Sept. 16, 1886.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



a. few shots, wlien you 11111111 and almost, know that you are hokliup; 

 on, them, you will uot t1irov\- tlie gnn aBide in disgust, but -will go 

 to oxvevijWntinK to find out the trotibh.'.'' 



The pfirl^i^'ular coTistructioii vt the target is mado so plain that 

 any foundryman ought to tura it out. it is the target upon whieh 

 the learnfr does his "exercises," so to spoal?, before passing on to 

 thi' el uboi a te performances of taking Indng ohjocts on the wing. 

 He directs: 



"For a swinging target, yon can have east at 3j\y foundry a 

 disc, from 13 to 14in. in diameter, with a hulltjej e- 1 or l.iainches in 

 diameter. The plate should he at least V^in. in tliu kuess, po that 

 it will not break oaf ily, and sliould be convex, that is it should 

 slope hack from (lie bullseye to the edges. If it Is cast flat, and 

 YOU .slioot at. it at slxirt rancc, the, hulle.t will splatter, and you will 

 be likelv toloae an eye. Theru should be rings eut into the pat- 

 tern, from J4in. to lin, a.p.i.rt, so I hat yo'i can readily sec how near 

 you are gettmg to tlic eeni er, Tlie rod that it swings from should 

 he of iron, and, if possible, at least. lOCt. long. This will give you a 

 good long swing to your target. 'I'liere is one peculiarity, however, 

 about a swinging target that few people realize, and tlurt is, that 

 whether it has a swing of 3ft. .ir 10 fi'ou.i one eml to the other, it 

 takes the same length of time to swing across; that is, tlierewill be 

 just as many beats to the pendulum in a^ minute when you start it 

 as tlierc are\iust before it stops. P.nt when it lias i\ long s^\'ing it 

 goes faster, and is tlierefore more ditlieult to hit. You should 

 \ p tAvo li. 'lcs, and run bolts throngl) t hese, a nd have the rod tluit 

 if y.wing-s on split at the bottom ami fastened to these bolts. This 

 is better than having the rod fastened in one place at the top, for 

 if yon do this it wdll tui'u around sideways to you when you hit it 

 near the edge. After each few rounds the target should lie covered 

 with white paint. Wlieu yon get so that yon think you eavt liit 

 something small, go to a, ]iard\v,ai-e store an<l get a carpenter's 

 plumb. If yon ha\'c yon r target (tlu^ small one) dark and your 

 hackground'wliite, yon will And it niueh easier lo liit." 



Hp'gnes on to say tliat for ball hitting an assistant is useful in 

 tossing the oh.iect aimed at. He speaks plainly to the point in 

 advising that the niraost care be taken to guard against those bits 

 of erimiual earelessness wbieh geneially ^ro under the head of 

 "accidents." He remarks; "V(ai sliordd always remember lliis, 

 liowovcr. I ha fc unless the man who handles tlie gun is careful, the 

 man who tosses the ba.ll is in a dangerous place. In shootiuji: at 

 objects thrown by hand to fall perpendicularly, 1 am always eare- 

 fiif never to hiwer the gun to a. level with tl.\e licad of the man 

 who i osses the ball. Tlr.s is tlie only safe rule to follow when the 

 balls are thrown in this manner. 0I_' course, when (hoy are thro\vn 

 to one side there is not this danger. You cannot be too careful in 

 all this kind of practice to never point your gun at those who are 

 assisting you, and if you a.re tossing the ball yourself, lieep a sharp 

 lookout at the man with the gun; and it he lowers it carelessly a 

 few t imes, and does not take warning when you speak to him 

 about it, .lust drop him aud shoot with some one else. 



He takes his pupil along by gradual steps, and his only fear is the 

 weU founded one one that the t>-ro will try to be too clever all in a 

 hurry, and not consent, to do one thing well before trjdng to make 

 a. brilliant showing. His instructions on this ])oint are: 



"When you begin to shoot at objects throw^^ in the air, follow 

 the saiue rules that you did in beginning at the swijiging target, 

 that is, hold your gun at 'ready' till (lie object is throwTi. and slioot 

 at something large enough so you can see where yon hit; and (he 

 nearer round the object is the better. 



