Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-11-28
DEAD-SHOT ZIMMERMAN
WHAT THE CHAMPION SAYS
ABOUT CRAFTSMANSHIP

Steady Nerves Important In q Match-Let
tho Other Fellows De All the Worrying
How to Keep Rifle Ciean-Target-
Shooters Should Let Birds Alone--lse-
markable Shots.
If you would become . perfect rife
shot the first lesson to learn is that q
complete control of your nerves is nee
essary, says the champion shot, Gus.
Zimmerman.
1t doesn't make bit of difference
now what am shooting for or how little
lead l have. If the stakes were large
enough to ransom prince and the score
was tied up to the last round l would
fire the final shot as steadily as Idid
the first. Many match have pulled
out of the fire because have permitted
nothing to bother me at moments when
the least loss of self-possession meant
defeat. have schooled myself 80 that l
am Indifferent to what any body else may
be doing. / soon found that marks
man who looks after his own score has
all he can conveniently attend to. If
he does that to his own satisfaction the
rest will probably take care of itself. 1t
is a good thing to let the other fellows
worry about your score. The chances
are that if you display no concern what
ever about them they will manifest q
good deal of concern about you just at
time when their interest should oil he
centered on themselves.
The same rule holds good in all COM
petitions. That is why the gamest
horse wins in q close finish. It goes
without saying that there are times
when the most reliable of marksmen
will ind it impossible to ,uo themselves
Justice; but given good sight and good
nerves the rest comes easy.
It is in pulling the trigger that.a good
deal of the art OF shooting lies. This is
especially the case of off-hand marks
manship. j have never in my life shot
in any other style and i never will.
When a man is PROSTATE, using the
earth as rest for his arms as we'll as
the remainder of his body, he might as
we'll have his weapon in q vice, aud he
ought to make good score. i don't
see where the credit comes in there.
All he has to,do.is to make allowance
for the wind.
With off-hand shooting it.is,a differ
ent thing. He must stand as steady as
q rock. He must pull the trigger so
that the pressure, of the finger will not
cause the ,faintest DETECTION of his aim.
This is easier said than done. The mo-
ton of the trigger fngeris apt to I've &C.
companied by an involuntary .contrac-
ton of the muscles of the arm If not of
the whole body itself. 1t is a nervous
moyement which is often disastrous in
As to the style ofsholling the weapon
Chat as largely matter Of choice. 1t
may he held one way or another with
equally good results. I,have seen men
who scarcely bent the,elbow ut all mold
ing out the left arm at almost full
length and beating all competitors in
spite Of that straining and uncomfort-
able position. My method is to let the
rife reston the tips of the thumb and
index and middle fingers of the left
hand. This enables me to hold the
rifle high enough and yet bend the
arm so much that part Of it is supported
by the body.
Some shooters seize the barrel as
though the firmer they held it in the
left hand the better would be their
aim. This is a mistake. The mission
of the left hand lis accomplished when
it has afforded support for the rifle and
assisted the other arm in steadying it.
l have been particularly fortunate in
some of the scores which I have made
at rapid firing.
I would rather excel at that style of
shooting than at any other because it
certainly involves a sexerer test than
even that Cd killing birds, unless in
deed, the marksman is blazing away at
pigeons against time. Rapid firing,
even at target, involves. q tremendous
strain, and, to an extent that would
surprise the inexperienced, requires
great dexterity and the. control of al
most every faculty.
Some marksnaen clean the barrel
after every shot. I do nothing more
than unlock it and blow the smoke out.
When this is done the next shot clears
out the barrel quite thoroughly enough
for my purposes. Many time / have
used it for hours without doing any
more than this. My rifle weighs twelve
pounds, but some men think that q
heavier weapon can be held steadier.
1 do not. use Winche ster .ammuni-
tion. 1885: that is to say, 50 caEber and
S. grains of powder. The bullet weighs
255 grains. For rapid firing, however,
use ten-pound Winchester of the same
caliber, because all you have to do is to
draw down the lever and ii is ready for
the next shot.
A few tifemen prefer what are called
the paper-patched bullets, but the ma
jority of them have settled down to the
ordinary CREASED article. English pow
der is much the same as ours, but in
Germany they prefer wet-burning pow
der. 1t is quicker in its action than
our powder.
The only obstacle to perfect shoot
ing, if you concede that man has per-
feet eyesight and nerve and a nerfect
rifle-which. Of course, he can never
haye-is the wind, and the breeze of
variety is the most exasperat-
ing. That will at times upset the
finest calculations
have been asked whether TARGET
shooting spoils mans capacity for hit
ting birds My Judgment is that if he
is an expert at one he had better let the
ALL r