Historical Shooting of the Nineteenth Century: The Snider-Enfield Position Drill

Introduction
British musketry training of the nineteenth century took recruits through a very specific set of exercises to teach them how to shoot before they fired a single live cartridge. First the recruit was taught to clean, maintain, and operate his weapon, then he was taught the theoretical principles of musketry, then he was trained in the three critical drills of musketry: The Position Drill, The Aiming Drill, and the Judging Distance Drill. The latter two drills we will reserve for a later post (or wait for my forthcoming book on Snider musketry), but here we will demonstrate the Position Drill. All of this material is taken directly from the 1870 Musketry Instruction.

In this exercise the recruit, as well as the drilled soldier, is to be put through all the motions of firing, standing and kneeling, with the same accuracy as if actually firing ball, close attention being paid to each motion, the object being to habituate him to the correct position, to give him a perfect command of his rifle, and to establish the connection that should exist between the hand and the eye. The eye regulates every action of the hand, but constant practice is required to enable the latter readily to raise the rifle to an object on which the eye may be fixed, and the forefinger to act upon the trigger at the proper moment.

“The position drill was considered the single most important drill of all that were instructed at the School of Musketry at Hythe. General Hay, the commander of the School of Musketry at Hythe, would say ‘A man may be taught to shoot by drill alone, if he can but be brought to faith in the theory.’ Today we would call the Position Drill basic good shooting fundamentals. The key to the Position Drill, and indeed the key to good shooting in 1859 or today, is consistency. Good shooting comes from doing the same thing, every single time. Soldiers would practice the Position Drill over and over, until they had absolute mastery over their rifle.

“The objective of the Position Drill, being the most important of all the drills taught at Hythe, was to establish an instantaneous connection between the soldier’s eye and finger. The soldier was placed in, and habituated to, the best position for independent firing, as if actually firing live cartridges. Instructors paid extremely close attention to every motion of the Position Drill. General Hay himself would walk the line during the instruction of the Position Drill, ‘pointing out even the most apparently trivial defects.’ The Position drill is so sure an index of shooting that the officer instructors at Hythe could tell who would shoot well with live ammunition simply by observing how well they performed the Position Drill.” (Gibbons, Brett A. Handbook for the School of Musketry. Privately Published, 2018, pp. 18-19.)

First Practice
This practice is intended to accustom the soldier to handle his rifle expertly, to strengthen his left arm so as to give him a perfect command of the rifle with the left hand, and to habituate him to raise it to the shoulder, in the direction of the object the eyes are fixed upon, without moving his body. It is therefore to be continued until these points are accomplished. No defect, however trivial, is to be overlooked, and the instructor is to explain the errors, and their bad effects, when the squad is standing at ease.

Order Arms.

The Instructor commands:
At ---- yards, Ready.
As per regulation in the Platoon Exercise.

Adjust the rear sight with the fingers of the right hand.
Bring the hammer to full cock with the right hand.
Return to the Ready, eyes directed at a target.

At --- yards, Ready.

The instructor is to be most particular in this, and the following practices, to see that every man holds his rifle firmly with the left hand, at the place where it is to be held when at the “present,” viz., behind the lower band, and not nearer the nipple than the projection in front of the lockplate; that the fingers of the right hand are behind the trigger guard, that the body is erect, the left side being perpendicular, with the left breast over the left foot, that the shoulders are at the half face, and the feet at right angles, and that the eyes are fixed on the mark, or object in front, with the head in the same direction, and erect.

Present.
Without in the slightest degree moving the body, head, or eye raise the rifle smartly to the front of the right shoulder to the full extent of the left arm, the arms to move close to the body, the back sight to be upright, the top part of the heel plate to be in a line with the top part of the shoulder, the muzzle to point a few inches below the mark the eyes are fixed upon, the forefinger placed inside the trigger guard, and both elbows inclined downwards.

Present.

The squad is frequently to be brought back to the Ready by the command as you were in order to establish the men in the position above detailed, to point out errors, and to explain the subsequent motions of the practice: e.g., Present. As you were. Present. As you were, and so on, until the first motion is performed satisfactorily, when the second and third motions are to be similarly explained, and afterwards the following commands to be given: Present – Two – Three.

Two.
Bring the rifle smartly into the hollow of right shoulder, which must not be allowed to give way, pressing it thereto with the left hand, and at the same instant bring the left elbow under the rifle, and the right elbow nearly square with, and well to the front of the right shoulder, to form a bed for the butt, without moving the body, head, or eye, placing the forefinger round the trigger like a hook, but without pressing it.

Two.

Three.
Bring the rifle smartly to the ready position, without moving the body, head, or eye, placing the forefinger at the same time behind the trigger guard.

Three.

Ease springs. Order Arms. Stand at ease.
As per regulations.

Ease springs. Order Arms.

Second Practice
This is much the same as the First Practice, except this time when the soldier comes to Present he is to raise the muzzle until he has a good sight picture and then dry fire his piece.

Position drill, by numbers, Second Practice, as a front rank standing.
At ---- yards, Ready.
As per regulations in the Platoon Exercise.

Ready.

Present.
Combine the actions of the first practice above into a single action and look at the target through the rear sight aperture.

Present.

Two.
Raise the muzzle steadily until the top of the foresight is brought in a line with the object through the notch of the backsight, pressing the trigger at the same time, without the least motion of the hand, eye, or arm, until the hammer falls [i.e., dry firing the piece], still keeping the eye fixed on the object. The breathing to be restrained in performing this motion. Note that this is performed with an unloaded rifle with the snap cap in place to allow dry firing.