THE SIGHTING OF HUNTING-RIFLES. 351 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



THE SIGHTING OF HUNTING-RIFLES. 



THE more I experiment with sights and shoot with 

 other people's rifles the more I become convinced 

 that bad sights are nearly as fruitful a source of 

 misses as anything so far considered. Though more 

 accurate shooting can be done with globe-sights, 

 there is no question of the superiority of open-sights 

 for all quick shooting or shooting in dim lights or 

 in the woods. And they are accurate enough to two 

 hundred yards at least. 



The open sight usually put upon rifles by manufac- 

 turers can scarcely be considered " the pink of per- 

 fection." The very essence of a front sight is that it 

 appear always the same, and be visible in every light. 

 The huge piece of dull metal, shaped like a slice of 

 watermelon, that adorns the muzzle-end of most 

 factory rifles can hardly be seen at all in some lights. 

 And when it can be seen it is often nearly as bad as 

 if it could not. Stand out in the sun with a rifle hav- 

 ing one of these, and holding it at arm's length, with 

 your eye upon the front sight, turn completely 

 around. You will probably see the center of bright- 

 ness shift all over it from base to tip and from side to 

 side. This center of brightness is what you will take 

 for the true center in nearly every case where there is 

 the slightest need of expedition in shooting. And 

 upon running game you will be quite certain to 



