OPEN AIR RANGES
A row of white squares, each with a black bull’s-eye on it, and men aiming, aiming, and finally letting off their pistols at them, is such a mistaken idea of learning pistol shooting.
It is all so futile, so useless, except as a sport and a means of getting fresh air and relaxation.
To occasionally put a series of shots very close together on a stationary target is interesting, and shows what a good pistol and men are capable of when working in harmony. But to consider this the sole object of pistol shooting is the greatest mistake.
Rapid fire, the faster the better, is the essence of pistol shooting, the only practical use of it.
Deliberate shooting is a game, a sport, and a very good sport, but it is neither practical pistol shooting or the way to learn it.
An outdoor range gives the best practice, as figures can be put up at various distances and shot at in rapid fire, moving and disappearing targets can run in all directions, and come up unexpectedly like at a shotgun shooting school.
A shelter to shoot from under in wet or windy weather has the disadvantage of the noise from the shooting when full charges are shot, as is invariably the case in England.
A corrugated roof gives a terrible echo. It is better to stand in the rain and wind rather than be deafened.
Six hits in four seconds is the best I know of with a revolver when shooting at life size figures taken one after the other at distances varying from about fifteen to thirty yards.