Читать книгу A.B.C. of Snap Shooting - Fletcher Horace - Страница 6

1. Economy facilitates practice by removing the dread of expense which takes the keen edge off of any sport and discourages it.

The expense of an outfit, consisting of a rifle, one thousand cartridges, and a bell-ball is less than twenty-five dollars, which divided between three persons is very light.

Three persons can work together to advantage by taking the positions of firer, tosser and scorer, and benefit by friendly competition.

2. The rifle should be the elementary arm used in practice, and be handled with success on all the shots before the shot-gun is taken up.

True impressions only should be given the learner, which the rifle does, and the shot-gun does not, give.

Occasionally, the scattering of shot may allow an object to drop without being hit, when the gun has been held right on it, and again, a stray shot may hit, when the aim has been high, low, or to one side, in both of which cases the impressions given the firer are erroneous.

With the rifle this cannot occur, and every time one makes a hit he has received a true impression of the position the sights should hold relative to the bell.

3. Rifles of .22 calibre are the best to use in practice, for several reasons:

1. The expense of shooting them is very light, owing to the low cost of the cartridges.

2. Because there is no perceptible recoil, which is an important consideration, inasmuch as the flinching which a beginner does involuntarily, if he stand behind a kicking rifle at first, is very hard to overcome; but which he avoids when he has learned to hold his gun firm against his shoulder and to brace against it.

3. The rifle does not heat quickly, and in cool weather can be fired one hundred times without becoming hot. The reasons for this are the thickness of the barrel, and the small quantity of powder burned in each cartridge.

4. It has a light report, scarcely louder than the cracking of a whip, and can be used anywhere without being a nuisance on that account. In hunting birds or squirrels in a wood, this advantage is considerable, because the report does not frighten the game any more than the breaking of a twig, and one can move about within a limited space, shooting many times at the same game, if not successful in hitting it at first, whereas a noisy gun would clear the neighborhood after each discharge.

5. These rifles are a desirable weight, being not lighter than about seven pounds, and shoot accurately at ranges of two hundred and three hundred yards. It is true that light bullets are more easily affected by the wind than heavy, but the ranges are generally less than one hundred yards, and in any case it is easy to make allowance.

4. It used to be the fashion to make rifle stocks with projecting points to fit around the shoulder, which was all right for target practice, but in snap shooting there should be nothing to catch the sleeve, and consequently the shot-gun stock is recommended.

In case your rifle has the points, have the upper one, at least, cut off.

The lower one is no objection, if the stock has sufficient drop for your length of neck, but if it has not, the catching at the shoulder will necessitate your ducking your head, which is awkward and detrimental to rapid work.

5. The Buckhorn and Clover Leaf rear sights are shaped as their names would indicate, and the front sight can be brought down into them quicker and easier than into others, and there is less danger of canting the rifle to one side. The buckhorn is preferable to the clover leaf, and both are infinitely better than the flat sight, which has only a niche in it. Any gunsmith can change the sights to suit, or you can put them in yourself if you have them.