=2. General Rules.=--(i) The conditions of each competition must be suited to the rank and skill of competitors, and practise them in the duties they will perform in the firing-line. (ii) =Programmes.=--Programmes should as far as possible embrace all elements of musketry training. Rules for the conduct of competitions should be the same as those for the conduct of range and field practices. (iii) =Individual Firing.=--Individual firing competitions beyond 600 yards have little military value. (iv) =Targets.=--Bull’s-eye targets should as a rule be used in elementary competitions only for young soldiers in the first year of service. Service targets should be used of neutral colours, and of visibility approximating to that of the targets seen on service. (v) =Scope of Competitions.=--Specializing in any one kind of shooting should be discouraged. Competitions for trained soldiers should include not less than three different forms of shooting, such as snapshooting, rapid firing, observation, appreciation of fire limits, etc., with as much variation of targets and conditions as can be conveniently arranged, according to the facilities available. (vi) =Rate of Firing.=--Conditions for soldiers with more than one year of service should never permit of a slower rate than three rounds a minute for a series of shots, exclusive of time taken for signalling. In deliberate shooting, the best military shot is probably the man who, in skirmishing, first applies an effective shot to a target at unknown range. In rapid firing, the sighting to be used would very often be communicated to the soldier on service, and a high rate of fire, combined with reasonable accuracy, would be expected from him. (vii) =Coaching.=--Coaching should never be allowed, but individual soldiers in observation and skirmishing competitions may be allowed to work in pairs, giving mutual assistance. (viii) =Rifles and Aids to Shooting.=--It is essential that in competitions open to the rank and file, competitors should be allowed to fire only with a rifle in charge of their unit, and no departure from the regulations governing the painting of sights, use of slings, provision of wind flags, targets, rifle accessories, etc., is to be permitted in service-rifle competitions. CHAPTER X INSTRUCTION ON MINIATURE RANGES, INCLUDING RANGE AND FIELD PRACTICES Section =70=.--General Remarks. =1. Instruction on Miniature Ranges.=--(i) Instruction on miniature ranges is in no sense a final training, but it is a useful and economical preparation for service shooting--especially useful where range accommodation is distant or altogether lacking. It should be commenced during the recruit’s training, when frequent visits should be made to the miniature range, and the lessons of aiming, pressing the trigger, declaring the point of aim on discharge, etc., should be illustrated practically by firing at elementary targets.