APPENDIX. 349 



INFANTRY TARGET PRACTICE. 



REPORT OF THE TARGET PRACTICE OF THE FIRST REGIMENT OF INFANTRY 

 OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD DIVISION. 



On April 25, by permission of the war department, I wit- 

 nessed the target practice of the first battalion of the first 

 regiment of infantry of the imperial guard division on the 

 "shatekiba" (target range) at Oknbo in the suburbs of Tokyo. 



The firing was at 300 meters, the i^osition taken was prone. 

 The accuracy of the shooting was not very good ; the expla- 

 nation given being that they were only first-year men. 



The Murata rifle, caliber 0.286, is similar to the Mauser 

 rifle. 



Cartridges inserted by a clip (of five cartridges) ; the bolt 

 action of breechblock simple and easy to manipulate. 



The targets (at that range) seemed to be smaller than our 

 own, and were certainly difiicult to hit, for it took me three 

 shots to get on the target. 



All the conduct of the firing was excellent, no confusion 

 whatever, no talking ; and the ofiicers appeared much inter- 

 ested in the practice of their men, taking frequent occasion 

 to remedy faults in elevation, windage, holding, sighting, etc. 



In the pits which I visited, everything was conducted 

 quietly and uniformly, there were three markers to each tar- 

 get. When a shot was fired at a target, the target was 

 revolved, the shot hole (if there was one) discovered and pasted 

 over by one man, the flag raised by another man, while the 

 third man indicated on the visible target, by means of a disk 

 at the end of a long pole, the exact position of the hit. The 

 work of each group of men was superintended and controlled 

 by a sergeant, while a commissioned oflicer overlooked and 

 controlled all the targets which were being used by each par- 

 ticular company. 



In all my experience I can suggest no improvement in the 

 manner of conducting target practice ; it seemed to be com- 

 plete. 



The target range at Okubo is said to be the finest in the 

 vicinity of Tokyo; it covers an unusually wide area, there 

 being arrangements for 32 targets which can be used at the 

 same time, atr the same range, or at different ranges. 



When firing is conducted for battle practice, the troops are 

 marched out in the country as if for a regular campaign 

 against the enemy, and firing up to 1,200 meters is practiced. 



