On no account have targets that necessitate any one's going down the range, or coming out from a mantlet, to change. There is sure to be an accident sooner or later. Have them made to draw up to the firing-point for examination and change, and never let any one turn round with a pistol in his hand. In fact, observe all the rules as to table to fire from, etc., which I give in the chapter on Learning to Shoot. All these rules apply equally to gallery shooting.

As the gallery is generally narrow, it will be difficult to have traversing targets, but you can have the Bisley targets.

Such a gallery will be an endless source of amus.e.m.e.nt in the winter evenings, after dinner; and the ladies can shoot as well as the men.

It is advisable to handicap the good shots, so as to give all an equal chance.

Gallery shooting is by far the most scientific style of pistol-shooting, if you use a very light load, fine sights, and hair-trigger; therefore you can have smaller bull's-eyes and subdivisions than the Bisley ones. The American and French targets are better subdivided for this purpose.

Messrs. De La Rue make me special "ace of hearts" packs of cards for use as targets. For experimental work also, a gallery is much more reliable than shooting out-of-doors.

When shooting gallery ammunition in which the bullets are "seated" low down, it is best to have a groove line impressed in the cartridge sh.e.l.l to prevent the bullet working up; if you have not got this impression in the sh.e.l.l, look into the cartridges before putting them into the chambers, as a bullet may have worked itself up, which would cause a weak, low shot.

Push the bullet down with a loading rod, or pencil, before you insert the cartridge into the chamber, if you find it shifted. Also, if, after firing a few shots from a revolver with this ammunition, you, for any cause, stop and want to re-load the chambers which have been fired, it is as well to take out all the cartridges that have not been fired and examine them, as the jar of firing may have started some of the bullets.

CHAPTER IX

TWENTY YARDS STATIONARY TARGET

I have already described how to stand and shoot at a stationary target.

There are a few points to be observed, however, which specially apply to this range when shooting at Bisley. Before competing at any one of the limited-entry compet.i.tions, it is well to be sure that you are shooting up to your proper form, as mistakes cannot be corrected after once commencing.

Personally I think it best (if shooting every day or most of the ten days) not to enter in a limited-entry compet.i.tion till after the first two days of the meeting, as one gets steadied down by then and grows more accustomed to the surroundings.

As sighting varies from day to day, and even from hour to hour, it may be as well to have a pool shoot for sighting purposes first; but I personally never do so, as I think it is a pity to chance wasting a good score in pool. The moment you have "found the spot," leave off pool; do not stop to finish a score.

I prefer doing my sighting on an "unlimited-entry" compet.i.tion ticket, so that in case I make a "highest possible," that score is not wasted.

The early morning, from 9 till 11 A.M., is the best time for shooting; and then, perhaps, late in the evening. One should watch for a good time when the light is favourable; often the wind will drop late in the evening, half an hour before "gunfire," after blowing hard all day.

There is often a good light after rain. I rather like shooting in the rain, and have made some of my best shots in it. The light is then good; and there is then no glare on the target; bullets make very big, ragged holes on a wet target; and sometimes a shot which would not cut the bull on a dry target may do so on a wet one, owing to its making a larger hole.[1] The flat-topped bullets make very big, "clean" holes.

[1] At Bisley a bullet must _cut_ the bull to count; at the clubs if it _touches_ it scores a bull.

If you have a target with a doubtful shot, that is to say, one for which you think you are ent.i.tled to a higher count than the range officer gives you, do not touch it, or thrust anything (your finger or a pencil) into the hole to demonstrate that the shot cuts into the bull's-eye or the line you claim. If you push anything into the hole you will spoil its outline and destroy all evidence of the point at which the bullet had cut. In doubtful cases, the range officer puts a bullet of the same calibre (which has been pushed with a rod through a revolver barrel previously) into the hole, and examines it whilst in this position with a magnifying-gla.s.s.

Accept the range officer's decision as final; _never_ "protest" a decision of his.

Look at the target through your gla.s.s and see that it has no bullet-holes in it before you begin to shoot; and refuse to shoot at a patched target, except at pool. A patch may fall off a shot made by a previous compet.i.tor and confuse your score, besides making the target indistinct and throwing doubt on a record score by you if you should happen to make one on such a target. Also see that the bull's-eye is black; some are badly printed, and the "bull" is grey and indistinct.

Shoot very slowly and deliberately. There is no hurry. The time limit of two minutes would be ample within which to fire twenty-four shots--and you have only to fire six.

If you are dissatisfied with your aim, or your arm is getting tired, or a gust of wind comes, put the revolver down without firing. Look down on the gra.s.s to rest your eyes, and wipe your hands; a little sawdust is a good thing to rub them with on hot days.

When it is gusty, putting up the pistol just as you think a lull is coming, instead of waiting _for_ the lull, gives you a better chance of being "up" when the lull does come, and you can then "snap" the shot before the next gust.

If you _have_ to shoot in a very high wind--as in a match, or in shooting off a tie--it is best to "snap" your shots (see chapter on Rapid Firing) and not try to hold against the wind.

If a shot strikes a little too high, or too low, or too much to either side, aim "off" the "bull" the next shot to correct it.

Do not keep altering the amount you see of your front sight if you hit too high or too low; you will never make a good score in that way. If you are out half an inch at "X o'clock," aim your next shot at half an inch off "V o'clock"; if you hit half an inch above the bull at "XII o'clock," aim half an inch below "VI o'clock" with your next shot; do not take a "coa.r.s.er" sight. This is where a practical shot has the advantage over a mere "target shot."

