Elric
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Sighting Drills and the Sighting Bar
American Rifleman, Vol 61, No 22, Feb 22, 1917, pages 424-426
https://books.google.com/books?id=V...=Sighting Drills and the Sighting Bar&f=false
Through the persistent use of sighting drills, most small arms coaches agree, a certain basis for future intelligent understanding of the alignment of rifle sights on targets may be instilled into the inexperienced marksman before he has fired a single shot. More than this, when a “sighting bar” is used, the pupil in marksmanship need not, necessarily, be even equipped with a rifle.
Experience has taught those who have undertaken to instruct large groups of men in the handling of service rifles, that to verbally impart instruction in so vivid a manner that each member of a class will be able to accurately visualize the subject matter of the lesson, is an extremely difficult, if not impossible, task. The practical graphic illustration has been found far more accurate than the theoretical description. The eye is admittedly a far superior organ in painting an image upon the mind of an audience than is the ear. Therefore for many years, both in the Army and in the National Guard, novices in rifle shooting have been marched up to a so-called “sighting bar” and required to look through the peep or open sight in order that their first impressions as to the appearance of a correctly aligned sight with relation to the target might be true ones.
For many years directions for the construction of sighting bars have been included in the Army's Small Arms Firing Manual. The original sighting bar of the Army consisted of no more complicated a mechanism than a piece of wood 4 feet long, with a fine slot an inch deep cut across the narrow face of the bar about 20 inches from one end. At the near end of the bar was affixed a small rectangular piece of tin, the eye-piece, pierced with an aperture .03 inch in diameter. In the slot was mounted a simulation of a rear open sight. On the far end of the bar was affixed a front sight. The sighting bar thus equipped was mounted upon a low box, or a block of wood which raised it above the surface of the ground about the height a rifle barrel would be when the weapon was held by a man in the prone position.
The sighting bar was then trained, in exactly the same manner that a rifle would be aimed upon a distant target, and by looking through the eye-piece, the sights, when properly adjusted, presented an accurate example of how the sights of a rifle, properly held and adjusted, should look. With this photograph indelibly impressed upon his mind, the pupil could go to the firing line and intelligently undertake the sighting of real rifles,
While this style of sighting bar proved of inestimable advantage in teaching untrained men to shoot, several almost fatal defects to rapid work developed. In the first place it was necessary for every man instructed on the sighting bar to assume the prone position. After each man had taken a squint through the eye-piece it was also necessary for the officer in charge to inspect the bar and determine whether it was properly lined up on the target. All this caused a considerable aggregate of delay, although the sighting bar continued in use because, even with its evident drawbacks, it marked a distinct development in methods of instructing the novice.
During the past summer, however, an improved sighting bar made its appearance first at the Southern Training Camp, Fort Oglethorp, Ga., and later at Plattsburg. The new sighting bar was frankly based upon the principles of the old bar, but improved in such a manner as to do away with all of the drawbacks of the original design. The new sighting bar is the product of the ingenuity of Capt. O. F. Snyder, U. S. A., retired. Captain Snyder was in charge of rifle practice at the Fort Oglethorp Camp, and commanded one of the battalions of the Student Regiment at Plattsburg. He is also well known as a pistol shot.
Captain Snyder through the use of the improved sighting bar, has been able to instruct a much larger number of embryo riflemen in a shorter space of time than was ever accomplished when the old style bar was used.
Among the advantages of the Snyder Sighting Bar is the elimination of the prone position, through the addition of legs, which permit the pupil to inspect the bar while standing. The new type also obviates all chance of the alignment of the sights being interfered with when the bar is jostled, inasmuch as the target on which the sights are aligned is attached to the bar itself.
The Snyder sighting bar is extremely simple of construction. A strip of wood (A) about 1 inch by 2 inches (or 2 by 4), 6 feet long is obtained. Fine, narrow, slots, 1 inch deep are cut across the narrow face of the wood, 2 feet from each end.
To one end of the board is nailed an eye-piece (B) of tin or cardboard, 1 inch by 3 inches. This eye-piece should project 1 inch above the bar. One-half inch from the top of the eye-piece, a small hole .03 inch in diameter, is bored.
An open rear sight (C) is then made of tin or cardboard. It should be 1 ½ inches by 3 inches, and a U-shaped notch, ¾ inch wide should be cut in the center of the 3-inch side. This open rear sight is placed in the center of the slot which is nearest the eye-piece. A slight bend in that part of the tin fitting in the slot will give sufficient friction to hold the sight in any portion of the groove.
