The accuracy of fire is affected by brakes not being adjusted for equal tension, by direction of recoil not being in line with the trail, by No. 2 sitting on the handspike and shifting his weight after the gunner has called “Ready;” by No. 1 jerking the firing handle; by the gunner not keeping his shoulder against the guard; by elevating cranks not being properly assembled; by sights and quadrants not being properly adjusted or locked with means provided (this subject deserves several pages); by variations in the amount of oil in the cylinder; by improper adjustment of the gland; by the gunner coming on to the aiming point sometimes from the right, sometimes from the left; by the No. 1 centering the bubble sometimes from front to rear, sometimes from rear to front. You may have stood behind a battery firing and noticed how one or two guns jump violently in recoil, while others would hardly disturb the proverbial glass of water on top of the wheel, although all guns of equal service. This was due almost entirely to the lack of proper adjustment of some of the parts mentioned above. Every member of the crew must know his duties so well as to make his motion automatic; the direction to turn the various handwheels, milled heads, and gears to obtain the desired result, and he must always do these things in the same way. The effect of small differences in laying may be graphically shown the gun crew by firing sub-caliber ammunition at a small arms steel target which rings a bell when a bull’s-eye is made. Erratic shots means poor adjustments of equipment or poor training of the gun crew. Pleas that worn material or lost motion, or defective ammunition are the causes of erratic shooting are largely excuses for ignorance, laziness, and lack of proper instruction. Worn materiel requires more makeshifts, takes longer to lay and more careful watching, so that fire cannot be so rapid, but except for wear in the bore of the gun it is possible to do almost as accurate shooting with worn materiel, especially if the new materiel has not been thoroughly worked in. Among the more important duties of the men may be mentioned in the following: