The Tosser should observe the instant the breech block is replaced after the cartridge has been inserted, and throw immediately without waiting for instructions.
In order to establish a standard of quickness it may be well to state that the writer has made twenty hits in one minute and sixteen seconds, and one hundred hits in seven minutes and twenty-nine seconds.
In the first instance he made no misses, but in the second there were seven misses, making one hundred and seven shots in all; an average of about four seconds to the shot.
USEFUL HINTS.
Without attempting to treat the subject exhaustively, I will give some hints on aiming, which being taken by a beginner, will save him much time.
Long practice teaches one to hold in certain positions, under certain circumstances, but the majority of gunners cannot give reasons for their doing so.
Point Blank means aiming directly at the object without making visible allowance for depression or windage.
When a rifle is sighted to shoot point blank a given distance, the front sight is filed off, which acts to depress the line of the sights, or elevate the line of the bore, which is the same thing, sufficient to counteract the effect of gravity on the bullet.
When firing point blank at a given distance it is natural to suppose, though all know to the contrary, that the bullet travels in a straight line between the rifle and the target; or in other words, that the trajectory is flat, and that the line of the sights and line of the bore of the rifle are parallel.
Flat trajectory is impossible, because the instant the bullet leaves the rifle it is under the influence of gravity, and in traveling an inch even is depressed by it.