. He will laugh at you, or maybe even say without any ceremony: "What a khlopusha (dumbbell) you are! In other words, he would call you a liar. Indeed, a roe or a wolf is impossible to aim at with your unaided eye at such a distance. However small the front sight on the rifle or the shtutser may be, at any distance farther away than 200 or even 150 sazhens it would completely cover an animal the size of a wolf or a roe. A hunter looking through the notch and aiming would not see his target unless he moved the end of the barrel a little aside or below the target animal. The question is, how this can be precision shooting? Why shoot this far, when every animal will let you much closer? Would bustards walking on the steppe not allow you to come closer? I think that in such a case, it would be better not to shoot at all and not scare them off, because such a shot would be a waste, just a whim. Nowadays, gun manufacturing has gone very far, and I, being a Siberian, am unfamiliar with fast-shooting guns of different systems. Therefore I will not discuss them here. I will talk only about ordinary guns, with old-fashioned actions. Of course, if you shoot a thousand times like this, eventually a chance will come for you to kill an unfortunate bustard.

There are few shotguns in Eastern Siberia. If you take a close look at Siberian hunting, the reasons why Siberians do not respect shotguns becomes clear. One reason is that lead and powder are hard to come by here, and are very expensive¹. A shotgun takes a larger amount of powder and lead per charge than a rifle. Besides, for a Siberian it is advantageous to hunt with a rifle, rather than with a shotgun. With a rifle he can shoot anything, whether it is a bear, a grouse, or a duck. He would not dare to go after a big predator with a shotgun. Siberians are accustomed to using rifles since they were children, and to them shotguns are just a fad. Therefore, merchants rarely ship shotguns to our country. The majority of shotguns come to Transbaikalia with people who brought them for their own use, such as new settlers and officials. The shotguns of ordinary local people are made from the barrels of soldier’s guns, and many of these, I must admit, shoot no worse than their old Lazaronis and Starbuses; it is no problem that the barrel and the trigger are sometimes tied to the stock with leather thongs and ropes. A Siberian hunter does not care about the beauty and finish of his gun; he needs powerful and precise shooting, not good craftsmanship. Just look how roughly he treats his hunting companion. He wets it on purpose, and never cleans the outside. He does so because a gun covered with rust will never reflect the sun when he is hunting, and so will not scare off the game. However, he keeps the bore clean with great care.

First, I will talk about shotguns, and then about rifles and shtutsers. Many hunters, especially common people, think that the longer the barrel and the breech of the shotgun, the further and more precisely it shoots. This cannot be taken as a rule, because it is not always true. I knew of many shotguns with rather short barrels that shot well. I also saw shotguns with elegant finish and long barrels that shot poorly. I also used guns that were tied together in many places with ropes that shot well with all sizes of shot, and at all kinds of game. I suppose many hunters know this is true.

Without ignoring these exceptions based on my experience, I will admit and agree with the common people that ordinary shotguns of our make shoot more strongly and precisely if they have longer barrels and breeches. Think whatever you wish, but it is true. I do not know if the ordinary gunsmiths’ techniques of boring and adjusting shotguns are different from those methods used in factories.

Therefore, it is impossible to make any general recommendations for buyers of shotguns, either from shops or from local gunsmiths. What method could be better than an actual trial? Shooting at a target, or better yet at game, will show a gun’s merits and deficiencies. However, there is a strange method of selection of a gun used by regular hunters; I cannot explain it. When choosing a shotgun, a hunter takes it and stands it vertically on its buttstock. He puts his hand on the top of the barrel and presses it with the part of his palm close to his thumb. He then looks at the impression on his palm left by the margins of the barrel. The darker the impression on his skin, the better the shotgun. They say such guns shoot stronger and further. Out of curiosity, I tried this method on many guns, and it worked!

