46 SPORTSMAN'S HAND BOOK. 



Point-blank in rifle practice is the. exact point at which the 

 bullet crosses the line of sight. There is technically two 

 point-blanks, or two points where the ball crosses the line 

 of sight; the first one is not far from the gun in long 

 range shooting. The point-blank referred to is always the 

 second point where the bullet crosses the line of sight. 



The sights of a hunting rifle should- be so arranged that 

 the point-blank would be at 100 yards; any intermediate 

 distance, an allowance should be made for the rise of the 

 ball while passing this distance, to prevent overshooting 

 your object. Vernier sights for hunting are of little practi- 

 cal importance, for in hunting, distance is unknown and is 

 simply guess work. The eye, over fixed sights, with prac- 

 tice will soon learn to judge distance and the necessary ele- 

 vation or depression, and much more quickly than in 

 any other way. . 



The following letter, signed "S," appeared in the 

 " Forest and Stream " November 24, 1884, and is a sarcastic 

 and ironical summing up of the many earnest communica- 

 tions on the same subject which preceded it. It is here 

 reproduced in full, and no more likely to confuse than many 

 that were written with the design of being instructive: 



LUCUS A NON LUCENDO. 



I have read with absorbingly thrilling interest the few 

 articles on "Choice of Hunting Rifles," which have from 

 time to time, during the past century, appeared in the 

 Forest and Stream, and although I have no use for a rifle, 

 and perhaps never shall have, excepting to shoot rats, still, 

 like the authors of many of the aforesaid articles, I can 

 imagine what kind of a rifle I should want in the presence 

 of a trumpeting elephant, charging grizzly, nimble deer, or 

 zig-gagging snipe, and so as these articles appear to be 

 " runnin' to emptins," before the polls close, I should like to 