A peep rear sight (CC) of tin or cardboard, 3 inches by 3 inches, with a peep hole, ¾ inch in diameter cut in the center is then made. This replaces the open sight if peep-sighting is desired.
A front sight of tin or cardboard (D) #4 by 2 inches is placed in the slot nearest to the target, and projecting 1 inch above the bar. A thin board or cardboard 6 by 8 inches (D) is tacked to the end of the bar. A bull's-eye target (preferably a Y target) or any ¾ or 1 inch bull's-eye target is pasted or tacked to this board so as the bull's eye, when looking through the sights, will appear to rest on top of the front sight.
All pieces of tin or cardboard used and the top of the bar should be carefully blackened.
Four legs about 4 ½ feet long should be nailed to the bar as indicated in the above plate.
Captain Snyder in discussing the purposes of the sighting bar out lines them as being designed
“To show how the bull's-eye should appear when looking through the sights of the rifle or pistol;
“To show how to align the sights properly on the mark;
“To teach uniformity in sighting; and - -
“To discover and demonstrate errors in sighting.” The errors, are shown by manipulating the open and peep rear sights, and the adjustment of the front sight.
In his instructions, he says:
“Line of Sight.—With the open sight the line of sight is determined by a point in the middle line of the notch of the rear sight and the top of the front sight. -
“With the peep sight, the line of sight is determined by the center of the peep and the top of the front sight.
“Point of Aim.—To give the greatest uniformity, a point just below the bull's-eye or mark, and not the bull's-eye or mark, is taken as the point of aim, as it is impossible to always know if touching the bull's eye with the top of the front sight, how much of the front sight is seen, therefore the point of aim should be taken just below the bull's eye, showing a fine line of light between the top of the front sight and the bull's-eye.
“The Normal Sight.—With the open sight, looking through the rear-sight notch at the bull's-eye, the top of the front sight should be on a line with the top of and in the center of the rear-sight notch and aligned upon the point of aim. (See Fig. 1.)
“With the peep sight, looking through the peep-hole at the bull's eye, the top of the front sight should be in the center of the aperture and aligned upon the point of aim. (See Fig. 2.)
“The best results in firing can be obtained only when the same amount of front sight is taken each time, and this can be done only by using the normal sight with the open notch as shown in Figure 1, or the peep sight as shown in Figure 2 above.”
Sighting Drills and the Sighting Bar
American Rifleman, Vol 61, No 22, Feb 22, 1917, pages 424-426
https://books.google.com/books?id=V...=Sighting Drills and the Sighting Bar&f=false
Through the persistent use of sighting drills, most small arms coaches agree, a certain basis for future intelligent understanding of the alignment of rifle sights on targets may be instilled into the inexperienced marksman before he has fired a single shot. More than this, when a “sighting bar” is used, the pupil in marksmanship need not, necessarily, be even equipped with a rifle.
Experience has taught those who have undertaken to instruct large groups of men in the handling of service rifles, that to verbally impart instruction in so vivid a manner that each member of a class will be able to accurately visualize the subject matter of the lesson, is an extremely difficult, if not impossible, task. The practical graphic illustration has been found far more accurate than the theoretical description. The eye is admittedly a far superior organ in painting an image upon the mind of an audience than is the ear. Therefore for many years, both in the Army and in the National Guard, novices in rifle shooting have been marched up to a so-called “sighting bar” and required to look through the peep or open sight in order that their first impressions as to the appearance of a correctly aligned sight with relation to the target might be true ones.
For many years directions for the construction of sighting bars have been included in the Army's Small Arms Firing Manual. The original sighting bar of the Army consisted of no more complicated a mechanism than a piece of wood 4 feet long, with a fine slot an inch deep cut across the narrow face of the bar about 20 inches from one end. At the near end of the bar was affixed a small rectangular piece of tin, the eye-piece, pierced with an aperture .03 inch in diameter. In the slot was mounted a simulation of a rear open sight. On the far end of the bar was affixed a front sight. The sighting bar thus equipped was mounted upon a low box, or a block of wood which raised it above the surface of the ground about the height a rifle barrel would be when the weapon was held by a man in the prone position.
The sighting bar was then trained, in exactly the same manner that a rifle would be aimed upon a distant target, and by looking through the eye-piece, the sights, when properly adjusted, presented an accurate example of how the sights of a rifle, properly held and adjusted, should look. With this photograph indelibly impressed upon his mind, the pupil could go to the firing line and intelligently undertake the sighting of real rifles,
While this style of sighting bar proved of inestimable advantage in teaching untrained men to shoot, several almost fatal defects to rapid work developed. In the first place it was necessary for every man instructed on the sighting bar to assume the prone position. After each man had taken a squint through the eye-piece it was also necessary for the officer in charge to inspect the bar and determine whether it was properly lined up on the target. All this caused a considerable aggregate of delay, although the sighting bar continued in use because, even with its evident drawbacks, it marked a distinct development in methods of instructing the novice.
