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WITH    NOMEPOUS    ILLUSTRAflONS 


LONGMANS,     (JIJEKN.     \N  h     Cf). 

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THE 


BOOK  OF  THE   RIFLE 


BY   THE  .     •\     ^ 

Hon.  1^' Fr  FREMAN TLE,  v.d. 


Majou  1st  Bucks  V.R.C. 


-  WITH    NUMEROUS    ILLUSTRATIONS 


LONGMANS,     GEEEN,     AND     CO. 

89    PATERNOSTER    RO^i     LONDON 
NEW   YORK  AND    BOMBAY 

1901 

All    rights    reserred 


THE  NEW  YORK 

I  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

281199 

%tt^2P^*  IfNOK  AMD 

100S 


..♦: 


•  •    •  •. 


^0  t!)e  incmorg  of 

MY    VERY    DEAR    JUIENDS 
SIR    HENRY    ST.  JOHN    HALFORD 

AND 

MR.  WILLIAM  ELLIS  METFORD 

WHO   FOR   THIRTY   YEARS   STUDIED   RIFLE   PROBLEMS   TOGETHER 

I   DEDICATE   THIS  BOOK 


PREFACE 


Many  hooks  have  been  written  about  arms  and  about  rifles, 
yet  so  rapidly  does  invention  move,  that  the  subject  is 
never  exhausted.  The  events  of  the  last  two  years  have 
aroused  a  new  interest  in  the  rifle;  soldiery,  volunteers, 
civilians,  all  are  alike  keenly  alive  to  its  importance.  At 
last  we  have  begun  to  understand  that  the  maw,  armed 
with  a  rifle,  who  is  not  expert  in  its  use,  is  a  mere  mili- 
tary fraud,  and  that,  if  he  is  to  acquire  skill,  the  only 
prescription  is — a  delightful  pastime. 

I  desire  to  acknowledge  gratefully  the  ungrudging  help 
of  the  ma7iy  friends  who  have  aided  or  advised  me  on 
points  connected  with  this  book.  Were  I  to  thank  them 
separately,  m/y  prefa^ce  would  resemble  a  lang  bidding- 
prayer.  I  would  also  record  my  warm  sense  of  much 
goodwill  and  pleasant  companionship  during  more  than 
twenty-one  years  of  rifle  work,  helped  especially  by  patient 
and  ungrudging  kindness  from  shooting  men  of  an  older 
generation. 

There  can  be  no  finality  in  the  evolution  of  firearms,  at 
least  until  some  quite  new  power  of  destruction  shall  make 
them  obsolete.  The  present  work,  imperfect  as  it  is,  m^y 
serve  to  record  the  point  which  the  rifle  has  attained  at 
the  opening  of  the  twentieth  century. 

T  F.  F, 
HoLTON  Pabk,  Oxford: 
November  1901. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

/    pAau 
Developement  of  missile  weapons — Invention   of  rifle -grooving/- 
Early  use  of  rifles  on   the  Continent — Pitch  of  spiral— AV hit- 
worth's    conclusions — Metford's    increasing    spiral — Means    of 
rotating  a  bullet  other  than  grooving   \/ 1 

CHAPTER   II 

Early  military  rifles — Robins's  prophecy — The  War  of  Independence 
—The  Rifle  Brigade— -The  Baker  rifle— Colonel  Hanger  The 
Brunswick  rifle — Slowness  of  loading — Expanding  bullets — 
Picket  bullets — Minie  bullet  and  rifle — Trials  in  1852 — General 
Jacob — The  Enfield  rifle — Whit  worth's  experiments   .         .        .      22 

CHAPTER   III 

National  Rifle  Association — The  Queen's  Prize — Some  Wimbledon 
heroes — Metford's  bullet -Two  thousand  yards'  shooting — 
Metford's  system  of  grooving — His  first  rifles — His  military 
breechloader — Early  breechloaders— Their  difficulties — Needle- 
gun — Snider — Martini -Henry — Martini-Enfield— The  '808  rifle  .       52 

CHAPTER   IV 

Devices  for  rapid  fire — The  revolver  principle — Repeating  rifles — 
Magazines — Clip  and  charger  loading— Some  foreign  systems — 
The  Lee-Metford  and  Lee-Enfield— Erosion— Smokeless  powders 
— Accuracy — Various  bullets — Bolt  actions  —  Military  rifles 
described — Ammunition  supply — Fire  control — Volley-firing      .      78 

CHAPTER   V 

Early  sporting  rifles— Sir  Samuel  Baker's  rifles — Capt.  Forsyth's 
views— The  Express  rifle— The  *  Field '  trials,  1883— The  reduc- 
tion of  calibre — Penetration  and  expansion  of  modem  rifles- 
Accuracy — Trajectory  tables— Single  and  double  rifles — BaJl  and 
shot  guns — Rook  and  gallery  rifles— Club  rifles— The  Morris 
tube — Adaptors  for  military  rifles 128 


xii  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


CHAPTER  VI 

PAGK 

The  standing  position — Palling  the  trigger — A  Swiss  niarlfsman — 
The  draw-pull — The  hair  trigger — Training  the  muscles — The 
use  of  the  sling — Kneeling  positions — The  sitting  position — The 
prone  position — The  back  position  and  its  varieties  .  159 


CHAPTER  VII 

Sighting — Military  sights — Lateral  adjustment  for  wind — The 
notch  and  the  bar — Fore  sights — The  bead  sight — Protection  by 
a  hood — Sporting  back  sights  and  fore  sights — The  Lewes  sight 
— Orthoptic  sights — Match  rifle  sights — Warping  and  loosening 
of  the  stock 213 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Lyman  sight— Adjustment  of  sights — How  to  blacken  sights — 
Attachment  of  Lyman  and  match  sights — The  zero  of  the 
sighting  scale — Long-range  military  sights— Telescopic  sights — 
Their  advantages — How  far  suited  for  military  purposes — The 
infrascope 286 

CHAPTER   IX 

Aiming — Two-eyed  shooting — ^Aiming  at  a  target — Use  of  the  bar 
sight  —  Wind-gauge  sights — Mental  and  physical  condition  — 
Tobacco  and  alcohol — Lateral  error  from  crooked  sights — Tlie 
spirit  level  —  Firing  up  and  down  hill  —  High-angle  fire — 
Terminal  velocity 254 


CHAPTER   X 

Accuracy  of  rifles — Estimation  of  distance — Range-finding  instru- 
ments— Density  of  air — Temperature — Atmospheric  pressure — 
Head-winds  and  cross-winds — Variable  currents — Flags  and 
mirage — Wind  affecting  elevation — Peculiarities  of  ranges — 
Flags — Wind  judgment  and  coaching 271 


CHAPTER   XI 

Angles  of  ilevation — Tables  for  -803  and  other  rifies— Shape  of 
trajectory — Angle  of  descent — Trajectory  diagrams  and  tables  - 
Shooting  at  extreme  ranges — Shape  of  bullet — Tubular  bullets   .     292 


CONTENTS  xiii 


CHAPTER  XII 


Movement  of  the  rifle  in  firing — Its  vibrations— Early  ideas  as  to 
path  of  projectile — The  term  *  point  blank ' — Jump  and  flip — 
Effect  of  bolt  fastening  on  direction  of  fire — and  of  affixing 
bayonet — Effect  of  vibrations  on  accuracy — Compensatory  action 
— Friction  in  the  bore — First  shot  from  clean  barrel — Shape  of 
buUet-hole — Spin  of  bullet — Its  stability — Rate  of  spin — Pictures 
of  bullets  in  flight — Air  waves — Bullets  visible  in  flight — Drift— 
Influence  of  earth's  rotation — Grouping  of  shots — The  ballistic 
pendulum — The  electric  chronograph 307 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Accessories — Sight  protectors — Paints — ^Verniers  and  their  use — 
Ventometers — Orthoptics — The  blow-tube — Glasses  and  tele- 
scopes— Score-books — The  aim  corrector — Care  of  rifle — Clean- 
ing— Rust — Its  causes  and  prevention — Care  of  stock  and  look — 
Pull-off— Miss-fires 339 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Importance  of  target  shooting — Skill  begets  confidence — Individual 
skiU  the  basis  of  good  collective  fire — Rapidity  important— Rifle 
ranges — Screened  ranges — ^The  Swiss  system — Skill  as  an  cle- 
ment of  safety  —  Space  necessary  behind  the  butt  —  Official 
requirements  as  to  ranges — Underground  ranges-  -Iron  targets 
and  methods  of  marking  with  them — The  ringing  bull's-eye  369 


CHAPTER  XV 

Penetrable  targets  now  used — Their  endurance — Windmill  and 
Jeffnes  targets — Method  of  marking — Foreign  range  equipments 
described — Primitive  Swiss  ranges — Some  target  systems — The 
telephone  and  bell — Ranges  for  private  practice — Markers  and 
marking — Fraudulent  marking — Chinese  marksmanship     .         .391 


CHAPTER   XVI 

Methods  of  comparing  merit  of  groups  of  shots — Targets  with 
circular  rings — The  element  of  luck  in  shooting — Carton  shoot- 
ing— Pool  shooting — Size  of  centrals — Oval  target  divisions — 
Bisley  signals  for  values  of  shots—  Electric  targets — Ricochets — 
Particulars  of  National  Rifle  Association  and  other  targets  .         .     410 


xiv  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

CHAPTER  XVII 

PAGK 

The  Hythe  ranges — Figure  targets — Falling  targets — Balloon  targets 
— Toi-pedo  target — Owl  target — The  popinjay — Team  match  at 
breakable  targets— The  running  deer — Moving  targets — Allow- 
ance for  motion  of  object 425 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

The  Bisley  meeting  —  Its  mantigement  —  Squadding  —  Register 
tickets  —  Procedure  in  shooting — Score  register  tickets  of  a 
King's  Prize  winner — Time  allowed  for  shooting — Sighting  shots 
— Challenges^National  Rifle  Association's  regulations  for  rifles 
and  ammunition— Unauthorised  assistance — Team  shooting — 
The  captain  and  the  team 444 

CHAPTER   XIX 

Dr.  Carver's  feats — Trick  shooting — Rapid  firing  at  Wimbledon  and 
abi'oad  —  Herrmann's  performance  —  Captain  Otter's  skill  — 
National  Rifle  Association  rapid  competitions —Skill  in  the  Rifle 
Brigade— A  feat  of  Mr.  Lancaster — Rests  and  rest  shooting — 
Diagrams  of  abnormal  merit— Rest  shooting  in  America— Un- 
certainty of  results — Sample  diagrams  made  at  50  yards — and 
at  100  yards — Wallingford's  shooting  at  300  metres — Records  of 
the  Queen's  prize — Match  between  E.  Ross  and  Fenton— The 
Any  Rifle  Association  Cup— -The  Wimbledon  Cup — Targets  by 
Rigby,  Mellish,  and  Halford — Gibbs'a  record  sliooting — Public 
School  and  University  shooting— The  National  Challenge  Trophy 
—The  Elcho  Shield— Matches  with  American  teams,  1874-1883 

