Shooting box

“ The great objection to the upright game is the nuisance of the falling rings. This may be avoided partly by constructing a cardboard "catcher" to fit underneath. This is simply a cardboard triangle, or rather two right-angled triangles joined together by tape so as to bend easily and be strong: [pg 35] these are nailed to the two under edges of the board (Fig. 40) .
Fig. 40.
Another splendid shooting toy is the Dart Box. For this you need a wooden box of some sort. Size and shape do not matter very much, but a box with ends roughly square would do best: one 15 in. ”

“ The heavy wooden box seemed to dissolve, to collapse and to crumple up like one of paper, and ere the last rays of the illuminating bullet faded, the watchers saw the splinters of wood fall back with a clatter in a little heap on the spot where the dry-goods case had been. ”

“ Many are the temptations to dawdle, instead of getting on with the work, so much of interest is taking place around them, including the amusing, and at that time not too frequent, sight of scores of the enemy, with uplifted hands, emerging from pill boxes, where they must have been packed like sardines.
An auxiliary wire tapped into the main F.O.O. line is led to another pill-box, now to be used as a new infantry headquarters for the time being, and the party comes under the fire of a hostile machine gun emplacement, which necessitates their lying in a shell-hole for a while. ”

“ I had kicked another rifle, but hadn't the pluck to go back and fetch it.
I just held on, trembling all over, and waited and listened, and then started again, following the door round till I got to the wall, and there, the first thing I felt, was a box on the ledge, right in the corner between the door and the wall. I felt it all over; it had a square hole in the top, and my hand went in and—oh! it was such a jolly feeling—it was nearly full of paper packets of ammunition. ”

“ There is one match-box on the market that is very efficient. It is somewhat difficult to open, especially when one's hands are cold, but for all of that it is the best thing I know of, and as its contents are to be used only in emergency cases the woodsman may be content with the box as it is. I have seen match-boxes made from brass shotgun shells which were practically waterproof if kept tightly closed, but sometimes it is difficult to remove the cover. ”

“ While its square, boxlike form is not graceful in line, it enables the maker to use a spiral, or coil, spring instead of a flat spring for operating the locks, which is an advantage. In brief, the merits of both types may be summed up in this fashion: The use of the box type of lock enables the maker to turn out a better quality of [56] gun at a low price, but in the case of a well-made gun, selling for a reasonable figure, there is very little choice between them so far as dependability and long service are concerned. ”

“ Thus, if the match breaks or its head flies off, it will not be likely to set fire to your clothing. In lighting matches upon a box, first close the box; otherwise the flame may set fire to the whole box. If the box is set in a box-holder, such as those used by smokers, wherein the upper part of the box is open, place the box so that the heads are not exposed. In striking a match upon such a holder, always strike downward away from the open end. ”

“ It is the most ingenious device imaginable. Having been thus assorted, the shot is put into a revolving box containing blacklead. The revolutions not only serve to thoroughly blacklead the shot, but to wear off any little excrescence, and make them more perfectly round. They have then to be weighed in the 28 lb. bags referred to above. From the weighing machine they are passed to a table at which a woman sits with needle and thread. Their mouths are sewn up, they are ready for the market, and we have seen practically all there is to be seen of the manufacture of small shot. ”

“ A strip of leather nailed to another post supports ax or hatchet, while near by is the neat pile of kindling which its sharp edge has made—perhaps out of old and useless boxes and barrels. These must not be allowed to accumulate, but be chopped up at once. Logs and large sticks have each their own pile, while chips, sawdust, and shavings take up their abode in a large basket or box. The ashes from the furnace go into boxes and barrels outside of the house. ”

“ In preparing your Pandora box choose a barrel that is perfectly smooth inside, without long splinters or nails to pierce the fragile balloons. Then see that the cover has a handle or knob by which it can be lifted. A spool fastened on with a screw will serve very well and is easily grasped by the hand. ”

“ In placing the aim-corrector on the rifle, the open side of the box may be turned to the right or left, care being taken that, when the glass is inserted in the box, it is placed in the cross-groove, which will cause it to present to the observer, who is opposite the open end, a reflection of the backsight, the foresight, and the mark at which aim is to be taken. If the glass is placed in the wrong cross-groove, the only image reflected upon it will be the recruit’s eye. ”

“ Boxing Day, in many parts, remains a regulation fixture for rabbit-shooting by tenants, local tradesmen, keepers, and their friends. Nobody could possibly appreciate the exciting nature of these shoots unless present in person. It is safer to be present only in spirit. Otherwise, shot-proof cover becomes the most desirable thing in the world: and it often seems a wonder how more than one man can survive the day to count the bag. Talking to a tenant-farmer on such an occasion, we noticed that his hands were covered with warts, and suggested remedies. ”

“ Willie focused the beam of his flashlight on the opening.
“Say! What’s this?” he exclaimed. “We must have broken into the wrong box.”
“This isn’t our stuff,” War confirmed. “But the box is marked with our name! How do you figure it?” ”

“ Jars soon came into vogue, and there are quite ancient specimens, especially the old japanned boxes, ornamented with figures in gilt.
There is, of course, a vast difference between the storage jar and the smaller box carried about by the smoker much in the same way as the pouch is now used. Many still prefer metal to other materials, and it is no uncommon thing to see brass and steel boxes in use in industrial districts. Few, however, excepting modern replicas of the antique, are decorated in the way the old Dutch tobacco boxes of brass were in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. ”

“ The Location of Hits is Recorded by a Beam of Light Streaming through the Hole Shot in the Paper Target
The joys of target practice are often hampered by the delays in the settlement of hits. It takes time and is annoying to be constantly advancing to the target to examine it. To do away with this, an illuminated target was constructed that enables the shooter to locate every hit without leaving his post. To make the device, a square wooden box of convenient size is obtained. ”

