Good Shootin'

[samgrant]

See this article about 'great shots':

http://www.bivouacbooks.com/bbv5i2s4.htm

 

[ole]

Sam:
An excellent and entertaining site. My favorite story (I've told it before but maybe you weren't on board or paying attention) was set in Gettysburg. Seems some Confederate sharpshooters were in a brick building below Cemetery Ridge. The Union sharpshooters on the ridge had great difficulty with them as the distance was great. The cornfed would appear in a window to take aim at some objective, but he could also see the puff of smoke from the Union side which gave him enough time to duck back. This went on and on until the Union riflemen worked a plan. One would shoot, causing the cornfed to duck back. Then, the next yank would fire at the window -- the ball arriving at about the same time as the cornfed stuck his head back out. Don't know how true that is, but it makes a fine story.

On the link and the soldier who took the head off a buck rabbit at 250 yards -- I don't know about the spectacular eyes in the heads of some individuals (I've heard tales of batters who could see the stiches on an approaching baseball, but that's beyond my comprehension and reactive abilities), but a radjet at 250 yards is to me invisible. Kind of an incredible tale, isn't it?

On the other hand, way back when, Fred and I, were hunting jacks for the fun of it. Sprung one, about 20 yards out. (If you know jackrabbits, they can hit somewhere near 40 mph in less than seconds.) To me, the jack was gone. Fred levelled his .22 and touched it off just as the jack disappeared over the hill. You know the rest. Just over the crest of that hill was a jackrabbit assuming ******t (for goodness sakes, I suppose that's an anti ED, spurious placebo, drug as well as the middle letters of the third word in USSR) temperature -- the most incredible shot I've ever heard of, let alone witnessed. And I thought I was pretty good! Humbling experience, big time. I'll never forget that shot.
Ole

I had no idea that a m b i e n was naughty. Forgive me, please.

 

[whitworth]

Shooter's tall tales

For the non-rifle shooters. Were you aware that starting at a certain distance the shooter can not aim directly on the target and expect a hit, within a foot or more of where he aimed? All rifle bullets have a ballistic drop, from the muzzleloader black powder rifle to modern sniper rifles.

Were you aware that with a strong wind from the side, you would not hit exactly where you aimed. It's called wind drift. Once at a range, I had to aim to the left of the target (100 yards) and off the large target, to hit near the center of the target with a .50 caliber flintlock rifle. Wind drift is a little worse shooting a round ball.

Examples of bullet drop. A 30-06 caliber cartridge, 150 grain bullet, can be sighted in to hit dead on at 200 yards. If you aim dead on at 500 yards, the same bullet will hit some 51 inches LOW. Long range shooters need to know distance and wind speed and direction, plus a good spotter. At long distance, accurate shooting is only part of the equation.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Whitworth, you've made me feel much better. All these years I've thought it was my eyes and feeble brain.

 

[gary]

If you guys enjoyed that article...

Goggle up "Bedtime Stories or Sharpshooter Tales" and you'll find plenty to read about. Save for one snippet, I'm familar with everything in the article posted at Bivouac Banner.

 

[samgrant]

Sam:
An excellent and entertaining site. My favorite story (I've told it before but maybe you weren't on board or paying attention) was set in Gettysburg. Seems some Confederate sharpshooters were in a brick building below Cemetery Ridge. The Union sharpshooters on the ridge had great difficulty with them as the distance was great. The cornfed would appear in a window to take aim at some objective, but he could also see the puff of smoke from the Union side which gave him enough time to duck back. This went on and on until the Union riflemen worked a plan. One would shoot, causing the cornfed to duck back. Then, the next yank would fire at the window -- the ball arriving at about the same time as the cornfed stuck his head back out. Don't know how true that is, but it makes a fine story.

Ole, here's a similar (same?) story from Trudeau's Gettysburg:

"Several Rebel snipers had taken station in the second story of the brick barn ..."

"At first the Yankee sharpshooters had enjoyed considerable success by shooting in pairs, the first shot causing the enemy snipers to duck, and the second, coming right after the first, catching them as they bobbed back up to retaliate. But when the Rebels adapted by faking a quick return, a new plan was needed. The Union riflemen were now operating in teams of three, with the third man delaying his shot long enough to let the enemy believe he had managed to dodge the whole series."

 

[ole]

Sam:
I haven't read Trudeau's book. Apparently he had access to the same story. It's a good one, and apparently not mythical.
Ole

 

[gary]

From Chapter 9 of my book (of which the manuscript is still moldering on the editor's desk), is a quote from the eyewitness in reference to the above discussion:

"During the 2nd of July, a detachment of Berdan's sharpshooters, using very heavy, long-range telescope rifles, with a sort of tripod rest, were placed on our main line with instructions to stop this annoyance. The method adopted was somewhat peculiar. The enemy's sharpshooters soon discovered, not only that we were using rifles that had sufficient range, but also that they were being used with remarkable precision. With a field-glass it was easy to observe the effect of this rifle practice. Several men were seen to fall at the openings in the barn, and the enemy's sharpshooters became more and more cautious. At the flash of a rifle on our line they would instantly disappear, and upon the ball passing through the opening as instantly reappear, ready to try a shot or fall back again if a second rifle flashed on our line. To meet these tactics, new methods were adopted by the telescopic riflemen; they formed themselves into squads or partnerships of three, and when the three were ready with correct aim, number one would fire; the enemy would instantly retire from the two openings; then counting 'one, two, three,' the remaining two partners would fire simultaneously, each at his appointed opening; the ball from number one passing through the opening, the enemy immediately reappeared, too late to see the flash of the second rifles, yet in time to receive their bullets. Alas! how little we thought human life was the stake for which this game was being played."

 

[samgrant]

"Alas! how little we thought human life was the stake for which this game was being played."

Richard S. Thompson - "A Scrap at Gettsburg"

Give your editor a kick in the butt!

 

[johan_steele]

Gary... any chance you will offer signed copies for sale to the membership here? I'd like a copy for myself and my father.

 

[gary]

Shane, certainly - provided the editor gets the manuscript back to me. I wanted the book out this year but there's no way that's going to happen now. If you take The Skirmish Line from the N-SSA, they've got a couple of my articles (Sharpshooting at Fredericksburg, Part I & Part II) and I'll be submitting another (Sharpshooting at Antietam, Part I & Part II). Also, if you belong to The Company of Military Historians, they've printed the first of four articles by me. Each one grows in controversy (and they may lynch me at the Conference in Williamsburg next year). I'm no revisionist, but a humble scribe who reports (and to some extent interpreting) his findings.

 

[ole]

Gary:

Keep us posted. With Shane, I want one signed. Will give up shrimp and crab legs for a week to come up with the scratch.
Ole