Preliminary Instruction
Categories: TARGET PRACTICEMilitary Handbooks: The Plattsburg Manual Advanced Training
Your preliminary instructions and their purposes are as follows:
1. Nomenclature of the Rifle. The word nomenclature means the
vocabulary of names or technical terms which are appropriate to any
particular topic. In this case the topic is the rifle. This instruction
will be a few lectures or talks by your company officers on the rifle.
You should become familiar with the parts of the rifle indicated in the
2. Sighting Drills.
Purpose.
(a) To explain the different kinds of sight.
(b) To show how to align the sights properly on the bull's-eye.
(c) To discover and demonstrate errors in sighting.
(d) To teach uniformity in sighting.
There are two kinds of sights on the rear sight leaf, the open and peep
sight. The open sight is the semi-circular notch a-b-c shown in the
diagram below; the peep sight is the small hold d just below the open
sight.
The sighting drills will visually illustrate the following kinds of
sights.
a--Normal Sight. This is the sight most frequently used. The following
illustration is the normal sight when the open sight notch is used.
When the open sight is used the above diagram shows the correct
alignments of the rear sight notch, front sight and the bull's-eye. The
following features should be noticed:
1st. The front.sight (i-k-l-m) is exactly in the center of the rear
sight notch (B-L-M-C), if it is in the right or left part of this notch
the rifle will shoot to the right or left of the point aimed at.
2d. There is a thin strip of white seen between the top of the front
sight and the bull's-eye. (The Marine Corps and many army officers do
not see this strip of white. The method of aiming given and illustrated
in this book is the same as found in the Firing Regulations for the
Army.)
3d. The top of the front sight should just touch an imaginary line
connecting the shoulder at C with that at B. (This is most important.)
4th. The aim is taken at the bottom of the bull's-eye and not at the top
or center.
b--Fine Sight. The following illustration shows a fine sight which
should never be used:
This sight causes the rifle to shoot too low because not enough front
sight is seen. Correspondingly, if more front sight is seen than
illustrated in the normal sights, the rifle shoots high.
c--Normal Sight. The following illustration shows the normal sight
when the peep sight is used.
The above illustration shows the correct alignment of the peep sight,
front sight, and the bull's-eye. The following features should be
noticed:
1st. The top of the front sight and not the bull's-eye is focused in the
center of the peep sight.
2d. There is a thin strip of white between the top of the front sight
and the bottom of the bull's-eye.
3. Position and Aiming Drills.
Purpose: To so educate the muscles of the arms and body that the gun,
during the act of aiming, shall be held without restraint and during the
operation of firing shall not be deflected from the target by any
convulsion or improper movement of the trigger finger or of the body,
arms or hands. These drills must be taken daily, if they are to be of
the maximum benefit. If you are enthusiastic about rifle shooting, and
these drills are not give[C] to you, ask your company commander to show
them to you, as they can be executed to advantage at odd times.
4. Deflection and Elevation Correction Drills.
Purpose. To show you how to raise or lower your rear sight, change your
windage to the right or left, and note the effect on the striking point
of the bullet in each case. In general terms these drills teach you:
(1) What to do when you are firing too high or low. (Elevation Drill.)
(2) What to do when you are firing to the right or left of the target.
(Deflection Drill.)
The assumption is in each case that the gun is properly aimed the
instant it is fired.
Thoroughly to grasp every phase of the Elevation and Deflection Drills,
it is best that you become familiarized with the dimensions of the
following targets and the ranges at which each is used. It is not
intended that you shall retain all these figures in your mind.
More
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