realize
that the sights are much easier to see when blackened, and that
therefore the chances of hitting the bull's-eye are much greater.
There`s no more luck in shooting than there is in solving a problem in
geometry, or in a game of billiards. It`s all practice, nerve, and
science.

Your body cannot be in repose at the instant you fire unless you have
your sling properly adjusted, unless you are reasonably comfortable (not
constrained), and unless you, temporarily, stop breathing. Your body
must be, for an instant, a vise. Any trivial thing such as a puff of
wind, a jerk of the trigger, or a noise near you, will ordinarily change
your hold and throw you off the bull's-eye.

Suppose you are making a poor score. What is the trouble? In the first
place don't blame it on the rifle or the ammunition. Assume full
responsibility yourself. You are the responsible party. Practise a great
deal and see if you can locate the fault. If you cannot, your captain
will assist you.

When we go from gallery practice to the target range, where we fire the
service rifle with the service charge, we find a great difference in the
recoil of the rifle and in the sound. The good Lord has made our muscles
and nervous system to react automatically at danger or anything
connected with it. That is probably why we shudder and close our eyes
when a door is slammed very near to us. But sound, unless we get too
close, does not hurt any one, and we should steel our nerves to
remember that fact when we are firing. We also know that there is going
to be a certain amount of recoil of the rifle. But if you will hold your
sling as you have been instructed, if you will provide yourself with
proper elbow and shoulder padding, the authors of this text assure you
that you will experience no pain or harm from the recoil. It is their
judgment that if you are healthy and can see and will go on the range
with your jaws set to fire with anything like your gallery practice
coolness, and calmness, you will qualify. Your greatest stumbling block
will be your rapid fire. This is where you fire a definite number of
shots in a limited time. And this is where you will experience the
extreme amount of nervousness.

When you return from firing your first score at rapid fire, and have had
time to think calmly over your actions, you will probably realize that
your nerves were pitched up in G and that you did a number of foolish
things. You should realize that you are not