Here, shotguns are tested as follows. They set up a wooden target and start shooting at it, using full charges with small shot, from a distance of 50 or 60 paces. Using bigger pellets, they shoot from a distance of 70 and even 80 paces. If the shotgun shoots strongly and with a dense pattern at such a distance, it is approved. If it scatters and the pellets do not penetrate deep into the wood, it is rejected. Here is my own method of shotgun testing, which I have used many times. Load your gun with a cartridge of small shot and shoot at a raven in winter, when it is very cold, from a distance of 50 or 60 paces. If you kill it at once, keep this gun. The imperviousness of a raven to injury is amazing. On one occasion, I shot at a raven on a tree stump, about 30 sazhens from me. I used my shtutser, loaded with a conical bullet. The raven took off as though he were not injured, but after he flew about 50 sazhens, he suddenly fell as if he were hit by lightning. When I picked him up, I saw that the bullet had gone through his side, under the wing near his humerus.

I think it is unnecessary to talk about the need for care when handling loaded guns. However, I cannot forget one case that actually happened to me. Every time I recall it, it makes me shudder. Once upon a time, was in the woods, hunting roe. I did not see anything, and I was tired, so when I saw a spring up on hill covered with ice, I headed right up there to quench my thirst. I climbed to the top, searching for water, but fell on my right side on the slippery ice. I dropped my shtutser and it slid downhill, hitting objects on the way and bouncing, with its barrel directed towards me. I didn’t even have enough time to stand up when I was suddenly sprinkled with fine icy dust. The shtutser had hit something with its trigger and fired. Its conical bullet hit the ice not further than a half arshin [14 inches V. B.] from me. I shuddered, and involuntarily crossed myself…

Instead of telling the reader how to take care of good guns, which of course is well-known to every hunter, I will tell him how a Siberian promyshlennik washes his guns. First of all, I should mention that, out of laziness, he does it rarely and sloppily, especially if it is a shotgun. (With a rifle, he cleans it more carefully.) When the time comes to wash the gun, he almost always unscrews the breech and then washes the bore the usual way. If he is lazy, or if he cannot unscrew the breech, he plugs the breech end and pours water into the bore. He lets the water stand for a few minutes to let all the dirt soak, as they say. Then he unplugs it and lets the water run out, rinses the bore with clean water, and wipes it dry using dry clumps of hemp fiber and his cleaning rod. Then, he dries the bore near the stove. If he happens to clean it outside during a hunt, he dries it near the bonfire. I should also mention that some local promyshlenniks lubricate the bore of their shotguns or rifles with fat or with some kind of oil. I often asked local hunters why they unscrew (or rather break off the breech, as they will use a hammer, the back of an ax, or even a rock) in order to wash the gun. Some answered that they did it out of curiosity, to look at what was inside, or to see if there were any blemishes, such as scratches, or if bends or any other damage had happened in there. Others told me that they did it simply because they were in the habit of doing so, without any purpose, just mimicking others who were older and wiser and did the same.

Many hunters live in places where there no gunsmiths or even decent metal craftsmen. This often happens in Siberia, where it is hard to avoid damaging the gun. Damage often occurs when one falls on rocks or stumbles over a fallen tree, especially when walking on mountains and in ravines. Falls can cause bending or dents on the gun. In our area the hunters, who have little understanding of these matters or only a little knowledge of metal craftsmanship, often fix such things for themselves. It does well enough for them to take the gun apart and check the barrel using a string. This will allow them to see irregularities, such as bumps, dents, or elevations. Such damage can be corrected by striking the barrel with a five-to—eight pound piece of lead, but never with a steel hammer. One repeatedly checks the results with the string until the barrel returns to the correct position. They do it this way because no local promyshlennik has all of the necessary tools. They simply break off a breech screw with a hammer, or insert the breech into some tight crack, such as the space between two logs in the wall or between two boards in the floor, and in this way they unscrew the breech. The breech parts are usually loose. The screws holding them together are helped to stay snugly in place with pieces of rug or thin leather. Owners of such guns sometimes have scars on their heads or faces because of their carelessness. The fatalistic Russian attitude "avos or whatever is just as wrong in Siberia as it is elsewhere! In defense of Siberians, I should note that this approach there is caused by the lack of skillful hands, which forces them to rely on avos".

The rifle is a friend and assistant to the Siberian promyshlennik! Everyone knows what good marksmen local hunters are when they shoot with their rough-looking rifles. If you have never seen a local rifle, it is hard to imagine what it looks like. Therefore, I will try to show it on the drawing below.

