The Wilmington morning star., 1940-03-17
Ponder Smoke
By
Edmund McLaurin

Answering a knock at the door
the other evening, l was greeted by
a stranger who, after first introduc.
ing himself, stated that he had been
reading Powder Smoke regularly.
and had just about made up his
mind to purchase a target rifle and
join the local club riflemen at the
Sunset Park range on Saturday at
ternoons. But" he added, after he
had joined me by the living room
fire, L understand that a good rifle
is rather expensive. I can't afford
to invest a great deal of money in
equipment"
For some fifteen minutes I dwelt
at length on the fundamentals of
the shooting game, and, because the
subject is a popular one 1 would
lie to assure my other readers, as l
did my new acquaintance, that h
equipment necessary for smalfbore
rifle shooting is neither expensive
or numerous.
1t is entirely possible to do some
very good shooting with equipment
to travel about the
try, taking in all the important
shoots and dominating t h e field,
of course, requires very fine
equipment and highly developed in
dividual skill on the part of the
marksman. For example, my friend
Charles DeVaun, during the firing
of the recent Mid Winter shoot,
800 X 400 over the DeWar
course. which is 81 IL per cent per
feet, using, not the most expensive
manufactured; but one selling
for less than $50, complete. T h G
only reason Charles did not take
one of the honor awards was simply
due to the fact that his score was
bettered a few points by the rank
ing competitors. I have no doubt
that my friend had just as much
fun from his participation as the
medal winners.
And last Saturday I took a popu-
lar lightweight target rifle, which
sells locally for $13, complete, back
to the 100 yd, range for test, and
was Nreaty surprised to have the
place all forty of the test
shots in the aiming bull at that dis
-ance. Shooting was done from the
prone position, with gun sling, but
without any artificial support, and
undoubtedly the group of shots
would have been confined entirely
the center of the target had l
0een usel to the rifle and taken
he test more seriously than l did.
These two examples serve to in
licate that, at least as far as the
themselves are concerned,
he accuracy Of t h e inexpensive
files is apt to be almost as good
those used in large and import
INT matches. The difference usual
lies somewhere in the design of
he stocks; the smoothness of the
adjustable trigger pulls,
nd improved and easily adjusted
Probably the most common mis-
AXE made by the beginner is the
urchase of any % calibet rifle
hat happens to strike his fancy on
he assumption that it al be adapt
d to competitive shooting, for
sually it costs more to remodel
rifle than it does to buy a recog-
lied target rifle complete.
To be considered suitable f o +
erious competitive shooting, a tar
ct rifle of IT, % caliber class
hould weigh somewhere in t h e
eighborhood of eight pounds; be
TIED with iii : swivels for the re-
ulation 1 IA inch leather g u n
ling, plus a rear sight which is
raduated into half or quarter
adjustments, enabling the
to make corresponding
hanges in fractions of an inch in
is points of impact when firing
'om the 100 yd. range, and proper
,onately at the shooter ranges.
or unfortunately, de-
ending on the range of choice. u.s.
ally demanded in your purchases,
lere are several inexpensive rifles
'hlch have such essential features