NOTES ON RIFLES AND AMMUNITION 411 



ficulty in getting the eye down to properly align the sights when 

 the object aimed at is upon the floor. In fact, if the stock of 

 the rifle is fairly straight it cannot be done. Both these cases 

 of over-shooting come from the same cause ; in the first ' hurry ' 

 has induced the shooter to forget to set his head down properly 

 on to the stock, in the second his own build and his rifle's 

 make it very hard for him to do so. The same principle is 

 illustrated in rabbit -shooting with a fowling-piece at short 

 ranges. Unless using a gun with a gooa bend to the stock it is 

 difficult to get down low enough to your rabbit crossing at say 

 fifteen yards, so that a dozen are missed by shooting over for 

 one that is missed by shooting under at that range. 



It is as well, too, to remember that in shooting from a 'rest ' 

 there is always an inclination on the part of the barrels to fly 

 upwards, and this is particularly so \yhere the ' rest ' is of any 

 hard substance, a rock or a log for instance. To counteract 

 this tendency to fly upwards, grip your rifle firmly with your 

 left hand, and put a pad of some soft material (say, your cap) 

 between your rifle and your rest. 



Assuming that any rifle-shot knows the danger of pulling 

 as opposed to pressing the trigger, that he will be careful to see 

 that his foresight neither gets bent nor shifted, that he does not 

 get buck fever, and can judge distance with approximate accu- 

 racy, there seems to be only one other hint worth giving, and 

 that only to those who find a difficulty in seeing the backsight 

 clearly ; those, that is, to whom it appears blurred and misty. 



These sportsmen should have their rifles arranged with the 

 backsight not less than seven or nine inches from the breech, 

 since the further off from the eye it is, the more clearly defined 

 it becomes ; but of course there is a limit to the distance at which 

 the backsight can .be put from the eye, since the closer the 

 backsight is to the foresight the greater the angle of error. 



It is sometimes even desirable to have the barrels made of 

 extra length to allow of the backsight being put further from 

 the breech end, but long barrels are unhandy on horseback 

 and in thick timber. 