—Match  at  The  Hague,  1899 460 

t 

CHAPTER   XX 

Ancient  rifle  clubs —Some  Swiss  clubs — The  Victoria  RiHes — Rifle 
clubs  and  Volunteering — The  gun  licence  —Cost  of  ammunition — 
Different  types  of  clubs— Sunday  shooting — Organisation  of 
clubs — Competitions  and  matches — Conditions  of  afiiliation  to 
National  Rifle  Association — List  of  rifle  clubs      ....     515 

LIST   OF   BOOKS 545 

INDEX 549 


Trajectory  Table  for  Lce-Metford  Rifle      .         .         .         ,      to  face    303 


LIST   OF   PLATES 


BEROT.-INSTR.   WALLINOFOBD,    THE    BEST    SHOT 
IN    THE   BRITISH   ARMY 

I.      DEER  DRIVE,    1644 

II.  RIFIiE  MATCH  BETWEEN  THE  DUKE  OF  CUMBER- 
LAND'S SHARPSHOOTERS  AND  THE  ROBIN  HOOD 
RIFLES,  1811 

III.  DIAGRAM    OF    SHOOTING    MADE    WITH    A    BAKER 

RIFLE,    1800 

IV.  DIAGRAMS    OF    SHOOTING,     1808,     FROM    *  SCLOP- 

PETARIA'  

V.  BAKER  RIFLE,  1800;  BRUNSWICK  RIFLE,  1836; 
LANCASTER  RIFLE,    1846 

VI.  ENGLISH  MINI16  RIFLE,  1850;  ENFIELD  RIFLE, 
1852;  WHITWORTH  RIFLE,  FITTED  WITH 
DAVIDSON    TELESCOPE,    ABOUT    1864 

VII.  SOME   NOTED   WIMBLEDON    MARKSMEN,  1866 

VIII.  SNIDER  RIFLE,  1867  ;  MARTINI-HENRY  RIFLE,  18 

IX.  ACTION   OF   MARTINI-HENRY   RIFLE 

X.  MANNLICHER    ACTION,    DUTCH    MODEL,    1895 

XI.  MAUSER  ACTION,    1895 

XII.  KRAG-JORGENSEN  ACTION,  1SS9;  KRAG-JOROENSEN 
MAGAZINE,  SHOWN  IN  SECTION  ;  LEE  STRAIGHT 
PULL  ACTION,  1898 

XIII.  LEE-ENFIELD      ACTION.        SIDE     AND     VERTICAL 

VIEWS 

XIV.  LEE-ENFIELD   MAGAZINE.      SECTION 

XV.       DITTO.      VERTICAL   VIEW    .... 

XVI.      RIFLES  IN  USE    BY   AUSTRIA-HUNGARY,  BELGIUM 
AND  DENMARK 


Frontispiece 
facing  p.       8 


24 

28 
32 

40 
54 
68 
72 
SO 
82 

84 

86 
88 
90 

104 


XVI 


THE   BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


PLATE 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 


XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 

XXXV. 

XXXVI. 

XXXVII. 

XXXVIII. 

XXXIX. 

XL. 


BIFLES   IN   USE   BT   FRANCE,    QERMANT,  AND 

HOLLAND facing  p. 

DITTO,    BY    OBEAT     BRITAIN    (lEE-METFORD 

AND  LEE-ENFIELd) „ 

DITTO,  BY  ITALY,  NORWAY,  AND  ROUMANIA     .  „ 

DITTO,  BY  BUS9IA,  SPAIN,  AND  SWITZERLAND  „ 

DITTO,  BY  TURKEY  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES 
(army   AND   navy)     .... 

AMERICAN  MARKSMAN  8H00TINQ  STANDING, 
1848 

POSITIONS  FOR  FIRINO  IN  THREE  BANKS, 
1803 

STANDING  POSITION,    1808      . 

DITTO,    1800 

DITTO.  PTB.  W.  C.  LUFF,  LONDON  RIFLE 
BRIGADE,    1901  .... 

KNEELING  POSITION.  ARMR.-SERGT.  J.  H 
SCOTT,  Ist  ROXBURGH  AND  SELKIRK  R.V. 
1901 


KNEELING   POSITION,    1800     . 

SITTING  POSITION.     SIR  EDMUND  LODER,  1901 

PRONE   POSITION,    1800      . 

DITTO.     CAPT.  HORATIO  ROSS,  1867 

DITTO.    SERGT.-INSTR.  WALLINGFORD,  HYTHE 
STAFF,    1901 

BACK  POSITION,    1800  . 

DITTO.      SIR  HENRY   HALFORD,  1893 

DITTO.       MR.   HENRY   WHITEHEAD,    1901     . 

DITTO.     MAJOR  J.  K.  MILLNER,  1901 

BRITISH   MILITARY  RIFLE   BIGHTS     . 

MATCH   RIFLE    SIGHTS  .  .  . 

LONG  RANGE   SIGHTS,    '303   RIFLE      . 

TRAJECTORIES  OF  RIFLES  AT  500  YARDS  ; 
AND  TRAJECTORY  OF  '303  RIFLE  AT 
1,000   YARDS   IN    ACTUAL   PROPORTIONS 


109 

110 
115 
116 

121 

160 

164 
166 
170 

174 

17S 
182 
186 
190 
194 

198 
202 
2C6 
210 
214 
230 
230 
244 

298 


LIST    OF    PLATES 


XVll 


PLATE 

XLI.      TRAJECTOBIBB   OF   RIFLES   AT    1,000   YABD8       . 

XLII.      VOLUNTEERS   SKIRMISHING,    circa    1861         .      . 

XLIII.      MARTINI-HENBY      BULLET      IN    FLIGHT,     1,296 
FEET   PER   SECOND    (REDUCED    SCALE) 

XLIV.      LEE-METFORD  BULLET  IN  FLIGHT,  2,000  FEET 
PEE   SECOND   (bEDUCED   SCALE)  .      . 

XLV.      EFFECT  OF  FIBE  UPON    PENETBABLE  TABGET8 
AT  BISLET 

XLVI.      WINDMILL   TARGET,    4   FEET   BY    4    FEET,    ON 

SIMPLE    MOUNTING,   WITH   DUMMY  .      . 

XLVII.      JEFFBIE3   TARGET,  6    FEET  BY  8    FEET,   WITH 

DUMMY     

XLVIII.  SIB  E.  LANDSBBB's  DBAWING  FOB  THE 
OBIGINAL  BUNNING  DEER  TABGET  AT 
WIMBLEDON,    1864 

XLIX.      THE   BUNNING   DEEB  BANGE  AT   BISLEY  :    MB. 
BANKEN    FIBING 

L.      BISLEY  BEGISTER    TICKETS,  SHOWING    LANCE- 
CORPORAL  ommundsen's  score    for  the 

king's  prize,  1901  .  .  •  .  . 
LI.  VOLUNTEERS  FIRING  FROM  RESTS,  1861 
LII.  DIAGRAM  OF  FIFTEEN  SHOTS  AT  1,100  YARDS 
BY  MR.  JOHN  RIGBY  (BISLEY,  1897); 
DITTO  AT  1,000  YABDS  BY  LIEUT.-COL.  H. 
MELI^ISH  (CAMBBIDGE,  ^900)  ;  DITTO  AT 
1,«K)0  YABDS  BY  SIB  HENBY  HALFOBD 
(WISTOW,    1895) 

LIII.      DRINKING   CUP.     BIFLEMAN    OF     THE     ZUBICH 
SHOOTING   CLUB,    1646  .... 

LtV.      TABGET   SHOOTING   AT   ZUBICH,    1525.  .      . 


facing  p. 


300 
308 


.324 


328 


.392 


396 


398 


434 


438 


448 
470 


488 


516 
520 


THE 

BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

CHAPTER  I 


Errata 

page  19,  line  4,  for  Sir  Isambard  Branel  read  Mr.  Bmnel 

„    48  „  12  „  100  read  400. 

„  264  „  29  „  two  minutes  read  one  minute 

„  265  „  7  „  142  read  146 

„  266  „  9  „  16  feet  read  6  ft.  8  in. 

„  266  „  10  „  30  feet  read  12  ft.  8  in. 

„  272  „  19  „  has  read  have 


that  the  old  means  of  propelling  round  or  pointed  missiles  by 
the  agency  of  hmnan  mascalar  force,  first  applied  directly, 
in  throwing,  and  then  indirectly,  as  in  the  catapult  and  bow, 
has  been  superseded  by  the  use  of  explosive  compounds, 
chemically  or  mechanically  mixed,  and  ignited  in  a  jcylinder, 
only  one  end  of  which  is  open,  so  that  a  missile  may  be 
carried  out  on  the  crest  of  the  wave  of  explosion  concentrated 
in  one  direction.  Progress  in  such  matters,  as  in  all  other 
departments  of  human  invention,  has  become  more  and  more 
rapid ;  one  change  has  succeeded  another,  and  become  itself 
a  step  for  greater  and  more  rapid  improvements. 

There  seems  to  be  no  record  of  the  use  of  gunpowder  as  a 
means  of  projecting  missiles  until  about  six  hundred  years 
ago,  and,  considering  the  comparative  feebleness  of  the  tirst 


THE 

BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

CHAPTER  I 

DBVBLOPEMKNT  OF  MISSILE  WEAPONS— INVENTION  OF  RIFLE-QROOVINO  — 
EARLY  USE  OF  RIFLES  ON  THE  CONTINENT— PITCH  OF  SPIR.iL— 
WHITWORTH*S  CONCLUSIONS— METFORD'S  INCREASING  SPIRAL— MEANS 
OF   ROTATING  A  BULLET  OTHER   THAN   GROOVING 

The  whole  tactics  of  war  and  the  whole  of  the  sportsman's 
methods  alike  depend  upon  the  developement  of  missile 
weapons,  and  upon  the  destructive  power  which  can  be  con- 
centrated in  a  form  small  enough  to  be  easily  conveyed  to 
the  place  where  it  may  be  made  effective.  Hence  the  im- 
portance of  firearms,  which  can  be  conveyed  wherever  a 
man  can  go,  and  which,  whether  great  or  small,  are  infinitely 
more  powerful  than  the  missile  weapons  which  they  super- 
seded. It  is  only  in  the  later  days  of  the  world's  history 
that  the  old  means  of  propelling  round  or  pointed  missiles  by 
the  agency  of  human  muscular  force,  first  applied  directly, 
in  throwing,  and  then  indirectly,  as  in  the  catapult  and  bow, 
has  been  superseded  by  the  use  of  explosive  compounds, 
chemically  or  mechanically  mixed,  and  ignited  in  a  .cylinder, 
only  one  end  of  which  is  open,  so  that  a  missile  may  be 
carried  out  on  the  crest  of  the  wave  of  explosion  concentrated 
in  one  direction.  Progress  in  such  matters,  as  in  all  other 
departments  of  human  invention,  has  become  more  and  more 
rapid ;  one  change  has  succeeded  another,  and  become  itself 
a  step  for  greater  and  more  rapid  improvements. 