“ Targets which draw up and down on trolleys are a great nuisance, and yet almost all shooting galleries are equipped with them, and their presence is considered the acme of good gallery equipment in England.
This may be all right for preventing markers being shot, but I prefer an iron man target, life size, standing on his feet in a green field with a suitable background. One can shoot so much better than at a figure painted on a flat background.
You see a miss by the momentary puff of dust where the bullet hits the ground, instead of having to look for a bullet hole in the painted background. ”

“ I had only one box of cartridges, besides those in the cylinder of my gun. I didn’t know what might be in store for me, and I took no chances.
My first shot sent one of the creatures spinning to the ground. Two more were almost upon me before I could level the weapon and pull the trigger again. I got them both. ”

“ The front of it has a rebate cut in the box to receive a small conical collar and the screw of an oil cap. The arm of the axle is turned down in the lathe to two-thirds of the total thickness from the point where the rebate of the box begins. A flat side is filed on this reduced portion, and along it is made to slide a small collar of gun metal, with a conical face in the interior to fit against the coned interior of the rebate in the box. ”

“ Before commencing a stalk up to dangerous game, the stalker should always put two or three cartridges for his big rifles into his pocket in order to have them handy and to render him perfectly independent of his gun-bearers. Even the best gun-bearers might fail him one day when in a critical position, and the want of a cartridge might be the cause of a very serious accident. ”

“ All boxes should lock with brass locks. Shun padlocks. A master-key should open all your boxes, even should you have a thousand. Each box should have a pierced metal label slung with wire upon each iron handle. Painted numbers quickly wear out. ”

“ When a large number of boxes are to be managed, a more expeditious mode is, to have a large box with close joints, or an empty hogshead, or a few barrels with one head out, set in some convenient place; put the boxes in, one above another, but not in a manner to stop the holes; over the top throw a sheet of one thickness, a thin one is best, as it will let through more light. ”

“ The Indian box-and-basket trick was for a long time a mystery even among magicians, and now it puzzles astute people to understand how the young man or young woman who has been tied in a sack and placed under lock and key in a wicker basket on top of a box not only locked and sealed but tied in all directions with stout rope, can get out of the sack and basket and into the box within very few minutes. ”

“ And with his own hands, the Man Killer at last conquered, as they laid him in an ambulance, he took the five-inch, open-work steel box, the precious record, from that knapsack’s depth and handed it to her. ”

“ A good background is a high sandy bank, a thick pile of fagots, or, if not closer than fifty yards, a high brick or stone wall. The target may be stood some fifteen yards away from the wall to prevent danger of a bullet coming back on the shooter, and then the shooter can be far enough from the wall, if the wall is a background. If a lot of shooting is done, it is not very good for the [Pg 23] wall, and if many shots hit the same spot they may gradually make a hole. Iron butts are expensive, especially for the large surface required by a beginner ”

“ And, further, as the box was held fast by the strong, square iron rod which passed in a square hole in the centre of one of its ends, while the round or cylindrical neck which joined the hollow cylinder to the end of the cannon could turn round freely on its axis in the round hole in the centre of the other end of it, it is evident that the machinery could be put in motion without the least danger of forcing the box out of its place, throwing the water out of it, or deranging any part of the apparatus. ”

“ It may prove a convenience if plain marks are made on the string at the distances from which shooting will be done.
The above description covers apparatus for working two or more targets simultaneously on a long roller, or separately on separate rollers mounted on a common baseboard.
If it is desired to combine with the apparatus a “stop” for the bullets, the latter (a sheet of stout iron of the requisite strength) may be affixed to the rear of the baseboard, and furnished with a handle at the top to facilitate transport. ”

“ The infernal machine found at Cork and preserved at New Scotland Yard shows this method of working very clearly (Fig. 14) . It is a wooden box about a foot square and separated [Pg 127] into divisions. One compartment is fitted with clockwork, to which a fuse is attached and which passes through to the other part of the box filled with gunpowder. This box would hold about 8lb. of powder. When the lid is removed the clockwork starts, the fuse is fired, and the gunpowder explodes. A fuse is a series of strands of hemp with a column of gunpowder running through. ”

“ In indoor shooting smokeless powder and reduced charges are always to be preferred. When artificial ventilation is provided, some shooting may be done with black powder ammunition, but the range soon fills with smoke, rendering the targets indistinct and the atmosphere unpleasant. Gallery practice is very valuable, as it enables one to preserve good form in the winter months, in localities where it is too cold to shoot with comfort and pleasure out-of-doors. ”

“ A is the trigger, or spindle, which passes through a hole in the rear end of the box. B is the catch with a ring slipped over its middle, to which a string is attached to hold open the trap-door when the trap is set. There is a notch in the back board of the trap at C, and another near the rear end of the trigger, in which the bevelled edges of the catch are caught and held in place by the string attached to the trap-door. Fig. 13 1/2 shows the details of Fig. 13. The box-trap is an old “stand-by” with the boys, is simple in construction, and can be made by any lad who can handle tools. ”

“ A murderous contrivance it was;—a veritable infernal machine! Twelve cartridges such as are used in a common pistol, about an inch in length, lay imbedded in a paste of some kind, covered with fulminating powder, and so connected with a bunch of friction matches, a strip of sand-paper, and a piece of linen attached to the lid, that on opening the box the matches would be ignited and the whole exploded. The package was sent to the War Department, and the following report was returned, giving a detailed description of the machine:
WASHINGTON ARSENAL, Jan. 16, 1866. ”