LEC1~URES & LESSONS · ON MUSKETRY INSTRUCTION FOR OFFICERS AND .N.C.O's ll\' "MARTIAN" LONDON HUGH REES, LTD. 5 , R E G E N T S T R E E T, S. W . 19 1 6 WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKr 2 0 6 L E C T U R E S A N D L E S S O N S O N C H A P T E R X I V ' 1 M i n i a t u r e B a n g e — D i s c i p i i n e — A n a l y s i s o f F a u l t s - P r a c t i c e s w h i c h c a n b e F i r e d — T h i r t y Y a r d s 1 Range. ( I So soon as the instructor is fully satisfied with ;i the firing positions which a squad adopts, and after jf testing and passing them in trigger-pressing and 1: elementary aiming by means of the methods laid ' down in Chapter XII on " Tests of Elementary ,| Training," he can take the recruits to the miniature i range, where they will have their first experience in firing at targets. ' The discipline maintained in the range must be '' of the strictest, no man being allowed to lie down or rise up at the firing point until he is ordered. Silence must be enforced, the only people allowed ' to talk being the officer or N.C.O. in charge for the time being, and the instructors, who should 1 correct any fault on the part of the firers. All motions of loading and the adjustment of sights, although these will not be moved, having been already correctly adjusted ])y the range-warden L WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKMUSKETR Y INSTRUCTION 207 (who will always be in attendance and responsible for the clean condition of the rifles and the state of the range in general), must be gone through correctly, strict attention being paid to every detail. The rifles, which should be cleaned after every 20 rounds fired from them, will be left lying on the ground, with the trigger-guards pointing to the right, and the bolt actions open, on the command " Cease fire " or " Unload." No man will leave the firing point to go up to the stop butt until he is so ordered. Before firing commences, the officer or N.C.O. in charge will explain to the squad that which is going to occur, laying special stress upon the fact that firing in the miniature range is shooting under the easiest possible conditions. He will tell the squad the essential points of discipline with which each one must comply, and, after stating which practice is going to be fired, and the requirements of such practice, he v^ill detail seven or eight men to place themselves respectively behind each of the rifles, which will be lying on the ground, together with the number of rounds of ammunition required for the practice. The rifles will have had the necessary elevation put upon them, for which purpose a list of the elevations needed on each rifle for various practices will be kept in the range, or a small wooden label WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UK2 o 8 l e c t u r e s a n d L E S S O N S O N ma}' be attached to the sling swivel of each rifle, giving this infomiation. The targets to be fired at will have been placed upon the stop butt, and when the first detail to fire has been numbered off from left to right, and each man has recognised the target at which he is going to fire, the order " Lying load " will be given, whereupon each man will assume the correct prone position. If the practice to be fired is a grouping practice, for which a small elementary bull's-eye target will be used, or an application practice, at which small 25-yards' figure targets will be used, the squad will be told to " carry on." When the last man to finish has fired his last round, the following orders will be given :— (i) " Unload." (ii) " Rise up, collect empty cases and place in the bin provided for them." (iii) "Go up to the stop butt," and each man replace his target with another of the same (or different) kind, as required, and bring his target to the officer or N.C.O. in charge. Each man's target- will be fully criticised, and should a man not have succeeded in hitting the target, or be found to have obtained bad results from his shooting, lie should immediately be WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKMUSKETR Y INSTRUCTION subjected to the Analysis of Faults, in which case— (i) His 7?ifle must be tested. (ii) His Aiming must be tested by the triangle o f e r r o r t e s t . (hi) His Frigger-pressing must be tested by means of an aim coiTector or aiming disc. (iv) His .Sight must be tested. To one of these four items his bad shooting must be due, and the sooner his fault or faults are dis covered and corrected the better . The mnemonic for remembering the " Analysis of Faults " is R A T S. M E T H O D S O F S C O R I N G I N M I N I A T U R E RANGE Grouping Pr .\ctices. Five-shots within the circumference of a one- inch circle—20 points. F i v e s h o t s w i t h i n t h e c i r c u m f e r e n c e o f a t w o - inch circle—15 points. Four shots within the circumference of a two- inch circle, with one shot wide—10 points. A man fails to group if all five shots are not on the target, or four shots do not come within the circumference of a two-inch circle, with one shot o WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UK2 1 0 L E C T U R E S A N D L E S S O N S O N wide. Rings for measuring "groups" should be kept in the miniature range. A p p l i c a t i o x P r . v c t i c e s . Other practices which can be fired on the minia ture range are :— {a) Snapshooting, including timed firing and moving targets. (b) Observation of fire or individual field ])rac- tices. (c) Collective" field practices (fire discipline training, fire orders, and fire direction practices). For snap-shooting, small head and shoulder figure targets, made of