JUDGING DISTANCE. 151 



The position of the body, arms, and hands, 

 and the manner of pressing the trigger, as also 

 the position of the head when taking aim, are to 

 be duly watched both in this and the former 

 exercise, in order to discover and correct those 

 errors which are fatal to good shooting, and 

 which cannot be so successfully corrected when 

 firing ball. 



One of the greatest essentials in a 



Judging Dis- 



well-trained mai'ksman is the capability 



to estimate distances correctly, as good shooting 

 cannot be made unless the distance is previously 

 ascertained and the proper elevation given to the 

 back-sight. At long ranges it requires great 

 practice to judge distance accurately ; but there 

 is always a ready method of ascertaining it prac- 

 tically, by firing, and watching whether the 

 bullet strikes the ground over or under the 

 object aimed at. If over, he will lower the 

 sliding bar of the back-sight ; if under, he will 

 raise it. Practice over all kinds of ground is 

 the best means of teaching a novice how to 



