The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1914-08-13
RIFLE SHOOTING BECOMING
POPULAR NATIONAL SPORT
CONTINUED from page six)

TO give variety to the shooting the
site should be wide enough to admit Of
firing at three butts-25 yards, 80 yards
and 100 yards distant-simultaneously.
Each butt must be large enough to ac-
commodate an ample number Of tar
gets. Members do not like waiting.
and, as the earning capacity Of the
range upon which the income Of the
club is largely dependent is exactly
proportional to the number Of targets
multiplied by the number Of hours in
which they are available for use. target
accommodation sufficient Cor at least
10 per cent Of the club to si.oot at one
time will never be found too much nor
add materially to the cost Of the range.
Day or Night, Summer or Winter.
Target shooters have not. es rule.
too much spare time during daylight
even In summer and none in winter.
While In summer baseball. trips to the
woods, etc., constitute counter attrac-
tons, in winter the want Of something
with which to employ the idle hour is
often strongly felt; hence the club will
be wise that constructs it's range 50
as to permit shooting by night as we'll
as by day and in winter as well as in
summer. This implies Illuminated tar
gets and a sheltered firing point Of
which at least portion can be warmed
in winter. The whole firing point
should be rooted so US to afford shelter
from sun and wet, but as the attend
ance of members is usually less in win
ter than summer it will not be neces-
sary entirely to inc1ose the whole. but
O portion sufficient to allow Of say 5
per cent Of the members shooting ut
one timeShould be so constructed that
It can be warmed. and the inclOsing
medium should be removable in sum-
mer.
Something in the nature Of club.
house or a pavilion is desirable. The
most successful club Is generally that
which, while steadily prosecuting its
primary objects, does not enirely ignore
the social aspect. For this reason it
is impossible to emphasize too strongly
the desirability Of comfortable, at
tractive pavilion in conjunction with a
comfortable, pleasant and easily &C.
cessible range.
In addition to butts and clubhouse
the club should provide a few club RI
fles and telescopes for the general use of
members A small charge Of say cents
per day for the loan Of these will pro-
vide a fund which will eventually pay
their original cost and subsequent re-
pairs and renewals.
Points on Handieappins.
One Of the most important items Of
successful club management is handi-
Gaping. Nature has failed to endow
US all with equal ability. and no
amount of effort on the part Of some
men will enable them to equal the
performance of others in all kinds Of
sports. This is the case in rifle shoot
ing, although steady. careful practice
will work wonders with many of those
who at first think they can never
become good shots. Consequently
to make it possible for these to CON-
pete with any hope Of success it is
necessary to establish equality artia-
cially. This may be accomplished by
a process known as handisapping.
With the decimal system Of scoring
with ten points as the highest value
Of a hit. a good method Of allotting
handicaps is to regard the members
ability as expressed by the average
value per hit Of his shots and allot
him the difference between this aver
age and ten as handicap per shot, mul
tplying this handicap by the nambel
Of shots in the competition. For ex
ample. If A in few targets scores
2s2 points in thirty shots. the average
value per shot is 9.4. This Is AS f1g
ure Of ability, and his handicap will
be O6 per shot. or six points in ter
shot competition and eighteen in thir
ty shot competition. An absolute novice
should average between six and sever
per shot, but usually improves very
rapidly. and It is not safe to award
him more than is per shot or fifteer
points In ten shots. to start with.
Varieties Of Shooting Contests.
A shooting program which. has proved
successful in inducing about 10 per
cent of one club to shoot every week
for nine years might be adopted with
advantage. The basis If this is Il week
ly handicap sweepstakes in which the
entry fees. 10 cents per competitor are
divided in the ratio Of one prize for
about every five competitors. Assum-
ing, for example. that there are twen-
ty entries l. any week the entry fee
would provide first. second. third and
fourth prizes. value 81, 80 cents. 80
I,nts and 20 cents. Club vouchers for
these amounts are given to the respec-
tive winners, and ut the end Of each
year the amount due to each member
IN his accumulated vouchers'is used to
purchase more or less Substantial
prize to serve as Il mementO Of his
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