Rifleshooting

“ He is made familiar with the weapon in the fullest sense of the word "familiar," for shooting is not altogether a matter of blazing away ammunition; the good shot is the man who has a thorough knowledge of the various parts of his weapon, and who has been taught to nurse it and care for it just as the Breton lad nursed and cared for his cow. The equivalent of the British Morris tube is requisitioned to instruct the conscript in the first elements of firing a rifle. ”

“ It is regularly and systematically practised in the army and navy, in order to maintain and improve the proficiency of the men as marksmen. Target-shooting, with many different styles of firearms, under prescribed rules and regulations, has also become extremely popular with civilians.
Target-shooting was indulged in extensively with the rifle before it became popular with the pistol and revolver. The shorter barrel, and the greater difficulty in acquiring skill with the latter weapons, were doubtless responsible for the mistaken idea, long prevalent, that these arms were extremely inaccurate. ”

“ There are two ways of firing a pistol in hand-to- hand combat, and only two. One is to fire as you raise, and the other is to raise and then fire as you fall. Every advantage, it seems to me, is with the former mode, particularly when time means every thing. You can cock a pistol easier, it is true, by raising the muzzle and at the same time raising the hammer, but if strong in the thumb you should by all means cock as you draw, and fire the moment the
muzzle is in range. ”

“ Further, rapid individual fire plays a far greater part in modern rifle-shooting than it did a few years ago. The “volleys,” which used to be so tremendously effective in the days of muzzle loading and slow fire at short ranges, are little considered under present conditions; with the development of initiative, and the introduction of open order in the firing line, men are taught to fire rapidly by means of exposing the targets for a second or two at a time, two shots or more to be got on the target at each exposure. ”

“ Years ago scarcely anybody save the professional duelist would ever have thought of making an accomplishment of rifle or pistol shooting, unless, like the enlisted soldier or the dweller on the prairies, a practical knowledge of fire-arms and their uses became an absolute necessity for self-protection or the performance of duty. ”

“ The rifle is our national weapon of to-day, but unhappily neither law nor custom enjoins that the manhood of our country should learn its use. Cricket and football are our national pastimes; why should we not make rifle-shooting another?
Rifle-shooting is a sport—a game attractive enough in itself; and every marksman should bear in mind that in learning how to shoot he is fitting himself as a member of a great empire to take up arms for the defense of his country. ”

“ These were, that they should be fired off-hand, while the shot-guns were allowed a rest, the distance being equal; or that the distance should be one hundred yards for a rifle, to sixty for the shot-gun, the mode of firing being equal.
But this was a match of rifles exclusively; and these are by far the most common at this time. [Pg 673]
Most of the competitors fire at the same target; which is usually a board from nine inches to a foot wide, charred on one side as black as it can be made by fire, without impairing materially the uniformity of its surface ”

“ It is doubtful if infantry can keep up a rate of 12 rounds a minute for more than two or three minutes at a time without exhaustion and consequent wild shooting. The machine-gun, with all its limitations in this respect, can probably, taking a period of twenty or thirty minutes, deliver a greater Ranging. volume of fire than fifty rifles, and assuming that, by one device or another (ranging by observing the strike of the bullets, the use of a telemeter, or the employment of “combined sights”) the 75% cone of bullets has been brought on to the target, that fire will be more effective. ”

“ Having resided some years in Kentucky, and having more than once been witness of rifle sport, I shall present you with the results of my observation, leaving you to judge how far rifle-shooting is understood in that State.
Several individuals who conceive themselves expert in the management of the gun are often seen to meet for the purpose of displaying their skill, and betting a trifling sum, put up a target, in the centre of which a common-sized nail is hammered for about two-thirds of its length. The marksmen make choice of what they consider a proper distance, which may be forty paces. ”

“ Rifle shooting and rifles, our main arm in this guerilla warfare, were of course the subjects of constant discussion; target shooting was incessantly going on while in camp, and a rifle never out of our hands on the march, so that every tyro became in a wonderfully short time a fair marksman, and, many, first-rate shots. The distribution of Minié rifles to the troops excited great emulation amongst the men also, which was increased by our giving shilling and half-crown prizes for inner circle and bull's-eye hits. ”

“ This accuracy may be obtained to 30 or 40 yards provided that the bullet is sufficiently large to enter the chamber, but a size too large for the muzzle. It will accordingly squeeze its way through without the slightest windage, and will shoot with great precision, with a charge of 4 1/2 drams of powder and a ball of pure soft lead. A No. 12 is exceedingly powerful, and if 7 lbs. in weight, it can be fired with one hand like a pistol. This is an immense advantage, as the shooter can hold tight by the howdah rail with his left hand, while he uses his gun with the right. ”

“ When actually at the firing point, a soldier is taught that he must “keep his rifle pointing up the range,” for accidents happen easily, and, in spite of the extreme caution of officers and instructors, hardly a year goes by without some accidental shooting to record. The wonder is not that this sort of thing happens, but that it does not happen more often, for, until a soldier has undergone active service and seen how easily fatal results are produced with a rifle, it seems impossible to make him understand the danger attaching to careless use of the weapon. ”

“ By ocular demonstration show the men who are watching the approach of the company how easy it would be even for the poorest shots to land bullets in the thick of a closed body, but how much of a less distinct target the extended order offers and how many spaces there are in the skirmish line for the bullets to pass through; also, how much more easily cover can be employed and the rifle used in the extended order. ”