There  seems  to  be  no  record  of  the  use  of  gunpowder  as  a 
means  of  projecting  missiles  until  about  six  hundred  years 
ago,  and,  considering  the  comparative  feebleness  of  the  first 


2  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

explosive  compounds,  as  well  as  the  difficulty  of  producing  and 
working  metal  capable  of  controlling  even  such  power  as  they 
possessed,  it  is  almost  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the  first 
firearms  should  have  come  into  use  in  competition  with  the 
older  arms.  Indeed,  the  struggle  of  the  bow  against  its  new 
rival,  the  gun,  was  prolonged  for  centuries.  It  found  a 
convinced  and  able  champion  in  Sir  John  Smythe,  an  old 
soldier  of  great  experience,  who  in  1590  published  *  Certain 
Discourses  concerning  the  formes  and  effects  of  diuers  sorts 
of  weapons,  and  chiefly,  of  the  Mosquet,  the  Caliuer,  and  the 
Long-bow ;  as  also  of  the  great  sufficiencie,  excellencie,  and 
wonderful  effects  of  archers.'  This  well-known  writer  attri- 
butes the  comparative  disfavour  into  which  the  long-bow  had 
fallen  much  more  to  the  want  of  systematic  exercise  with  it 
than  to  the  superior  virtues  of  firearms.  The  advantage 
which  he  claimed  for  the  bow  was  largely  one  of  range.  He 
speaks  of  the  ill  effect  of  '  volees '  at  more  than  forty  paces  at 
the  furthest,  but  allows  the  effectiveness  of  fire  from  *  caliuers ' 
and  *  harquebuzes '  at  the  very  shortest  distances.  With 
these  two  weapons  no  rest  was  used ;  the  '  mosquet,'  being 
much  larger  and  heavier,  was  fired  from  a  rest,  but  had  little 
advantage  in  range.  Three  hundred  years  ago  firearms  were 
quite  ineffective  in  wet  weather.  Pikemen  were  an  absolutely 
necessary  accompaniment  of  *  mosquettiers '  to  protect  them 
against  cavalry.  The  rapidity  of  fire  from  bows  was  quite 
four  times  as  great  as  that  from  firearms.  The  penetration  of 
the  bullet  was  so  small  that  strong  armour  was  not  ineffective 
against  it. 

If  confirmation  be  necessary  the  following  passage  from 
a  book,  *  Instructions  for  the  Warres,'  really  written  by  de 
Fourquevaux,  though  commonly  attributed  to  de  Bellay,  and 
translated  from  the  French  by  Paul  Ive  in  1589,  will  give  it : — 

*  The  Harquebusse  hath  bin  inuented  within  these  fewe 
yeares,  and  is  verie  good,  so  that  it  be  vsed  by  those  that 
haue  skill,  but  at  this  present  euery  man  will  be  a  Harque- 
busier  :  I  knowe  not  whether  it  be  to  take  the  moi'e  wages,  or 
to  be  the  lighter  laden,  or  to  fight  the  further  off,  wherein 
there  must  be  an  order  taken,  to  appoint  fewer  Harquebusiers, 
and  those  that  are  good,  than  many  that  are  worth  nothing : 


EARLY    FIREARMS  3 

for  this  negligence  is  cause  that  in  a  skirmish  wherein  tenne 
thousand  Harqaebussados  are  shot,  there  dieth  not  so  mutch 
as  one  man,  for  the  Harquebusiers  content  themselves  with 
making  of  a  noyse,  and  so  shoote  at  all  aduentures.' 

The  effectiveness  of  the  musket  was  much  increased  by  the 
invention  of  the  flint-lock,  which  remained  in  use  for  nearly 
two  hundred  years,  and  still  more,  at  a  much  later  time,  by 
the  percussion  cap,  but  its  ballistic  properties  were  always  de- 
spicable, and  its  inaccuracy  marvellous.  The  round  ball  had, 
for  facility  of  loading,  to  be  made  considerably  smaller  than 
the  bore,  and  much  of  the  force  of  the  powder  was  wasted,  so 
that  to  produce  the  greatest  effect  it  was  necessary,  early  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  just  as  much  as  late  in  the  sixteenth, 
to  reserve  fire  until  the  whites  of  the  enemy's  eyes  could  be 
seen.  So  late  as  1798  one  Richard  Oswald  Mason  published 
a  book  advocating  the  arming  of  the  Volunteer  troops  raised 
for  the  defence  of  the  country  at  that  time  with  the  pike  and 
the  long-bow  in  preference  to  the  musket. 

Our  purpose,  however,  is  not  to  discuss  the  history  of 
firearms  generally,  but  only  of  that  variety  of  them  known 
as  rifled  guns,  an  early  improvement,  the  history  of  which 
remains  in  great  obscurity.  The  principle  of  rifling  is  gene- 
rally understood.  It  is  a  means  of  giving  to  the  bullet,  by 
the  time  it  leaves  the  mouth  of  the  barrel,  a  spinning  motion 
round  an  axis  corresponding  with  the  central  line  of  the 
hollow  cylindrical  interior  of  the  barrel.  The  flight  of  a 
bullet  thus  spinning  on  itself  on  an  axis  in  the  direction  of 
its  line  of  motion  thereby  develops  two  useful  features — it 
maintains  its  position  very  nearly  in  that  line  (so  far  as 
gravity  will  permit),  and  if  it  have  any  irregularities  of  form 
or  density  it  presents  them  on  all  sides  successively  as  it 
revolves  to  the  air  obstructing  it.  Thus  any  tendencies  to 
deviate  in  one  particular  direction,  such  as  may  arise  from 
unsymmetrical  form  or  weight,  are  made  to  cancel  themselves 
by  being  converted  into  tendencies  to  deviate  equally  in  all 
directions. 

Precisely  how  early  the  attempt  was  made  to  give  this 
spinning  motion  to  the  bullet  we  do  not  know.  It  is  very 
likely  that  before  the  invention  of  grooving  some  attempt 

u  2 


4  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

may  have  been  made  to  spin  the  missile  by  feathering,  as 
had  long  been  done  with  the  urrow.  It  is  certain  that,  since 
the  invention  of  rifle-grooving,  many  other  devices  to  accom- 
plish the  same  end  have  been  tried,  but  all  have  proved  quite 
inferior  in  simplicity  and  in  practical  results.  The  essence 
of  rifling  is  grooving,  cut  spirally  on  the  interior  surface  of 
the  barrel,  which,  as  the  bullet  is  propelled  forward  by  the 
force  of  the  gases  liberated  by  the  explosion,  grips  it,  and 
forces  it  to  turn  on  itself.  The  spinning  motion  thus  given 
continues  during  the  flight  of  the  bullet. 

It  seems  to  have  been  generally  accepted  by  writers  on 
the  subject  that  the  earliest  rifled  barrels  had  straight  grooves, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  give  a  space  into  which  the  fouling 
of  previous  shots — always  a  difficulty — might  stow  itself 
without  obstructing  the  process  of  loading  with  a  well-fitting 
ball,  and  that  spiral  grooving  was  merely  an  accidental 
variation  of  this,  afterwards  found  to  possess  special  advan- 
tages. A  passage  from  the  town  records  of  Leipsic  in  1498, 
which  has  sometimes  been  quoted  as  giving  colour  to  this 
supposition,  and  as  alluding  not  only  to  rifles  but  to  rifles 
with  straight  grooving,  is  found  on  examination  not  even  to 
mention  firearms  at  all.  Major  Angelo  Angelucci,  in  his 
catalogue  of  the  wonderful  collection  of  armour  and  arms  in 
the  Royal  Armoury  at  Turin,  speaks  of  the  mention  in  an 
inventory  of  arms  of  1476  of  sclopetus  unus  ferri  /actus  a 
lumaga,  which  he  interprets  as  signifying  a  firearm  with  the 
barrel  spirally  grooved.  The  claim  for  this  early  mention 
of  the  rifle  in  Italy  does  not  appear  to  have  been  generally 
accepted,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  word  lumaga  or 
lumaca  may  allude  to  the  external  shape  of  the  barrel.  The 
evidence  of  the  early  rifled  barrels  preserved  in  this  country 
and  on  the  Continent  does  not,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  bear 
out  the  contention  that  the  barrels  as  at  first  made  had  straight 
grooves.  The  earliest  grooved  barrel  with  a  date  on  it  in 
this  country  is  one  brought  from  Hungary  in  1848,  and  now 
in  the  Museum  at  Woolwich.  It  is  dated  1547,  and  there  is 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  grooving,  which  is  much  worn, 
is  not  contemporary  with  the  barrel.  This  barrel  has  spiral 
rifling.    In  the  same  collection,  out  of  thirty-six  rifled  barrels 


EARLY    INVENTION    OF   BIPLING  5 

oi  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  only  three  have 
straight  grooving,  and  these  do  not  appear  to  be  the  earliest. 
The  specimens  of  rifled  pieces  in  the  Swiss  collections  seem 
to  tell  the  same  tale.  In  the  National  Museum  at  Ziirich 
and  in  the  local  collection  at  Berne  there  does  not  appear  to 
be  any  example  of  a  barrel  with  straight  grooves,  though 
there  are  many  early  pieces  with  spiral  rifling ;  so  that  it  is 
by  no  means  proved  that  the  latter  was  an  accidental  dis- 
covery, arising  out  of  a  badly  made  attempt  at  straight 
grooving.  It  seems  antecedeixtly  more  probable  that  it 
should  have  been  the  outcome  of  a  deliberate  attempt  to  find 
a  means  of  giving  to  the  bullet  the  spiral  spin  which  was 
well  known  as  having  a  steadying  effect  on  the  javelin,  or  on 
the  arrow  or  bolt  discharged  from  a  bow. 

The  invention  of  rifling  has  been  attributed  variously  to 
Gaspard  KoUner,  of  Vienna,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  to 
Augustus  Kotter,  of  Nuremburg,  in  1520.  In  the  collection 
at  Vienna  are  several  rifles  dated  between  1550  and  1560, 
and  some  of  the  rifled  barrels  at  Zurich  seem  clearly  to  be 
older  than  1544,  having  already  been  in  the  arsenal  at  that 
date.  There  may  no  doubt  be  cases  in  which  barrels  origi- 
nally smooth-bored  have  been  grooved  at  a  later  time,  but 
this  is  not  at  all  likely  to  be  the  case  with  all  the  earliest 
examples  known.  Schmidt  quotes,  from  the  archives  of 
Berne,  a  regulation  made  in  1563,  dealing  with  complaints 
of  the  unfairness  of  using  the  grooved  barrel  in  competition 
with  the  smooth-bore  for  target-shooting.  It  is  quite  clear 
that  for  sporting  purposes  rifles  had  come  into  favour  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  From  that  time  onwards 
many  rifles  were  made,  some  ornamented  with  the  richest 
decoration  of  inlay,  carving,  and  embossed  metal  work  that 
contemporary  taste  could  devise. 