"For instance, if you throw up a stick a foot long and an inch in 

 diameter and throw it so that it will whirl, it will look like a large 

 object, but you readily see that yon can put a ball three-f oui'ths of 

 an inch from the center and still miss your target. Either a round 

 hall or a round, flat disc of wood thrown so the fiat surface will be 

 toward you, arc good objects to begin mth. The sizeat first is im- 

 material so long as you set them large enough. Try a disc 4or Bin. 

 in diameter to begin villi. You can very easily reduce the size 

 when you get so y.,>u can hit this — and see atflrst how near the eeii- 

 ter yoii can come. Itemember also that it is easier to see and hit a 

 dark object in the air than a light'colored one. 



"In your first practice at the swinging target I ha\'e advised you 

 to sliool; at the target anywhere and not get into the habit of trying 

 to catri) it at the end, but in beginning to shoot at ol:)jccts thrown 

 in the air, I would advise you to shoot at them just a,t the turning 



?oint as they are poised in the air and before they begin to descend, 

 do tliis for two reasons; first, because they are easier to hit at 

 that time, and, second, because it insures promptness and rapidity 

 of action. 



"You will find that you have no time to waste. Your object 

 sliould riot be thro^vn over 1.5 or 30ft. high, and you will soon 

 realize that ( o get your gun to your shoulder and get it properly 

 sighted from the time the ball or disc leaves the thrower's hand, 

 until it is 'poised in the air, needs a full and free play of all the 

 muscles. Ti you wear a coat you want it loose enough so it will 

 not interfere with >'our motions, and if it is summer time you will 

 not only find it convenient to 'shuck your linen,' to use' a Iven- 

 tucky phrase, but will probably loosen your shoulder braces and 

 throw them oft in addition. 



"After you have gotten so as you can hit smaU objects thrown 

 perjiendicularly^ U]j in front of >-ou and at short, range, hitting 

 them just at the turning point, as I liavo said bcfeiro, begin to try 

 other things, but in all y in r j!i a.cl i<-i^ stick to one thing till you 

 can do it fairly well. Don't get smart too quick; 1 ba^•e no doubt 

 that some one will read this book and say, 'Why that is simple 

 enough; any one can do that,' and so think they can hit a nickel 

 in the air as soon as they have bonglit a gun, and perhaps go out 

 and trv it for their first lesson. They will probably be disap- 

 pointed, for while it is easy if you will follow instructions, and 

 you can learn without trouble in tlie time specified, you had better 

 stay at home and not try to learn than not to go at it right, and I 

 cannot impress on youi- mind too strongly the necessity in every- 

 thing connected wth shooting, of paying attention to the smallest 

 details; usually the\' are the secret of success." 



There are some trial shots w'hich the author describes for his 

 learner and they are good enough for even the practiced shot to 

 get nincli sport out of. A few of these shots we quote: "Have 

 some one stand near your side and toss a hall out in front of you, 

 rising say to the height of 20ft. and falling about 60 or 80ft. away. 

 This is mucli belter than shoot ing from a trap; for if you get used 

 to shoot ing from a traii you will soon look for the ball in one partic- 

 ular place every time, and of co ..irse get into a bad habit. Then toss 

 the ball aw'ay from you, but not .so far, and try to hit it just before 

 it strikes the ground. Then have it thrown over your head from 

 beliind. In fact, try hitting it throv\m in as many different ways 

 as possible. A good target to use and tluit will stand a good deal 

 of wear for this kind of work is a solid rubber ball, about the size 

 of the glass b.alls. Von can tell %vlien you hit it by the way it 

 jumps., Q.van after it is so shot to pieces that you cannot see where 

 it \vn s struck. If you use a, repeat er, ta ke a small cardboard box— an 

 empty cartridge box is a good thing— and put it on the water about 

 25 or 30ft. away. Shoot just under it the first time, and if you 

 shoot at the right spot it will jump into the aii' 2 or 3ft. Now'try 

 to reload and catch it in the air before it touches the water again. 

 Probably, the first i;rme you try it, one box will be enough to last 

 you for tlie trip; but is good practice, and, as in your other practice, 

 you will be surprised to find what a few hundred shots will do for 

 you. I think, on the whole, that an object thrown byhaud is about 

 as good to practice at as anytliing, because there is always that 

 delightful uncertainty about just where it is going, that lends 

 novelty to each shot." 