brown cardboard, are used, which can be pulled up into view bj' the manipu lation of a string at the firing point, and dropped at the end of the required time. This is usually four seconds (standard time). In order that the Score, as per Diagram. Bull's-evi' = 4 points. Inner.... ---- 3 points. l\Iagpie .. ---2 points. Outer ... = T point. WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKM i r S K E T R Y I N S T R U C T I O X 2 1 1 firers may be acquainted with what is going to occur, the target should be first exposed, so that they may align the sights of their rifles upon them, but not actually fire at them. For observation of fire, or individual field jiractices and collective field practices, land scape targets, fitted with " slcy-screens," are used and the sigh.ts of the rifles must be " h a r m o n i s e d . " Tiio sky-screen is an exact reju'esentation in outline of the landscape target above which it is placed, and the sights of the rifles must be so adjusted that when the aim is taken at the land scape target the shots should penetrate the sky- screen. .\fter the firers have been given the command " Lying load," a complete fire order will be given them, the range naturally being imaginary, but on the mention of which the hrers will go through the motion of adjusting the sights on their rifles, which, having been harmonised, must not be altered. The aiming mark on the landscape target will then be indicated, and, on the executive word " Fire," being given them, the squad will aim and fire. A suggested number of rounds for each man to fire is . three, after which the result will be noted and the sky-screen patched up. WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UK212 LECTURES AND LESSONS ON In liring competitions between sections, the following is a suggested inetbod of scoring :— F o r C o x c e n t r a t e d F i r e . A wire instrument, shaped like a grid, is used, consisting of two rectangles, the inner rectangle measuring 2?, inches by 2 inches, and the outer rectangle 5 inches L\v 4 inches, with diagonal wires, crossing in the centre. The instrument, witli the handle pointing downwards, is placed in such a position that the point where the diagonal wires cross rests on the sky-screen on the point corres ponding with the aiming mark indicated on the target. Method of Scoring. Shots found within or cutting the inner rect angle count three points each; those within or cutting the outer i-ectaugle two points each ; the number of shots fired, not so accounted for, co u n t m inus tw o e a c h . F o r M a x i m u m D i s t r i b u t e d F i r e . A method of scoring points in a competition between sections, when the order given by the s e c t i o n l e a d e r o r fi r e u n i t c o m m a n d e r c a l l s f o r m a x i m u m d i s t r i b u t i o n o f f i r e , i s a s f o l l o w s : — A line is drawn on the sky-screen, extending between the two points between which the fire was ordered to be distributed. At each extremity WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKMUSKETR Y INSTRUCTION 213 of the line perpendiculars inches above and below are drawn, tlie tops and bottoms of whicli are joined up respectively, forming a rectangle. All shots found within the rectangle count two points, while all shots found outside it count minus two points. F o r P a r t i . v l l v D i s t r i b u t e d F i r e . fn the event of the lire order calling for partial distribution of fire, the same method of scoring as that just described may be adopted, but if there be six firers, two forming a section, and so making three sections, the rectangle formed on the sky-screen must be divided into three equal parts. The person who gives the fire order will, in this case, act as the platoon commander, and one of the two, who together represent a section, w i l l a c t a s t h e fi r e u n i t c o m m a n d e r . Method of Scoring is as follows :— Every shot found in its correct rectangle counts 2 points. Every shot found in its wrong rectangle counts minus 2 points. Every shot found outside the large rectangle counts minus i point. For every small rectangle which contains no shots, 5 points are deducted. It will be clearly seen, therefore, that in addition WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UK214 LECTURES AND LESSONS ON to ordinary grouping and application practices, several " interesting practices and competitions can be carried out on the miniature range. As the latter create a great deal of keenness and enthu siasm, they should be arranged from time to time, the firing at landscape targets providing :— (a) Practice in indication of targets. {h) Practice in recognition of targets, (c) Practice in giving correct fire orders, both as regards sequence and the manner in which they are given. (d) Practice for platoon commanders in dis tinguishing between occasions which necessitate the employment of maximum and partial distribu tion of fire, and the giving of correct orders which c a l l f o r e i t h e r . T H I R T Y Y A R D S R A N G E The object of this range is to give the recruit practice in firing with ball cartridge under the easiest possible conditions. Practices with land scape targets as described above can be carried out. A l l r e c r u i t s s h o u l d o n n o a c c o u n t b e a l l o w e d t o fire on the open range before they have received a great deal of practice on, firstly, the miniature range, and, secondly, the 30 yards range, if the latter is to hand. This is to prevent a great deal of both am munition and time being wasted on the open range. WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKNext >