From this may be deduced the great importance of quickly and accurately ascertaining the range. The excellent ballistic qualities of our rifle and our thorough marksmanship training can assert themselves fully only when the range has been accurately determined. At ranges over 800 m. too great an accuracy in collective fire may be actually detrimental. In this case individual accuracy matters little; the important thing is to direct the densest portion of the sheaf of fire, with some degree of accuracy, on a target the range to which is known only in a general way. The importance of training soldiers in precise marksmanship is ethical rather than practical, for a good target shot need not necessarily be a battle marksman. For the latter a cool head is of more value than all the marksmanship skill of the target range. (b) Influence of the Error in Estimating the Range. At short ranges an error of estimation is offset by the flatness of the trajectory. Lieutenant-General Rohne used a probable error in estimation of ¹⁄₈ (12.5%) of the range in his computations. The Swiss Firing Regulations of 1905 count on an error of 100 m. at 500 m., 200 m. at 500 to 1,000 m., 300 m. at ranges over 1,000 m., and the average is taken to be ¹⁄₅ of the range, or 20%. For measurements with range finding instruments see p. 146, supra. [Illustration] [Illustration] In the following table, the number of hits per 100 rounds fired, at a target 1 m. high, by the marksmen named, is shown under-- “a” When the fire is controlled and the appropriate elevation is used; “b” When each skirmisher has selected the elevation corresponding to his estimate of the range. In this case it is presumed, however, that the ranges are generally estimated correctly. (ROHNE, _Schieszlehre für die Infanterie_, 2nd Edition, p. 102). ======+================+===============+=============== Range.|Excellent shots.| Fair shots. | Poor shots. +-------+--------+-------+-------+-------+------- m. | a | b | a | b | a | b ------+-------+--------+-------+-------+-------+------- 400 | 65.1 | 58.5 | 50.4 | 47.8 | 26.6 | 26.4 600 | 46.6 | 32.9 | 32.9 | 26.6 | 16.9 | 15.8 800 | 35.2 | 15.5 | 23.3 | 13.9 | 11.8 | 9.7 1000 | 27. | 7.5 | 17.6 | 7. | 8.9 | 5.9 1200 | 20.5 | 4. | 13.6 | 3.9 | 6.8 | 3.5 1400 | 16.1 | 2.4 | 10.8 | 2.4 | 5.4 | 2.2 1600 | 12.5 | 1.5 | 8.7 | 1.5 | 4.4 | 1.4 ------+-------+--------+-------+-------+-------+------- The above table shows that when the elevation selected is in error, the number of hits decreases more rapidly the greater the skill of the marksman; and that an error in estimation is of less importance than marksmanship only at ranges under 800 m. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “a” AND “b.”