Naturally Mr, Bliss goes on to wing-shooting and confesses that 

 his lirst efforts were not verj- great successes. He grows personal 

 and says: "About the first shooting that I tried on the wiilfe was at 

 blaclcbirds. I fired at least 100 cartridges at them as they were 

 flying close around me A\ithout getting a feather. "What the reason 

 was I could not imagine until long afterward. I held as near point 

 blank on them as poassible, never tliinking that at so short a range 

 I would have to make an allowance and shoot ahead of them. 

 Some time afterw'ard I made a visit to the Pacific coast, and while 

 there it was my good fortune to meet Dr. Geo. Chismore, of San 

 Prancisco, one of the liest amateur shots and most genial gentle- 

 men on the 'slopi?' or anywhere else, for that matter. In talking 

 with him about it, he gave me his experience in gull shooting, 

 which I take the liberty to quote. He was using a Winchester Ex- 

 press, Avbieh carries an extremely heavy charge of ])owder and a 

 light ball, the intention being to send the hall with great velocity. 

 He -had not been able to hit gulls at 50 or HOyds., although he had 

 fired a great many times. One day he was shooting at "them and 

 fired at one about 150yds. away, I think, and just as he pulled the 

 trigger his left foot slipped. He was standing on a slippery rock 

 at the time. It was too late to stop and the gun went off. To his 

 extreme surprise he Icilled the ruII. The gun was pulled ahead 

 about lift., be tbouglit, aud he told me that this incident opened 

 his eyes, and that .after this incident be hit a number of birds at 

 from 75 to 150yds. Since then my wing-shooting has improved very 

 much, but it was hard for me to realize that so many misses were 

 due to shooting behind my game tmtil I had proved it in a good 

 man 3^ w-ays. 



"If you are near the water where birds are flying, one of the best 

 ways in the world to post youj'sclf is to shoot at them as they skim 

 along the surface. Take swallows, for instance. They fly yidle 

 Tji.pidly. Carry yunr gun along with them and tire point blank at 

 them. As the ball strikes the water you will be astonished to see 

 how far ahead of the splash the bird is. Now, by sucoessful wing- 

 ahootlng with a rifle I do not mean that you can go out and bag as 

 many birds with it as yon could with a shotgun. This is out of the 



(juestion. But it is more genuine sport for me to go out and get a 

 brace of birds, killed with my rifle on the wing, than it would be 

 to shoot a dfizcn with the shotgun. There is no reason why you 

 cannot get so that you can shoot birds that fly more slowly and are 

 steady in their flight, such as prairie chickens, geese, brant, 

 pigeons when sailing, crows and hawks, and very likely you ean 

 get such ducks .as mallards, which fly slowly and stea.dilj ." 



Again the writer cranes back to the importance of watching the 

 rifle as though it was filled witli a spirit of innate wickedness and 

 was always watching for a chance to make trouble. His remarks 

 apply well to every man who has a gun or rifle, and wo quote: 

 "The first thing I would impress on your mind in taking care of a 

 gun is to always handle it as thon.gh' it were loaded. That is the 

 only safe rule to follow, and if any of mj readers have ever been 

 so toolliardv us lo ))oint a gun at any one in fun I hope it will be 

 my good fortune never to ineet them , for f should hold tliem in 

 utter contempt and not bo slow to express it. 



"At some time in ^ our life, if vou handle a gun much, you will 

 probablv tiave 11. di,icliarged ac(idcntally in your hands, and if 

 this ev.-'r o.c'urs you will see tlie force of my advice, if it is pointed 

 wiicre \ i.iu wanihi iia tnr.all v point it if you r.^pceted it to ko o(T, no 

 damage will be done; but if you are pointing it at some friend or 

 your wiCe or juothor, the rcsnlt \sill be quiledilt'erent. Tliclonger 

 1 handle a gun the more afraid 1 get of it, and the more disposed I 

 nm to iiuni alone, or with only one or two others, 'fhis is not a 

 temperance essay, but 1 will say right here that I would not under 

 any circumstances go out in the field with a man who got drunk. 

 If a man thinks ho has Uved long enough, let him 'shuflie off de- 

 cently and in order,' but for heaven's sake don't lot him be killed 

 by some fool that thinks be is a sportsman and goes out so drunk 

 that be can't tell his frieiul from a jack.snipe. 



"There are several positicras thai, .are all safe and good to carry 

 a. gun in when in the field. 1 usually carry mine over the right 

 arm with the muzzle down, and can always get it to my shoulder 

 in time, and in this position the triggers and hammers are_ pro- 

 tected from l)rush, etc. Always carr.y it "witli the muzzle pointed 

 well up in the .air or down toward'the ground. And if you are 

 walking and fall, pay more attention to your gun than you do to 

 yourself. You had better take the risk of getting a few bruises 

 than shoot some one ahead of you, or th.an to jam l.lie muzzle of 

 your gun in the snow or mud, and fire it oT and ruin it. 



"Another thing. In these days of lu'cechloaders there is not the 

 slightest necessity for cari-ying your gun loaded w hen you get into 

 a. wagon, or in keeping it loaded about the house, unless you keep 

 it so for burglars, and (hen keep it wiiere the idiot who 'didn't 

 know it was loaded' can't c'ct lioll of it. 



"Perhaps it may seem I I i. i ■ lie reads this that I 

 should take so much SI}-" i ; . . t every one ought 



toknowfor himself, hi;i i iiiui:, . n. are quite familiar 



with a gun will join me in saying that it doesn't do any harm to 

 keep this question of safety always prominent, and that it is not 

 space wasted in a book like this." " 



The care of the gun Mr. BUss does not give much space to, 

 but he uses that space well, and says: "In taking care of a gun 

 yon can't keep il too clean. If it once gets spotted inside it will 

 be likely to remain so. In shooting a .22-cal. rifle I use a maga- 

 zine gun. I clean it out after emptying every magazine, if lam 

 shooting right along. If I am going to lay the gun aside for a few 

 hours, Iclean it even if I haA'e only fired it once. A good many 

 will tell you that powder is a good thing to leave in a gun. If yon 

 fall into that habit you will find it the best excuse m the world 

 for not cleaning your gun some time when you are too lazy to do 

 it, and the gun will stay with powder in it for a, month. 



"Many good sportsmen say that you should never use water on 

 a good gun to clean il. If you will use hot water, and then dry 

 the gun thoroughly af terw'ard and put on a good oil or rust pre- 

 venter, if will not injure it; hut if you leave it damp you had 

 better not use w ater at all. Turpentine and oil, about half and 

 haK, are used by some to clean with, and answ-er very well. 

 Always use a nice, clear oil that will not gum; a good jew^olor 

 always has it on hand. 



"I usually carry with me for my .32-cal. gun a brass rod, with 

 notches cut in it, that will just go into the gun with a patch about 

 94 of an incli square of canton flannel on the end of it, and oil a 

 lot of these patches and carry with me. The end of the rod is 

 square, and notched back a.bout an incli, half of the notches point- 

 ing one way and half the other. In the other end of the rod is a 

 ring, and 1 fasten a snap on my vest well back toward the left 

 arm, and as high as I can, to snap the rod into; in this way it does 

 not interfere with my shooting, and is always convenient. While 

 your gun is still w^arm with firing it is an easy matter to clean it 

 with two or three of these patches. 



"If yon u.se a. larger caliber gun, I would recommend for all lield- 

 cleaning the regular flcld-cleaner, which is made of a strong cord, 

 with the w^iper at one end and a heavy 'sinker' at the other, so yoti 

 can drop it tbrou,gh the gun and then pull the wiper through. 



"No matter how- dry a place you have for your gun, it is always 

 w^ell to put a tompkin or an oiled rag in the muzzle, and an oiled 

 rag in the breech, and, if possible, keep your gun where the tem- 

 perature is even. Y'ou can readily see that' if the gun gets very 

 cold, and then the room W'here it is kept is heated to a high tem- 

 perature, the gun win 'svyeat,' and, of course, the moisture will 

 rust it after awliile. 



"If you want a gun to hang up in your room on a pair of antlers 

 for an orna.ment, get some old Queen Anne arm that was used in 

 the Revolution. It will answer every pm-pose, and he a great deal 

 better than ruining a fine gun." 



Tutor Bliss is wary over the question of a gun when it comes to 

 recommend the purchase of one. He is, of course, an advocate of 

 small bores, and cannot forego the opportunity; of having a mild 

 fling at the muzzle men He expresses his opinions thus: 



"I think for your first lesson a singleloader will perhaps do you 

 as much good as a magazine gun, and by the time you get tired of 

 that, as most people do of the first gun they buy, it will be easier to 

 decide whether you care for a magazine gun or not. 



