• Jerks to “Bull’s Eye” Busters
By JAMES J. STREBIGT
Associated Press Aviation Editor
MARINE CORPS BASE, Quan
tico, Va.—Practically everybody
who comes here for training is
a jerk.
Warrant Officer Charles A.
• Smitty) Brown, who holds 26
world shooting match records,
knows you are a jerk but hopes
you will do better before the day
is over.
I definitely was a jerk on the
pistol range at 9 a. m. but after
a couple of hours’ instruction I ;
was able to qualify as a Navy;
pistol expert with a score of 211
out of a possible 240.
One-Day Course
Officers enlisted men and civ
ilian employes who may be re-!
quired to handle firearms come
to Quantico in groups for a one
day course. Not everyone man-.
ages to score as an expert (min- !
imum of 210), sharpshooter (193)
* or even marksman (170), but
most of them rate something and
all of them are improved.
A day’s course starts with a
motion picture on firearms. Then !
to the range with a well used
.38 calibre revolver. Smitty dem- j
onstrates fundamentals — rela- |
tive position, proper gripping,
proper sight alignment and trig
ger squeeze.
“Stand with your arm extend
ed straight out from your body,” ;
he says. “Stand comfortably. Put !
• the other hand in your pocket or
on your hip or wherever you
like. Let your grommet drop
(meaning let the mid-section sag
like a cap cover with the wire
“grommet” removed) if you want
to.”
Gripping doesn’t seem to be
such a problem, and sight align
ment is very simple.
Just squeeze it off. That is the
story of the trigger squeeze, and
gg it comprises 99 per cent of the
day’s conversation.
You aim at the target and pull
the trigger. The hammer snaps,
the barrel jerks dowri to the left. I
There is no explosion. You have
jerked the trigger in anticipation.
That’s why you are a jerk.
“Squeeze It Off"
All day men in dungarees will j
plead with you to “squeeze it
off.”
The coach hands the student a ]
pistol. Some chambers are load
^ ed, some are empty. The student
knows this. He pulls the trigger.
The bullet pierces the target two
feet from the black circle. Why?
The answer comes on the next
try, when with no explosion the
barrel moves sharply with the
snap of the hammer. You expect- !
ed the gun to fire; you tried to !
pull the shot into the 5-ring. j
Finally, with just a bit of dis- I
I
.•■r j. ^ j. j. j. .t. j.
gust in his manner, the coach
hands you a pistol and tells you
to pull the trigger on the empty
barrels. It’s easy to hold steady
now and you let the hammer fall
without the gun’s wavering. Then
it happens. The gun has gone off.
You didn’t expect it. And there
winking at you 150 feet away is
a round spot of light in the bull’s
eye!
By the time the firing for rec
ord begins, “squeeze it off” is as
familiar as “how do you do.” Pfc.
Francis B. Shelor of Roanoke,
Va., was my coach at the qualify
.9. - 9 _ .9_ . 9 . -9. h9. -.9— *9 ^ T -9- -9- -9- -9. -9- -9— -9- -9- J
1
ing line. He said that familiar
phrase five times a minute. Down
, the line another coach struggled 1
J with a nervous officer. The going
was not too good until at last
the tension eased.
“G- d- it,” the coach ex
ploded, “I said squeeze it off . . .
sir.”
With Shelor on my left and
Gunnery Sgt. Roy F. Rice of Mt.
Washington, Cincinnati, O., be
hind me, saying it like an echo,
at last I began ‘squeezing it off.” j
Not perfect, but good enough that
in one 12-shot series 11 slugs
punctured the black for a score j
of 59 out of 60 at 150 feet. That
helped a lot to get the 211 for
expert rating.
--
Navy combat vessels and har- (
bors in invasion areas are serv
iced by more than 50 types of j
district craft, each with a specific
job.
I
s?.la at The Nome Nugge*.
Warrant Officer Charles A.
Brown, holder of 26 world
shooting match records, watch
es James J. Strebig, AP Avia
tion Editor, take air on the Ma
rine Corps rangs at Quanlico,
I Va.
These are some of the medals i
and trophies won by Brown,
who takes the jerks out of your
trigger finger.
WASHINGTON
APPLES FLOWN
TO TERRITORY
—
Wine-red Washington apples,
packed in individual boxes were
recently flown by Pan American
| World Airways to citizens in
j Alaska, in celebration of National
I Apple Week, October 28 to No
! vember 4th.
t
A luxury item in the Territory, !
where fresh apples must be im
ported from “Outside”, the fruit
was sent as a gift from Wenat
' chee and Yakima apple growers.
Among Alaskans to receive the
apples were Governor Ernest
Gruening and Delegate Anthony
Dimond.
Emphasizing the part air ex
press will play in post-war ship
ping of Washington apples, the
Wenatchee Junior Chamber of
Commerce sponsored an air ship
ment of a thousand, one-pound
boxes to government and business
leaders throughout Alaska and
United States.
The kings of Egypt have been
traced by name back beyond the
first dynasty, which started about
| 3,400 B. C.
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