1. Snapshooting.—(i) Snapshooting means firing an effective shot in the shortest possible time, and necessitates—
(a) Watching the front.
(b) Quickness of aim.
(c) Observation of the strike of the bullet, when possible.
(d) Loading immediately after firing.
Snapshooting may follow application practices, and in the early stages it is advisable to use the figure-targets used for these practices, which can be exposed for any length of time to suit the skill of the firers at different stages of training. Six seconds is sufficient in the early stages, and this may be reduced to four or three seconds as progress is made.
(ii) Snapshooting from Cover.—In snapshooting practices from cover, not only the exposure of the target, but also that of the firer, should be limited. Strict attention must be paid to adapting the firing positions correctly to cover, and to firing with the least possible movement and exposure.
(iii) Snapshooting on Miniature Ranges.—Practices in snapshooting on miniature ranges will be found in Chapter X.
2. Rapid Firing.—(i) Rapid fire, which has been dealt with in previous sections, means firing as many rounds as possible with reasonable accuracy in a given time. This method of firing shows the best rate of individuals, and brings out the necessity for clean and quick loading and manipulation of the bolt, with the butt to the shoulder, combined with quickness of aim. The best rate of fire depends in every case upon the degree of training of the individual and the size and visibility of the aiming-mark. In rapid firing a man of normal temperament should be able to attain the regulation rate with trifling loss of accuracy, but it is not desirable to make a great sacrifice of accuracy to produce even the regulation rate.
(ii) Dexterity of loading and a habit of rapid alignment of the sights should be developed in preliminary training. In the range practices the opportunity is afforded to every man to ascertain his own best rate for combining accuracy in shooting with rapidity of fire so as to produce a high average of hits per minute, but there is no obligation to fire all the rounds allotted in any rapid practice.
(iii) Rapid Firing on Miniature Ranges.—Instructions for carrying out rapid firing practices on miniature ranges will be found in Chapter X.
3. Firing at Crossing Targets.—As already stated, practices in firing at crossing targets can be carried out economically and with good results on miniature ranges. Practices in firing at crossing targets are contained in Chapter X.