If a shot is in the "bull" (I will a.s.sume you can easily see shots in, or partly in, the "white" at twenty yards; I can see them at fifty), and you are not sure of its exact locality, examine it with your gla.s.s.

If you are "holding" exceptionally steady, and have shot well into the "bull," though not actually central, do not aim differently to try to get the actual centre with the next shot; as a rule, if you are anything more than half in the "bull," it is better to let well alone and "hold" the same as before. I remember on one occasion I had five shots in one ragged hole at "V o'clock" in the "bull" on the sliding target; and for fear lest I should put my last shot through the same hole and have it counted as a miss, I tried to hit the "bull" at "IX o'clock" clear of that hole, and got just out of the bull.

If you have several bullets in one ragged hole, it is advisable, if there be time, to draw the range officer's attention to this before you fire the next shot, so that in case you go into the same hole or group again, he may record it and not think it a miss. If he watches the target whilst you shoot, through his gla.s.ses, he will see where your bullet goes, even if you do go into this group.

At the stationary targets, _and at those only_, it is advisable to use both hands in c.o.c.king. In c.o.c.king, if using a revolver, if there is not a distinct click, or if the action feels "woolly" or soft, put it back at half-c.o.c.k, and open the revolver and see what is the matter. Most likely a bit of fouling, or piece of metal from a cartridge or bullet, or a cartridge with too thick a head or protruding cap, is the cause.

When the revolver is at full-c.o.c.k, take the cylinder between the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, still holding the stock in the right hand and keeping the muzzle towards the target, and gently try to revolve the cylinder towards the right. This, at least, is the normal direction, though some makes revolve to the left. You will, perhaps, once in a dozen times, find that it goes over an appreciable amount till it locks.

Any revolver, even the best, may sometimes not bring the cylinder round quite true to the barrel; and if it does not coincide, the shot will not be accurate, owing to the bullet not going into the barrel true, and thus getting a small shaving taken off its side. A bit of fouling, metal from cartridges or bullet, "proud cap," or thick cartridge-head may cause this.

By attending to the c.o.c.king in the elaborate way I have indicated, this cause of inaccuracy is avoided. (This is very important in cases where a miss would be dangerous: as when shooting objects off someone's head, or those which are held in the hand or mouth, or for the last shot on which everything depends in a match or a record score.) Also every time you open the revolver, look to see whether the caps have been hit absolutely true in the centre.

By my way of c.o.c.king, even if the revolver is not acting quite perfectly, the chambers ought to come true. If they do not, clean them very carefully. If, in spite of this, the caps are still hit on the side, it is useless to continue with that revolver until the maker has put it right.

Shoot with the smallest charge, lightest bullet, and largest calibre the rules allow, as it is easier to shoot with a small than with a "kicking"

charge, and the bullet of larger calibre is more apt to cut into the bull.

(This applies to all compet.i.tions at ranges not over twenty yards; beyond that distance, a big charge is more accurate. See chapter on Fifty-Yards Target.)

I do not like too small a front sight. I think that one which, in aiming, you see easily is the best. The semicircular "U" of the hind sight should be wide enough to enable you to see all round the bead of the front sight.

In pistol-shooting, the chief difficulty is in "holding" and "squeezing off" without disturbing your aim. There is no need to strain your eyes with a microscopic front sight and it makes you slow and every fraction of a second is valuable in practical shooting.

Another fault of too fine a front sight is that it is liable to get bent, just enough to spoil your aim, yet not enough to be noticeable until too late. If you try to straighten it, the odds are that you break it off and then have to waste a day or more getting another fixed, which, most likely, does not suit when done.

I always have my Bisley sights made solid with the revolver, without any screws, and have some made to shoot higher, others lower, each on a separate revolver. If I find that the light, or my shooting, does not suit one sort of sight, I take another revolver. I have some fifteen revolvers prepared in this way.

The permission to have a hind sight adjustable by being hammered to one side is worse than useless. The sight works loose, gets knocked askew, and when you begin shooting you find it is constantly shifting and spoiling your shooting. I do not call it by any means a practical military sight.

If you only have one pistol have it with my front sight, sighted to your normal or average shooting, at twenty or fifty yards, to whichever you decide to confine yourself, and both back and front sights made fixtures.

Wear nailed boots, or those with corrugated rubber soles, so as not to slip. The rubber, however, is rather apt to get cut in standing on spent cartridges. A broad-brimmed cowboy hat, or sombrero, is the best headgear, except in a wind, as it keeps the glare off your eyes. I took to using these years ago, and now I see them in use by nearly all shooting men, as well as in the English army, though (unlike in the U. S. army) often rendered less serviceable by having the brim looped up on one side. I keep some of various widths of brim, and use the one most suitable for the occasion. Also a Swedish leather jacket is very good when it gets chilly, as it is very light and does not hamper your right arm as a heavier coat would do. If you do not possess one, an extra waistcoat will serve, as this will leave your arm free. An overcoat or mackintosh hampers your right arm. You are freer in a flannel shirt with turn-down collar, loose round the wrists, and no braces. A silk handkerchief tied loosely round the neck, cowboy fashion, keeps the sun off the nape of your neck.

CHAPTER X

DISAPPEARING TARGET

This target, which has the two-inch bull's-eye, like the twenty yards stationary target, appears and disappears at intervals of three seconds--three seconds in sight and three seconds invisible--and is shot at from a distance of twenty yards.

The rules forbid the pistol being raised from the firing-table before the target appears; and it must be lowered to the table after each shot.

Shooting in this compet.i.tion is the groundwork of all the compet.i.tions other than at stationary targets; so I shall go very fully into the way of becoming proficient at this, as the other compet.i.tions should then come comparatively easy.