SHOOTING AT MOVING OBJECTS 441 the bullet by that it moves that space will be there, for although a bullet is carried with impetuosity, yet all motions require time.' Shooting at the running deer at Bisley is decidedly less difficult with modern rifles, with which, owing to the greater speed of the bullet, the aim is little more than a foot in front of the point to be hit, than it was with the old Express rifles, or with the rook rifles so often used at Wimbledon, which required two or three times this amount of allowance. One very old shot, Lord Wemyss, considers that the best way to maintain the elevation and to get the allowance on any running animal is to aim first of all behind him, and then, swinging the rifle so that the sights pass over his body at the right height, to fire when what is judged to be a proper distance in front has been gained. Of these things the writer does not speak as an expert, but, as in shooting with the gun, the secret of success certainly lies in forming the habit of not checking the motion of the weapon at the instant at which it is fired. A very experienced shot with the rifle at moving objects once expressed strongly his conviction that it is all-important to move the whole of the upper part of the body with the rifle, turning it upon the hips, and not to attempt to let the arms do the work. The allowance in front of the object aimed at consists, if the rifle be kept moving until the bullet leaves it, in the travel of the object during the flight of the bullet; but if the rifle is pitched up and fired at a point ahead of the object, additional allowance will be required on account of the time which the impulse from the brain takes to set the trigger in motion, and also for the time taken by the lockwork in moving, by the charge in igniting, and by the bullet in travelling to the muzzle. Thus, if, as must often happen in military shooting, those firing have not very great experience at moving objects, the allowance should be more than enough merely to compensate for the movement of the target while the bullet is in the air. The deductions arrived at by Lieut.General Rohne, based upon the time of flight of the bullet, are that against targets moving at a trot the aim should be one yard in front for every 100 yards range, and against targets galloping two yards. It is necessary at anything but the shortest ranges to take into account the direction of the wind, which may either increase or materially reduce such allowances as this. Generally speaking, it would be enough to aim at the head of a moving column at almost any distance, since a small column would not be fired at at any very long range. The safest place in the column would undoubtedly be at its head, just as it may be noticed that when men fire at a row of figure targets hardly a single shot will strike the flank figures, while the centre ones are riddled. We append a table showing the time of flight of the 303 bullet up to 2,000 yards, and the amount of space which will be covered by a man at a slow walk or double, and by a horse at a trot or gallop, moving across the line of fire during the time of flight. The times of flight are calculated by the method laid down in the Text Book for Small Arms, 1894. TABLE OF ALLOWANCES 443 The study of such a table as this will be of practical use in giving, at all events, some basis on which to work, instead of leaving the amount of allowance merely to be guessed. It is not necessary to trouble much about the allowance for objects moving diagonally to the line of fire, for it is near enough to say that if the allowance be 10 or 20 feet ahead of a mark crossing the line of fire, it will be equally 10 or 20 feet ahead of the same mark moving diagonally, only that the allowance must be made in the direction in which the target is moving. It is clear enough that at a retiring or advancing enemy the elevation used should be a little higher or a little lower than is required for the actual distance, so that the full effect of the fire may at some moment be brought to bear by the enemy moving into the bullet-swept zone. THE BISLEY MEETING -PROCEDURE IN PRIZE WINNER CHALLENGES CHAPTER XVIII ITS MANAGEMENT SQUADDING-REGISTER TICKETS TIME ALLOWED FOR SHOOTING SIGHTING SHOTS AND AMMUNITION-UNAUTHORISED ASSISTANCE-TEAM SHOOTING-THE THE Bisley meeting is to many riflemen the central event of the year, and if a few notes are here put down on the organisation and method of that meeting, it is largely because the experience of Wimbledon and Bisley is valuable in arranging for rifle meetings, even on a much smaller scale. The competitions of the National Rifle Association are fenced about with very elaborate rules and regulations relating to all the conditions of shooting, and to every detail connected with the marking and the procedure under all circumstances which may arise. This is the inevitable consequence of a real attempt to provide equitable conditions as between different competitors. Rules must be clear, and they must be complete, or some one or another in a fashion entirely within his literal right will stretch a point to place himself at an advantage. This is a very natural result of ingenuity, which within reasonable limits no one could wish to discourage. The regulations of the National Rifle Association have been built up, not by an endeavour to create restrictions, but by the necessity of providing for cases which have actually occurred. In a small association among friends, where all shoot under equal conditions and are well known to each other, there is usually not the same need for a complete code of rules, since the game is played in the right spirit, and all those who play it know each other. But this is not the case at a large public gathering at which men meet who live at long distances apart. Another difficulty at a large meeting is that the |