Those who know me at The High Road have probably read Bedtime Stories or Sharpshooter Tales. Often times I come across interesting anecdotes that just won't fit into that thread. Since Rich has decided to reopen TFL, this can serve as thread for interesting anecdotes from the past.
So, to initiate it, let's start with something that is almost a century old. Sir Baden Powell's
Scouting for Boys.
Yes, we're talking Boy Scout instructions. Now, you won't find this in the current Boy Scout Handbook or your father's Boy Scout Handbook either. It's that old and while old, isn't obsolete. It reflects a different time when you speak freely as a free man without worrying about being criticized.
The section on Marksmanship doesn't give you any instructions on hold to use the sights, the operation of the firearm, shooting stances, firearms safety or anything like what you would find in today's little booklet on shooting (I know, I'm a merit badge counselor). Instead, we have this:
Then when your rifle has gone off, don't throw up the muzzle in a hurry, but do like all old scouts, continue to look along your sights after firing to see how much you have jumped off your aim in firing, and try and correct it next time.
Shooting at a fixed target is only a step towards shooting at a moving one like a man. Firing at moving objects is, of course, more difficult, but more real, because you will not find a deer or an enemy as a rule kind enough to stand still while you shoot at him, he will be running and dodging behind cover, so you have to get your aim quick and to shoot quick.
The very best practice for this is always to be aiming at moving objects with your staff, using it as if it were a rifle.
Aim first at the man, then moving the muzzle a little faster that he is moving, and fire while moving it when it is pointing where he will be a second or two later, and the bullet will just get there at the same time he does and will hit him.
Try taking that handbook into a school and conduct a class. The instructors would have a kynipshunfit.
