246 
FOREST AND STREAM 
JUNE, 1917 
classes of membership, certainly among 
sportsmen’s organizations or those which 
appeal to the outdoorsman in any 
sense, that will not adapt themselves 
readily to the enjoyment and zest 
of rifle practice, on indoor or outdoor 
ranges. It is a sport—and its urgent ne¬ 
cessity today need not make it any less a 
sport—that can appeal to the mind which 
finds competition an impelling factor to 
accomplishment, and as well to those who 
enjoy individual success at a skilful art 
for its own sake. Club against club, team 
against team, or matched individuals will 
find it worthy all practice and attention, 
and then all the satisfaction at success that 
they demand of a sport. Social aspects of 
club life need not be sacrificed, but can in¬ 
deed be fostered by this new activity. 
To make the training this new sport is 
to afford as widespread as it should be, of 
course many new rifle clubs must be or¬ 
ganized alongside those that will be suc¬ 
cessors to or merely departures for exist¬ 
ing clubs of other kinds. And the organi¬ 
zation of a rifle club is simple enough. 
One can be started by as few as a dozen 
members, and local interest will almost 
overnight inspire applicants enough to 
bring the membership up to whatever size 
the community demands. There are cer¬ 
tainly a dozen, perhaps several dozen, per¬ 
sons grouped in any community or inter¬ 
ested in any sportsmen’s organization who 
like to shoot. And in these stirring times, 
Firing off the Scores 
any appeal through local newspapers or 
other channels that calls on them to pre¬ 
pare for defense, will come prominently to 
their attention. 
Once they are brought together their 
activities will interest a widening circle of 
their acquaintances until the rifle club will 
be the predominating side-activity of the 
whole community. The latter in turn will 
become an example for other towns or 
other vicinities to emulate, and many 
wholesome purposes will be served in ad¬ 
dition to the predominating one of accus¬ 
toming the people to the proper use of 
arms. 
E QUIPMENT for the rifle range can 
be as elaborate as the taste of the 
members requires, but it can also be 
simple enough, and yet be complete 
enough to be practical for any enthusiastic 
organization to acquire and find effective 
for its purposes. A large part of the 
equipment, except for the actual weapons 
and ammunition, can be constructed by 
members themselves, with very little out¬ 
lay for expenses. 
Any small-bore rifle of good design and 
construction, taking the standard .22 long 
rim-fire cartridge, is thoroughly effective 
for target shooting up to 100 yards. In 
designing an outdoor range therefore, even 
clubs which must economize need not 
limit it to 75 or even 100 feet. In fact, 
ranges which' admit of shooting at several 
longer ranges, even from 50 to 100 yards, 
afford more variety and are on many 
grounds preferable. Of course the advan¬ 
tage of 75-foot ranges is that they can 
often be built in some existing building at 
relatively small cost. The longer distances 
suit only outdoor ranges, and must usually 
be specially constructed if they are in¬ 
tended for shooting at all seasons. For 
this reason, many clubs will find it neces¬ 
sary to start with an indoor range of 75 
feet or even less. And very good and ef¬ 
fective practice can be had on a range as 
short as forty feet, though 75 feet is gen¬ 
erally recognized as the standard for in¬ 
door ranges. It is well, however, to keep 
in mind at the start the probability of in¬ 
creasing membership requiring larger tar¬ 
get facilities than are originally provided, 
as well as longer ranges up to 100 yards. 
Assuming that some room of reasonable 
length and otherwise suitable for an in¬ 
door range is available, to adapt it for 
shooting is not very difficult. Given some¬ 
thing to which to attach the targets, that 
will also act as an effective back-stop for 
the bullets, some protection for the wall 
for several feet around the targets, a good 
light to illuminate them at night, and some 
mats to lie on (for prone shooting) at the 
firing point, a range that will serve all 
practical purposes can be provided. Ad¬ 
ditional features and conveniences to make 
it more attractive and comfortable, can be 
provided as means come to hand. 
T HE ideal range outdoors should 
face slightly east of north, with 
a body of water several miles wide 
in back of to eliminate the necessity for 
back stops. Such locations are hard to 
secure and in the months to come, we will 
see the construction of target ranges for 
rifle and revolver training in all sorts of 
improvised locations. The first requisite 
for any range is, of course, sufficient space, 
and after that comes the absolute necessity 
for safety, and a method of stopping the 
bullets is important. Perhaps the best 
Back stop of all is a mound of loose sand 
or soft earth. If several feet in thickness 
it will stop any kind of a high power rifle 
bullet. 
On outdoor target ranges the trench 
which must be dug to throw up the back 
stop serves as a protecting shelter for the 
boy who spots the shots on the target and 
gives the score. In indoor ranges an equiv¬ 
alent construction would be rather expen¬ 
sive and the need arises therefore for some 
method of pulling the targets back to the 
firing point without interfering with the 
other shooters. Target carriers accom¬ 
plish this result. A number of different 
gallery equipment makers can furnish them, 
the prices ranging from $6 to $15 per unit, 
depending upon the elaborate qualities of 
the various parts. A little ingenuity will 
also permit the construction of these by 
the members of the club who would other¬ 
wise use their energy tinkering about the 
house or the family automobile. 
The range can be fitted up temporarily 
with a set of “home grown” carriers, con¬ 
sisting of a heavy wire tightly strung from 
one end of the range to the other for each 
firing point. Running on it is a carrier with 
wheels and a clip to fasten the target to. 
It is run back and forth by means of 
braided cord run over pulleys, and an old 
sewing machine wheel to which has been 
fitted a handle. 
(continued on page 274) 
The Best Natural Backstop 
