Down in the basement of the Indoor Athletic Building on either side of the pool are two fifty-foot long corridors, lined with concrete and steel. In one of these the Harvard Rifle Club members intend firing some 24,000 rounds of ammunition this year.

Limited by the very nature of their range, which permits only three men to fire simultaneously, the Crimson team nevertheless plans to participate in 40 matches from November through March.

Last year's top marksman, Lou Gerstley '45, reports that when, in the midst of firing, a steam valve from the pumping equipment located nearby blows, the result of the aim is often pretty bad. More fortunate M.I.T. can boast of a modern indoor firing range, complete with soundproofing and overhead target carriers.

Season Promising

Last year the team won seven of its eleven matches, and Manager Jim Beverly '47 forecasts even better results for the coming season. "With the added incentive of rifles now owned by the club, and nearly twice the ammo available, and with a good turn-out at our meetings, we should rank much higher in the matches-won percentage column," he said.

Four out of six lettermen and another dozen Varsity runner-ups have returned to the club and a number of candidates for the rifle team are expected to report at the first meeting tomorrow night at 7:30 o'clock in the Winthrop House Junior Common Room.

Beverly thinks a real sharpshooter squad will be ready for the first match, tentatively scheduled for the first week in November.

New Guns

Over the summer, the Rifle Club obtained three Winchester target rifles, and so for the first time the team members will not have to furnish their own .22's. Firing, practice will take place three nights a week, and possibly in the mornings.

All the firing is indoors from the 50-foot line, which may seem paltry to the former G.I. used to 100 through 500 yard ranges in basic training. Beverly noted, however, that a .22 in the hands of an expert riflemen is just as accurate up to 100 yards as is the .30 calibre Garand.

The ten-ring for the .30 target is ten inches in diameter, whereas the entire bull for the .22 is only the size of a quarter, and its ten-ring less than one-fifth of an inch in width.

To facilitate shoulder- to- shoulder matches, which as Beverly says are "the true test of shooting," the club is trying to arrange for the use of a National Guard Amory.

Sharpshooter Heads Club

Hale Knight '50, president of the Rifle Club, took a sharpshooter rating in the senior division of the National Rifle Association matches at Camp Perry this summer. He also participated in the Michigan State Championship Rifle Association matches, where he placed second in his class. He and his brother Dave Knight '50, captain of the Varsity team, are working to form a similar association in Massachusetts.

Although a Freshman team was not organized last year, the brothers Knight think a Yardling squad can be formed if there is sufficient interest. That means an opening for a '51 manager. Freshman numerals will be awarded, and, of course, the Varsity rates five minor H's for the top men, and a letter for the manager.