Gun. Drawing 1.

Without explanations, even with the drawing, many would not understand. I will try to help : a – b : barrel of the rifle, c – d : the stock; b – e : hammer with flintlock; e : the naragon: a bone, iron or even wooden arch used to pull the trigger; it replaces the usual trigger; d : a simple sling used for carrying the gun over the shoulder; h : soshki: two wooden sticks tied together with a transverse piece of wood which freely rotate around a steel screw (i), which goes though soshki and spoon, m : steel protectors or so-called "flyastiki", through which the same screw (i) goes. They help to protect the soshki from rubbing on the screw, and reinforce them in place. The soshki serve as support for the rifle, which is usually heavier than a shotgun, too heavy to hold steady in your hands for very long. Soshki are a necessity for precise shooting with a bullet. On many occasions, soshki are equipped with steel shoes at their lower ends. This is inconvenient when you are shooting mammals, because they make noise and frighten the game. Therefore, big game hunters only burn the tips to harden them. Some Orochons tie rings with leather strips to them instead of spikes. Soshki supported by such flat-lying rings are convenient, because they do not make noise and do not sink in soft soil, for example, in a swamp or on a lakeshore. j : sight; K : a carved cavity closed by a sliding lid for storing some materials soaked in oil or fat to lubricate the bore after each shot. These materials are usually hemp fibers or horsehair. They are soaked in some fat, such as butter, hemp oil or vegetable oil. l : the ramrod, rarely made of steel, but usually of wild peach wood, or some other kind of strong, but not brittle wood, and also sometimes of copper; o – front sight, made most often of yellow or red copper and sometimes of silver.

Here, rifles are divided into three major kinds: 1) the most common, with round, smooth barrels. They are the cheapest. 2) Hexagonal or octagonal barrels. Promyshleniks value them higher than rifles with round barrels. They are so valued because they are more convenient to aim in the dusk and even at night. The upper side of the barrel looks like a tape stretched along the barrel; it is more visible and adds precision to the eye. Besides, such barrels look prettier than round ones. 3) So-called "Turks" [Damascus twist steel—SB] with twisted-pattern barrels. They are the most expensive and can be round or with flat sides. The price of the rifle depends on its quality, if the buyer buys it from an individual promyshlennik, and not from a shop. A good rifle as well as a bad one is known among all the promyshlenniks in the entire neighborhood, because here a good rifle is famous over hundreds of square miles. Despite this, rifles, except for ones from shops, are never bought without being tested. A good rifle should shoot well at a distance of 100 sazhen. This is a first-class rifle; one that can hit at 70-80 sazhen is a good or an average rifle. If it shoots at this distance, it is called a ponosnaya² rifle. Ponosnaya originates from the Russian word nesti, to carry the bullet; and if it shoots strongly, causing significant injury, then it is also called a poronnaya rifle. Poronnaya, originates from the Russian verb ranit : to cause injury; as soon as its bullet hits the animal it falls to the ground.

Rifles in which ponos and poron are combined are valued highly, up to 40 and 50 rubles in silver. Rich promyshlenniks sometimes pay several cows or horses or dozens of sheep for such a rifle. If the rifle shoots consistently and accurately, it is called tselnaya, from the Russian word "tsel": target.

In the taiga, local promyshleniks buy rifles at random, because shopkeepers sell them without allowing a shooting trial. They usually cost 3, 5, 8 and up to 15 rubles in silver, depending on the craftsmanship and the size of the rifle. The merchants do not allow the hunters to test the rifles because they obtain them at a wholesale price at fairs, knowing nothing about their quality. They forbid testing so that bad rifles will not get stuck in the shop, because bad rifles are manufactured in greater numbers then good ones are. The barrels of small rifles may be about an arshin (18 inches) long, and barrels of big rifles may be as long as seven and a half chetverts (54 inches). Their caliber may be from that of a small pea to the caliber of a regular soldier’s gun. The latter ones are not valued as much here, but are used mainly by the promyshlenniks who hunt big game like bears, moose, wild boar, etc. Small rifles are used mainly for squirrel. (I will talk about squirrel hunting later, in an appropriate place.) I have seen two-shot, one-barrel, locally-made rifles with two hammers, one on each side. They are loaded with one charge over the other, with a soft wax wad placed between them. The wad plugs the bore and prevents ignition of the lower charge when the first one is fired. Once I had such a home-made rifle and it shot superbly. Here, such rifles are highly valued, because they replace two-barreled shtutsers that come from far away, and give the hunter a stronger feeling of security.

