Thanks for posting that group of photos, Joe. The Bible, I see, was distributed by the Augusta Confederate States Bible Society. Since it was printed in Atlanta, it is probably safe to assume that was Augusta, GA., just up the road from me a piece. Sure would like to know the name of that soldier who lost it.
But, back to the original topic, I have taken it for granted for many years that it was because of increased firepower. I believe the average shooter in that day was a more careful shot than today. I do not believe there was as much disposable income to spend on shells, and all the other stuff that we spend it on that accompanies shooting/hunting. Therefore, I think it is safe to assume that the average bird hunter in that day could make better use of more than two shots than the average shooter of today.
Remember, when they first came out, there were no restrictions on magazine capacity, either. The Win. 97 would hold 7. In that day, the sky would turn dark with ducks, and a man could kill 50-100 quail in a day. It was all about meat, or piling up the gamebirds to sell to make a living. The large capacity repeaters were a huge boon to market hunters. We cannot relate to why they felt they needed it because we cannot imagine being able to kill over 5 ducks, or 15 doves a day.
SRH
