April, 1918 
FOREST AND S T R E A M 
227 
DAYS IN SHOOTING—“ON” AND “OFF” 
THE PERSONAL EQUATION, THE MAIN CAUSE OF UNEVEN SCORES, MAY BE RE¬ 
DUCED TO A MINIMUM BY CLOSER CO-ORDINATION OF EYE, MIND, AND MUSCLE 
By J. R. BEVIS, PH. D„ Co-Author of "The Modem Rifle” 
INE 5's and now for another pos- 
sible”; “too straight is not so 
bad”; “I haven't made a 5 today, 
just 3’s and 4’s with some 2’s for com¬ 
pany” ; "Add another goose egg to my nest 
—I can’t hit a flock of balloons”—all are 
common expressions on the range, in the 
gallery and at the traps. Yet every per¬ 
son experienced in rifle or shotgun shoot¬ 
ing has had similar experiences, has had 
his “On” day's when it seemed that he could 
score a possible or run a straight with his 
eyes shut; and he has had his “Off” days 
when it was impossible to shoot with any 
degree of skill. 
An “Off” is not usually considered one 
or two poor scores in a string, and yet it 
may be so considered if those poor scores 
are the last ones shot. The generally ac¬ 
cepted meaning of the term is that time 
when a decided tumble in one’s shooting 
has been made which the shooter cannot 
readily recover. And the word “days” is 
not herein used in its strictest meaning, 
but as it is used in shooting parlance, in 
which it means a period of time—for the 
“Off” day may occur the same hour, the 
hour following or the day' after a “high.” 
“On” and “Off” days are very similar in 
occurrence to our regular meteorological 
conditions in which a low follows a high, al¬ 
though there may be an isolated low (when 
one attempts shooting after not having 
handled a gun for weeks). The latter is 
not a low in the strictest meaning of the 
term, because since the term is purely com¬ 
parative, and implies the existence of some¬ 
thing with which it may be compared, the 
something in this instance is too remote 
for comparison. The low is followed by 
a high, but the time of its recurrence 
varies so widely in different persons that 
no specific rule may be given. This im¬ 
plies that the cause of our “Offs” must be 
inherent within ourselves. And such is an 
established fact. 
Of the hundreds of instances of “Off” 
days witnessed and analyzed by' the writer, 
I give herewith some that stand out prom¬ 
inently and exemplify some of tlie causes 
of the “Offs.” (1) A remarkable pistol 
shot, having just made a record of 24 suc¬ 
cessive 5’s, scored a 3 on his 25th shot. 
(2) In a shoot-off by three men in a gal¬ 
lery, strings after strings of 5’s were shot, 
each string being a possible—until almost 
midnight when it seemed as if the tie 
would stand, one scored a 4. (3) At a 
state shoot a friend was high, well in the 
lead, only to tumble headlong the next day. 
A single or two poor scores, even if they 
are the last of the string, may be justly 
attributable to faulty ammunition, wind, 
light and kindred causes. In the above in¬ 
stances, and I might have named a hun¬ 
dred, none of the causes just mentioned 
effected the “Off,” since each instance was 
critically analyzed. 
That the highest proficiency in any' art is 
attained only by the most complete co-or¬ 
dination of eye, mind and muscle, and the 
intelligent application of the scientific prin¬ 
ciples upon which the art is based needs no 
proof. We see the truth of the statement 
demonstrated by the musician, the painter, 
the surgeon, the baseball pitcher, and by 
every real expert (the term used in its 
highest sense) in his line. If the co-ordi¬ 
nation of these elements were constant; if 
every nerve and muscle were en rapport 
with the eye and mind, then the mental 
and physical body would be in perfect 
equilibrium, and the highest proficiency at¬ 
tained. But this status is not always so, 
there is ever a change in that intimate re¬ 
lation of eye, mind and muscle, less in him 
who has developed the power of co-ordi¬ 
nation and greater in him who has not 
developed the same power to any consid¬ 
erable degree. It is this variation in the 
power ot co-ordination of eye, mind and 
muscle that is the basis of our “Off” days. 
This variation is the “personal equation.” 