"If you go out after birds a magazine gun will of course afford 

 you a deal more amusement than a singleloader, as you can alwaj^s 

 get two or three shots at a bird, and it is needless to say, you will 

 i-equire them for a long time. 



"There are plenty of men even now who will not use a breech- 

 loader, because they think tliey can do so much better work with 

 a muzzleloader. If you hold the gun right and have good sights, 

 and it is in good condition inside, yon will be able to do work that 

 you will heive no reason to be ashamed of with a breechloader, and 

 the advantages more than compensate for the supposed inaccu- 

 racy. 



"There is no doubt in the world that the round hall gives much 

 better results than the slug, unless the latter is very carefully 

 loaded, but the trouble is to get the rotind hall. I think that they 

 are now made, I mean the .2S-cal. with a round ball, but cannot 

 recall the manufacturer's name, and have never had an opportu- 

 nity to try them. With a round hall you could use much more 

 powder and get better results than you can with a long or short 

 .23 with a slug. Of course you cannot use them with a magazine 

 gun, but I hope the day will soon come wdien we can get a good 

 magazine ..'23-cal. gun that will shoot a cartridge with a round ball 

 and a good charge of powder; for all practice shooting at close 

 range, if you .shoot a .33-cal. or larger gun and care to reload your, 

 shells, I think you will be well pleased w ith the result if you fill 

 the shell with pow^der, have a good wad that wilt fit it tight aud 

 press it firmly down, and then seat a round ball on top of that. 

 You can usually get the balls already made that will fit most of the 

 calibers. 



"You should accustom yourself to a pull of not less than three 

 pounds on the trigger. The old-fashioned hair trigger is one of 

 the things of the past, and is of no earthly account except to jar 

 olT and kill somcdjody unexjiectedly, and it has been jiroven over 

 and over again that you can do fully as good work with a three- 

 pound pull. 



"By all means have a shotgim breech on your rifle; never mind 

 the looks. If you are going to do good work, and do it quick, you 

 don't want to spend two or three seconds valuable time adjusting 

 the old-fashioned nuisance to your shoulder, and wiien you do get 

 it adjusted it will receive and transmit to the barrel every tremor 

 of the muscles of the arm. Don't buy such a gun, and if you 

 already own one and cannot got the stock altered over, get a saw 

 and cut it off; it may not look quite as handsome, but you can 

 shoot with it." 



Next comes the question of sights, and to this Mr. Bliss gives a 

 long chapter with illustrations to make his text plain. Incidentally 

 he throws in valuable advice as to shooting in various conditions 

 of light and position. Judge Van Dyke, an old Forest and 

 STRT5AJI correspondent, is quoted from the abundance of Ms knowd- 

 edge on all matters of rifie in the field. Mr. Bliss maintains his 

 modest way of expressing hi.s conclusions, and from this chapter 

 of his work we quote fully: "I have for a long time been studying 

 rifle sights, and expect to be for a long time to come, and any man 

 who says he has arrived at perfection in the matter, and can make 

 a perfect sight for all kinds of shooting, is simply theorizing about 

 something that he has never tried. 



"In your snap-.sliooting the (luestion of the pointblank, at which 

 your rifle should be .sighted, does uot cut mu eh of a figure. You 

 will probably do most of your snap-shooting at close range, and 

 your point blank should beat close range. If vou are going to 

 shoot at game or objects up to 100yds., don't, sight your rifle at over 

 75 or 80yds., and use a gun that will give you as fiat a trajectory as 

 possible. 



"I think that there is nothing worse in the line of rifle sights 

 than a combination of a glittering sight in front that comes up to 

 a knife edge at the top and the old-fashioned buckborn sight for 

 the back sight. Take such a set of sights as this and shoot five 

 shots toward the sun, and as many a,t each of the other points of 

 the compas.9 on a bright day, a nd compa i-e the targets a.ud note the 

 result. One way yon will shoot over, another under, another to 

 one side, and so on, all owing to the reflection of light from your 

 sights. WTien a boy 1 used such a set, and 1 could get a 'bead' i\s 

 fine as the point of a cambric needle with them. At least it w^ould 

 appear so, but I always had to make so much allo^vance for :vliich 

 side the light struck tliat my shooting \va?. very uncertain. 



"You will probably get used to some set of siffhts and do good 

 work witli them, but keep your fiyes open and be ready to adopt 

 what is clearly proved to be in advance of wiiat you have. Afront 

 sight should be broad, and especially in all quick shooting should 

 you accustom yourself to a broad, large front sight. You can do 

 just as tine shooting, and in quick shooting you can catch it much 

 quicker. 



