Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-27
The Hlskin Letter 3
By E
J. SKIN
INTEREST IN RIFLE SHOOTING GROWS

wirv build. A person wearing eye
glasses may be a first class shot. True
evesigbt rather than unusually keen
sight is needed.
S.Shooting makes for physical fit
ness" says this official. There are no
strenuous contortions attached to it,
hut the kneeling, rising and STOPPING
constitute a kind of exercise that most
| peopIe need. Indirectly, too. the
marksman is apt to be benefited ply
sicaIly. The beginner soon learns that
he can shoot s%traighter when he feels
well than when he is run down. Enough
sleep, some exercise, nourlshing food
makes for steadiness. The rifleman
rarely goes in for rigorous training,
/ but he finds his shooting record an
! incentive to ordinary fitness.
Teaches Coordination
perhaps the chief benefit of rifle
| shooting, though, is that it teaches Co
/ ordination of mind and muscle and self
ANALYSIS, You learn more from a miss
than from a hit. If you fail to hit the
bulls eye you start figuring why you
missed the shot, and SO the valuable
habit of Analysing MISTAKES is in
/ culcated."
The Importance of accurate muscular
control. as pointed out by this expert,
is obvious. Nerves are a prevalent
| source of unfitness in this country
TODAY. The rifle expert says that n
person who is excessively nervous
| either learns to control his nerves and
| muscles by practicing at a target or
he never learns to shoot. The nervous,
thoughtless person who bangs away
gets nowhere until he develops self
| control.
The average individual can acquire
| this control. The rifle expert says:
Skill at rifle shooting is not a gift,
| and it is not born in the average Amer
lean. 1t is sheer bunk that the Amer
lean can shoot intuitively. Given bet
ter muscular coordination by nature
one man may develop shooting ability
quicker than another of course, but
most Of the men at the top of the
game are men who have got there by
, work"
The expert offers another point to
show the value of rifle experience. He
! points out that because of the danger
| of carelessly handled firearms the dis
! cipline of the range is strict. The
! amateur soon has it drilled into him
! that he must observe the rules for
handling a gun and staying at his post,
| Consciously or unconsciously the nan
who shoots learns to discipline himself
and others. lit is because this caution
becomes second nature to the shooter
that there are so few accidents on the
rifle range. in the past 10 years there
have been no fatalities at the national
rifle matches, which are the biggest
contests in the country, with from
600 to 1000 competitors annually, and
not more than two or three people
have been injured.
| Il might say here" the rifle man
, added, that If you make a study of
gun accidents YOU find that the gun is
almost invariably held by a person who
knows nothing about shooting. An ex-
perienced marksman would never think
of pointing II gun. loaded or %unlOaded,
at anybody for fun.
1T is always the unloaded gun that
goes off. Why? Because the owner has
not had it out often enough to know
whether it is loaded or not. The
trouble is that most people who have
guns have no place to shoot them A
man keeps a gun for an emergency,
and when the emergency comes he
knows too little about shooting to
handle the weapon effectively.
Il believe that as target shooting
becomes more popular the gun will
lose its bad reputation as a cause of
accidents, and what is more there will
be fewer crooks, The gunman is not
afraid Of the amateur shot and his
rusty gun. but he does fear the trained
marksman, and if the average citizen
were a crack shot there would be fewer
thugs and second story men,