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940 ILLUSTRATED Vv'O
HOW TO BECOME
(Continuct
as the bad let-off—every amateur's chief
trouble.
There is nothing in the fall of the
hammer of the empty rifle to move it in
the least, there is practically no jar;
if the front sight jumps, that is your
fault, the nervous response of your
strained nerves to the click, the sudden
release of your strained muscles. Only,
just as sure as you do let your nerves
respond, just as sure as you release your
muscles at this instant, just that sure
will you shoot inaccurately and stand
still on the path to becoming an expert.
DON'T LET THE RELEASE OF
THE TRIGGER MOVE THE RIFLE!
DON'T QUIT HOLDING STEAD­
ILY JUST BECAUSE THE HAM­
MER FALLS!
That's all there is to accurate rifle
shooting.
If you align the sights the same every
shot, which is acquired by care and practice,
if you grip the rifle the same every
shot and if you let the hammer fall without
letting it affect your hold in the
least, then you're an expert rifle shot.
Quicker firing, greater control of the
trigger, the various positions, all come
from practice, but until that fatal obstacle
is surmounted, you'll never get
anywhere.
In the standing position there is but
one sensible hold. It is a position that
is unsteady at best, and in which the
sling does no good. Pull the rifle hard
against the shoulder with the right
hand, gripping the rifle firmly, then run
the left hand well out on the barrel, not to
a strained position, however. Keep the
left elbow well under the rifle, not out
to the left, and make the right hand do
most of the work of holding. If the
left hand is not on a strain, the rifle can
be held much more steadily. Then get
off smoothly as the sight touches the bull
for an instant. The position is one for
quick and shotgun-like shooting. Postpone
it until you've mastered the prone
position.
A SHARPSHOOTER
from paee 896)
The kneel is much used by soldiers.
In it the sling is of the utmost value.
Its adjustment is precisely the same as
for the prone position. Point the left
foot directly at the target, point the
right foot at right angles to the left, and
get the right knee as far to the right as
possible, sitting well back on the right
foot. The sole of the shoe ought to be
heavy, of the brogan type, for comfort.
Sitting is nearly as steady as prone,
when the sling is used correctly, which
is precisely as for the prone. Either dig
two holes by a couple of good kicks, for
the heels, or else cross the feet, putting
the right foot under the left ankle. In
either case sit ten to twenty degrees to
the right of the line of the target. Put
the elbows, both of them, inside the
knees, not on the knee-caps.
The four positions, with most attention
devoted to the prone, take care of
all rifle shooting needs, although in the
Navy they use also the homely squat,
sitting on both heels Indian fashion.
Only remember, that you can learn
nine-tenths of the things necessary to
make a good shot of yourself, with the
empty rifle, you can pass the worst
stumbling block with the empty rifle
better than with the loaded one, and you
snap the rifle empty in hard, thoughtful
practice, a hundred shots with profit, to
one shot with real cartridges.
And as you value success, concentrate,
concentrate to momentary exclusion of
all other things on earth on that few
seconds' aim and that trigger release—
"concentrate though your coat-tails be
on fire."
And if you want to go farther with
the rifle, to learn the Navy and the Marine
Corps way of doing it, write the
best friend of American riflemen, Major
W. C. Harllee, Navy Department, Washington,
D. C, and ask him as a learner,
for a copy of the Small Arms Firing
Regulations, United States Navy. No
man is so stupid that he cannot learn to
shoot the rifle from that book alone.