"A good sight is made from a piece from a silver quarter or half 

 dollar filed dowm smooth on the sides and edges. The height will 

 have to lie determined entirely with regard to the shooting of your 

 gun. Try the sights that come with the gun, an<l make your 

 sights either the same height as these or higher or lower, as may 

 be necessary. The sides of this sight want to be perfectly black, 

 so that the light will not i-eflect frrmi tliem. This you caii proba- 

 bly get a jow-eler to do for you cheaper and better than you can do 

 it yourself. Then the top wants to be bright. Do not burnish it, 

 but have it white, I mean. If you were going to shoot on the snow 

 all the time, a sight of the same shape made of pure copper would 

 be much better. 



"For your back sight put on in place of the 'crotch' or 'buckhorn' 

 sight a plain oblong bar of dead bla.dc iron, nea rly as long as vour 

 gun barrel is wide, and about three-sixteentliH of an inch deep" and 

 wide. Into the back side of this should he set a piece ot platinum 

 wire. It can be dovetailed in and flattened, coming to within a 

 thirty. -second part of an incli of the top, and running down to the 

 bottom of the sight. The width of tlus sight will have to be gov- 

 erned entirely by the width of your front .siglit and the length of 

 your gun bai'rei. It must, of course, be narrower than the front 

 sigliu, as the intention is to have them appear just the same ^vidth 

 when you look over the barrel of the gun at thom. Tlie line of 

 dead iron at the top of the bar will always enable you to keep the 

 two sights distinct, and they will never appear to be one .and the 

 same piece. The advantages of having a rear sight that is flat on 

 top are manifold. One of the most important things in shooting 

 at any dista.oee is to ha.', e your gun level and with a flat sight to 

 look- o\er; it is much easier to accomplish this than with a sight 

 that is notched. It is also mm h easier to tell just how much front 

 sight you are using than with the old 'buckhorn.' 



The'sisiit is a combination ot the jtlatinum wire and a sight that 

 Judge Van Dyke uses. His rear sight is simply the iron bar, say 

 half an inch long, and he has no notch in it, and no wire on the 

 back to aid in finding the center. I ha\'e tried this sight a little 

 but must admit that I have not tried it enough to say that I could 

 not get used to it; there are certainly great advantages about it. 

 .ludge Van Dyke is one of the most thorough sfadents of rifle 

 shooting living, and has adopted this rear sight after much careful 

 research and experimenting, and it is well worth your wdiile to 

 give it a thorough trial. For his fiont sight ho uses an oblong 

 sight that is composed of iron in the center, gold, brass or silver at 

 one end, and ivory, bone or agate at the other. If shooting on the 

 snow he would ttmn the end with the gold toward tire eye; if shoot- 

 ing on bare ground, the other end; and if he wants to use the iron 

 in the center, he can easilj' take oil the ivory. The aim is to get a 

 sight that will appear the s.ime under all conditions of light, and 

 you w ill never realize the difliculties in the way of doing tliia till 

 you actually know from experience how much difference there is 

 between shooting on a bright sunshiny day and shooting the same 

 distance when it is cloud;,-, or between shooting in the woods and 

 open fields. Whatever sights you have, try to get used as fast as 

 possible to shooting tow-ard the sun, away from it, sideways, and 

 in all kinds of w^eather. Practice will do you more good than 

 books, but even practice will not always enable you to judge just 

 liow' to hold. This, of course, applies more to shooting at some 

 distance than to close work; hut you will go out some day when it 

 will appear to you that the conditions of light are precisely* the 

 same that they were the day before, and will find that your 

 average at, say lOOyds., will be inches higher, or further to one 

 side, than it was the day before, and the only way to account for 

 it is tlie atmostphere. 



"You will also find that few people see things alike, when it 

 comes to the matter of gun sights; and when your rifle is sighted 

 just right for you, your friend who shoots it will very likely Audit 

 all wrong for him. 



"Then another thing that you wiU find is, that shooting at a 

 target on a range is a very different thing from shooting at game 

 in the woods and fields. You will soon get used to the" ordinary 

 changes of light on your range, but you will nevei' get entirely 

 used to the changes of light that you will find in actual hunting. 

