Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-06-10
CRACK SHOTS ARE MADE,
NOT BORN, SAYS STEVENS
Ncii-I<nown TrnpshootinE Instructor
Trlis of Methods He Uscs In De-
vclOplnE Efficiency.

| II. "A. stevens. considered one Of the
most efficient instructors in the United
| States on trapshootinY recently ex-
! pressed the view that shooters are
made and not born. many experts
believe. Substantiating this view. he
! says:
| had great opportunity to study
pcopl" last year at the trapshoottng
! school. and got "A lot OF quiet amuse-
! ment out Of watching people who had
never fred gun. take to the sport
| like Il duck to water. There was more
/ fun sim in coaching experienced shoot
ers out OF the 5000" class
| OF course in tho case of raw be-
! Ginner there may he need for but very
| little instruction or he may require a
great deal: but at the worst II is sim
! pie. because he has formed no habits
/ Having. by a few simple tests, deter
! mined tho eyesight presents no diff
/ Guilty. and selected Il gun with stock
| Of a shape to Mt reasonably we'll. then
little instruction in handling the gun
usually starts him breaking targets
I The rest lis a matter OF refinement In
/ gun fitting. coaching and practice.
Naturally. some beginners make
I progress faster than others. But (. is
/ not that one is endowed by nature
! with better shooting ability than the
7 other. but that he simply learns quick
. cr and better.
! The most common of all faults and
| which most handicaps almost every
\ beginner and every dub shooter Ia
bad shooting position. This can be
b corrected, in most cases very easily by
: coaching.
Z Possession OF gun which does not
! n the shooter cannot be correctly call
. ed a fault: rather IL s misfortune
! The beginner in wing shooting knows
4 nothing about selecting gun to At
/ MIN. And usually find that the man
{ VINO comes along and confeSses to me
. mat H." had some experience but is a
/ moor shot has been handicapping him
F.. self with a misft gun Generally he
/ doesn't even know the dimensions Of
. his Eunstock.
! Rewriting to the subject OF posi-
I sion. tho beginner and very often the
dub shooter. wh.F-Sakinr up a gun
for tn" first time at the school. would
assuin" decidedly strained position,
I holding the gun awkwardly and balanc-
ins At the waist with hips thrust for
ward and shoulders back. Naturally,
they had to he taught to stand nrmiy
on both feet. lean slightly forward and
swing freely from the hips.
For another thing, sometimes they
| showed an apparently unbeatable de-
sire TO raise the cheek from tn. gun
stock wh"n the target appeared in
| night, and Of course continued 10 miss
. until they learned better
! Other grave faults were inclina ton
to hold too long on the target before
firing. and finchinE. Without coaching
ihe* would not easily outgrow them
bur with it rapid progress was al
WAYS made.
have found IT interesting and use
IA! TO study tho beginners from the
human nature standpoint
For instance. supposinv "A new man
Gomez along. II may be a good thing
Z" just lot him md his way around so
TO speak, and not give him too much
attention.
He gets gun. and you see a, once
If he is familiar with IT, If not. YOU
viii sec him watching tho other shoot
ers. This ne will do either frankly
and with manifest interes, or out OF
the corner o. his eye. II the former.
you know you can go right ahead and
toll him. and IL Will learn quickly: i,
he latter YOU must take your time
only suggest things, ask diplomat tic
questions and let him have the pleas
ure Of finding il all out for himself
BY using a tryGun, the construction
and use OF which has been described
in previous articles. we take the exac,
IL Of each shooter. thus nsuring a
proper gun Is provided for use during
instruction and also enabling him or
her - obtain from any Sunmaker pre-
c!sely the nj IN eun-stock that 1t is
necessary TO have TO shoot we'll
But among all Of the many begin
ners haven't found single born
crack shot--nor one who could not
learn.