A couple years ago, I blogged about Morris Fisher, a great Jewish marksman. I picked up his books, one of which is called "Mastering the Rifle" from 1940. It is full of timeless advice. However, when I first read the book, one particular nugget struck me as a strange:
Numerous shooters use eye-washes to clear their eyes before they fire in matches, or after the strain of shooting all day. Cold tea, or one teaspoon of boric-acid to glass of warm water, or a drop of 5-10 per cent argyrol, or any other solution prescribed by a doctor, may be used.
Boric acid? I know any acid can be diluted or otherwise made to be stronger or weaker, but it just seemed strange to me that competitive shooters back then would put acid in their eyes. However, lately I've been using an over the counter product called Systane lubricating eye drops which many shooters swear by. I looked at the ingredients the other night, and although it is not the active ingredient (polyethelyne and propylene glycol), sure enough it also contains boric acid! I think I will stick with the store bought drops instead of brewing my own...
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I didnt know Morris Fisher was Jewish. I was a range officer at Parris Island in 1993 and did some research on him for a class I gave. I was at the PI museum and talking to the curator about getting some old pictures of him and he told me a story about Morris Fishers estate approaching the museum about them donating ALL OF HIS MEDALS to the museum. Guess what? The museum turned them down! So the estate distributed them all out to his heirs.... I almost slapped the guy! Back in the day his medals (Distinguished badge etc) would have been SOLID GOLD and Silver and the collection was priceless! Why they didnt contact the NRA or the USMC Rifle team I dont know. What a shame.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that tidbit. Hopefully the medals are in safe and appreciative hands.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! This is a cool story. Thanks for posting this!
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