Recall the scene near the beginning of The Patriot in which Gibson’s character ambushes a group of British redcoats that are taking his oldest son (Heath Ledger) away to be executed. Gibson chooses a spot to engage the enemy with the help of his two very young sons, and as he gives them instructions on what to do, he gives the final instruction, “Aim small, miss small”.
How do you interpret what that means?
Not to just generally aim at the person in hopes of shooting them anywhere, but to aim at a specific part of them (chest, head, leg) in hopes of shooting that body part. I’ve never shot anything but a B-B gun, though, so perhaps there’s a different explaination that an experienced shooter could offer.
I interpreted it as meaning “shoot at the centre of mass”(ie aim at something small and you’ll miss it). That’s just what I remember thinking, though, I have no idea if I was correct.
Exactly what elfkin477 said. Don’t shoot at the man, or even the man’s chest, but at the third button. It’s the reason targets have bullseyes.
Can’t really put those words into today’s ballistics. I suspect that back in the late 1700’s that most muskets where very inaccurate. At best. And your basic soldier had a rifle that MIGHT hit a person at about 100 yards. I also suspect that most battles fought that way where ‘Give them a volley of shot boys’ more than ‘take out your target’.
Now. Before I get dragged through the mud, there where accurate rifled barrels at the time. But, I’m guessing he was just trying to say ‘measure twice, cut once’.
This is also current thinking in archery form. When you’re going to shoot at an animal (or 3d target of an animal), don’t think of shooting at the animal itself, but rather aiming at that spot of white, or that bit of hair, or right into that curve along it’s front leg. You are aiming at a specific point, and by concentrating on that exact point, rather than the target as a whole, you narrow your “built in error”.
The same certainly applies to firearms, when I go to the range, I have to specifically tell my self to aim EXACTLY at the bullseye on the 100yd range… “close enough” makes you shoot poorly (and miss). “Exactly there” makes you concentrate and make good shots.