Dr. C. A. Young (Princeton) writes— 
“With a good instrument a skilled observer 
can determine the clock error within about 
1/30 of a second of time, provided proper 
means are taken to ascertain and allow for 
the personal equation of the observer.” To 
illustrate—as a star approaches the ret¬ 
icle (wires) of the telescope the observer 
presses an electric button so that a record 
may be made j ust at that moment when the 
star is ON the wire. The error that arises 
between the record made and the record 
that should have been made is the per¬ 
sonal equation and “varies from plus two- 
tenths to minus two-tenths of a second.” 
Quoting again—“It is the annoying human 
element and always -more or less uncertain 
and variable.” 
S HOOTING is an identical parallel 
case to the taking of time from 
a star. Since no one can hold 
his sight on the bull, except for the 
briefest period imaginable, he presses 
the trigger as the sight approaches 
the bull, estimating that the bullet will 
leave the muzzle just as the sight is on 
the spot to be hit. And like the time ob¬ 
server he may' make a slight error either 
way, minus—if the sight gets beyond the 
bull, and plus—if it does not reach the 
bull before the bullet leaves the muzzle. 
He estimates the moment of pressing the 
trigger by the rate and direction of the 
motion of the front sight and pulls ac¬ 
cordingly. And this is the critical moment. 
For, after the brain has received the im¬ 
pression of the front sight, it requires 
about i/30th of a second for the message 
“pull the trigger” to be transmitted to the 
finger. In the meantime, the sight has 
been moving over the target. The message 
once sent to the finger cannot be recalled, 
neither can it be overtaken and another 
substituted in its place. Hence, the skilled 
marksman observes the position of the 
front sight at the time the trigger was 
pulled and calls his shot with a high de¬ 
gree of certainty. The pseu’do-marksman 
calls the shot, but relies upon chance to 
impress the spectators. 
O F the elements, rate and motion of 
front sight, and nervous and muscu¬ 
lar activity in estimating the time to 
press the trigger, the first two elements 
are the least likely to be incorrectly esti¬ 
mated. The third element, nervous and 
muscular activity (though little is taken 
in the estimation) is the “coon in the tree,” 
and is the disturbing element. If it were 
uniform, our shooting would be uniform, 
and we should have no “Off” days of dis¬ 
appointment. 
The equilibrium of the shooter, his power 
of co-ordination, may' be disturbed or over¬ 
thrown completely by a cup of coffee, a 
meal, a smoke, over exertion, a drink (of 
tea), a change in atmospheric conditions," 
depression, excitement, self-consciousness 
(stage fright), anxiety, annoyance, lack of 
concentration of mind upon work, etc. An 
analysis of the instances given heretofore 
will demonstrate some of these causes. The 
first person was shooting regularly and 
high all day in practice. The shooting in 
question was done before a number of 
friends at night, one of whom, perceiving 
that an enviable record would be estab¬ 
lished if he scored a 5 on his 25th shot. 
remarked “Now old sport, do your-.” 
Although the shooter had kept pace with 
the ever increasing anxiety' made by each 
succeeding 5, and had his equilibrium at his 
24th shot when he made a 5, and had evi¬ 
dently his equilibrium before the remark 
was made, it increased his anxiety in a 
greater ratio that would naturally have 
been increased and destroyed his equilib¬ 
rium. The party afterward told me that 
he would have taken his pistol down and 
waited a few minutes, but he realized the 
futility of doing so and did the best he 
could. The person making the remark, 
saw his mistake before the sentence was 
completed and be^an to apologize before 
the shooter laid down his pistol. 
In the second case—the spectators as well 
as the shooters either comprehended the 
effect of annoyance on, one’s shooting or 
either were equally anxious and equally in¬ 
terested, for when any party was shooting 
the clock in the gallery could be heard. 
The silence was almost ominous. An over 
anxious zealot said in a whisper “I’ll bet 
ten to one he scores his five.” The shooter, 
hearing the remark, scored a four, and be¬ 
cause of the disturbance the tie was count¬ 
ed still on. This party did not recover his 
“high” until the second day following. 
In the third case—the man thought best 
to retire early and get a good night’s rest. 
His desire to stand high the next day 
being constant in his mind prevented him 
from soundly sleeping (he was restless all 
night). The next morning when he arose 
almost exhausted he was well aware of his 
inability to co-ordinate and, of course, took 
a precipitate flight. 
(continued on page 249) 