The  invention  of  rifling  was  certainly  Continental,  and 
not  English,  and  the  earliest  reference  to  it  in  an  English 
book,  so  far  as  we  know,  is  made  by  Sir  Hugh  Plat,  in  his 
'Jewell  House  of  Art  and  Nature.'  Writing  in  the  year 
1594,  he  gives  many  recipes  which  he  had  collected  both 
for  use  in  the  household  and  on  many  other  occasions  of 
life,  such  as  the  making  of  what  was  called  in  after  years 


6  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

*  Bympathetic  ink/  and  of  '  a  delicate  stove  to  sweat  in/  that 
is,  an  arrangement  for  taking  a  Tarkish  bath  at  home.  One 
of  his  recipes  is  as  follows : 

*  How  to  make  a  pistol  whose  barrel  is  two  feet  in  length 
to  deliver  a  ballet  point  blank  at  eight  score '  (i.e.  160  yards). 
'  A  pistoU  of  the  aforesaid  length  and  beeing  of  petronel 
bore,  or  a  bore  higher,  hauing  eight  gutters  somewhat  deepe 
in  the  inside  of  the  barrell,  and  the  ballet  a  thought  bigger 
than  the  bore,  and  is  rammed  in  at  the  first  three  or  foure 
inches  at  the  least,  and  after  driuen  downe  with  the  skowr- 
ing  stick,  will  deliver  his  bullet  at  such  distance.  This  of 
an  English  Gentleman  of  good  note  and  for  an  approoued 
experiment.' 

Sir  Hugh  does  not  tell  us  whether  the  grooves  were 
spiral  or  straight,  and  evidently  did  not  appreciate  the  point ; 
but  it  seems  that  they  could  hardly  have  been  the  latter, 
since  the  results  were  so  striking  in  comparison  with  those 
of  the  smooth  bore.  He  had  not  seen  the  pistol  himself, 
apparently,  and  the  rifle  seems  to  have  been  quite  a  novelty 
in  England  at  that  time. 

The  earliest  description  which  the  writer  has  seen  of  the 
manufacture  and  use  of  the  rifle  by  one  who  really  understood 
it  is  contained  in  a  Spanish  book  by  Alonso  Martinez  de 
Espinar,  entitled  *  Arte  de  Ballesteria  y  Monteria,'  published 
originally  at  Madrid  in  1644,  and  reprinted  in  1761.  It  is 
evident  from  this  that  by  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury the  use  of  the  rifle  for  sporting  purposes  was  extremely 
well  understood.   A  passage  worth  quoting  runs  as  follows :  — 

*  There  are  other  arquebuses  rifled  within  with  grooves  w^hich 
generally  make  in  the  length  of  the  barrel  half  a  turn,  or  one 
turn,  or  a  turn  and  a  half.'  After  stating  that  both  the  pitch  of 
the  spiral,  and  the  number,  width,  and  depth  of  the  grooves 
depend  upon  the  fancy  of  the  *  Maestro '  or  maker,  and  that 
the  grooves  may  be  either  shallow  and  close  together  or  deep 
with  wider  bands  separating  them,  de  Espinar  proceeds : — 
'  These  last  are  the  best ;  and  to  have  a  greater  or  less 
number  of  them  is  a  matter  of  taste,  as  has  been  already 
said,  and  similarly  the  question  of  the  gun  containing  a 
large  or  a  small  ball.     The  most  perfect  is  to  have  seven  or 


ALONSO    DE    ESPINAR  7 

nine  grooves  if  the  barrels  be  of  7  to  11  adarmes.^  This  is 
enough  to  kill  the  quarry  with  ball.  In  using  a  larger  bullet 
one  can  put  more  grooves  for  it,  for  in  this  there  is  no  fixed 
rule.  But  there  must  be  a  rule  in  knowing  how  to  load 
them,  for  the  greater  power  of  these  arquebuses  over  smooth 
bores  consists  in  this,  that  the  fire  has  greater  resistance  in 
the  former  kind  of  barrel,  because  it  forces  itself  into  the 
twists  of  the  rifling,  and  because  there  is  an  obstruction  in 
the  passage  through  which  it  has  to  find  its  way  it  multiplies 
its  force.  And  for  this  reason  it  should  be  observed  that  its 
force  is  increased  by  ramming  down  the  charge.  And  it  is 
necessary  to  have  felt  wads,  cut  with  a  punch,  which  must  be 
exactly  fitted  to  the  mouth  of  the  barrel.  They  must  be 
pitched  with  Greek  pitch  (colophony),  wax,  and  tallow.  All 
this  should  be  dissolved  and  the  wads  thrown  into  it,  and 
after  they  have  absorbed  the  pitch  they  must  be  put  to  cool, 
and  then  they  remain  very  hard  and  greasy;  these  are  very 
important  indeed  for  rifled  arquebuses,  because  with  them 
the  balls  go  in  more  easily,  for  they  have  to  fit  very  closely 
to  the  barrel,  having  to  be  driven  to  the  bottom  by  blows  of 
the  ramrod.  And  as  they  enter  in  this  manner  it  is  impossible 
to  get  them  in  for  two  shots  running  from  the  fouling  which 
the  powder  leaves,  and  there  is  no  other  remedy  but  to  wash 
the  barrel.  And  that  this  may  not  be  necessary,  and  that 
you  may  be  able  to  fire  as  many  as  a  dozen  balls,  these  wads 
are  applied,  which  drive  down  the  fouling  left  by  the  powder, 
and  leave  the  barrel  clean  and  slimy  with  the  pitch.  And  in 
the  same  way,  the  ball  entering  with  so  much  pressure,  helps 
to  stop  the  windage  of  it,  and  in  this  consists  the  greater  or 
less  range  that  it  has,  according  as  the  fire  uses  more  of  its 
force.'  An  illustration  is  appended  (Plate  I.)  from  de  Espinar's 
book,  showing  a  deer-drive  and  the  sportsman  shooting  from 
under  a  tree,  his  weapon  supported  on  a  rest.  The  game  is 
represented  as  being  delightfully  tame.  The  line  across  the 
picture  shows  the  direction  of  the  wind. 

In  the  description  just  quoted  we  see  all  the  difficulties 
of  the  muzzle-loading  rifle  appreciated,  the  chief  being  the 
oselessness  of  a  loose  ball  and  the  difficulty  of  loading  with 

'  The  adarme  =  Jt  oz. 


8  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

a  tight  one  owing  to  the  foaling,  or  residaam  of  the  burnt 
powder,  obstructing  its  passage.  The  ase  of  a  greasy  or 
slimy  wad,  fitting  very  tight,  palliates  this  trouble.  The 
difficulty  caused  by  the  fouling,  which  made  the  rifle  so  mueh 
slower  to  load  than  the  smooth-bore,  was,  no  doubt,  greatest 
in  the  earliest  days  when  the  ingredients  of  the  powder 
were  impure.  It  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  that  improved  methods  and  improved  workmanship 
overcame  the  trouble,  and  the  bullet  itself  was  made  effectually 
to  clean  the  bore  at  each  shot. 

The  earliest  rifles  seem  usually  to  have  had  six,  seven, 
or  eight  grooves,  seven  being  the  commonest  number,  possibly 
on  account  of  its  mystic  properties.  For  these  every  sort 
of  shape  was  tried.  They  were  made  with  square  comers 
or  rounded,  notch-shaped,  ratchet-shaped,  deep  or  shallow, 
according  to  taste. 

The  pitch  or  angle  at  which  they  were  inclined  from  the 
straight  line  of  the  barrel  varied  similarly  with  the  fancy 
of  the  maker,  and  depended  on  no  accepted  rule.  The  spiral 
grooving  inside  the  barrel  may  be  compared  to  a  long  strip 
of  paper  wrapped  spirally  round  a  smooth  stick  at  no  very 
steep  inclination.  If  the  end  of  the  paper  be  held  and  the 
stick  rolled  upon  a  flat  table  so  as  to  unroll  the  paper,  it  will 
be  found  that  the  precise  angle  of  inclination  of  the  strip  of 
paper  to  the  stick  can  easily  be  measured.  In  the  same  way 
the  angle  of  the  grooving  in  the  barrel  will  be  found  to  be 
such  as  to  make  either  a  portion  of  a  turn,  or  a  certain 
number  of  turns,  in  the  length  of  the  barrel.  Naturally 
enough,  the  pitch  of  the  spiral  was  commonly  measured  by 
its  proportion  to  the  length  of  the  barrel — not  at  all  a  satis- 
factory method,  since  the  length  of  the  barrel  varied,  and  so 
did  the  calibre.  The  simplest  way  to  express  the  inclination 
is  in  terms  of  the  calibre,  which  gives  a  true  comparison 
between  one  arm  and  another.  The  earlier  rifles  at  Wool- 
wich usually  show  a  pitch  of  from  fifty  to  ninety  calibres, 
but  some  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  good  deal  more  ; 
one  is  a  slow  spiral  of  nearly  200  calibres.  These  rifles  have 
mostly  six  to  nine  grooves.  As  we  have  just  seen,  there  was 
no  accepted   rule  as   to   the  spiral  in  Spain    when   Alonso 


