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As we all know, bullets do not travel in a straight path and follow a curved trajectory. By estimating the distance, we can either adjust our sights or more primitively, our hold such that our bullet will strike the target. In the Civil War, Confederate sharpshooters and artillerymen on both sides were trained in distance estimation. After some practice, a soldier became adept; or was washed out. In artillery, it was critical because the artilleryman not only had to calculate the distance, but the time of flight so he could adjust the fuse so that it will explode over target and maximize the injury inflicted on the foe. Sometimes an aid in the form of a stadium (period vernacular) was used. Click the link below for an image of a stadia:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/qFMAAOSwg5tdETNG/s-l300.jpg
I just found this on pages 74-5 of a memoir andWW II book, Survivor, by George F. Schneider:
"On a training mission in the woods, we were fired upon (with blanks) by a machine gun that was visible at an unknown distance. Our assignment was to estimate this distance. Estimates ranged from lows of 50 feet to highs of a couple of hundred. While we were estimating the distance, our lieutenant sent someone out to pace the distance. I remembered that in high school, my science teacher, Mr. Haight, had shown us a track to estimate distance to an object. I applied his simple mathematical maneuver using only my finger and eyes. Holding my arm stretched out in front of me, I lifted my finger and visually placed it on the tree. Alternately, I blinked my eyes and announced that the distance was 145 feet. I endured laughter and howls from my comrades until the scout returned to announce that, according to his pace, the distance to the machine gun was 145 feet. Their taunting hoots immediately turned into exclamations of incredulity, and I was urged to explain my seemingly magical technique to the platoon. First, I had to find an object adjacent to the machine gun. That object needed to be a known dimension. In this instance, I choose a particular species of tree because all of these trees in this area were about the same size in trunk diameter and height. I zeroed my fingertip in on the tree adjacent to the machine gun. As my vision shifted from right eye to left, my finger moved left to right across the tree trunk. Knowing the diameter of the tree, I was able to extrapolate the distance my finger was moving. I then multiplied that number by 10 and arrived at a distance of 145 feet. The distance you see your finger move gives you a good estimate if there is a reference material of a known dimension such as bricks on a wall or a vehicle. The multiplication by 10 is general and dependent on the length of your arm and the interpupillary distance between your eyeballs."
Next time I go I'm going to give this a try. Funny thing about bricks, American brick manufacturers did not standardize brick size until Herbert Hoover was Sect. of Commerce. Prior to that there were probably 32 different brick dimensions being made and sold in America.
Let me know what you guys think of this principle for range estimation. I know lasers are easier, but sometimes the batteries give out (and I don't have a laser range finder).
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/qFMAAOSwg5tdETNG/s-l300.jpg
I just found this on pages 74-5 of a memoir andWW II book, Survivor, by George F. Schneider:
"On a training mission in the woods, we were fired upon (with blanks) by a machine gun that was visible at an unknown distance. Our assignment was to estimate this distance. Estimates ranged from lows of 50 feet to highs of a couple of hundred. While we were estimating the distance, our lieutenant sent someone out to pace the distance. I remembered that in high school, my science teacher, Mr. Haight, had shown us a track to estimate distance to an object. I applied his simple mathematical maneuver using only my finger and eyes. Holding my arm stretched out in front of me, I lifted my finger and visually placed it on the tree. Alternately, I blinked my eyes and announced that the distance was 145 feet. I endured laughter and howls from my comrades until the scout returned to announce that, according to his pace, the distance to the machine gun was 145 feet. Their taunting hoots immediately turned into exclamations of incredulity, and I was urged to explain my seemingly magical technique to the platoon. First, I had to find an object adjacent to the machine gun. That object needed to be a known dimension. In this instance, I choose a particular species of tree because all of these trees in this area were about the same size in trunk diameter and height. I zeroed my fingertip in on the tree adjacent to the machine gun. As my vision shifted from right eye to left, my finger moved left to right across the tree trunk. Knowing the diameter of the tree, I was able to extrapolate the distance my finger was moving. I then multiplied that number by 10 and arrived at a distance of 145 feet. The distance you see your finger move gives you a good estimate if there is a reference material of a known dimension such as bricks on a wall or a vehicle. The multiplication by 10 is general and dependent on the length of your arm and the interpupillary distance between your eyeballs."
Next time I go I'm going to give this a try. Funny thing about bricks, American brick manufacturers did not standardize brick size until Herbert Hoover was Sect. of Commerce. Prior to that there were probably 32 different brick dimensions being made and sold in America.
Let me know what you guys think of this principle for range estimation. I know lasers are easier, but sometimes the batteries give out (and I don't have a laser range finder).
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