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APPENDIX C. 



THE SPORTSMAN S RIFLE-SIGHT. 



In a previous work ^ I have devoted a chapter to the ques- 

 tion of the length of rifle-barrels and the advantages that the 

 modern sportsman had in being able to reduce the weight of 

 his weapon, without decreasing its efficiency, by shortening 

 them. 



I pointed out, on that occasion, that one objection that had 

 been raised to the shortenino^ of barrels was that it brouo-ht 

 the fore and back sights so near together as to make accurate 

 alignment difficult, and that this difficulty had been overcome 

 by the invention of the orthoptic sight. 



In my last book, The Roedeer, I referred briefly to the sight 

 I had myself invented for short-barrelled sporting rifles, and 

 christened the "Snaffle" sight. Any gunmaker can fix this 

 sight on any rifle, as it merely consists of a fairly strong ring 

 of metal topping a short screw. 



The principle of the sight is based on the following theory : 

 As a rule, game is killed at a range of not over 200 yards, 

 and at this range a fixed sight is all that the sportsman can 

 want. Personally I find that when medium- sized game, say 

 a, red-deer, is over 200 yards from me, an ordinary foresight 

 covers too much of the animal for me to aim accurately at 

 the proper spot. I am, of course, aware that telescopic sights 

 do away with this difficulty, but in rough countries a rifle 

 cannot be too simple. Therefore the " Snaffle " sight is 

 screwed in and adjusted to point-blank range, and in my 

 experience that is all that is necessary. I find that with this, 



^ The Snaffle Papers. 