Here is an original method used by local hunters to choose a rifle when buying it from a shop. (I should say that this method is kept secret, and not every promyshlennik in this country knows about it.) The buyer walks into the shop and asks for a brand new needle, or he brings one of his own. Then he takes one rifle after another, and tests them as follows. First, he wets a small part on the upper side of the barrel with his saliva, and then he puts the needle on it, parallel to the length of the barrel. When the needle is on the barrel surface, he starts to rotate the rifle slowly and watches as the needle moves from a horizontal position to a vertical one. It makes a semicircle, and, finally, a complete circle until it assume its original position on the barrel. If the rifle will endure this test and not drop the needle, or, rather, that the needle does not fall from the barrel while it is rotating and making a full circle in the vertical plane, then the deal is done. The rifle is chosen even if it seems worse than the rest of the rifles in appearance and craftsmanship. This indicates that the rifle will be ponosnaya and poronnaya. If the rifle is mediocre, the needle will fall from the barrel before it makes a semicircle, sometimes only even a quarter of a circle, and a bad rifle will not hold the needle even when it is in a horizontal position. Nobody would buy such a rifle even if it were cheaper then the rest of them; it will get stuck in the shop. Knowing this, merchants do not allow promyshlenniks to test them in this way. It is strange, because in some cases it is hard to shake the needle off the barrel; it seems to stick to it. Maybe this can be explained as follows: the best steel is made of magnetic ores; a barrel made of such steel would be of better quality then a barrel made of steel obtained from poor ore containing impurities like sulfur, phosphorus, arsenic etc. These admixtures make steel of an inferior quality, which may lack hardness, or be brittle when it is cold, etc. Therefore, there is a reason for such a test, and it is a scientific one. The question is, how did it become popular among a class of Siberian promyshlenniks? I do not know if my explanation is right, but it seems to be so.

A rifle with a percussion (cap) lock is a rare sight in the hands of a local promyshlennik. He does not like improvements. He has a flintlock and it is an external one; the entire mechanism is not inside of the lock, but outside of it, and is completely visible; whenever you look at it, you see springs and the trigger; in short, the entire construction. If somehow a Siberian gets a rifle or a shotgun with a cap lock, most likely he will redo it to fit his taste and attach another, home-made, lock to it. There is an important reason for this: it is hard to find detonator caps. For one regular box of them, a hunter must pay one and a half rubles in silver and perhaps even more, which is ne podsilu or ne podnyat’ (in Russian, too heavy; literally cannot lift) for a plain man. However, it seems another factor is also important here, and this is habit. I often told them that percussion guns are more convenient, beneficial and safe. The answer was always the same: Our fathers and grandfathers did not know caplock guns, but they shot more game than we ever could; thus, it would not be appropriate to acquire what we are not accustomed to, and what we are not good enough for." This attitude is a big problem, and with it you cannot go very far from here!

Gun, drawing 2.

Here is a diagram of how local locks are constructed: a: hammer with flint; b: naragon, or trigger; c: shelf; d: pad to cover the powder on the shelf so it will not spill or become damp; e: springs. Modern Mongolian gun of same design. It is missing its naragon, but you can see where it was.

It stands to reason that a rifle, as well as a shotgun, must be kept clean; it should be cared for and pampered even more. One should keep in mind that shooting with a bullet requires much greater precision when loading, aiming and everything else than shooting with shot pellets. If you do not use more care, your shot will be false. In every rifle, the pad covering the powder on the shelf is attached to the stock with a leather thong that is held in place by the uncocked trigger. Powder never falls from the shelf. This pad is usually made of wool cloth or felt. When you shoot, the pad is removed from the shelf when the hammer is cocked. You must always keep your rifle’s flint sharp. Otherwise, there will be misfires and flashes, which may cost the promyshlennik dearly when he hunts big predators.

