If using an automatic pistol, all that you have to do is to release the pressure on the trigger the moment each shot goes off, and instantly begin to squeeze again as you get your next aim. Do not keep on too long; half a dozen practice scores are ample at a time. One only gets erratic and wild if one continues too long, and the pistol also gets hot.
The sighting may have to be different in this from that required for slower shooting. Some men shoot up in one corner when snap-shooting with the heavy trigger-pull of the automatic pistol; and it is preferable to have the sighting so that one can aim straight under the “bull,” instead of having to make allowance for the jerking off. The trigger-pull should be as light as is deemed compatible with safety, but the automatic pistols so far on the market have a very heavy trigger-pull.
Wearing glasses to protect the eyes against half-burnt powder fumes is very important in shooting an automatic.
CHAPTER VII
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.