PLATE  I 


OBEB  DRIVE,  ItU 


DEGREE    OF    SPIRAL  11 

de  Espinar  wrote  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
In  Deane's  '  Manual  of  Fire-arms/  published  in  1858,  it 
is  stated  that  the  rifle  in  the  previous  century  was  used  in 
Switzerland  and  the  Tyrol  for  sporting  purposes,  the  barrel 
being  very  heavy,  and  '  some  were  rifled  with  straight  parallel 
grooves,  but  the  majority  in  a  spiral  line,  sometimes  of  half 
a  turn,  sometimes  three-quarters  of  a  turn,  and  seldom  more 
than  the  whole  turn  in  a  length  of  2,  2^,  and  3  feet.'  Early 
in  the  last  century  there  seem  to  have  been  barrels  made  with 
straight  grooves,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  be  certain  that  these 
were  not  usually  for  firing  small  shot.  Robins,  whose  experi- 
ments on  rifles  are  among  the  classics,  writing  about  the 
year  1740,  speaks  of  rifled  pieces  as  being  well  known  on  the 
Continent,  but  little  used  in  England,  and  says  that  though 
various  degrees  of  spiral  are  used,  it  is  usual  for  the  rifling 
to  make  a  little  more  than  one  turn  in  its  whole  length.  He 
comments  on  the  advantage  of  wrapping  the  ball  in  a  tightly 
fitting  patch  of  leather  or  fustian  to  make  it  fit  the  grooves. 
Baker,  in  his  *  Remarks  on  Rifle  Guns,'  the  first  edition  of 
which  seems  to  have  been  published  in  the  year  1800,  says 
that  *  it  has  always  been  considered  that  three-fourths  or  a 
whole  turn  in  the  angle  of  a  rifle  with  a  barrel  3  feet  in 
length  was  best  for  throwing  a  ball  with  certainty.  This 
mode  of  rifling  is  practised  by  Germans,  French,  and 
Americans,  and  all  the  foreign  rifles  that  I  have  ever  yet 
seen  are  rifled  according  to  that  principle ;  and  several 
English  gunmakers  are  firmly  of  opinion  that  one  turn  in 
4  feet  is  the  best  angle  possible.  With  this  angle  of  rifling 
I  never  could  fire  at  a  long  range  with  any  degree  of  cer- 
tainty.' He  goes  on  to  say  that  if  he  increased  the  powder- 
charge  to  get  a  greater  range  he  found  the  bullet  strip,  Lc, 
pass  over  the  grooving  altogether ;  and  as  the  result  of 
experiments,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  nearer  the 
grooving  approximated  to  a  straight  line  the  more  true  and 
further  the  bullet  would  range.  He  found  that  he  got 
excellent  results  from  a  barrel  2  feet  G  inches  long,  rifled 
with  one-fourth  of  a  turn  in  its  length.  Colonel  Beaufoy, 
however,  writing  in  1808,  puts  in  a  strong  plea  for  a  more 
rapid  spiral  than  this,  i.e.,  three-fourths  of  a  turn  in  the 


12  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    BIFLE 

length  of  the  barreL  It  had  been  observed  that  the  accurac j 
of  the  rifles  made  with  the  more  gradual  twist  fell  oS  rapidly 
when  they  were  fired  at  anything  approaching  long  ranges, 
and  Colonel  Beaufoy  states  that  some  of  the  foreign  makers 
had  adopted  with  success  a  more  rapid  twist.  He  says : — 
*  Guns  having  accordingly  been  constmcted  on  this  plan,  they 
were  first  of  all  (we  believe)  adopted  in  the  Duke  of  Cumber- 
land's Sharpshooters/  now  the  Victoria  Rifles,  *  where  they 
were  found  to  answer  so  well  that  all  their  crack  shots,  and 
such  as  were  fond  of  the  sport,  abandoned  their  old  barrels, 
and  procured  others  on  the  new  plan,  which  was  that  of 
three-fourths.'  The  new  rifles  were  made  by  Mr.  Smith,  of 
Lisle  Street,  from  suggestions  by  Mr.  Francis  de  la  Pierre, 
of  Hackney.  The  superiority  of  the  new  rifles  was  so  C(m- 
clusively  proved  in  a  match  that  they  were  generally  adopted 
by  the  other  corps. 

We  give  a  copy  of  a  curious  old  print  published  in 
1811  representing  a  match  between  the  Duke  of  Cumberland's 
Sharpshooters  and  the  Nottingham  Bobin  Hood  Club,  in 
which  the  score  of  the  latter  was  18,  and  of  the  former  31. 
It  is  stated  on  the  plate  that  'the  Notts  took  2^  hours 
and  40  minutes  to  fire  their  shots  in  order  to  draw 
the  Cumberland  into  the  night,  but  the  Cumberland 
fired  theirs  in  *  43  minutes,  beginning  at  a  quarter  past 
five.'  This  match  appears  to  have  been  shot  on  Staia- 
ford  Raceground.  It  is,  unfortunately,  not  stated  what  was 
the  distance  and  what  the  number  of  shots.  The  shooter's 
figure  is  well  drawn  and  the  attitude  characteristic.  The 
plate  was  evidently  drawn  by  a  partizan  of  the  Cumberlands 
to  commemorate  their  victory,  and  is,  perhaps,  rather  unkind 
to  the  Eobin  Hoods. 

The  system  found  so  satisfactory  was  taken  up  by  other 
gunmakers,  and  further  developed.  Mr.  Squires,  of  White- 
chapel,  went  so  tar  as  to  give  the  grooves  a  complete  turn  in 
the  length  of  the  barrel,  and  this  was  attended  with  even 
greater  success.  When,  however,  he  tried  the  effect  of 
having  two  turns  of  spiral  in  the  length  of  the  barrel,  it 
appeared  that,  although  these  rifles  shot  well,  no  sufficient 
advantage  was  gained  to  bring  them  into  general  use.     It 


1. 


DEGREE    OF    SPIBAL  15 

seems  to  be  clear  that  on  the  Continent  a  rapid  twist  had 
been  used  where  it  was  desired  to  obtain  good  results  at  long 
ranges,  but  it  is  evident  that  at  this  period  a  rapid  twist  was 
not  compatible  with  a  very  high  velocity.  Colonel  George 
Hanger,  in  his  book,  published  in  1814,  speaks  of  the 
American  rifle  as  being  made  with  one  whole  spiral  turn  in 
the  barrel,  which  was  39  inches  long.  As  this  proportion 
was  found  most  satisfactory-  by  the  Americans  a  hundred 
years  ago,  as  well  as  by  Continental  nations,  it  must  have 
had  much  in  its  favour. 

One  of  the  great  advantages  of  the  two-grooved  rifle, 
carrying  a  round  ball  with  a  belt  cast  on  it,  which  fitted  into 
two  deep  grooves,  was  found  to  be  that  a  more  rapid  degree 
of  twist  could  be  given  to  the  bullet  without  its  stripping. 
This  was  the  principle  on  which  the  Brunswick  rifle,  which 
in  1839  succeeded  the  Baker  rifle  as  the  arm  of  the  Bifle 
Brigade,  was  made.  It  had  a  spiral  making  one  complete 
turn  in  30  inches— just  four  times  as  rapid  as  that  of  its 
predecessor.  « 

Wilkinson,  in  his  *  Engines  of  War,'  in  speaking  of  the 
increased  pitch  of  spiral,  says  that  it  was  almost  impossible 
with  the  ordinary  spherical  bullet  to  give  a  more  rapid  spiral 
than  one  turn  in  three  feet  without  causing  the  bullet  to  strip. 
On  the  other  hand,  Lieut.  Forsyth,  in  his  book  on  *  The 
Sporting  Eifle  and  its  Projectiles,'  published  in  1863,  speaks 
of  the  importance,  from  a  sporting  point  of  view,  of  the 
spherical  ball  as  having  a  larger  striking  surface  than  a 
conical  one  of  the  same  weight,  and  of  the  great  improvement 
which  a  Scotch  gunmaker  made  in  1851  by  reducing  the 
spiral  from  the  established  rates  to  one  turn  in  ten  or  eleven 
ieet,  which  was  found  to  be  perfectly  sufficient  for  sporting 
distances.  Captain  Forsyth's  conclusion  was  that  a  14-bore 
barrel,  rifled  at  the  rate  of  one  turn  in  8  feet  8  inches,  would 
give  all  necessary  accuracy  up  to  200  or  250  yards,  and  that 
with  a  similar  rifle  a  rate  of  spiral  of  one  turn  in  12  feet 
would  give  accuracy  up  to  150  yards,  these  being  the  furthest 
distances  required  for  sporting  purposes. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  pitch  of  the  spiral  dei^ends 
to  some  extent  upon  the  velocity  to  be  given  to  the  bullet. 


16  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

In  any  rifle  with  a  small  charge  a  rapid  twist  may  be  used, 
because  there  is  less  danger  of  the  bullet  being  forced  over 
the  lands  of  ihe  rifling,  and  because  its  rapidity  of  spin 
after  leaving  the  muzzle,  on  which  its  stability  depends,  is 
compounded  of  two  factors,  the  velocity  and  the  rate  of 
twist  of  the  grooving,  of  which  when  one  is  diminished,  the 
other  needs  to  be  proportionately  increased.  It  would  seem 
that  a  moderately  rapid  spiral  was  rather  the  rule  than  the 
exception  with  the  earliest  rifles.  One  reason  for  this  may 
probably  have  been  the  inferior  quality  of  the  powder,  and 
another  the  insufficient  strength  of  the  barrels,  which  limited 
the  charge  used  and  also  tended  to  a  low  velocity.  Under 
such  conditions  a  quick  twist  could  be  used.  It  was  when 
the  velocities  began  to  be  much  increased,  as  in  Captain 
Forsyth's  day,  to  obtain  a  flatter  trajectory  that  the  danger 
of  stripping  with  the  spherical  ball  became  most  prominent. 
A  -808  rifle  has  a  spiral  of  about  one  turn  in  thirty-three 
calibres ;  it  is  actually  one  turn  in  ten  inches.  The  largest 
cannon  that  are  made  have  a  spiral  of  very  similar  pitch, 
about  one  turn  in  thirty  calibres  ;  and  with  a  similar  velocity 
tho  strain  on  the  bullet,  which  arises  from  its  being  suddenly 
twisted  upon  itself,  is  not  greater  in  the  one  case  than  in  the 
other.  At  the  same  time  it  is  clear  that  the  distance  in  which 
the  spiral  makes  a  complete  turn  in  the  rifle  is  very  short. 

The  battle  of  the  spirals  was  a  long  one,  and  most 
obstinately  fought.  It  found  a  definite  solution  only  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  the  invention  of 
the  elongated  bullet  rendered  it  possible  to  use  a  very  rapid 
spiral  without  its  stripping,  since  even  a  short  cylindrical 
part  near  the  base  obtained  much  more  holding  surface  upon 
the  grooves  than  a  spherical  ball. 

Sir  Joseph  Whitworth's  famous  experiments  about  1860 
threw  much  light  on  the  question  of  the  spiral.  In  the 
course  of  his  researches  he  investigated  the  twist  of  the 
Enfield  rifle,  -677  bore  (one  turn  in  78  inches),  and  found 
that  this  was  not  enough  to  steady  in  flight  a  longer  bullet 
than  that  of  the  Enfield  rifle.  But  he  found  that  there  was 
no  difficulty  in  firing  with  a  barrel  rifled  with  one  turn  in 
30  inches,  a  spiral  similar  to  that  previously  adopted  by 


WHITWORTH'S    SPIRAL 


17 


General  Jacob,  and  as  he  had  reduced  the  bore  to  -450  inch, 
he  tried  barrels  with  one  turn  in  20  inches,  one  turn  in 
10  inches,  one  turn  in  5  inches,  and,  finally,  even  with  one 
turn  in  1  inch.  These  barrels  were  of  his  hexagonal  bore, 
and  the  bullets  were  shaped  to  fit  them,  and  hardened.  With 
a  bullet  spinning  once  in  every  inch  of  progressive  flight,  and 
a  charge  of  35  grains  of  powder,  he  succeeded  in  penetrating 
seven  inches  of  elm  planks. 

