TELESCOPE SIGHTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16026, 18 September 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

TELESCOPE SIGHTS.

Acccbate rifle-shooting has discovered a great mission in the present war. " Sniping" is the nickname by which the art is known in its practical application. A great call has been made for telescope sights to aid the process of defining the well-concealed marks which an alert enemy presents, and to direct the aim; during the brief moments of exposure. A shooter firing in the back position with non-magnifying sights of the original "match" pattern could "hold" on the bull and operate the trigger with a disturbance of aim so slight that a- perfectflying bullet . would - strike a lOin disc every time at one thousand yards range. Under service conditions of shooting, especially the department known as sniping, the telescopically-fitted rifle, with focus exactly adjusted to suit the eye, prolonged staring can be indulged in with none of the fatigue which accompanies a similar effort by the unaided eye. Small distant objects are, of course, assumed in both instances to be the points of interest. However momentary may be the exposure of a constructive target the bullet can be sent on its mission within a couple of seconds of perceiving it. By comparison spotting with a glass and firing with a rifle is slow to the limit of inefficiency. Some seconds may elapse after removing the glass from the eye to get rid of the sense of fuzziness which temporarily obliterates clear irision with the naked eye; some further time elapses while the eye is endeavouring to pick up the object, which may meanwhile have disappeared : and more time still in repeating with the sights the alignment which the telescope previously enjoyed. So much-for the telescope and rifle working in separated partnership. When the two are conjoined valuable moments are saved, moments which may make all the difference between the active and passive voice of the verb "kill." In expert hands the telescope is capable of acting as an efficient "spotter." performing the functions of the man in the butts.