It is best to have an Express rifle made with the first leaf or ‘standard’ sighted for not over 150 yards, and if this is properly done, no misses from over-sighting need be made between thirty and 150 yards.
Again, it is within the experience of most rifle-shots that it is exceedingly difficult to make good shooting when firing at game very much below the shooter (ibex down hill for instance). This difficulty is often accounted for by a theory that in shots of this kind the bullet is less acted upon by the forces of gravity than in ordinary horizontal shots; but in reality the difference in the fall of the bullet at 150 yards in downhill shots at an angle of 45 degrees and in horizontal shots at the same range is very slight.
Still sportsmen find in practice that they have to aim three to six inches below the part which they wish to hit, to ensure success in these downhill shots.
In this case the cause of errors in elevation is the great difficulty there is in getting the head down to the stock so as to properly align the foresight with the bottom of the notch or V of the backsight.
The sportsman can easily test this theory for himself by putting any ordinary rifle to his shoulder in a room, aiming first at some object considerably above his head, and then at some point or object upon the floor. Anyone who does this will find that in shooting at the object above him it is easy enough to align the sights upon it, that by bending the neck and lowering the head the sights can be accurately aligned upon any object on a level with the shoulder, but that there is very considerable difficulty in getting the eye down to properly align the sights when the object aimed at is upon the floor. In fact, if the stock of the rifle is fairly straight it cannot be done. Both these cases of over-shooting come from the same cause; in the first ‘hurry’ has induced the shooter to forget to set his head down properly on to the stock, in the second his own build and his rifle’s make it very hard for him to do so. The same principle is illustrated in rabbit shooting with a fowling-piece at short ranges. Unless using a gun with a good bend to the stock it is difficult to get down low enough to your rabbit crossing at say fifteen yards, so that a dozen are missed by shooting over for one that is missed by shooting under at that range.
It is as well, too, to remember that in shooting from a ‘rest’ there is always an inclination on the part of the barrels to fly upwards, and this is particularly so where the ‘rest’ is of any hard substance, a rock or a log for instance. To counteract this tendency to fly upwards, grip your rifle firmly with your left hand, and put a pad of some soft material (say, your cap) between your rifle and your rest.
Assuming that any rifle-shot knows the danger of pulling as opposed to pressing the trigger, that he will be careful to see that his foresight neither gets bent nor shifted, that he does not get buck fever, and can judge distance with approximate accuracy, there seems to be only one other hint worth giving, and that only to those who find a difficulty in seeing the backsight clearly; those, that is, to whom it appears blurred and misty.
These sportsmen should have their rifles arranged with the backsight not less than seven or nine inches from the breech, since the further off from the eye it is, the more clearly defined it becomes; but of course there is a limit to the distance at which the backsight can be put from the eye, since the closer the backsight is to the foresight the greater the angle of error.
It is sometimes even desirable to have the barrels made of extra length to allow of the backsight being put further from the breech end, but long barrels are unhandy on horseback and in thick timber.
Note.—It may be added that these notes have been submitted for criticism and comment to experienced practical sportsmen, including Mr. F. C. Selous, Col. James Baker, and Mr. Edward Ross.