MILITARY RIFLE SHOOTING.°
THE most serious problem which confronts those who are engaged in training our New Armies is unquestionably that of shooting. Drill and marching are important; trench-digging is vitally important; but what shall these profit the soldier if, when he has reached his tactical point and dug himself in, he can only waste his ammunition? The admirable and scientific system of musketry instruction which has been in force in our Army since the Boer War was the pre-eminent factor in the amazing success of our troops in holding off the attack of vastly outnumbering, forces on the retreat from Mons. We need not doubt that the new levies who are being trained throughout the country will have the full benefit of a system which has completely justified itself by giving our troops at the front that moral ascendancy which always follows on the conscious possession of superior skill. Mr. Eustace H. Stone has written a lucid and readable account of the main features of military rifle training, intended to assist those who are now joining Volunteer Training Corps, and who wish to take such steps as may be within their reach towards proficient shooting. The practical difficulties at present of procuring Service rifles or full-size ranges need not deter them. Although before the war the miniature rifle clubs had evolved an almost meretricious standard of skill for their diversion, they have now returned in large measure to their proper business, as the places where the elements of military rifle shooting can be learnt. The growing use of figure and landscape targets in place of the decimal bulls on which so much good lead used to be wasted shows that miniature rifle shooting is no longer being treated as a mere game. Properly handled, it is capable of teaching the soundest elements. As Mr. Stone observes," a shooter who never has fired a shot outside of four walls might go into the open on a still day, or a day of steady breezes, when the light was constant, and shoot passably well at a thousand yards." The miniature ranges will teach the aim, the hold, and the let off so well that there in a solid foundation on which to build the remaining qualifications of a first-class Army shot.
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