The foresight at the end of the rifle must be light-colored, but not shiny. It must be made of red or yellow copper, so it will be visible through the rear notch even in the dusk of evening or in the early morning before sunrise. The size of the notch must be proportional to the size of the foresight. It should be also small, so the foresight does not move within the notch but can be seen precisely, and so that its edges coincide with those of the notch. If the notch is wide and the foresight is small, the shot will be false, missing its target. Some promyshleniks used so-called sazhanki instead of soshki, and carry them instead of a walking stick. These serve to support them in their old age, and also can be used to support the rifle in order to aim precisely at an animal. Sazhanki are simply two or three thin sticks sharpened at one end and tied together with a leather string at the other end. All these seem inconvenient until you see or try to shoot rifles using the Siberian method. When hunting, the promyshlennik sets up, or rather throws, the sazhanki onto the ground. Then he positions his rifle on them, and, without haste, takes aim at his quarry. Of course a novice or inexperienced hunter or one not accustomed to this method may mess about with them for a long time and start his shooting very slowly. However, just take a look how fast and skillful experienced local hunters are! Without soshki or sazhanki, Siberians do not shoot very well, although some of them can hit a grouse or a squirrel right in the head. Local rifles are rather heavy, therefore, to hold them up without the support of soshki is difficult; some of them weigh 20 or more pounds³ and the average weight of a Siberian rifle is about 12 to 14 pounds.

I should mention that shooting heavy rifles with bullets is easier than shooting light rifles, because a heavy rifle supported by soshki is more stable, taking aim is convenient, whereas a light one does not press down on the soshki and therefore must be held firmly in your hands and aimed carefully to secure a precise shot. Besides, a light rifle loaded with a heavy charge for big animals kicks at each shot and the bullet often "falshit", missing the target. This does not happen with a heavy rifle. This is why sturdily-built local big game hunters prefer heavy rifles to light rifles. Only natives such as the Orochon, who are small weak people, do not like heavy rifles. They often file them down on the outside to make them somewhat lighter.

The number of grooves inside a rifle barrel varies from six to eight and, rarely, four. They always run spirally making 1 ¼ or 1 full circle, but most often only ¾ of a circle. If a flattened bullet is inserted at the breech end of the barrel and pushed forward with the rod until it comes out from the opposite end, it will make 1 ¼ or only 3/4 rotations around its axis. A rifle with a faster twist in the bore causes more injury then those with a slower twist, but the latter can shoot further. This reasoning is quite comprehensible to an educated person, but there is no reason to explain it to an uneducated one, and anyway this is not my business. If the rifle is worn out or bulged at the muzzle and the bullet will not go straight, the end of he barrel can be cut off, just as it could be with a shotgun, and the rifle will be good again. After long use, the grooves inside the barrel also become worn out, and then they should be restored and the rifle fixed. It is a simple thing to restore a shotgun. But in a rifle, the rifling itself must be cut anew, and this is something that not every local gunsmith can do well. It requires skill and knowledge, special tools, and a special instrument to cut the grooves in the bore correctly. In Siberia there are few villages in which anybody can do this.

