=4. Scope of Range Practices.=--(i) In range practices the soldier should attain a high standard of skill in shooting at known distances under easy conditions and in various positions, at large vertical targets easy to see, and furnished with scoring or approximation rings, which enable the error in shooting to be expressed in figures convenient for comparative purposes.
(ii) He will confirm in practice the lessons learned in preliminary training, and be thoroughly acquainted with the peculiarities of his rifle. He will fire in the open and from behind cover in deliberate and rapid practices, and will learn the rate of fire which, in his own case, best combines volume with accuracy. In snapshooting he will realize the necessity for rapid alignment of sights, and the value of time in taking advantage of targets exposed under service conditions.
=5. Hints to Instructors=--(i) =False Standards=.--Instructors must guard against the danger of men setting up false standards of musketry based on the results of their shooting in range practices. Lectures based on the instruction laid down in Sec. II. may be given to recruits at the commencement of or during range practices, so that they clearly understand that the assurance of effect in battle through individual fire is limited to distances within close range, and that collective fire is necessary for fire effect beyond close range.
(ii) =Deliberate Practices.=--Instructors must bear in mind that deliberate practice at bull’s-eye targets tends to inculcate a slow method of shooting, as minute attention to changes of wind and light, and fine adjustments of the backsight based on shot-by-shot marking, are necessary to produce the best results under such conditions. Therefore, directly recruits have attained a satisfactory degree of skill at deliberate practices, they must commence snapshooting and rapid firing. _Instructors must make it clear to soldiers that high scores in range practices under easy conditions and shot-by-shot marking bear no relation whatever to the results to be expected from their skill when firing under service conditions even in peace time._
(iii) =Range Practices and Service Conditions.=--In battle at close range fire effect depends on snapshooting and rapid firing under conditions in which the effect of wind and light may usually be disregarded; alteration of sights is seldom possible, and the result of fire is frequently impossible to ascertain by observation. Beyond close range in battle, accurate ranging, allowance for deflection due to wind, and observation of fire, which are all necessary for accurate individual firing, are beyond the powers of unassisted individuals, even when targets are easy to discern and recognize with the naked eye, which is not ordinarily the case.