Popithir Sciriirr Mi»illili/ 



i'Z5 



he mises after a bird coinintj up nut of ilu- 

 trap and going straight a\va\-, he must 

 not perpetrate the imarialile iricic of the 

 beginner^raise iiis head from the slock; 

 but he must make the move one of the 

 whole body, the face, stock and arms 

 not changing rehuion. 



Time is the most im|)ortant part of 

 trap-sliooting. The t\ro must learn to 

 fire in the same time, and that quickly. 

 This means that the shot must go before 

 the bird has started on its downward 

 curve, and the sooner the gun can be 

 brought on the bird, the better. The 

 instant the bird goes the gun must 

 swifth' and smoothly swing after it — 

 not jerk after it — catch it, and then the 

 trigger must be pressed without stopping 

 the motion of the gun. Straightaway 

 birds are hit as a rule' by pressing the 

 trigger just as the muzzle comes to the 

 lower line of the bird Ijut without 

 stopping the upward swing. Ouarterers 

 are hit by a swift swing b>' liiem and a 

 release of the trigger when the gun is 

 from a foot to three feet ahead, depending 

 on the speed of the swing, which in turn 

 depends on the indi\idual. 



The i)inis leave the trap wilii the 

 initial speed of one hundred and fifty 

 feet a second and cover the shooting 

 distance with the average speed of one 

 hundred feet a second. Shot takes the 

 scxentii part of a second to tra\el forty 

 yards, which is about the distance at 

 which \ou would fire at a bird. The 

 seventh part of one hundred is practically 

 fourteen and one-half feet, and so, while 

 our shot is travelling forty yards, the 

 bird is getting nearh- fifteen feet. If 

 it is a quartering bird to you, angling 

 across your line of fire, a lilllc paper ancl 

 figuring will show you plaini\- enough 

 why you cannot shoot at a. bird of the 

 sort and hit it. All motions must be 

 smooth and speedy, not the convulsive 

 jerks of the typical tyro, nor yet the 

 slow poky aim of other tyros. Practice 

 at home, first. 



From any of the big powder or am- 

 munition or gun companies you will be 

 given printed matter on how to organize 

 a gun club, on how the purses in tourna- 

 ments are split, where to find your 

 nearest club if you do not know where 

 it is, and all the small points of the game. 



Anotlier illustrated article on trap-shooting by Mr. 

 Grossman — "Hunting the ^Nltid Pigeon," it is called — 

 will appear in tlie Octoher issue. — Editor. 



A Modem War Relic 



THERE are few towns in the eastern 

 half of the United States that can- 

 not boast of at least one antiquated 

 cannon ball, a relic of the Revolutionary 

 War or of the Civil War; but Quantico, 

 Va., is perhaps the only community 

 that can boast of 

 a modern fourteen- 

 inch steel projectile 

 that fell in its 

 midst. 



Quantico is about 

 ten miles below and 

 on the opposite side 

 of the Potomac 

 River from Indian 

 Head, Md., where 

 the United States 

 Navy tests the big 

 guns for battle- 

 ships. To deter- 



This Steel Projectile W. 

 It Killed a Cow and 



mine their penetrating qualities, shells 

 are fired at armor plate set up be- 

 fore a sand bank several -hundred 

 feet from the guns, but when tests 

 are made to study the performance of 

 the firing and recoil mechanism the 

 guns are elevated so as to drop their 

 shells in the middle 

 of the Potomac 

 River, se\eral miles 

 below. Fast motor 

 boats patrol the 

 river to keep ves- 

 sels out of range. 



Quite often the 

 shells hit the water 

 at an angle which 

 causes them to 

 "skip." A short 

 time ago the "skip- 

 per" shown landed 

 in Quantico. 



eighs 1.250 Pounds. 

 Damaged Houses 