He  did  not  express  the  pitch  of  the  spiral  in  terms  of 
the  calibre,  but  came,  as  he  says,  to  the  conclusion  that  *  the 
twist  for  a  rified-musket  bullet  must  not  be  less  than  one 
turn  in  20  inches,  the  minimum  diameter  of  the  barrel  being 
•45  inch ;  this  construction  gives  the  best  shot  with  the  charge 
of  powder  and  weight  of  bullet  to  which  I  was  limited.' 
This  twist,  it  will  be  observed,  amounts  to  one  turn  in  a 
length  of  44*4  times  the  calibre  of  the  barrel.  A  spin  some- 
what more  rapid  than  this  is  found  suitable  for  modern  rifles, 
large  and  small,  in  which  the  length  of  the  projectile  in 
proportion  to  the  calibre  is  considerably  greater  than  was  the 
case  with  the  bullet  adopted  by  Sir  Joseph  Whitworth.    Fig.  1 


FIG. 


shows,  on  a  reduced  scale,  bullets  of  various  lengths  tried  by 
him. 

The  extreme  trial  which  he  made  of  spinning  a  bullet  once 
in  every  inch  of  the  length  of  the  barrel,  demanded  quite  a 
small  charge  on  account  of  the  resistance  of  this  great  angle 
ot  rifling  to  the  progressive  motion  of  the  bullet.  We  all 
know  that,  to  take  the  analogous  case  of  a  top  spinning, 
a   certain  degree  of  velocity  of   spin  is  required  to  keep  it 


18  THE    BOOK    OF    THE     RIFLE 

upright  and  apparently  motionless  upon  its  point,  and  that 
if  the  spin  be  insufficient  it  swings  round  and  round  while 
it  is  spinning.  In  the  days  of  the  spherical  bullet  the  in- 
genuity of  gunmakers  was  taxed  to  reconcile  two  conflicting 
requirements  ;  to  give  the  bullet  sufficient  spin  for  steadi- 
ness, and  to  give  the  rifling  such  a  pitch  of  angle  as  would 
neither  cause  the  ball  to  strip  nor  unduly  reduce  its  velocity 
by  checking  its  progi'ess  in  the  barrel.  To  the  latter  point 
far  too  much  importance  has  habitually  been  attached.  It 
is  true  that  the  velocity  of  a  bullet  made  to  twist  in  the 
grooving  of  a  rifle  will  be  in  some  small  degree  lessened  as 
compared  with  that  of  one  discharged  from  a  smooth-bore ; 
but  with  shallow  grooving  and  a  hardened  bullet,  such  as 
have  now  for  many  years  been  used,  the  difference  is  very 
slight,  while  some  degree  of  compensation  is  derived  from  the 
fact  that  owing  to  any  delay  caused  in  the  passage  of  the 
bullet  the  powder  gases  will  have  a  longer  time  in  which  to 
act  upon  it.  So  evidently  is  this  the  case  that  one  of  the 
early  theories  to  explain  the  fact  that  the  rifle  did  more 
efifective  work  at  longer  range  than  the  smooth-bore,  was  that 
the  increased  resistance  given  by  the  grooving  caused  more 
force  to  be  developed  by  the  charge.  Even  in  such  recent 
times  as  those  in  which  the  modern  *  Express '  rifle  was 
produced,  it  has  been  thought  that  a  distinct  advantage  in 
velocity  could  be  gained  by  giving  as  little  inclination  as 
possible  to  the  spiral,  though  it  does  not  seem  that  any 
benefit  thus  obtained  would  be  appreciable. 

The  late  Mr.  Metford,  whose  lifetime  of  study  and  experi- 
ments with  the  rifle  lend  very  great  weight  to  his  opinion, 
estimated  that  in  the  normal  pattern  of  his  rifle,  in  which  the 
velocity  was  1,300  feet  per  second,  given  by  means  of  an 
increasing  spiral  ending  with  one  turn  in  34  calibres,  the  loss 
of  velocity  due  to  the  rifling  of  the  bullet  would  not  be  more 
than  about  five  feet  per  second. 

It  was  very  natural  that  those  who  were  groping  in  the 
dark  in  the  pre-scientific  ages  of  rifle-making,  and  had  no 
principles  to  guide  their  experimental  work,  should  try  every 
variety  of  grooving  in  the  hopes  of  hitting  upon  some  im- 
provement.    That  they  did  try  almost  every  device  which 


THE    INCEEASING    SPIEAL  19 

could  possibly  suggest  itself  is  clear.  The  polygonal  bore, 
which  had  been  proposed  in  its  hexagonal  shape  by  Sergeant- 
Major  Moore,  B.A.,  in  18B9,  and  had  been  experimentally 
made  in  octagonal  form  for  Sir  Isambard  Brunei,  the 
engineer,  some  years  before  Sir  Joseph  Whitworth  adopted 
hexagonal  rifling,  is  an  invention  dating  back  far  beyond  the 
nineteenth  century.  In  the  collection  of  arms  at  Geneva, 
for  instance,  there  is  an  old  rifle  whose  bore  has  a  square 
section.  At  Woolwich  there  is  a  rifled  arquebus,  the  barrel 
t)f  which  was  made  by  Augustus  Kotter  of  Nuremburg,  which 
has  a  polygonal  rifling  of  seven  grooves. 

So,  too,  the  degree  of  spiral  was  occasionally  varied. 
There  exist  specimens  of  ancient  arms  with  barrels  rifled 
with  a  twist  which  is  slow  at  the  breech  and  increased 
towards  the  muzzle ;  with  a  twist  which  is  rapid  at  the 
breech,  and  becomes  slow  at  the  muzzle  ;  and,  still  more 
marvellous,  with  a  spiral  which,  beginning  slowly,  is  most 
rapid  in  the  middle  of  the  barrel,  and  decreases  again  before 
it  reaches  the  muzzle.  Such  cases  as  the  latter  seem  more 
probably  due  to  inadequate  tools  or  careless  workmanship 
than  to  design. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  it  be  worth  while  to  have 
an  increasing  spiral,  the  principle  upon  which  Mr.  Metford 
devised  his  is  the  correct  one — that  the  bullet  should  receive 
during  its  passage  up  the  barrel  an  equal  increment  of  twist 
in  each  equal  space  of  the  time  during  which  it  is  under  the 
powder's  -pressure.  By  considering  the  expansion  of  the 
gases  a  curve  can  be  drawn  which  shows  the  increase  of 
velocity  in  each  moment  of  time,  and  this  was  the  foundation 
upon  which  the  curve  of  the  increasing  rapidity  of  his  spiral 
was  laid  down  by  Mr.  Metford.  He  maintained,  and  with 
justice,  that  such  an  increasing  spiral  brought  the  smallest 
amount  possible  of  strain  to  bear  upon  the  bullet.  But  the 
practical  complications  of  manufacture  and  repair  which 
-  an  increasing  spiral  involves  have  not  been  found  to  be 
compensated  by  any  appreciable  advantage  even  with  the 
much  higher  velocities  now  given  to  the  bullet.  Nor  is  it  so 
suitable  to  a  hardened  bullet  of  great  length  in  proportion  to 

c  2 


20  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

the  calibre  as  to  the  softer  and  shorter  bullets  of  the  black- 
powder  arms. 

Other  means  of  spinning  the  projectile  have  often  been 
tried  besides  grooving.  We  have  seen  an  arrangement  fitted 
experimentally  to  a  smooth-bore  barrel,  probably  aboat  the 
year  1860,  which  was  said  to  have  given  very  good  results 
ap  to  500  yards,  but  not  further.  This  consisted  of  a  small 
square  stem,  a  little  more  than  one-tenth  of  an  inch  in  dia- 
meter, which  screwed  into  the  bottom  of  the  breech  so  as  to 
project  about  5  or  6  inches  up  the  barrel ;  it  was  slightly 
twisted,  and  its  end  pointed,  and  the  bullet,  which  was  cast 
with  a  square  hole  in  it  to  correspond,  fitted  upon  the  stem, 
and  was  driven  down  upon  the  powder  at  its  base.  On  being 
fired  the  bullet  passed  along  the  twisted  stem,  and  this  gave 
it  a  rotation  which  continued  after  it  had  left  the  muzzle  of 
the  smooth-bored  barrel,  and  kept  it  steady  for  a  certain 
distance  in  flight.  The  complication,  however,  of  such  a 
device  as  this,  compared  with  the  normal  method  of  giving 
rotation  to  the  bullet,  quite  precluded  its  general  adoption. 
Endless  attempts  have  been  made  to  give  rotation  to  the 
bullet,  or  to  aid  rotation  already  given  in  the  barrel,  by  spiral 
grooves  cut  upon  the  bullet  itself.  But  they  have  all  failed, 
the  nearest  approach  to  success  being  a  bullet  for  sporting 
purposes  brought  out  some  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  ago  by 
Dr.  Macleod.  This  bullet  was  of  a  cylindrical  shape,  and  was 
pierced  with  four  taper  holes  round  its  axis  ;  the  holes  had  a 
spiral  inclination,  and  in  this  way  imparted  to  the  bullet  a 
rotation  which  was  suflScient  to  steady  it  for  a  flight  of  about 
100  yards.  Rotation  given  in  this  way  is  always  obtained  at  a 
heavy  cost  in  velocity,  and  in  this  case  the  heavy  resistance 
which  the  bullet  met  with  owing  to  its  flat  head,  the  flat 
head  itself  being  a  great  factor  in  steadying  the  bullet, 
rendered  it  quite  ineffective  beyond  that  distance.  The  loss 
of  accuracy  between  100  and  120  yards  with  this  bullet  seems 
to  have  been  somewhat  remarkable. 

It  would  be  of  no  use,  and  of  little  interest,  to  enumerate 
other  methods  which  have  been  devised  for  effecting  the  same 
end,  such  as  the  proposal  that  the  projectile  should  be  made 
hollow,  and  fitted  over  the  outside  of  the  barrel,  or  that  it 


SUBSTITUTES    FOR    GROOVING  21 

should  be  made  in  the  shape  of  a  narrow  disc,  and  be  given  a 
similar  spin  to  that  which  a  stone  has  when  sent  skimming 
over  the  water  with  the  hand.  A  more  modern  notion,  but 
one  equally  unpractical,  has  been  that  of  firing  a  smooth- 
bore cannon,  and  giving  to  the  whole  cannon  a  rapid  rotation 
at  the  moment  of  firing,  a  rotation  which  the  shot  on  leaving 
the  muzzle  would,  of  course,  retain.  Consider  for  a  moment 
what  engine-power  and  mechanism  would  be  required  to  give 
rotation  to  a  heavy  cannon  at  a  speed  of  several  hundred 
turns  in  one  second,  when  adjusted  in  any  direction,  without 
shaking  it  so  as  to  spoil  the  aim,  and  (if  it  be  possible) 
without  interfering  with  rapidity  of  loading  ;  remember,  too, 
that  the  desired  movement  can,  in  fact,  be  instantaneously 
given  at  the  instant  of  firing,  without  any  mechanism  or 
added  weight ;  you  will  then  understand  what  wildly  ignorant 
ideas  can  sometimes  assert  themselves  in  the  daily  press  as 
practicable  improvements. 

