Musketry (.303 and .22 cartridges): Elementary training, visual training, judging distance, fire discipline, range practices, field practices
History
Musketry (.303 and .22 cartridges): Elementary training, visual training, judging distance, fire discipline, range practices, field practices
Grenades; Rifles; Shooting, Military
(vi) =Faults of Aim.=--Although instruction on the firing-point is an
indispensable form of musketry instruction for young soldiers, if it
leads to continual alterations of sighting to meet errors in shooting,
the firer is confirmed in his errors, and his faults are only obscured.
_During the firing the instructor should watch the recruit, not the
target, and should insist on being told the probable result of the shot
before it is signalled._
(vii) =Firing Positions.=--No departure from correct firing positions
should on any account be permitted. The rifle must be gripped firmly,
the face kept back from the right hand, and there should be no
constraint in the position of the body.
(viii) =Breathing and Let-Off.=--The management of the breathing
and the let-off must be noticed, and the recruit reminded of them
continually, so that his mind may be centred on the more important
details of shooting, and not on changes of wind or light, with which he
will become familiar later.
(ix) =Dwelling on Aim.=--Although care and deliberation are necessary
in elementary firing instruction, recruits must not be allowed to
fall into the habit of dwelling on their aim nor of aiming and
returning to the loading position repeatedly before pressing the
trigger. These errors arise chiefly from taking a fine sight, and
focussing the eye on the foresight instead of on the target. When such
methods are adopted, it is a sign that the object of range practices
is misunderstood, and that the firer is in need of more practical
instruction.
(x) =Shock of Discharge.=--In preliminary training the recruit has
not accustomed himself to the shock of discharge. In some cases there
is extreme difficulty in overcoming the tendency to flinch from this
shock, and this is one of the commonest causes of inaccurate shooting.
Men who flinch should not proceed with firing practice. The cause of
the flinching can be detected, and can sometimes be removed after one
or two rounds only.
(xi) =Important Points for Instructional Practices.=--The following are
important points to remember with reference to range practices:
(_a_) That best instruction available must always be given.
(_b_) One instructor can only watch and instruct one man at a time.
(_c_) No hurry should be allowed. It is better to discuss the reasons
for failure of a few shots thoroughly than to hurry over many.
(_d_) The first shot is the important one, and from the result of it
the others must be applied to hit the mark.
(_e_) A true declaration of the point of aim when the shot was actually
fired must be made immediately after firing.
(_f_) The firer or his rifle should never be touched. He should be made
to correct his position and alter his own sights, etc., as required.
(_g_) The firer should not be told the reason for his faults until he
has first been questioned regarding them, and made to reason out for
himself the causes and remedies for failure.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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