Art of the Rifle (eBook)

We might like to think that all Americans are born riflemen, but we must admit that this is not the case now-and possibly it never was. As our society becomes more urbanized with each passing year, riflecraft becomes increasingly rare even among outdoorsmen. Although it would be nice to think that American soldiers are all good shots, it is easy to find out that this is not the case. Of course, this depends on what is meant by 'a good shot,' but while this opens much room for argument, shooting skill, however defined, is not a universal attribute of the American male-or female. There is nothing that is gender specific about marksmanship, but males just seem to be more generally attracted to it than females. When I finished the first edition of The Art of the Rifle some years ago, I did not realize how useful, or even necessary, a work of this sort might be. Having lived with firearms of all sorts since childhood, I felt that everybody knew how to shoot and that some sort of technical reference on technique would simply serve to augment what most people already knew. I was wrong.

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Boasting aside, I am quite satisfied with the systems I have developed for the teaching of general-purpose field marksmanship. These systems have not only worked supremely well for hardened male athletes, but also for women and girls, including my own children and grandchildren. In the last couple of decades I have hunted a good deal in Africa and have made many good friends among Africanprofessional hunters. These good men continue to horrify me with tales about sportsmen who show up in the biggamefields without any sort of background, theoretical or practical, in the use of the rifle. The Art of the Rifle can correctthis dismal state of affairs-if you let it. You cannot learn how to shoot by reading a book, any more than youcan learn how to play tennis from a text. However, without a grasp of the text you are making life difficult for yourselfand under some circumstances making life dangerous for both yourself and those around you. There is a terrible moment when the professional hunter first sees his client handle his rifle. He can see in afew minutes whether the forthcoming adventure is going to be a trial or a joy. Our good friends among the professionalhunters never mention names as a matter of principle, but their campfire tales serve to balance the bloodcurdlingagainst the hilarious. There is not much danger in big-game hunting; with such as there is, the great predominance isthe danger of gunfire. You are not very likely to be squashed by a buffalo (though this indeed can happen), butif you go afield with the wrong man there is a pretty good chance that you may be shot. Not everyone, of course, is going to take to the field after big game, and very few of us experience the combination ofexhilaration and heart-stopping excitement of a firefight. (You may note that I did not use the word fear. Fear is a bad word,and though we may know it, we do not talk about it nor let it influence our behavior.)