The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1908. RIFLE SHOOTING.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13489, 10 January 1908, Page 4

The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1908. RIFLE SHOOTING.

The competition for the Hayhurst Challenge Cup which took place yesterday among tliu corps in the South Catiterbuiy Mounted Battalion render,!; appropriate some inflection upon ...u value of target l>racticc as a preparation for the real purpose which military forces are intended to That purpose, of cowee, is tin.' disablement of the greatest number of the enemy in a, fight •"'here the conditions cannot be carefully calculated uis they are un a, rille range. The latest pronouncement on the subject by the Army Council in Great Britain has been framed with the object of discouraging a. slavi.-sh adherence to Jixed targets and lixed ranges. The Council has issuer a strung .leconimendation that " the conditions of all military lille meetings should be assimilated to those which obtaiu on active service." The idea! it lias in view is not the production of a King',s prizeman, or of a lev sterling marksmen in each company or u-gi incut, but the attainment of a good general average of shooting through each unit. " The. attainment of a good average standard of proficiency by a. large number of men," it says, "is infinitely

mole important than j>!ieiuMineii;il skill il>*veiuped by ;i. few champions or I lie cum - pilation <if in exccm-; of any (''■ vious y recorded."' 'Mi'/ most practical form (if shouting, in the opinion of tlm Council. consists uf team compeliti*»J)s at unknown 1 allocs, firing from known dislanees ;>!, a bull's-eye 1;«i«rL-L bring regarded merely if a preliminary step ill I lie educa ion of a soldier with I lie. object uf i-ecuiing accuracy and steadiness ii) sighting and t.iigg-ev - pressing. Once those two elements have been a.ssimilated, the soldier should be trained in the artof shooting down the enemy under the condi'ions of mil Marfan'. The Army Council defines the different Jiature of r,kill required by individuals in military shooting as foLows:--I. Quickening the eyesight. 2,. Judging distance. 3. Individual grouping at short ranges. A. Application (applying a series of .shots to a mark). 5. Snap-shooting (quick aiming and firing). 6. Rapid fire (quick loading, aiming, and firing). 7. Use of cover. 8. Firing and movemeut (attack). 9. Firing at advancing targets (defence). 10. Observation of fire. ll.'Firing at crossing targets. 12. The combination of these 'exercises under conditions approaching those of active service as tests of advanced training. Lack of ruDgc accommodation i?, of course, bound to b? a. fatal bar to coinpet ilions in which tlicst" principles -would lie embodied, except in, military districts wlie-ie amnle provision fsidts for rifls shooting, but the Council advises that win* re this ii inability is present, a. special competition in judging ciwtance should be held. iS'.vady accurate shooting i- regards as the foundation of i-kill with the rille. but it is only the lir.sl essential of a rifleman, and not a- (est- of his inili'aiy skil'. "The a j>j>li«.at ion of y, group of shots to a buU's-eye.'' if dedanri, "j* little more than a test of trigger-pruning." and it is therefore, anxious that a. more practical turn should be given to all competitions open to the defence forces of the Empire.