Here he has practice in reloading, aiming, holding, squeezing the trigger, assuming correct positions, executing rapid fire, manipulating magazines, and reducing such stoppages as may occur.

50. Targets for 1,000-inch firing.-Automatic rifle targets, Nos. 1 and 2, described in TR 300-100, are used on the 1,000-inch range when available. If not available, the machine gun 1,000-inch target or any paper or cardboard target, approximately 3 by 5 feet, ruled into 2-inch squares, can be used.

51. Kinds of firings carried out on 1,000-inch range.-a. Firing on the 1,000inch range includes

(1) Immediate action firing (par. 52).

(2) Firing to align front sight (par. 53).

(3) Slow fire (par. 54).

(4) Automatic fire (par. 55).

(5) Timed or rapid fire (par. 56).

b. The tables to be fired will be found in Section V.

52. Immediate action firing.—a. Immediate action firing means firing live ammunition in specially prepared magazines containing rounds that have been made defective intentionally, so that they will cause certain stoppages. Suggestions for the preparation of such magazines are given in Section IX.

b. The purpose of this firing is to give the soldier practice in reducing stoppages. He must be required to follow implicitly the immediate action procedure that has been taught him. Coaches will give close attention to insure this.

c. The rapidity with which the firing is completed does not necessarily indicate familiarity with immediate action. Elimination of lost motion and the automatic application of immediate action as taught is the result desired.

d. The nature of the stoppage and the order in which they will occur should be unknown to the soldier.

e. During this firing, the change lever is set on "A."

f. For 1,000-inch firing, an initial setting of 400 yards on the rear sight will be approximately correct. The exact setting is determined by actual firing.

53. Firing to align front sight.—a. This firing, authorized in Table I, is intended to aid the soldier in aligning the front sight of his automatic rifle. As the Browning automatic rifle, model 1918, is not equipped with a wind gauge on the rear sight, provision has been made, so that the front sight may be tapped to the right or left, so that it will not be necessary to aim off on account of a defective alignment of the sights. The 1,000-inch range is the best place to do this, because the aiming point is small and well defined and atmospheric conditions will have no effect on the flight of the bullet.

b. In firing this table, the soldier aims at the bottom edge of a paster. He fires all five shots of a string semiautomatically and very carefully, using exactly the same aiming point for all five. The center of the resulting shot group indicates how much and in what direction to move the front sight.

c. If the shot group is to the right of the aiming point, move the front sight to the right; if to the left, move the front sight to the left. It should be borne in mind that to move the strike of the bullet 1 inch at a range of 1,000 inches requires a movement of the front sight of only 25-1000 of an inch.

d. When the same rifle is being used by a group, the firing of Table I and alignment of the front sight will be executed by any soldier in the group who has qualified in the record course with the automatic rifle. If the group contains no such man, the firing and alignment of the sight will be executed by any member of the group holding the highest qualification with the service rifle.

e. The front sight of the rifle must not be moved after it is once zeroed, except by authority of an officer.

54. 1,000-inch slow fire. This practice is prescribed in Table II. If time and ammunition are available, after completing the entire 1,000-inch course once, much benefit may be obtained from firing this table for a second time and also Table IV, timed or rapid fire.

55. 1,000-inch automatic fire. The firing of Table III is for the purpose of convincing the soldier that automatic fire is not as efficient as semiautomatic fire. A comparison of his own shot groups, made with automatic and semiautomatic fire, will give him visual proof of the disadvantages of automatic fire.

56. 1,000-inch timed or rapid fire.-a. The fire prescribed in Table IV comprises concentrated and distributed fire delivered within time limits. It gives the soldier practice in the delivery of time or rapid fire and also in distribution.

b. In concentrated fire (at the single paster) the shot group should be small enough so that the circumference of a circle 4 inches in diameter will contain it. c. In distributed fire, the soldier is taught to put one shot in each of the distributed pasters and to place a hit at least every 2 inches along the solid line of pasters. He should understand that every inch on this target, in both elevation and deflection, represents 1 yard at 1,000 yards or 1-2 yard at 500 yards. It is not contemplated, however, that a high degree of proficiency can at this time be attained on distributed fire.

57. Known distance practice.-a. Known distance practice is divided into two phases: Instruction practice and record practice. Three courses (A, B, C) for known distance practice are laid down in Section V. Course A includes firing up to 600 yards. The other two are designed to fit conditions where the firing of Course A is not practicable.

b. Before known distance firing is taken up, the soldier must have completed the course of 1,000-inch firing.

c. The principles taught during mechanical training, preparatory range training, and 1,000-inch firing must be observed during known distance practice.

d. If the prior training has been thorough, the score obtained on the known distance ranges will be good. If the training has been poor or insufficient, known distance practice will invariably reveal the defficiencies.

