410 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



sportsmen themselves, who insist upon gunmakers trying for the 

 impossible. It is not an uncommon thing to hear a sportsman 

 say, ' Oh, my rifle has a flat trajectory up to 200 yards,' the 

 truth being that the rifle in question has been sighted to shoot 

 correctly at 200 yards, but the bullet at the highest point in its 

 trajectory (i.e. at about no yards from the muzzle) will pro- 

 bably have risen from four to eight inches (according to the 

 velocity of the bullet) above the line of aim. 



It is best to have an Express rifle made with the first leaf or 

 ' standard ' sighted for not over 150 yards, and if this is properly 

 done, no misses from over-sighting need be made between 

 thirty and 150 yards. 



Again, it is within the experience of most rifle-shots that it 

 is exceedingly difficult to make good shooting when firing at 

 game very much below the shooter (ibex down hill for instance). 

 This difficulty is often accounted for by a theory that in shots 

 of this kind the bullet is less acted upon by the forces of gravity 

 than in ordinary horizontal shots ; but in reality the difference 

 in the fall of the bullet at 150 yards in down-hill shots at an 

 angle of 45 degrees and in horizontal shots at the same range 

 is very slight. 



Still sportsmen find in practice that they have to aim three 

 to six inches below the part which they wish to hit, to ensure 

 success in these down -hill shots. 



In this case the cause of errors in elevation is the great 

 difficulty there is in getting the head down to the stock so as 

 to properly align the foresight with the bottom of the notch or 

 V of the backsight. 



The sportsman can easily test this theory for himself by 

 putting any ordinary rifle to his shoulder in a room, aiming first 

 at some object considerably above his head, and then at some 

 point or object upon the floor. Anyone who does this will find 

 that in shooting at the object above him it is easy enough to 

 align the sights upon it, that by bending the neck and lowering 

 the head the sights can be accurately aligned upon any object on 

 a level with the shoulder, but that there is very considerable dif- 



