26 TARGET PRACTICE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



Gymnastic Exercises. — In order to strengthen the muscles 

 brought into play in shooting, the men are practiced in gym- 

 nastic exercises with the rifle, viz : 



1. The man takes in succession the positions of ready, aim, 

 ready, etc., holding the rifle for a few seconds in each position. 



2. He takes the position of aiming, standing; holds the 

 piece with the left hand while the right hand with the arm 

 extended describes as large a circle as possible, and again 

 grasps the rifle. 



3. He takes the position of aiming high, and then drops 

 the left hand, holding the rifle in the right pressing the butt 

 against the shoulder, and gradually letting the rifle fall to 

 the horizontal position, etc. 



4. He takes the position of aim; drops the left hand, turns 

 the rifle with the right until the muzzle is vertical, extends 

 the right arm horizontally forward, contracts it, etc. 



5. In exercises in squads the men are taught to maintain 

 the position of aim for two minutes. 



These, and similar exercises, are repeated when kneeling, 

 and in all the positions of aiming. 



Pulling the Trigger. — The men are then taught to pull 

 the trigger without disturlung the aim, both against a fixed 

 target, and against all kinds of objects moving forward, back- 

 ward, and in all directions, and at all distances. 



Rapid Fire with Dummies. — They are then practiced with 

 dummy cartridges in loading and firing rapidly under all 

 circumstances. 



Blank Cartridges. — They fire blank cartridges to become 

 accustomed to the report. 



Practice for Field Shooting. — Finally, as a preparation 

 for field shooting, they are practiced with blank or dummy 

 cartridges in the motions of firing against targets made to 

 appear and disappear unexpectedly and at unknown distances, 

 moving in all directions, etc. The man must first estimate 

 the distance, then he decides whether the object is near 

 enough for him to fire at it. In the latter case he must 

 specify the elevation, deviation, etc., fix his sights, decide 

 what point to aim at, and commence firing. Sometimes two 

 or more targets are made to appear at once, and then he must 

 decide which to fire at. 



In some cases he may be allowed to choose his moment for 

 firing wiien he thinks that by waiting he will have a better 