No  better  method,  in  short,  has  been  invented  than  what, 
so  far  as  we  know,  is  the  earliest  means  of  all,  as  it  is  cer- 
tainly the  simplest,  the  spiral  grooving  of  the  barrel, 
vvhereby  the  spin  is  given  to  the  projectile  in  the  course  of  its 
propulsion. 


22  THS    book    of    the    RIFLE 


CHAPTER   II 

EABLT  MILITARY  RIFLES— B0BIXS*8   PBOPHECY^THE  WAR  OF  INDEPENDENCE 
— THE   RIFLE    BRIGADE — THE   BAKER    RIFLE — COLONEL    HANOEB — ^THE 

BRUNSWICK    RIFLE — SLOWNESS    OF     LOADINO — EXPANDING    BULLETS 

PICKET      BULLETS — MINl£      BULLET      AND     RIFLE — TRIALS      IN      1S5I 

GENERAL  JACOB — THE   ENFIELD    RIFLE —WHITWORTH'S   EXPERIMENTS 

The  history  of  the  rifle  as  a  military  weapon  in  continuouB 
use  does  not  begin  mach  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago, 
although  many  attempts  to  introduce  it  for  troops  were  made 
at  different  times  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 
Perhaps  the  earliest  was  the  arming  of  some  of  the  Danish 
troops  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  with  the 
rifle.  A  number  of  these  arms  are  still  in  the  Arsenal  at 
Copenhagen,  and  one  is  in  the  collection  at  Woolwich.  The 
barrel  is  dated  1611,  and  is  marked  with  the  cypher  of 
Christian  IV.  At  the  end  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  the 
Elector  Maximilian  is  said  to  have  introduced  rifled  firearms 
into  the  Bavarian  army,  and  Marshal  Puysegur  recommended 
the  adoption  of  rifled  muskets  as  the  arm  of  a  small  propor- 
tion  of  the  men  in  each  company  in  the  French  infantry  of  his 
time.  Louis  XIII.  established  a  carbineer  cavalry  regiment, 
which  was  armed  throughout  with  rifled  carbines,  and  a  certain 
number  of  rifles  were  issued  for  distribution  among  the  infantry. 
In  a  small  book  called  *  A  Treatise  of  Arms,'  written  by 
Louis  de  Gaya,  and  published  at  Paris  in  1678,  and  two 
years  later  translated  into  English,  illustrations  are  given 
both  of  the  straight-stocked  musket,  with  match  or  flint  lock 
which  is  placed  against  the  breast  when  fired,  and  of  the  fire- 
lock with  a  crooked  stock,  with  which  a  proper  aim  could  be 
taken  along  the  barrel ;  and  also  of  the  mousqueton,  which 
is  the  short  form  of  the  firelock  j  and  *  does  not  by  a  third 
part  carry  so  far  unless  the  barrel  be  screwed  and  rifled '  ; 
and  of  the  carbine,  the  chief  distinction  of  which  was  that  it 
had  a  wheel  lock.     De  Gaya  speaks  further  of  *  extraordinary 


EARLY    MILITARY    RIF]?ES  23 

carbines  (arquebuses  guttieres)/  which  have  a  more  rapidly 
acting  lock  and  a  thicker  barrel  than  any  carbine,  and  *  can 
carry  blank  about  1,000  paces  with  the  same  proportion  of 
powder  as  is  necessary  for  the  fusil,  because  it  is  screwed  and 
rifled,  that  is  to  say,  wrought  and  crevassed  in  the  inside 
from  the  muzzle  to  the  breech  in  the  form  of  a  screw,  and 
from  thence  proceeds  the  justness  of  harquebuses.'  He 
clearly  shows  that  it  was  the  usual  arm  of  the  French 
troopers  of  his  day.  We  may  observe  in  passing  the  delight- 
ful ascription  to  this  short  rifle  of  a  '  point-blank  '  range  of 
1,000  paces,  a  claim  which  is  hardly  more  wonderful  than 
the  similar  one  so  often  made  nowadays  for  rifles  of  modern 
make.  In  those  days  even  more  than  in  these  such  a  state- 
ment could  rest  only  upon  a  very  flimsy  substratum  of  fact. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Mr.  Grose,  in  his  book  on 
*  Military  Antiquities,'  in  which  he  gives  a  history  of  the 
English  army  and  of  military  weapons  in  this  country  from 
the  Conquest,  until  the  date  at  which  he  wrote,  1786,  does 
not  even  mention  the  rifle  as  a  weapon.  At  that  time, 
indeed,  it  had  never  been  seriously  made  use  of  in  the  British 
army,  although  as  long  before  as  1742  Benjaruin  Robins,  in 
his  *  New  Principles  of  Gunnery,'  had  ventured  so  far  into 
the  region  of  prophecy  as  to  pronounce  that  *  whatever  State 
shall  thoroughly  comprehend  the  nature  and  advantages  of 
rifled  barrel  pieces,  and  having  facilitated  and  completed  their 
construction,  shall  introduce  into  their  armies  their  general 
use,  with  a  dexterity  in  the  management  of  them,  will  by  this 
means  acquire  a  superiority  which  will  almost  equal  anything 
that  has  been  done  at  any  time  by  the  particular  excellence 
of  any  one  kind  of  arms,  and  will  perhaps  fall  but  little  short 
of  the  wonderful  effects  which  histories  relate  to  have  been 
formerly  produced  by  the  first  inventors  of  firearms.'  Pro- 
phecy is  proverbially  dangerous.  Yet  when  we  consider  first 
the  general  adoption,  and  then  the  improvement  of  the  rifle 
and  of  cannon,  by  which  fire  effect  and  fighting  tactics  have 
been  entirely  revolutionised,  we  must  place  Robins  among  the 
true  seers.  So  questionable  was  it  consic'ered  by  military 
opinion  whether  the  rifle  gave  on  the  whole  any  advantage  at 
all  over  the  musket,  that  Napoleon  is  said  to  have  withdrawn 


24  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

the  rifle  from  a  part  of  the  French  light  infantry,  to  whom  it 
had  been  issued  in  1793,  during  the  wars  of  the  Republic, 
and  we  hardly  hear  of  it  again  as  being  used  by  the  French 
until  1830. 

The  great  objection  to  the  rifle  arose,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  from  the  difficulty  of  loading  it,  and  its  consequent 
slowness  of  fire.  Colonel  Beaufoy,  in  his  book  *  Scloppetaria/ 
in  1808,  says  frankly  that  *  a  musket  will  fire  three  shots  to 
one  from  a  rifle,  as  generally  used.'  Nearly  all  fighting  was 
still  at  such  close  quarters  as  to  make  it  more  important  that 
the  firearm  should  be  useful  in  preparing  for  bayonet  work 
on 'the  offensive,  or  in  breaking  the  force  of  a  charge  before 
it  reached  the  bayonets  on  the  defensive,  than  that  its  fire  at 
long  range  should  be  accurate.  Then  as  now,  speed  of  fire 
was  a  governing  factor.  It  is  only  as  speed  has  become 
combined  with  accuracy  at  a  distance,  that  the  old  pike- 
tactics,  which  have  in  a  large  measure  been  continued  by 
the  bayonet,  have  given  way.  The  firearm  is  now  no  mere 
auxiliary,  as  it  used  to  be,  to  the  bayonet.  Yet  there  never 
was  a  time  when  the  rifle  in  skilful  hands  could  not  produce 
striking  effects  in  war. 

The  present  writer,  in  a  little  book  published  some  years 
ago,  drew  attention  to  a  passage  in  the  '  History  of  the  War 
in  America  between  Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies/ 
published  in  Dublin  (1785),  which  shows  the  value  given  in 
America  to  skilled  shooting  with  a  rifle  at  that  time.  Lieut.- 
Col.  Ferguson  was  an  active  and  capable  officer  who  met 
his  fate  in  1780,  when  sent  by  Lord  Cornwallis  on  an  expe- 
dition into  North  Carolina  with  a  corps  of  light  infantry,  and 
a  body  of  militia  of  his  own  training.  *  The  fall  of  this 
officer,'  says  the  work  above  referred  to,  '  who  possessed  very 
distinguished  talents  as  a  partisan,  and  in  the  conduct  of 
irregular  warfare,  was,  independently  even  of  his  detachment, 
no  small  loss  to  the  service.  He  was,  perhaps,  the  best 
marksman  living,  and  probably  brought  the  art  of  rifle 
shooting  to  its  highest  point  of  perfection.  He  even  invented 
a  gun  of  that  kind  upon  a  new  construction,  which  was  said 
to  have  far  exceeded  in  facility  and  execution  anything  of  the 
sort  before  known  ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  greatly  outdone 


PLATE  III 


34  Shot nt  joo  Yirj/ifs, 


6fetl 


/fi/7e  ^a//r  an//  S/rrf^  hyJ-hrkie/  /Ja/rrr. 


DIAGRAM   OF   SHOOTING   MADE   WITH   A   BAKER   RIFLE     l&Hi 


■)j«e 


THE    BAKER    RIFLE  27 

even  the  American  Indians,  in  the  adroitness  and  quickness 
of  firing,  and  loading  and  in  the  certainty  of  hitting  the  mark, 
lying  upon  the  back,  or  belly,  and  every  other  possible 
position  of  the  body.  It  is  not  certain  that  these  improve- 
ments produced  all  the  effect  in  real  service  which  had  been 
expected,  from  those  astonishing  specimens  of  them  that  were 
displayed  in  England.  Humanity  cannot,  however,  but  wish 
that  this  barbarous  mode  of  hostility  was  by  universal  con- 
sent banished  from  the  warfare  of  all  nations.  It  has  been 
reported  that  George  Washington  owed  his  life  at  the  battle 
of  Germanstown  to  this  gentleman's  total  ignorance  of  his 
person,  as  he  had  him  sufficiently  within  reach  and  view  during 
thffct  action  for  the  purpose.' 