Strictly speaking, a shtutser with spiral grooves is also a rifle, but it is improved and adapted for a better class of hunters. Therefore, everything I have said about rifles is also true of shtutsers. There are shtutsers with straight grooves instead of spiral ones. These grooves run parallel for the length of the barrel. Of course, these cannot accurately be called rifles, although the methods for shooting them are the same. These shtutsers can be used for shooting with shot, which is impossible with rifles, because the pellets would be scattered and damage the rifle. Hunters do not value shtutsers with straight grooves, because they do not cause as heavy injuries as true rifles do. However, they shoot further than rifles. The mechanisms of shtutsers can be very different, particularly so during recent years, and it is hard to decide which one to prefer. All are good! In my view, the system of Colonel Tuvnen, subsequently improved by Mr. Minié, is the best bullet design for a hunter. The flatness of this bullet’s trajectory is amazing; its loading is very easy and quick. Therefore, all the major qualities important to hunters are present. The easy, quick loading of the shtutser is very important to the hunter, especially in winter and when hunting big predators. I do not consider it important to describe here the better-known systems of shtutsers and do not need to; hunters know about them, and for non-hunters their description would be boring and incomprehensible. I have a superb shtutser of the Minié system, which I can load very quickly, easily and conveniently and it shoots precisely and very far. Its workmanship and finish are excellent. The length of the barrel is 23 inches; the entire shtutser weighs seven and a half pounds; its caliber is ½ of English inch; the weight of its conical bullet is four zolotniks (14 g) [i.e. about 1/2 oz.—SB]. With this barrel length, and an insignificantly elevated sight, only 0.4 of an English inch above the barrel’s surface, the results of its shooting are amazing. I shot with it many times as far as 200 sazhen, and the results were excellent. At this distance the bullet hit near the bullseye and went through an inch-thick board. On the barrel of my gun is engraved F: A: George kon: Hof-bechsenm: in Berlin; on the breech, George F: A: George in Berlin. I suggest that gentleman hunters pay attention to the shtutsers of this master.

I cannot miss a chance to advise gentleman hunters: if the gun shoots well, you had better not redo anything on it, even minor things. There have been cases when hunters damaged good guns by modifying a small thing that supposedly was not important to its function. Unfortunately, this was not true; they lost their excellent accuracy, and it was impossible to get it back. Of course, I am speaking only about the barrel. One Siberian promyshlennik damaged an excellent rifle trying to fix a burned zatravka [touchhole]. To do so he should have heated the breech of the barrel in order to fill the zatravka with copper solder, and then drilled a new one.

B. CHARGING AND LOADING GUNS

It would be a mistake to think that guns fire equally well, regardless of the size of the charge. Simple hunters in Russia load a roughly-estimated amount of powder and shot into the gun, right from their palms. Siberians know the rules, and never load their guns without measuring. However, what is the measure? How do you make the right measure, so you can know how much powder and shot to load? This is the problem. There are several theoretical rules; although they are partly based on practical experience, even they cannot secure the same result consistently. What could be better than actual target shooting with different loads? Any gun has its ideal load, which it fires better than any other, but this is hard to guess on your first shot. To find out the right load, first use small ones, and then gradually add more powder and lead, keeping records of the amount of both. In this way it is possible to determine the best load, different from all other possible loads for that particular gun. The right load will let you know about itself by its sound, which will be full, complete and strong; the gun will not recoil much, only press against your shoulder and cheek. Too heavy a charge will recoil strongly, and can hurt the shooter’s shoulder and cheek. By the way, there are guns which recoil using both light and heavy loads. It depends on the stock and the breech screw. A small charge will kick strongly if you load only a little powder, but too many shot pellets. Here is a rule which is based on my experience searching for the right load, and which is also used by many other hunters. For a shotgun, measure the inner diameter of the barrel. Then, insert a stopper into the barrel, pushing it as deep as the diameter of the barrel, and fill this space with powder to the rim. This will be the right amount of powder for one charge. The amount of shot will be the same, plus a small amount on top. A lesser amount of small shot than big shot should be used, because a load of small pellets is heavier than the same volume of big ones. Such a load is good for guns of average caliber. It will be too big for a wide-barreled gun, and too small for a small-barreled one. Therefore my advice cannot be taken as a norm in every case. I will tell you again, everyone should fire his own gun and not just rely on our rules; that will be a better way for him to be sure.

When I worked on the second edition of my book, I had a chance to meet in person one Mr. Sarandinaki, who authored the book "On the proper length of gun barrels, and the new method of determination of correct loads for smooth-barreled guns" (Sanct Petersburg, 1868). This article was read at the Russian Technical Society and was given its approval. Its reading was followed by a hot discussion among educated hunters, and prompted many of them to take a closer look at the calculations that Mr. Sarandinaki offered. With the permission of Mr. Sarandinaki, I will explain briefly about the right length of barrels for hunting smooth-bore guns, and how to determine the right charges for them.