 According to the old theory, a good shot was what was called a 

 line shot— that is, on aline with the bullseye, up and do^vn— even 

 if it missed the bullseye 6in. at lOOyds. Don't let any such doctrine 

 spoil you. A little practice will demonstrate to you that it is 

 much easier to make a line shot at an unknown distance than it is 

 to make a shot that is level with the bullseye at a known distance. 

 Now just remember that you do not need to waste time over ehota 

 that you can easily make; put in your practice at shots that bother 

 you. 



""Whether in shooting up to 150yds. you should have your rear 

 sight fixed or raise it, or whether you sliould make an a'Uowance 

 by shooting high or low, or again, w-hether you should vary the 

 amount of front sight taken, is a gi eat question with liflemen. 

 For my own part, I have of late years found that I could do better 

 work to have my rifle sighted for ordinary shooting in the field to 

 about 60yds.; then if I want to shoot ICOyds,, as I often do, I can 

 use a little more of the front sight, or, what is better, can hold a 

 little higher, and if 1 want to shoot 30 or 40yds. I hold a little 

 low-er. 



"A good many make all manner of fun of a man who thinks he 

 can tell anything about the amount of front sight to oee to shoot 

 12.3yds. wdien his rifie is sighted for 75yds. I must beg leave to diflrer 

 with them. I think that practice will enable you to not only 

 estimate the distance quite accurately, but yvill also enable you to 

 estimate the amount or front sight to use, and I think you will find 

 it much harder to estimate the distance than the amount of front 

 sight. You should ahvays practice this wiien out in the woods and 

 fields, if you care for rifle shooting. Look at some object ahead of 

 you and estimate the distance, and then as you walk it count the 

 steps; you will find the benefit very soon. You should also 

 learn to step correctly a yard. WTien measuring distance, I can, 

 with a little practice, step oft 100 paces and not miss its being 

 lOOyds. more than 3 or 4ft.; hut you will be surprised to find how 

 much out of the way estimates of distance usually are in hunting. 

 When you come to close work with a rifle it won't do to say lOOyds. 

 when you mean 40, you must have some idea of the distance and 

 bold accordingly. 



"There ai-e dozens of sights patented, but I think you will find 

 those spoken of better than the majority. One thing" you ought to 

 be able to do, you ought to be able to give any gunsmith (unless he 

 is a practical rifleman and used to shooting your gun) the dimen- 

 sions of a set of sights much better than he can get tliem up him- 

 self. If you do not take interest enougli in the subject to do this, 

 your rifle shooting won't amount to much. Study the subject, and 

 have reason that is good for whatever you do. And don't do it be- 

 cause some old antediluvian tells you it is the way, and the only 

 way. 



"Shooting with both eyes open is strongly recommended by many 

 good riflemen; w-hile I do not think it absolutely necessary, I do 

 think there are great advantages about it. If you will get 'in the 

 habit of shooting in this way you will soon find them out. Don't 

 say yon can't do it, or decide you can't after trying hal f a dozen 

 shots. What do five or six shots amount to? Try a few hundi-ed 

 and then you can judge better. "^ATien you use both eyes you see 

 things just as you usually do, and when you shut one eye you do 

 not, unless you have had the misfortune to lose one eye. Now, to 

 illustrate this, look at some object that is quite small, say as large 

 as the point of a lead-pencil, or as large as a No. 5 shot, from a dis- 

 tance of six or eight feet, and then shut one eye and step rapidly 

 forward and try to put your finger on it. A little experimenting 

 of this kind will prove to you that you can see your target much 

 better with two eyes than with one. 



"llecoUect also that the target is not the only tldng that you 

 want to see distinctly. A target w-ith its clear cut outlines is a 

 very different thing to see from a rabbit sitting in dead leaves 

 60yds. away, or a bird's head at half that distance, and wdien you 

 begin to draw down fine on such an object you will need all the 

 ej^esight that you have, and not only thi.s— you will need a sight 

 that you can depend on. You will be apt to fall into the belief 

 tha t youi- same will look like your target until you get out in the 

 field to hunt, and for this reason get out as soon as possible, as 

 I have said before, where you will get a. natural light to shoot by, 

 and shoot at natural objects. Select some old knot on a, tree at "a 

 distance that you do not know but can only guess at, and fire five 

 shots at it as rapidly as you can, or shoot at something that blends 

 so with the surroundings that you can scarcely see it when you 



