TRAVERSING TARGET
_Target Moving Across the Line of Fire at Twenty Yards_
This is not so difficult as rapid-firing. The chief difficulty is that
when your aim is right horizontally, you may be wrong vertically, and
_vice versa_.
When first practising, have a target made with a black band two inches
wide running down the middle of the target, instead of the usual
bull's-eye. Begin your practice at this, having it first put up with the
black band vertical, and then with it horizontal. Shooting at it vertical
will show you if you are getting the right allowance in front in your aim.
When it is horizontal, it will show you if your elevation is correct. This
can be elaborated by having black bands painted or pasted on the back of
an ordinary target, and, with its back towards you, shooting at them.
Then, by turning it over after the six shots have been fired, you will
see what score you would have made on a regulation target. The reason for
this practice is that there are two things to attend to. One is the
"_allowance_" _in front_, the other is the "_elevation_"; and if a
beginner tries to think of both at once, it will confuse him.
If, after you have got pretty certain of your "allowance," you go to
"elevation," you will most likely lose your "allowance," and have to go
back to the vertical band; and so on, alternately, till you can trust
yourself at the regulation bull.
Most people, unless they use alternate hands, find the "run" one way
easier than the other.
I prefer higher elevation in sights for this competition. Instead of
aiming to touch the "bull" at "VI o'clock" to get a central "bull," the
aim should be at the actual elevation you want the bullet to go, so as to
enable you to aim off at "III o'clock" and "IX o'clock" for right and left
runs respectively.
Some people who are slower on the trigger--that is, who take longer to
give the order to the trigger-finger when their eye says the aim is
right--may need more allowance.
There is in astronomical work a technical term ("reaction time") for the
process of timing first contact in eclipses, and each observer deducts his
own personal error, which seems constant to him. This allowance varies in
revolver shooting with different men.
Some men aim at a spot, and wait for the target to come up to it; but this
is useless, as any one knows who has shot moving game with a gun.
Stand absolutely square to the front, or perhaps a little more toward the
side on which you find it most difficult to follow the target. Plant the
feet slightly farther apart than for other competitions, _and swing the
whole of the upper part of the body from the hips_. Do _not_ swing your
right arm, keeping the rest of the body still. The shoulder-joint does not
give so smooth a horizontal swing as swinging from the hips. Moreover, if
you swing the arm, you have to turn the head, or else have to look out of
the corners of your eyes, instead of straight before you.
Let the whole of the upper part of your body be held rigid, and swing only
on the hips. Lift your pistol from the table as the target appears, and
swing with the target, bringing up the pistol on a diagonal line (this is
the resultant of the vertical rise from the shoulder and the horizontal
swing of the hips). Let the sights come horizontal to the eyes a little in
front of the proposed allowance; and, as you keep your arm moving in front
of the bull, gradually let the bull _overtake you_, till it is the right
allowance behind your sight; and _still keep on swinging_. All this time
be gradually squeezing the trigger, so that it squeezes off just when the
aim is right. _Be sure not to stop swinging before the pistol goes off._
I do not think there is any advantage in keeping your arm up between runs
of the target; it tires the arm, and you cannot make the diagonal swing up
to your spot in front of the bull.
I do not think it is of any use deciding to fire upon a certain part of
the "run": it is best to fire when you feel you are aiming right, and you
may get this feeling sooner in the "run" on some days than on others.
There is a tendency to "follow" too long, and then, owing to lack of time,
to jerk off just as the target disappears. I have made "bulls" when the
target was almost out of sight, in fact, I did so in my record shoot, at
Bisley, where there used to be such a competition: but this is a bad habit
to contract, and a risky sort of shot, as it is almost sure to be too far
behind, or even to be fired into the shield in front of the target;
though, of course, if you have not a good aim, it is better to delay as
long as possible, rather than to shoot earlier with a bad aim.
Be sure in your range that your shield is bulletproof, or you may get into
the habit of making "bulls" when the target is "sitting" behind the
shield, by shooting through it. To economize space, you can have this
target run in front of your disappearing-target apparatus, putting the
latter out of the way when not needed; this latter will also serve for
stationary-target purposes, and to hold the fifty-yards target. Do not
have a target which runs by gravitation, as shooting at a target which is
running downhill requires quite different sighting from that needed with
one running horizontally.