The Coolidge examiner., 1934-12-07
HOW T0A:'':s::
SHO or.
By Bob Nichols
= Shooting Editor. Field and Streams

s-s-s-~-s-s-s-~-s-s-s-s-s-
MANY good shots prefer the
L'A single-barreled gun. Guns In
this class are the pump-gun. the
automatic. and also the so-called
-over-and-under" The last named
Is really a double-barrel gun. But
Its barrels are superImposed, one
on top OF the other. so that II Of
fers the single-barrel alignment OF
the true single-tube guns such as
the pump and auto-loader.
The reason they give for their
preference Is that the single tube
Is easier and quicker to aim. And
more accurate to aim.
In my opinion. this preference is
largely imaginary. l, too. shoot
the slngletube gun and prefer Il
to the double-barrel. But | have
tested myself time and again on
the skeet field and find that / shoot
just as well with either type OF
gun.
The single-barrel shooters most
commonly expressed objection 60
the double barrel gun Is that the
twin barrels confuse him and cause
him TO "cross-hre." What he means
Is that his eye unconscIously lines
up either one OF the barrels. usu-
ally the left barrel In the case OF
n right.handed shooter. instead OF
lining up the center OF the gun on
the target Obviously. II your eye
is uncousclously aiming the left
barrel OF double-barrel. the
chances are that you will almost
certainly shoot behind the flying tar
get.
My answer TO the single-tube
versus the double-barrel gun con
troversy is this: II you are so cor.
scious OF your gun that two tubes
out there instead OF only one con
fuses you-then ! say you are pay.
ing too much attention 10 your gun
and you are not shooting a shotgun
the way a shotgun should be shot
In the first place. your eyes should
be at universal focus" In other
words. your eyes. both wide open
should be aware OF everything In o
fairly wide field OF vision. Roughly
should say that about co per cent
OF your vision should be concen
trated on the target. about 30 per
cent on the gun. and about 10 per
cent dispersed over an area perhaps
ten yards on both sides OF the tar
get think this proportion is very
nearly correct for shots in the open
Note the great advantage OF this.
say In quail hunting for instance
Your faithful old dog stands on
rigid point. You walk In carefully
and flush the covey. Up they 60
with a roar. With your eyesighi
correctly proportioned to the first
bird you pick out. TO your gun. and
10 the remaining birds-you quickly
knock down your first shot. swing
IKE a fash on the second. which
your 10 per cent vision makes you
keenly aware OF. and II you are
quick enough I'm your gun handling
and are shooting repeater you may
even get In third shot. And after
all the shooting's over you know
where the main body OF birds went
and you can Immediately start for
the right patch OF cover to begin
taking your singles.
The man who uses too much OF
MS vision in watching his gun-or
the man who shoots with one eye
closed-cant begin 10 do this. After
the first shot he is foundering. and
when his eyes finally focus on the
second bird he needs the range OF
a full-choke barrel to catch it-and
the third shot on the rise is almost
impossible. Moreover, usually he
will be in the dark as far as know
ing where all the rest OF the birds
few TO.
Nof hiC Aith uuAib ohbh ohc 6ciS
In thick woods and brush-espe-
cially on grouse. and quite often
ON quail-here ! think the really
good shot seldom sees his gun. His
vision is concentrated about so per
cent on the target and 20 per cent
dispersed over an area around and
ahead OF the target. This is called
the "snap" shot II is pure, in
stinctive gun pointing. II can be
extremely accurate. But II should
be used only In emergency-never
In open country where easy. delib
crate aiming is possible. For the
deliberate aim Is the surest killer.
G. Western Newspaper Union.