Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-06-19

EmPfy Gun You May Use shot
Upon Cans and Glass halls, Then Try
Game.
While tho proprietor OF q Broadway gun
store WINS watching a party of young men
who were practicing with pistols IA Sixth
avenue shooting gallery the ether night and
discussing shooting In general with a friend,
he. was asked II be could tell how a man with
bat little knowlsdge Of gun could become
nm expert wing shot IN the field. He
said:
"lf man knows the buft from the muzzIe
he can be told how TO become an expert shot.
This Is a very good time OF the year 10 begin.
especially ON rainy day when time hangs
heavy, Take the gun TO your room, and,
after making sure that ID is unloadesl, bring IL
10 Your shoulder and aim at tile door knob,
and as the sight covers the mark pres, tho
trigger slowly IL Is astonishing to sec how
nervous the new heginner IL about pressing
the trigger. He does IL with Jerk invariably,
and jerk destroys the aim. A gun weighing
eight pounds Is about right to practice with,
and that Is a very good weight for all sorts OF
birds except ducks, geese, etc. When you find
that yon can readily get the sight ON the door
knob, the keyhole. on on some mark ON the
other side of the street which you can SOC
through the window, try following the crnck
OF the door OF the edge OF the door frame from
bottom TO top, pulling the trigger as the sight
reaches the top This Is simple practice, bot,
II followed deliberately, il strengthens tho
muscles used in handling the gun. and also
trains them 10 obey the will promptly, but
without nervous haste Some men will learn
20 handle the gun calmly In this kind OF exer-
cise In a day or two, but others require a
month wnen was learning kept my gun
inst Al "a
and pointed from one object 10 another as
often as convenient.
"The next step Is 10 learn 10 follow NOV
ing object. Aim at the head OF a passing
horse, keeping the sight as closely ON AN ear
as possible, or :he head of the driver IL the
horse be attached TO a vehicle, or aim at the
head OF pedestrian. The sol, object OF this
Is TO strengthen the muscles SO that they viii
obey the will. Keep the eye 50 low behind
tho butt OF the barrels that only the top OF
the sight appears against the object aimed at.
BEGINHER's PRACTICE
AWhen a pleasant day comes take your gun
into the fields. A trap such AZ may be had
for from $3.50 10 si0, for throwing glass balls,
should be taken along. A friend to help with
the trap Is convenient, but not necessary
But no glass salls viii be needed the first day.
a few old tin cans will serve much better.
Throw these straight up with the trap, point
ing the still empty gun at the cans as they
rise. Press the trigger when the can has
reached its greatest altitude Do this over
and over. Then press the trigger as the can
Is midway ON its "trip up or on its return.
You will find as YOU do this that you can
usually tell whether you have hit the can or
not, provided you had fired ut IT, Then set
the trap so thnt it will throw the cans first to
one side and then to the other, and then
straight away from you"
~But why work with an empty gunfs
because the report aud tho kick of the dis
charge of q loaded gun almost always prove
too much for the nerves of beginner. The
object OF the first practice OF beginner
should be to overcome all nervousness He
nIust learn not to get ratified Nerves are the
bane of marksnen. No rule can tell how a
man must practice with AN empty gun, but
he must certainly not load the gun until he
feels certain that when he presses the trigger
as he points at the flying mark he would GER
tainly hit it nineteen times out of twenty IL
the gum were loaded. The distance OF the
aspirant from the trap while the gun II ham
died unloasied should be about twenty yards
Then, when ready for the next step, reduce
the distance to fifteen yards, put the biggest
can on hand ON the trap and load the gun
The cartridges must contain two drachms of
powder and threequarters OF an ounce of No
. shot. No. Is the correct all around size Of
shot in upland shooting. and that weight OF
charge will not make a kick of any conse-
quence when fired. But do1't shoot al the
can the first time it Is thrown into the air
after the gun is loaded Follow it as before.
Being nearer to IL, you will find ii easier to
follow, and with this feeling uppermost
throw the can again. Follow it TO its highest
altitude, where the shot Is made easiest, and
pull the trigger.
" you SHOULD MISS.
4If the previous training has been thorough
enough miss Il impossible. IL you do miss,
60 back 20 the empty gun and follow the can
over and over again until proficiency comes.
Then try the loaded gun again. Try at the
can thrown nearly straight away, after you
have learned 10 hit 1t regularly as 1t goes
vertically up. and then try Il AS II Is thrown TO
one side. YOU win probably miss the first shot
at n can thrown 10 one side bu, II you hold
just a triiie ahead Of the next ona you will
bring Il down. Don't he III hurry 10 leave
the tin can for glass balls The cans cost
nothing, and can be used over and over, slot
holes make no difference You can easily tell
when you make hit.
aFinally II will become such an easy matter
20 hit the ean even AZ thirty i've yards and
with an increased charge, say three drschms
OF powder and an ounce OF shot that IL viii
weary YOU. Then glass balls or clay pigeons
may be taken up. It Is better TO point them
with the empty gun for while. They travel
with much greater speed than tomato can,
and II you follow them for half OF days
practice with an empty gun IL will not be
time thrown away. There Is but one rule for
the length Of time TO b. devoted TO each kind
Of practice, and that il TO follow It until alb
solutely confident that you can do the next
thing Us readily as what you are already do
ing.
SFrosn clay pigeons the next step Is, OF
course, to genuine game. No matter how
thorough the previous training has been no
novicc can hope 10 go into the field and bring
game TO .ag ON the first day. He ought not
10 try it He viii get the buck fever at the
first whirr Of quails wing, and by undue
haste and nervousness upset all tho good
effects OF his previous training. Take the
empty gun and no cartridges whatever, and
90 into tho fields. II cartridges are carried
no man can resist the temptation to try them
There ara two things to be done; one Ia 10
point tho gun at every moving bird and
beast that comes within hundred yards; the
other Is 70 estimate the distance of the game
pointed at New York Sun.
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A Generous .Divide."
Oswald ottendorier, proprietor OF The New
York Staats Zeitung, recently gave l75 Of his