“ The old, smooth-bore field-guns of the enemy would be completely disabled before they could be brought within cannon-shot of the ten thousand. As soon as the enemy came within rifle range, the ten thousand would open on them with their thousand automatic machine-guns and magazine-rifles. As an automatic machine-gun fires at the rate of 600 shots a minute, a thousand would fire at the rate of 600,000 shots a minute. The magazine shoulder-rifles would fire aimed shots at the rate of twenty-five a minute, and the quick-firing field-guns would each fire shrapnel at the rate of forty a minute. ”

“ From its warlike aspect it is pleasant to turn to the contributions of the rifle to peaceful amusement, if not peaceful industry. Contemptuously giving the go-by to its minutest phase in this field—the "parlor rifle," with a target against the chimney-piece or meandering, in feline form, along our neighbor's roof-tree—we go forth, with Snider and sunrise, to the forest fastness. ”

“ All guns must be so placed that they can be retired under cover of the ground immediately they move. [133] The guns on the higher ground will open fire at long range, and the opportunity may be afforded at this stage for using “deliberate” fire at the most rapid rate possible, in imitation of rifle fire, for the double purpose of concealing the guns and deceiving the enemy by causing them to believe that the position is held by infantry. The guns at the lower position should watch their opportunity for opening fire on a large and vulnerable target ”

“ So now this is the queer position of affairs: we fire a pistol shot off at 12 midnight to-night by arrangement, and they reply with some shots over our heads, after which things continue to hum as before. You have no idea how pleasant everything seems with no rifle bullets or shells flying about. ”

“ Mortars with iron beds immoveably fixed in the earth throw their shot to greater distances than guns which are affixed to carriages can do, and which, therefore, can recoil. This has been [320] incontestibly proved, both in large and small artillery. Having suspended a gun barrel, charged with a determinate quantity of shot, from the ceiling by two cords, so as to allow of its recoil, fire it point blank at a target, and mark the result accurately. ”

“ Old guns which have been laid by will not uncommonly be found spiked, by having a common nail driven into the vent. If efficient tools are at hand this may be drilled out, if not, put a charge of powder in the gun, bore a gimlet hole in one of your wooden wads, through which pass a loosely-twisted string well impregnated with dissolved gunpowder, and afterwards dried. Cut the end of your prepared string just at the muzzle of the gun, light it, and get out of the way, when the explosion, which soon takes place, will not unfrequently expel the spike. ”

“ Since this is the case where the rifle is concerned, one may guess what the artilleryman's feelings are like when his gun has to fire the first shot, for the cleaning of a field-gun, even after firing blank ammunition, is no light matter. ”

“ In course of time, constantly living in an atmosphere of rifle-shooting, and spending more time and ammunition on the range than any other man of his unit, he becomes one of the best shots, though seldom the very best. For rifle-shooting is largely a matter of aptitude, and some men, after their recruits’ training and a duty-man’s course on the range, can very nearly equal the scores compiled by the musketry instructor. ”

“ Among these was one of the rifle-guns supplied as presents, together with a sufficient quantity of ammunition to last him one summer, after which the gun would probably become useless itself for want of cleaning. It was astonishing to see the readiness with which these people learned to fire at a mark, and the tact they displayed in everything relating to this art. Boys from twelve to sixteen years of age would fire a fowling-piece, for the first time, with perfect steadiness; and the men, with very little practice, would very soon become superior marksmen. ”

“ Every rifle was taken care of that way. Right now Tom Pace and Dan Paray were hurrying around gathering rifles to clean them, load them. No rifle must miss fire, or throw a bullet an inch off aim—because that might be the rifle whose aim was right. ”

“ Each barrel has its own breech-plug, striker, spring, and extractor, and each fires independently of the rest, so that all are not out of action together. The gun has a swivelled mount easily elevated and trained, and the steel frames take up the force of the discharge. In rapid firing one gunner [Pg 99] can work the firing-handle while another lays and alters the direction. The firing is operated by a lever working backwards and forwards by hand, and the gun can be discharged at the rate of 600 rounds per minute. ”

“ Rifles for sporting purposes differ from military pieces in being double-barrelled, and in requiring accuracy and penetration at short ranges, instead of a flat trajectory at very considerable distances. Hence they generally re semble the shot-guns in their action, and fire more powder in proportion to the weight of the bullet than military rifles. ”

“ The mules and horses used for the artillery and transport are strong and sturdy, and are used to mountain paths and roads, but the transport animals are too few for the service of a large army. The rifles, which are made in the Government shops, are also badly sighted, and hardly two of them shoot alike. If they are used for firing against a large number of men massed together, the defective sighting may not make a great deal of difference; but accuracy is of first importance in a rifle, and the shooting of trained troops in action is sufficiently bad, without leaving much else to chance. ”

“ The rising sound of the reports told plainly of the swinging muzzle, and officers and men dropped flat in the mud and waited till the sweeping bullets had passed over their heads. Men may work on and 'chance it' against rifle fire alone, but the sweep of a machine-gun is beyond chance, and very near to the certainty of sudden death to all in the circle of its swing. ”

“ Though it is necessary to get a sure aim before firing, it is not necessary to dwell on it before doing so. Every second between having taken true sight and the giving fire is a second lost, or worse than lost; for the longer the rifle is held to the face, the greater the tension of the muscles and nerves, and the likelier are both to shake and give [299] way. ”

“ The tremendous range of the modern rifle, single arm, or rapid-fire gun, and the development of more powerful explosives for ammunition have wrought this change. The bullet will travel a longer distance at a horizontal position than in the old days when ordinary black powder and a smooth-bore gun were used, and so at hundreds of yards distance the soldiers can aim direct to kill, without making elevation allowances. ”