The gun sling can also be used in this manner with advantage in the other positions.

SECTION 8.  CALLING THE SHOT.

It is evident that the sights should be so adjusted at each range that the rifle will hit where you aim.  In order to determine that the sights are so adjusted it is necessary that you shall know each time just where you were aiming on the target at the instant your rifle was discharged.  If you know this and your rifle hits this point your rifle is correctly sighted.  If your shot does not hit near this point, you should change your sight adjustment in accordance with the table of sight corrections in section 3.

No man can hold absolutely steady.  The rifle trembles slightly, and the sights seem to wobble and move over the target.  You try to squeeze off the last ounce of the trigger squeeze just as the sights move to the desired alignment under the bull’s-eye.  At this instant, just before the recoil blots out a view of the sights and target, you should catch with your eye a picture, as it were, of just where on the target your sights were aligned, and call to yourself or to the coach this point.  This point is where your shot should strike if your sights are correctly adjusted, and if you have squeezed the trigger without disturbing your aim.  Until a man can call his shots he is not a good shot, for he can never tell if his rifle is sighted right or not, or if a certain shot is a good one or only the result of luck.

SECTION 9.  COORDINATION.

Good marksmanship consists in learning thoroughly the details of—­

  Holding the rifle in the various positions. 
  Aiming. 
  Squeezing the trigger. 
  Calling the shot. 
  Adjusting the sights.

And, when these have been mastered in detail, then the coordination of them in the act of firing.  This coordination consists in putting absolutely all of one’s will power into an effort to hold the rifle steadily, especially in getting it to steady down when the aim is perfected; in getting the trigger squeezed off easily at the instant the rifle is steadiest and the aim perfected; in calling the shot at this instant; and, if the shot does not hit near the point called, then in adjusting the sights the correct amount so that the rifle will be sighted to hit where you aim.

SECTION 10.  ADVICE TO RIFLEMEN.

Before going to the range clean the rifle carefully, removing every trace of oil from the bore.  This can best be done with a rag saturated with gasoline.  Put a light coat of oil on the bolt and cams.  Blacken the front and rear sights with smoke from a burning candle or camphor or with liquid sight black.

Look through the bore and see that there is no obstruction in it.

Keep the rifle off the ground; the stock may absorb dampness, the sights may be injured, or the muzzle filled with dirt.