The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-12-26
THINGS a R1FLEMAN SEES
The Curious Incidents OF Many
Matches


ances, but, as rule, he has as many devices
ready at hand to meet them when they
come up"
That is the way Ssrgt Major William B.
Coughtry of the Seventh regiment put the
case to a reporter yesterday. Butt he
added, ''there is one thing that when it
happens is bound to spoil the best shot ever
aimed, irrespective of skill, Judgment, expe-
rience, or training"
What is thatn asked the reporter.
1T is the accidental killing of birds on
the wing by tue rifeman's bullet. WHY. at
Creedmoor, time and again, have been
shooting at 1000 yards, and have been
making a string of bulPs-eyes and tours.
when suddenly, after firing, would find
that | hadn't hit the target. At first this
was lnexpllcable. L couldn't understand
how it was, and it nettled me not little.
One day after had finished firing, one of the
range keepers brought me three swallows.
which he had picked up. he said, on the
range over which had been shooting One
had its head cut off clean. The others were
mass of bones and feathers. The long
bolt-like bullets had struck them by chance
as they tiew across The range aud had COM
pletely shattered them. OF course it's I'M
Fortunate for the birds, but it's unlucky
Al I'LL VIC POlII u View as We'll.
When the range was opened such an
accident was common. 1t is an exceedingly
annoying thing for the rifleman who, after
careful Judgment, fires his shot only to see
the grass wave contentedly and the target
unlocked by any disk.
NOW, as to devices. l remember an in
stance which showed how the rifieman tri-
umphs over trying conditions. Is was some
time ago, at Creedmoor, while shooting in
iat nm ma fnh Ia,~ l. 81.
haze that afterward showed signs of be-
coming fog. The targets were seen with
difficulty, as we were shooting at 600 yards,
The man on the next range was doing some
excellent work AND bidding fair TO get the
priza But the fog continued to drift in
until the targets we're entirely blotted out.
The various contestants stopped firing, with
the exception of one man on the range
alongside, who hung to it like the fog to the
ground, and kept banging away at the
clouds. These who had stopped, of course.
Jerred him, but, nevertheless, his bullets
sent back through the mists a thud that
gave cause for decided reasons for thinking
that, perhaps, he was getting on the
target in spite of the fog.
FINALLY some of the nervous ones sent
messengers down to the butts, who returned
with the news that the marksman was not
only getting on the target, but was getting
ia VIC Chil Soy @, Will uu OCCASIONAL i ana
8. The fog began to thicken, but he kept
up the fusillade and finally ended, winning
by good score. He afterward confided to
me that just before the fog came I'D by
aiming just over the left corner of the
stake at 500 yards he came pretty close
to the bulls-eye. When the fog came up
he could see the stake, though the targets
were obscured, and Knowing his elevation
and windase all he had to do was to fire
over the stake
There are many things that affect the
bullet in its flight, especially shooting at
long ranges, like 1000 yards. Take the
question Of wind alone. After the ball
leaves the rihe-barrel it has a trajectory of
from ten to thirty feet, the sleeper part of
the fall occurring as il approaches the
targets. In going down the range it may
meet currents of dir above the rifleman, and
of which he knows nothing Then there
may be eddies of wind down the range.
have often noticed that the flags on the en-
bankment at Creedmor pointed in different
directions from those along the ranges
I'm shooting when there is high wind
blowing, the rule ordinarily is, when the
WIND is increasing In strength to shoot dur
ing the gusts, and when il is decreasing to
shoot during the intervals of calm, the OBJ
ject being to secure uniformity of condi-
lions. Another annoyance is the back
drauSht which is due to the embankment
behind the targets. When the wind liz
blowing toward the bank strong currents
are sent back by its resistance, and these
considerably depress the bullet ia its flight
when they come far enough back A puff
of wind may strike the bullet just after
firing and defect it considerably.
STRAY cloudsssare nuisance Take a
bright day, with occasional clouds, and they
try the temper of the riheman, especially at
long ranges. A cloud casting shadow over
the targets will make the bull's-eye drop an
inch or more This proved once by fast
ening the barrel of my rife in wise and
fixing it on the bulps-eye. watched the
target through the barrel and the bull's-eye
dropped like a flash as soon as O shadow
struck the target.
THE elevation needed to secure the high
curve of the rhirty-foot trajectory is some
times convenient. | was once shooting
with Col. John P. NJ Richards at Creed
moor, over the same range and at the same
target, when he was firing right behind me-
He was firing from the l,000-yard stake,
and | was firing at the S00-yard mark, and
the coloneps bullets whistled over my head
above me. The elevation he was using
made me perfectly safe. Nervous? 0, no;
| knew my man. | wouldn't do il, of
course. with everybody.
'Glare is another bother. At Dolly
mount in 1875 it was very annoying, par
ticularly on a cloudy day, when the targets,
having no background, took the same
gray color as the clouds, the only thing dis
tinguishable being the small pinhead-like
bulPS-eyes. This has been largely overcome
by the system of 'spotting' aud 'reglstra-
ton, where the ritieman simply keeps
watch of the cardboard ia get of the spot
ter who watches the shots through tele-
scope at the firing p lint. and records them
with pins stuck on target. Then the rifle
mon, regulating his elevation by the regis
ter can put shot very nearly in the same
place as the man who fires before him. This
is great relief TO the eye, and riheman
can shoot a match with little reference to
watching the targets away down the field.
"Wimbledon is bad place. Eleven
months in a year it is an open heath, and
the 'hshtal breeze there SO well known is a
nuisance of an annoying kind. 1t is, of
course, due to the peculiar ground forma-
ton. It defects the bullet greatly. Some
times | have had to aim on a target of
another range to overcome its drifting.
Candidly, [ did not like Wimbledon It's
ranges are at random angles, and you have
to look out that you are shooting over your
own range. You have to keep continual
watch of the danger flags.
ga peculiar instance of the effect tenn
perature has Oh a rifle, particularly the
lock, occurred once when | was shooting a
state match at Creedmoor. For some
reason the temperature swelled the mechan-
ism in the lock 50 that the piece would
not go off when held horizontally, but
would work all right when held at an angle