mechanical habit, and makes the smallest demands upon the attention and the vision. With the Match rifle, the bead sight is commonly placed upon the bull's-eye so as to cover it up, and when used in this way it should be of such a size as will just blot out the image of the bull's-eye. It could, in fact, be centred in the middle of a blank target with almost equal accuracy. Under certain conditions of light, as when the sun is behind the target, it is not always easy to define the outline of the target, and the bull's-eye alone remains visible. These conditions are very uncommon, and when they occur, good results may still be obtained if the bead, instead of being placed so as to hide the bull's-eye, is put alongside of it, so as to make a kind of 'figure of eight,' allowance being made for the distance between the centre of the bead and the centre of the target. Major Gibbs constantly uses the sight in this fashion. It was formerly common when the bead was used with the Match rifle to have it on an upright stem, but many now prefer to use it with the stem horizontal. The difference does not really amount to much, but, as the long-range target is twice. as wide as it is deep, accidental inaccuracy that might give a miss vertically would probably not do so horizontally. By using a horizontal stem the outline of the target at top and bottom is not broken. In all cases where adjustable sights are fitted, it is of the greatest importance to see that the slides or screws do not become loose, worn, or bent, as they are very apt to do. It is extraordinary how great a power the jar of the recoil has in loosening screws. The fastenings of the sights, of the stock, and of the barrel must occasionally be looked to; all moving parts must be kept oiled and free from dirt, and the greatest care exercised to prevent damage to them from blows, falls, or other accidents. Timber, however old and seasoned, is always liable to warp, and the stocks of rifles form no exception to this rule. Where, as in the case of the Match rifle arranged for use in the back position, the back sight is fitted near the heel of the stock, and quite independently of the metal of the barrel and action, it is very necessary occasionally to check the correct BENDING OF STOCK AND BARREL 233 ness of the sighting. After the rifle has been put away, or exposed to the weather, it has often happened that the first shot has been thrown away owing to sufficient warping of the stock having taken place since the rifle was last used to make it miss the target at long range. Sir Henry Halford truly says: As the sights of a Match rifle are placed on the butt, the zeros should be verified occasionally, especially if the rifle has been exposed to wet or sun. A rifle stock should be, as far as possible, kept out of both, and never allowed to be on the ground exposed to sun or damp. It runs great risk of getting warped. A rifle, if put down when there is a hot sun, should be covered or put in the shade of a table or chair. Many a match has been lost by carelessness in this matter." Nor is the effect on the sighting of the warping of the stock confined to the Match rifle. Where, as hitherto in the Service rifles of this country, the barrel is for almost its whole length laid in a long trough of exactly its own size and shape in the fore end, and held tightly to it by metal bands, any warping of the fore end, such as is in some degree almost inevitable at times, cannot fail to disturb the sighting of the rifle, and may materially injure the accuracy of the shooting. There are many people who do not understand what a very flexible thing a rifle barrel is. After it has been first bored, and before it is rifled, its straightness is tested by inspection; it is pointed towards the top of a high window, when the outline shadow thrown by the light at once enables the practised eye to detect any unevenness of surface. A barrel which is not perfectly straight has its irregularities removed by a skilled workman with a few taps of the hammer applied at exactly the right spots. The heat of a lighted candle placed three or four inches below the barrel will at once produce an irregularity in the shape of the bore which is quite noticeable, and a little pressure with the fingers will also bend the barrel appreciably. It is not surprising, then, that a warped fore end may entirely upset the shooting of a very good rifle, and this is one of the points to which the attention of rifle-makers may well be directed. In one, at least, of the Continental rifles, the Swiss infantry arm, the stock is so arranged that the woodwork is in contact with the barrel only at the breech end, but leaves a space round it all the way to the point near the muzzle, where the nose cap is attached. Here the barrel has a collar of soft metal round it, which fits quite loosely into the hole in the middle of the nose cap. It is clear that however the woodwork may warp, it can hardly disturb the freedom of the barrel. The adoption of some similar arrangement in the British rifle will be a decided step towards improvement. It was formerly the fashion to regard the barrel of the rifle mainly as a strong stem on which the bayonet was to be fixed, but there is no reason why with modern rifles the bayonet should not be attached to the nose cap, and depend hardly at all on the barrel for its support. Enough has been said to show that barrels from which any degree of accuracy is required must be watched to see that they do not become wood-bound, and that the more care is taken to keep the wood from absorbing moisture, the less likely is it that trouble will arise from this cause. With the 303 rifle, the stock of which is in two pieces, being divided by the metal work of the action, one special caution is necessary. The butt is attached to the action by a strong screw reached by opening the trap door which lies in the heel plate, and removing the cleaner and the oil bottle, and a leather washer which lies beyond them; this exposes the head of the screw, which may be reached by a long screwdriver, and will commonly be found to be capable of being tightened if it has not been looked to for some time. It is curious how often even comparatively few shots will on occasion loosen this screw, and one of the chief difficulties of getting good work out of the Lee-Metford as a Match rifle lies herein. The writer has often found a stock appreciably loosened by twenty or thirty shots. On active service the loosening of the butt sometimes gives trouble. The British rifle is the only modern military arm which has a divided stock, and although if one part of it is split the other is not likely to be damaged, this hardly seems sufficient reason for not following in this matter the practice of other nations. The undivided stock is apparently cheaper and lighter, and seems to be strong enough to meet most requirements, though the WARPING OF FORE END 235 wood is so cut away at the action that it is not very strong for bayonet work. It is no doubt owing to the clumsiness of the long wooden fore end that the Boers, who have no notion of using the bayonet, in many cases cut off the greater part of it, leaving only so much as was required for the grasp of the left hand. In the old-fashioned Match rifle the stock was similarly cut short, which both avoided trouble from warping, and enabled a greater weight of metal to be put into the barrel without exceeding the limit of weight allowed. CHAPTER VIII THE LYMAN SIGHT-ADJUSTMENT OF SIGHTS-HOW TO BLACKEN SIGHTSLYMAN AND MATCH SIGHTS-THE ZERO OF THE ATTACHMENT OF SIGHTING SCALE-LONG-RANGE MILITARY SIGHTS-TELESCOPIC SIGHTS- INFRASCOPE THE principle of the aperture sight has in these last years been applied very generally to sporting rifles for use at deer and antelope, where shooting is not at the shortest ranges. Like many other improvements in rifles, this developement came from across the Atlantic. The Lyman sight (fig. 72) is fitted just behind the action, so as to be within two or three inches of the eye, and consists of a pillar hinged so that it can be folded down either backwards or forwards. It has FIG. 72 within it a stem which can be raised or lowered by a screw motion, and which carries at the top a small disc containing an aperture through which aim is taken. Usually the main aperture is comparatively large, and a small hinged shutter brings into place a much smaller pin-hole, which can be used for specially fine shooting, or when the light is very bright. There was a very strong objection to the use of a sight too close to the eye a few years ago. The Express rifle, with its large charge and heavy recoil, was apt to endanger the eye by driving back the sight against it. The comparatively small kick of the modern high velocity rifles has removed nearly all this danger, although care |