Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/321

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Popular Science Monthly

��Bired to mount, each full-sized target requir- ing about 10 ft. of space — 7 ft. for the target and 3 ft. for a walk between the targets, to make it easy to handle the rear targets. A range may have from one to sixty targets, although the largest one I ever had the opportunity of shooting over

L 2'6" J had only thirty.

[ Earth ancj,^ The targets themselves c«/H -^.,'*?x j^^y ^^j.y -y^ g^g^ depending

upon what kind of rifles are to be used, and the distance between them and the shooters. The illustration, Fig. 7, gives the dimensions

����figs ^'^^ "Fig.e

Details of the roof. Also platform for the men who are watching the target to stand on

of the army targets for various ranges and kinds of fire. These dimensions may be used as a basis upon which to determine the size target most desirable for the particular work in hand. A pistol target is shown in Fig. 8.

The "standards" for the targets are made as shown in Fig. 9, the rear end being weighted down by putting a plank across the

A Target 200 to •300 yds. slow fire

���BTarget 200 to

eoo yds. slow fire

��Fig. 7

��D. Target 500 to 600 yds. rapid fire

��Sizes of targets for various ranges and kinds of fire which may be used as a base

two braces and loading it down with stones or other heavy materials to help keep it rigid and straight. The "carriers" for the targets are shown in Fig. 10, two carriers and two targets being provided for each standard, the targets so counterbalancing each other as

��305

to greatly facilitate handling and working.

Target frames are made as shown in Fig, 11, the space marked "A" being covered with light-weight canvas or heavy un- bleached cotton. On these the paper targets are pasted. The complete "target" con- sists of one standard, two carriers and two target frames as shown in the assembled drawing in Fig. 12, the targets in the drawing being half masted, i. e.,one behind the other.

In Fig. 13 is shown the marking disks. These disks are secured to long poles, one disk at each end, each side of each disk being marked differently. For example: For a shot in the center of the target, commonly called a "bulls-eye, "the white disk, having a value of 5, is shown. If the shot was in the 4 ring, the red disk is shown ; the 3 ring requires a black and white disk, and a shot in the 2 ring calls for a black disk. A "miss" is re- corded by slowly moving a red flag across the face of the target, while a ricochet hit (one which hits the tar- get after striking some other object) is shown by moving the ricochet flag up and down in the center of the target.

When a shot is "called," it is given its value and its "o'clock," the target being considered a clock laid out as shown in Fig. 14. The first shot recorded is called an "eleven o'clock three" or "a three at eleven o'clock." This indicates to the firer that he is shooting high and to the left of the bull. The second shot shown is a "four at six o'clock" which means a correct alinement, but a little low. The third shot is a "twoiat one o'clqck" showing that the aim was to the right. After a little practice the "o'clock" becomes natural to you and you think of all of your shots in this manner.

After each shot is fired, when firing the slow fire course, the targets are pulled down, the hole pasted up, the target run up and the shot marked by means of the code given above, care being exercised to get the right side of the marking disks out. By locating the shots correctly on the target, the firer can

���Pistol target

Dimensions for a target to be used for pistol practice

�� �