This is what the calculations of Mr. Sarandinaki tell us: "The length of the barrel, with the breech, should be 47.5 diameters of its caliber, and this is the one and only proper length for the distance between the foresight and rear sight and for balanced weight; most importantly, it is the best length based on results of test firing. At any other greater or smaller length, regardless of the amount of powder and lead, it does not achieve the perfect precision, strength, density and distance of fire as it will at this particular length. This is the only dimension in which the gases produced by a given amount of powder provide the most efficiency, and the given amount of shot offers exactly the right resistance to those gases, in order to attain the maximum strength and range of fire". Therefore, in all hunts where maximal strength and distance of fire is required, barrels 47.5 times the diameter of the caliber are the best.

In short-range hunting, for example when shooting swamp birds, birds in shrubs, etc., Mr. Sarandinaki advises using shotguns with barrels as short as 45 calibers, because using long-range guns will damage the birds and even tears those apart, and an inexperienced hunter will often miss. Generally, he disapproves of small-caliber guns, which are good only for small shot and small game. He recommends a big-caliber gun for shooting with large shot.

For determination of loads for guns of this size, or for those closer to this size, Mr. Sarandinaki writes: the proper amount per charge of Russian large-grain powder for any smooth-bore gun should be 31/32 of one eighth of the weight of a bullet of its caliber or, in other words, 31/256 of the entire weight of such a bullet.

The amount of powder obtained by this calculation must be increased to 7 31/32 by weight, which will give you the required amount of lead.

I should add that the caliber bullet is a round ball which closely fits the barrel of the gun.

In short, the weight of the ball must be divided by 8, and the result must be multiplied by 31/32 to determine the weight of powder for one charge. Multiplying the weight of the powder 7 31/32 times will result in the correct weight of shot per charge.

In the following table, the caliber number indicates the number of bullets per one French pound. For example, caliber No.17 indicates that 17 round bullets make one French pound.

In a cylindrical barrel which gradually widens towards the breech and in which the caliber is bigger near the breech than at the end, the amount of powder should be increased. The charge of the next or second larger caliber gun will fit it.

No. Size of caliber Amount of powder Amount of pellets

Of caliber

Lines Dots Zolotniks Parts Zolotniks Parts

2 10 9 3 86 31 5

4 10 3 3 6 24 40

6 9 5 2 34 18 74

8 8 7 ½ 1 74 14 11

9 8 4 1 55 12 51

10 8 1 1 40 11 28

11 7 9 1 28 10 28

12 7 5 1 17 9 36

13 7 2 1 9 8 69

14 7 1 1 1 8 5

15 7 - - 91 7 53

16 6 9 - 85 7 5

17 6 7 - 80 6 61

18 6 6 - 76 6 30

20 6 3 ½ - 67 ½ 5 60

22 6 2 - 63 ½ 5 23

24 6 1 ½ - 59 4 88

26 6 - - 55 ½ 4 59

28 5 8 - 54 4 46

[One zolotnik = 14.25 g. V. B.]

For long range shooting, Mr. Sarandinaki recommends making paper or cardboard shells for small shot and buckshot. Use the following method: wind two layers of thick, tough paper on a wooden stick slightly thinner than the diameter of the chosen caliber. Fix one end with glue and slightly raise the shell from the stick, cut the end of the paper, and fold it, forming the bottom of the shell, and fix that with glue. Remove the shell from the stick and let it dry out. Fill it with a measured amount of powder and small shot or buckshot, in layers. Separate each layer with flour, starch or fine sawdust, and compact it by shaking. The more compacted the shell is, the better. Carefully seal the upper end of the shell with glue, and the cartridge is ready. Because such a shell increases the weight of the load with its paper, glue and filling, the amount of powder must be also increased by as much as 1/6 or even ¼ by weight. These cartridges shoot dense, strong patterns, to a long range. However, do not forget that they are made for guns with cylindrical bores. In guns with barrels progressively widening towards the breech, such shells do not fill the barrel to its walls, become loose when firing, and scatter the shot too soon when it leaves the barrel. Inside cylindrical barrels, the walls hold the shell firmly along its entire length; the charge does not scatter over a longer range and may even arrive at the target as a whole, making holes in thick wooden boards. If the powder is very powerful, then amount of shot should be increased proportionally according to the calibers shown in the above table.

