356 MY SPORTING HOLIDAYS 



line to the mark. The bullet drops from the moment 

 it leaves the muzzle of the rifle. In other words, its 

 whole line of flight is a downward and increasing 

 curve from the rifle-muzzle to the limit of its flight. 

 With a smooth-bore, for example, the solid 12 calibre 

 bullet forms quite an appreciable curve in a flight of 

 100 yards. 



For ordinary practical purposes this curve, in the 

 case of modern express rifles, and still more with 

 small-bore cordite rifles, is inappreciable up to what 

 is termed their point-blank range. At the same time, 

 in order that a rifle should exactly hit the mark at 

 this so-called point-blank range better described as 

 'fixed-sight' range the rifle is sighted, or, in the 

 case of a double rifle, the rib between the barrels is 

 raised towards the breech, so that the curve is allowed 

 for. In other words, the rifle is sighted so that the 

 barrel is actually pointing, when truly aligned, above 

 the object aimed at. The point-blank or fixed-sight 

 range is the distance at which the bullet, in its curved 

 flight, has returned to the same horizontal level at 

 which it left the rifle-muzzle. This fixed-sight range 

 is usually, as I have said, a distance of 100 yards. 



So much for a rough description of the scientific 

 facts. For practical purposes the curve of a "303 

 projectile in the first 100, or even 200, yards of its 

 flight is a negligible quantity. For sporting pur- 

 poses it may be generally disregarded. If such a 

 rifle were firmly fixed in a rest, with the barrel 

 accurately horizontal, the projectile fired from it, 

 theoretically falling by the action of gravity from 

 the moment it leaves the barrel, in effect only drops 

 4 inches in the first 200 yards of its flight. The 

 bullet fired from a black-powder express *400, *450, 