58. Instruction practice-Known distance course.—a. Instruction practice on the known distance range gives the soldier an opportunity to apply the principles of automatic rifle marksmanship by firing with live ammunition, at fixed distances on clearly defined targets.

b. The order of firing is laid down in the tables of instruction practice for each course. This practice is designed to fit the usual case and is meant to serve as a guide. The procedure may be changed by the officer in charge of the firing when unusual local conditions make such action advisable.

c. The amount of instruction practice is not limited to that prescribed in the tables. Such additional practice as time and ammunition allowance permit will be given.

d. Each person will complete instruction practice before proceeding with record practice.

59. Record practice Known distance course.--a. Following instruction practice, the soldier fires the record practice as a test of his ability as an automatic rifleman, and for qualification.

b. The required firing is laid down in the tables of record practice for each course. c. When record practice is once begun, it is carried to completion before any other practice is permitted.

d. Instruction and record practice will not be conducted simultaneously.

e. Procedure and rules governing record practice are prescribed in order to secure a uniform test throughout the service.

60. Procedure governing record practice. The provisions in TR 150-10 covering the procedure governing record practice with the rifle apply to automatic rifle record practice with the following changes affecting rapid fire:

a. The firer is already in the prescribed position at all ranges before the target appears.

b. The firer reloads with a second magazine taken from the belt.

c. All references to 10 shots in rapid fire with the rifle will be understood to mean 40 shots when applied to rapid fire with the automatic rifle.

61. Rules governing record practice. The provisions in TR 150-10 covering the rules governing record practice for the rifle apply to automatic rifle record practice with the following changes:

a. No test of the trigger pull is required before firing.

b. Cleaning is permitted at any time.

c. The provisions, relative to misfires and disabled rifles during rapid fire, do not apply to the automatic rifle. In the event of a stoppage during rapid fire with the automatic rifle, the officer in charge investigates the stoppage and authorizes the score to be fired again, if the stoppage is due to faulty ammunition or to failure of some part of the gun, not due to fault of the firer.

d. All references to 10 shots in rapid fire with the rifle will be understood to mean 40 shots when applied to rapid fire with the automatic rifle.

62. Assault fire.—a. After the completion of record practice, all men who have completed record practice, Course A, with the exception of antiaircraft troops, will fire the table of "Assault fire," Section V.

b. The target is a screen 10 feet long and 3 feet high, with three prone silhoutte targets, placed 1 yard apart, directly in front of the screen. After the firing, each soldier marches up to the target to examine the effects of his firing.

c. In firing this table, the automatic rifle is held with the butt under the right armpit, clasped firmly between the body and the upper portion of the arm, the sling over the left shoulder.

63. Antiaircraft fire.- -a. After the completion of record practice, the table of "Antiaircraft fire," Section V, will be fired by all antiaircraft troops who have completed record practice.

b. The targets for this table will consist of material objects of suitable size, which can be made to travel through the air or to travel along the ground at a suitable elevation above the plane of site of the automatic rifles. The following are suggested as suitable targets:

(1) 6 or 9 inch rubber balloons, inflated 30-35 inches in diameter, to be released two at a time. When these balloons have attained an altitude of about 300 yards, fire will be opened upon one of them. If one balloon is destroyed before the required number of rounds has been fired, fire will be switched to the other balloon.

(2) Kites of suitable size towed over approximate courses by automobiles, motorcycles, etc. Fire will be opened when the target arrives within about 800 yards slant range of the automatic rifle pit and continued until the required number

of rounds has been fired or the target has been shot down. There should be on hand one kite for every man who is to fire. These kites may be made at any post without expense to the Government.

(3) An object representing an airplane towed along the top of a ridge or cliff at appropriate ranges from an elevation above rifle pits.

64. Permanent range personnel.―Those provisions of TR 150-10, which cover "Permanent range personnel," "Range officers," and "Noncommissioned officers in charge of the pit," apply when ranges are in use for automatic rifle firing.

65. Uniform. The uniform to be worn during range practice will be prescribed by the commanding officer.

Assault Fire.

Plate 4

66. Equipment. The automatic rifleman's belt will be worn during all range practice.

67. Safety precautions.-a. Magazines will not be inserted in automatic rifles in rear of the firing line.

b. All automatic rifles on the range, and not in actual use, will have the bolt in the forward position and no magazine in the magazine opening.

c. After firing and before leaving the firing point, all persons will be required to remove the magazine and then let the bolt forward.

Section V

PERSONNEL TO FIRE-COURSES TO BE FIRED-QUALIFICATION

68. Table of personnel to fire and courses to be fired.- -a. The following table shows a classification of personnel for the purpose of determining who will fire and courses to be fired:

(a) Required to fire Course A. These men in National Guard organizations may be authorized by the Militia Bureau, under specific conditions, to fire course B, Course C, or the 1,000-inch course. authority may be so granted in the following cases:

1. Where a suitable range for Course A is not available.

Such

2. Where, although a suitable range for Course A may be available, still lack of time or the status of marksmanship training of organizations (or members thereof) would prevent the attainment of profitable results.

(b) Required to fire 1,000-inch course only.

(c) Authorized to fire either Course A, Course B, or Course C, in the discretion or regimental, separate battalion, or station commander, subject to approval by the corps area or department commander.