Evening star., 1936-08-22
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making 10 per cent Of the total, he
is required to make 80 per cent. In
other words, he must register 240
points out of a possible 800.
Slow and time fire now mastered
with the %, the trainee starts on
men" He is furnished with the
silhouette target of the body of man.
This is called quick fire" and he must
get his man" with the same ac-
curacy Of fire as registered in target
practice.
This is far harder to do for two
reasons. The silhouette target is on
a bobber and the marksman must
lift his gun from 45-degree angle
from his body to a straight-arm posi-
tion and fire. In this practice the
silhouette target of the man turns
for three seconds only toward the
gun user. In that time he must lift
his gun and fire. To qualify for
silhouette or quick fire the same high
score for time and slow fire at Is
yards Is required-80 per cent, or 240
hits out of a possible 800.
WHEN this score has been made
w the trainee is advanced to the
.38 and As class. Here the going is
tougher than ever. for the .38s and
Ass are kickers. However, no quarter
is given those out to qualify. They
must show the same proficiency with
these heavier guns as developed with
the lighter.
At the completion of each course,
the trainee receives from his instruc-
tor a certificate stating that he has
qualified-fulflled the requirements OF
that course. In the end the men
qualify as marksmen, sharpshooters or
experts. These different degrees are
based on scores made. To qualify as
a markSman a trainee must be able to
score 210 out of a possible 300 points.
To become sharpshooter he must
make a score between 2l0 and 239,
inclusive. For an expert he must
score 270 or better out of a possible
300.
While a marksman is the lowest rat
ing given trainee, it is not so bad as
one might think. He still can hit
man at so yards distance. However,
scores of 290 are not uncommon
among the personnel. This rates with
the best shots of the country. And
for the Sill men in the service. more
than 3,1oo have qualified as marks
man or better.
These deadly shots of Uncle Sam
do not stop with revolver training for
guarding the President or the treas
urer of the United States, or law en-
forcement. They receive training,
also, in the use of Thompson sub
machine guns, sawed-off shotguns,
tear gas grenades and tear gas billies.
These they may have occasion to use
more often than their revolvers.
In this training the "T-Men" are
instructed how to hold the grenades,
how to throw them with accuracy, so
that they will gas the enemy in
stead of themselves. These gas acceS-
sories can be thrown through the win
dows of a house without danger of
burning down the house. In crowded
city places, where robbery is at
tempted. they can be used without re-
gard to the population-something
that cannot be said for guns.
At the time the training school was
founded some amusing things were
unearthed regarding the efficiency and
arming of the men in the various
branches Of the Government affected.
Many unbelievable situations were un-
earthed by the Coast Guard.
For instance:
In one guard room ammunition
made in 1881 was discovered. One
guard, whose record was perfect in
other respects, presented a gun from
whose barrel the sights had been filed.
He said that they interfered with the
removal of the gun from his pocket.
|ONE trainee reported to the rangs as
follows: "I don't see why !
should be required to take this train
ing, as have been carrying this gun
for nine years and I've never fired it
once during that time" Upon exam
nation the magazine of this pistol
was found to be rusted and corroded
to such an extent that the magazine
could not be removed without tools
and the slide would not function.
Men were found who had carried re-
volvers for years. yet did not know
how to load or extract cartridges. One
man even went so far as to place-or
try to-the bullets in his clip in re-
verse. Another was SO nervous when
he went to fire that the barrel of his
gun could be heard to rattle In its
slide. Another who boasted Of being
an old Indian fighter has been unable
to qualify to date.
However, these deficiencies should
not be held against these men. They
had never been trained by the Gov
ernment for the important duties as