When speaking about the rifle or shtutser, it is impossible to make any practical suggestions on the optimal load; one should find out the optimal load for himself, by experimentation.. Many hunters, especially simple folks, think that the more powder they load, the farther and stronger the gun will shoot. Wrong! Inside the barrel, only a certain amount of powder will burn, and the excessive powder will be thrown out unburned. Unbelievers can check for themselves. Spread a piece of cloth in front of the barrel before firing. Then, after firing, you will find grains of excessive unburned powder on the cloth. An excessive amount of powder scatters the shot, and the bullet will lose its correct direction. Probably this happens because a charge that is too strong pushes the bullet too forcefully, and it does not follow along the grooves in the bore properly. Therefore, it will not fly correctly; this is why locals say that too big charge "sryvaet", tears off the bullet. It is important that the mould for casting conical bullets be made very precisely, otherwise the bullet will fly incorrectly. A round bullet is less affected. Local promyshlenniks, because of the scarcity and high price of lead, cast smaller bullets purposely, especially if their rifles have a high caliber. However, they shoot with these undersized bullets as well as with full-sized ones. This is because they load a smaller amount of powder. You should not do this with conical bullets. I had a shtutser made by the Izhevsk city factory [which still exists – SB] which was excellent when fired with a round bullet, and shot very badly when it was loaded with a conical bullet. It was clear that the reason was in the bullet. It happened when I was in the taiga. I discovered the fault after I had fired about a hundred shots. I noticed that the conical bullet arrived at the target sideways, not with its pointed front end forward, as it should. This made me wonder whether the bullet was made correctly. After a long examination I found that the bullet was wider at its base than where its cone began. It was wobbling because it was smaller than the inner size of the barrel. While I understood the fault, I did not have the correct tool, so, using my penknife, I scraped out the mould where that part of the bullet was smaller, and adjusted it to the proper width, making sure that the bullets would fit tightly into the gun barrel. After that, the conical bullet hit as well as the round one. It was simple, but I did not realize it at once. This shows how important it is for the bullet to be made correctly. To find out if it is, one should shoot at targets and keep records to see if the bullet hits the target with its conical tip first. If it hits with the conical end consistently, then it is a correct one; if it hits with its side or rear end, it is wrong.

The charge for the shotgun is not as critical as that of the rifle. The shotgun is loaded in a regular sequence. First, pour a measured amount of powder into the barrel and tightly choke it with the wad; then, load a measure of shot, which you must also choke with a wad. You should not do this too tightly, or the shot will be scattered. If the shotgun is going to be loaded with buckshot, it is a good idea to make shells out of paper held in the proper shape with glue. The buckshot must fit the caliber of the gun and lay inside the barrel in rows, not at random. Naturally, it is better to make such shells at home in your spare time and keep them ready for the occasion. It often happens in the field that a hunter, not having shells, wraps buckshot in a rag or something else and his shots come out badly, because the rag, especially if it is tough, does not tear and flies with the buckshot, slowing it down and misdirecting it. It is possible to fire shotguns loaded with bullets at close range. In such a case, do not push the bullet deep into the barrel and lubricate it with oil; otherwise, it is easy to damage the shotgun. Many hunters moisten buckshot with saliva prior to loading it into the barrel and they say that the shot flies denser. I have done it many times, but did not notice any difference in the shooting. However, I cannot prove this is wrong; maybe I did not do something the same way as an expert would.

Most often wads are made of hemp pulp; many hunters, who are, of course, not Siberian promyshleniks, use wads cut out of old hats, according to the caliber. Wads can be cut out of thick felt or even out of cardboard, but they are inconvenient, because they fall off or turn inside the barrel and allow the shot to spill out when you are riding on a bumpy road. The hunter may easily overlook it. This often happened to me, and I sometimes fired with blank cartridges at valuable game. Wool wads are inconvenient, because they are resilient and make it difficult to plug the charge properly; they also make guns dirty. Wool wads have one advantage: they are safe in the dry season, because they