of the Old World. 505 



inches below ; the power of gravity having made it 

 deviate from the line of fire, and drawn it towards the 

 earth, one foot and five inches, in a flight of one 

 hundred yards. Therefore, if the barrel were as 

 thick at the muzzle as it is at the breech, it would be 

 necessary to aim one foot five inches above the mark in 

 order to hit it ; but this is not the case, for, as I have 

 before observed, every barrel has in itself a certain 

 degree of elevation, on account of the increased thick- 

 ness of metal at the breech-end. The Enfield rifle- 

 barrel has elevation in itself for about seventy-five 

 yards. 



The point-blank range of a rifle is the distance 

 that it will throw a ball before grazing the ground, 

 the barrel being held with its axis parallel to the 

 ground at the height of four feet six inches above it 

 The point-blank range of the Enfield rifle is about 

 200 paces. 



The line of sight , or aim, is an imaginary straight 

 line taken from the pupil of the eye through the 

 centre of the back-sight, along the top of the fore- 

 sight, to the object intended to be hit. The back- 

 sight is so arranged as to give the proper elevation 

 for different distances. The further the object is to 

 be aimed at, the greater the elevation required ; and 

 this is given by raising the sliding bar of the back- 

 sight, which is marked with lines up to 900 yards. 



Accuracy of shooting is greatly dependent upon 



