It is always best to hold the breath at the instant of firing; and in pressing the trigger the forearm alone should act, the arm and wrist being stationary. No other movement of the body or any member thereof should take place between the time of securing aim and discharging the gun. The aim should be quickly taken—a long dwell, with wabblings on and wabblings off the mark is apt to do more harm than good. On this point Frank Forrester says: “Though it is necessary to get a sure aim before firing, it is not necessary to dwell on it before doing so. Every second between having taken true sight and the giving fire is a second lost, or worse than lost; for the longer the rifle is held to the face, the greater the tension of the muscles and nerves, and the likelier are both to shake and give way. The first true sight is always, with all fire-arms, the best sight, and a quick shot has as much or more advantage over a slow shot, with the rifle as with any other weapon.” Barber says he considers “the _pull_ of the trigger a very important consideration; it should not be too slight, so as to go off almost involuntarily, nor so hard as to require force, but so that, by a gentle pressure, commenced at the moment of taking aim, the slightest extra squeeze will cause the hammer to fall at the very instant when the aim is perfected.” _Rest Shooting._—If the old-fashioned backwoods hunters shot with a rest at all that rest had nothing complicated about it, being usually only the side of a tree. The rifle was brought up against the side of a tree and pressed there with the left hand, which held it pretty much after the plan employed in the American method of off-hand shooting. If the object to be fired at was occupying an elevated position, as a squirrel among the branches of a neighboring tree, this kind of rest was a very easy and good one, but it was not so easy where a horizontal shot had to be made. In match-shooting with a rest the most common plan was to lie upon the ground, face downward, somewhat in the natural position of a swimmer, and put the gun out in front, its muzzle resting upon a small log or block of wood. These plans are still more or less in vogue in all regions where the old-style Kentucky rifle remains in common use. The most popular modern rest, according to Barber, is to have a bench made about three and a half feet long and ten inches wide, with four stout legs standing out at considerable angle. The height should be about level with the breast when sitting down. At one end place a stout piece of wood about five or six inches high, crosswise, with notches cut in it to lay the barrel in. It should be well covered with cloth or some other soft material, and should be securely fastened to the bench. The end of the bench nearest the shooter may be hollowed out a little for the breast to fit in. This is a rest for target shooting—it would not be well suited for the hunter to carry around in the woods with him, of course.