During the past summer, however, an improved sighting bar made its appearance first at the Southern Training Camp, Fort Oglethorp, Ga., and later at Plattsburg. The new sighting bar was frankly based upon the principles of the old bar, but improved in such a manner as to do away with all of the drawbacks of the original design. The new sighting bar is the product of the ingenuity of Capt. O. F. Snyder, U. S. A., retired. Captain Snyder was in charge of rifle practice at the Fort Oglethorp Camp, and commanded one of the battalions of the Student Regiment at Plattsburg. He is also well known as a pistol shot.
Captain Snyder through the use of the improved sighting bar, has been able to instruct a much larger number of embryo riflemen in a shorter space of time than was ever accomplished when the old style bar was used.
Among the advantages of the Snyder Sighting Bar is the elimination of the prone position, through the addition of legs, which permit the pupil to inspect the bar while standing. The new type also obviates all chance of the alignment of the sights being interfered with when the bar is jostled, inasmuch as the target on which the sights are aligned is attached to the bar itself.
The Snyder sighting bar is extremely simple of construction. A strip of wood (A) about 1 inch by 2 inches (or 2 by 4), 6 feet long is obtained. Fine, narrow, slots, 1 inch deep are cut across the narrow face of the wood, 2 feet from each end.
To one end of the board is nailed an eye-piece (B) of tin or cardboard, 1 inch by 3 inches. This eye-piece should project 1 inch above the bar. One-half inch from the top of the eye-piece, a small hole .03 inch in diameter, is bored.
An open rear sight (C) is then made of tin or cardboard. It should be 1 ½ inches by 3 inches, and a U-shaped notch, ¾ inch wide should be cut in the center of the 3-inch side. This open rear sight is placed in the center of the slot which is nearest the eye-piece. A slight bend in that part of the tin fitting in the slot will give sufficient friction to hold the sight in any portion of the groove.
A peep rear sight (CC) of tin or cardboard, 3 inches by 3 inches, with a peep hole, ¾ inch in diameter cut in the center is then made. This replaces the open sight if peep-sighting is desired.
A front sight of tin or cardboard (D) #4 by 2 inches is placed in the slot nearest to the target, and projecting 1 inch above the bar. A thin board or cardboard 6 by 8 inches (D) is tacked to the end of the bar. A bull's-eye target (preferably a Y target) or any ¾ or 1 inch bull's-eye target is pasted or tacked to this board so as the bull's eye, when looking through the sights, will appear to rest on top of the front sight.
All pieces of tin or cardboard used and the top of the bar should be carefully blackened.
Four legs about 4 ½ feet long should be nailed to the bar as indicated in the above plate.
Captain Snyder in discussing the purposes of the sighting bar out lines them as being designed
“To show how the bull's-eye should appear when looking through the sights of the rifle or pistol;
“To show how to align the sights properly on the mark;
“To teach uniformity in sighting; and - -
“To discover and demonstrate errors in sighting.” The errors, are shown by manipulating the open and peep rear sights, and the adjustment of the front sight.
In his instructions, he says:
“Line of Sight.—With the open sight the line of sight is determined by a point in the middle line of the notch of the rear sight and the top of the front sight. -
“With the peep sight, the line of sight is determined by the center of the peep and the top of the front sight.
“Point of Aim.—To give the greatest uniformity, a point just below the bull's-eye or mark, and not the bull's-eye or mark, is taken as the point of aim, as it is impossible to always know if touching the bull's eye with the top of the front sight, how much of the front sight is seen, therefore the point of aim should be taken just below the bull's eye, showing a fine line of light between the top of the front sight and the bull's-eye.
“The Normal Sight.—With the open sight, looking through the rear-sight notch at the bull's-eye, the top of the front sight should be on a line with the top of and in the center of the rear-sight notch and aligned upon the point of aim. (See Fig. 1.)
“With the peep sight, looking through the peep-hole at the bull's eye, the top of the front sight should be in the center of the aperture and aligned upon the point of aim. (See Fig. 2.)
“The best results in firing can be obtained only when the same amount of front sight is taken each time, and this can be done only by using the normal sight with the open notch as shown in Figure 1, or the peep sight as shown in Figure 2 above.”