m*- w - Clpdigital.org

894 ILLUSTRATED WORLD
The Prone Position, with All
Equipment
Note the manner in which the sling is wrapped about the
relt arm. and the manner in which the coat elbows are
padded.
practice. This is all the target you need
at first.
The sling strap is the most important
aid to holding the rifle steadily. All well
conducted rifles have them. If the rifle
is by chance the Government rifle, the
upper half of the sling is so adjusted by
the hook as to form a loop from the
upper swivel to which it is fastened, long
enough to reach back to about the
"comb" of the stock, which is the raised
part back of the grip of the right
hand.
Then the left hand is put through the
loop from the right
side as it hanp-s from
its swivel, the loop is
Stewart Edward
White's Offhand
Position
Whenever this crack
shot takes a sudden
snap at a mountain
goat or charging rhinoceros,
his arms assume
this supporting
position.
pushed well up the
arm to the arm-pit,
then the left hand is
swung up over the
sling near its junction with the rifle
and the rifle is grasped as near the
swivel as possible, with the sling passing
around the right side of the stiffened
wrist.
The sling, to be of any value, must be
tight. When the body is prone, the left
elbow should be under the rifle, so a
plumb-bob, dropped from the rifle, would
fall in the crook of the left elbow. The
sling must be so tight that it is difficult
to get the rifle to the shoulder. The left
hand must be well under and around the
rifle, so it lies down snugly in the bony
structure of the palm, from the base of
the index finger past the base of the
thumb. Always does the tyro grasp it
gingerly in his fingers and hold it there
trembling like the affrighted
birdie. Properly
held, the rifle will lie
steady and motionless at the shoulder,
with the right hand not touching it, and
the fingers of the left hand wide open. In
firing of course they are clasped around
the stock to aid in holding.
Now with the sling properly adjusted,
and the rifle held steadily at the shoulder
by its pull, see that the body is not
behind the rifle, but to the left of the
line of its barrel thirty degrees or more.
Thus the poor shoulder can give back
like a spring, without having the body
solidly behind it. The sling, properly