In  order  to  meet  the  skill  of  the  American  backwoodsmen 
in  this  war,  Jagers.were  recruited  on  the  Continent  and  sent 
over  by  the  British  Government  to  assist  the  British  troops. 
It  was,  no  doubt,  this  which  suggested  the  raising  of  a  riHe 
regiment.  The  95th,  Rifle  Brigade,  was  raised  by  Colonel 
Coote  Manningham  early  in  1800,  and  careful  trials  were 
made  of  rifles  with  a  view  to  arming  it.  Not  only  the  rifles 
of  English  gunmakers,  but  others  from  America,  France, 
Germany,  and  Holland,  were  tried  by  the  Committee  which 
dealt  with  the  subject.  One  made  by  Ezekiel  Baker,  of 
London  (Plate  V.  fig.  1),  was  approved  by  the  committee  and 
adopted,  and  was  the  arm  of  the  Rifle  Brigade  until  1837  or 
1838.  It  had  a  barrel  2  feet  6  inches  long,  and  was  rifled 
with  seven  grooves  making  one  quarter  of  a  turn  in  the 
length  of  the  barrel ;  the  bulWts  weighed  twenty  to  the  pound 
(•615-inch  calibre),  and  the  rifle  itself  9^  lbs. ;  it  was  sighted 
for  100  yards,  and  had  a  folding  leaf  giving  an  elevation 
for  200  yards.  It  was  not  an  easy  rifle  to  load,  as  the  bullet, 
though  wrapped  in  a  piece  of  greased  rag  (a  supply  of  which  was 
carried  in  a  brass  box  in  the  stock  of  the  rifle),  required  some 
force  to  make  it  enter  the  barrel.  For  this  purpose  a  small 
wooden  mallet  was  used  to  drive  the  ball  into  the  rifling,  in 
exactly  the  fashion  already  quoted  from  Sir  Hugh  Plat,  and  it 
was  then  forced  home  by  a  heavy  ramrod.  The  mallets  were 
soon  found  to  be  inconvenient,  and  their  use  was  not  continued 
for  more  than  two  or  three  years.     The  Baker  rifle  had,  of 


28  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

course,  a  flint  lock,  and  the  rifleman  carried  a  picker  to  clear 
the  touch-hole, -and  a  little  brush  to  clean  the  pan.  A  tri- 
angular sword  bayonet  17  inches  long  was  carried,  and  had 
a  spring  attachment  to  the  rifle. 

The  performances  of  this  rifle  may  be  judged  from  Baker's 
book,  *  Remarks  on  Rifle  Guns,'  which  shows  that  he  thought 
it  good  work  to  hit  the  figure  of  a  man  in  20  or  80  shots 
consecutively  at  100  or  200  yards,  as  shown  in  Plate  III. 
He  does  not  mention  whether  the  rifle  was  fired  from  a 
rest  or  in  a  standing  position  ;  probably  the  latter,  for  Colonel 
Beaufoy  shows  some  much  better  targets  of  about  the  same 
date  (Plate  IV).  The  coloured  diagrams  which  Baker  gives 
to  illustrate  the  positions  of  firing  are  decidedly  curious,  and 
have  been  several  times  reproduced  in  more  modern  works. 
Yet  we  give  them  again  further  on,  for  they  are  of  some  his- 
torical interest.  The  Rifle  Brigade,  armed  with  the  Baker  rifle, 
was  found  to  be  such  a  useful  body  that  a  second  battalion 
was  raised  in  1805,  and  the  regiment  formed  a  prominent 
part  of  the  famous  Light  Division  in  the  Peninsular  War. 

Meanwhile  attention  continued  to  be  directed  to  the 
importance  of  the  rifle  in  the  light  of  Transatlantic  experience. 
There  were  many  Englishmen  who  had  seen  service  in 
America  and  learnt  what  a  formidable  weapon  in  the  hands 
of  a  skilled  shot  a  rifle  could  be.  Colonel  Hanger,  who  was 
one  of  them,  relates  an  instance  bearing  on  the  point. 
Writing  in  1814,  having  served  during  the  war  as  a  captain 
in  the  Hessian  Jager  Corps,  he  says  that  he  never  in  his  life  saw 
better  rifles,  or  rifles  better  used,  than  those  made  in  America, 
and  adds  that  they  were  chiefly  made  in  Lancaster,  and  two  or 
three  neighbouring  towns  in  that  vicinity,  in  Pennsylvania. 
Their  barrels,  he  says,  weighed  about  6  lbs.  2  or  3  oz.,  and 
carried  a  ball  not  larger  that  36  to  the  pound.  This  is 
equivalent  to  a  diameter  of  a  little  more  than  half  an  inch,  a 
smaller  calibre  than  was  used  in  the  military  arms  of  this 
country  until  the  adoption  of  the  Martini-Henry  rifle.  Yet 
Colonel  Hanger  says  that  he  never  saw  in  America  a  rifle  of 
larger  calibre  than  has  just  been  mentioned,  although  he  had 
seen  many  hundreds.  He  gives  the  following  account  of  an 
incident  in  the  war,  showing  that  the  use  of  the  rifle  at  a 


PLATE  IV 


40  Smcestwe  Shots. 
ISO 


j6  Suotrstwr  Skotjr 
l&ndf  dutattar . 


dtytmtikejwnt 


7?  Sutc&f^nr  Shot*:  mt  too  lanir 


1M«  ^tm  made  fyT^^ffSfuuw. 


Pit.  so  SAots  on  tike  11*  99  on  tke  2* 


SO  Siunessive  Shots 
ot  too  ikftif  Ji^ttner 
Torprt  JO  Jkt^Ar  Jk'amdUr. 
With  a  (HU1  trwdr  fy-T.-t'^uvvs 
Gutte  ./^  .  WkitKhupJ. 


DIAORAMS   OF   SHOOTING,   18U8,   FROM   *  SCLOPPBTARIA 


30  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    KIFLE 

distance  of  400  yards  was  unusual  in  those  days,  and  taken 
to  be  a  very  important  developement  in  war : — *  Colonel,  now 
General  Tarleton,  and  myself,  were  standing  a  few  yards  out 
of  a  wood,  observing  the  situation  of  a  part  of  the  enemy 
which  we  intended  to  attack.  There  was  a  rivulet  in  the 
enemy's  front,  and  a  mill  on  it,  to  which  we  stood  directly 
with  our  horse.s'  heads  fronting,  observing  their  motions.  It 
was  an  absolutely  plain  field  between  us  and  the  mill ;  not 
80  'much  as  a  single  bush  on  it.  Our  orderly-bugler  stood 
behind  us  about  three  yards,  but  with  his  horse's  side  to  our 
horses'  tails.  A  rifleman  passed  over  the  mill-dam,  evidently 
observing  two  officers,  and  laid  himself  down  on  his  belly ; 
for  in  such  positions,  they  always  lie,  to  take  a  good  shot  at  a 
long  distance.  He  took  a  deliberate  and  cool  shot  at  my 
friend,  at  me,  and  the  bugle-horn  man.  Now  observe  how 
well  this  fellow  shot.  It  was  in  the  month  of  August,  and 
not  a  breath  of  wind  was  stirring.  Colonel  Tarleton's  horse 
and  mine,  I  am  certain,  were  not  anything  like  two  feet 
apart ;  for  we  were  in  close  consultation,  how  we  should 
attack  with  our  troops,  which  laid  300  yards  in  the  wood,  and 
could  not  be  perceived  by  the  enemy.  A  rifle-ball  passed 
between  him  and  me ;  looking  directly  to  the  mill  I  evidently 
observed  the  flash  of  the  powder.  I  directly  said  to  my  friend, 
*  I  think  we  had  better  move,  or  we  shall  have  two  or  three  of 
these  gentlemen,  shortly,  amusing  themselves  at  our  expence.' 
The  words  were  hardly  out  of  my  mouth  when  the  bugle-horn 
man  behind  us,  and  directly  central,  jumped  off  his  horse 
and  said,  '  Sir,  my  horse  is  shot.'  The  horse  staggered,  fell 
down,  and  died.  He  was  shot  directly  behind  the  fore-leg, 
near  to  the  heart — at  least,  where  the  great  blood  vessels  lie, 
which  lead  to  the  heart.  Now,  speaking  of  this  rifleman's 
shooting,  nothing  could  be  better;  but,  from  the  climate, 
he  had  much  in  his  favour.  First,  at  that  time  of  the 
year,  there  was  not  one  breath  of  wind ;  secondly,  the  atmo- 
sphere is  so  much  clearer  than  ours,  that  he  can  take  a  more 
perfect  aim.'  '  I  have  passed,'  he  adds,  *  several  times  over 
this  ground,  and  ever  observed  it  with  the  greatest  attention  ; 
and  I  can  positively  assert  that  the  distance  he  fired  from,  at 
us,  was  full  four  hundred  yards.' 


THE    BRUNSWICK    RIFLE  31 

Colonel  Hanger  ^  proposed  to  arm  English  troops  with  a 
rifle  of  new  design,  suggested  by  his  American  experience, 
having  a  heavy  barrel  of  small  calibre,  to  enal)le  a  bullet  to 
be  fired  with  specially  high  velocity. 

In  1886  the  improvements  in  rifles  were  thought  to  justify 
a  change  in  the  arm  of  the  Rifle  Brigade,  and  a  Board  was 
assembled  at  Woolwich  to  deal  with  the  subject.  It  was  only 
after  trials  extending  over  several  weeks  that  the  Brunswick 
rifle  (Plate  V.,  fig.  2)  was  selected.  This  rifle  had  ignition  on 
the  percussion  principle.  Its  barrel  was  2  feet  6  inches  long, 
and  was  rifled  with  two  deep  rounded  grooves,  making  one 
complete  turn  in  the  length  of  the  barrel :  the  bore  was  larger 
than  that  of  the  Baker  rifle,  carrying  a  ball  twelve  or  thirteen  to 
the  pound,  and  being  *704  inch  in  calibre,  not  much  smaller 
than  the  old  *  Brown  Bess.'  It  weighed  nearly  two  pounds 
more  than  the  Baker  rifle,  11  lbs.  5^  oz.,  and  was  sighted  to 
300  yards.  It  was  considered  to  make  as  good  shooting  at 
300  yards  as  the  Baker  rifle  had  made  at  200  yards.  This 
was,  no  doubt,  largely  due  to  the  more  rapid  pitch  of  the 
spiral.  The  ball  fired  from  it  was  what  is  known  as  a  belted 
ball,  having  a  raised  belt  projecting  all  round  it,  which  fitted 
the  two  grooves  in  the  rifle-barrel.  To  aid  the  fitting  of  the 
belt  to  the  grooves  in  loading,  a  notch  was  cut  across  the 
muzzle,  which  served  to  guide  the  belt  into  the  entrance  to 
the  grooves.  This  rifle  was  fitted  with  a  straight  sword  in 
place  of  the  bayonet.  As  had  been  the  case  with  the  Baker 
rifle,  it  was  found  that  loading  became  very  diflficult  after  a 
few  shots,  owing  to  the  accumulation  of  the  fouling. 

The  Brunswick  rifle  did  not  hold  its  owii  for  many  years. 
A  Select  Committee  on  Small  Arms,  1862,  reported  as  follows 
in  reference  to  it : — *  The  Brunswick  rifle  has  shown  itself  to 
be  much  inferior  in  point  of  range  to  every  other  arm  hitherto 
noticed.  The  loading  of  this  rifle  is  so  difiSicult  that  it  is  a 
wonder  how  the  rifle  regiments  have  continued  to  use  it  so 
long,  the  force  required  to  ram  down  the  ball  being  so  great 
as  to  render  any  man's  hand  unsteady  for  accurate  shooting. 
Comment  is  unnecessary.' 

*  Colonel  Hanger  was  an  original.    He  abaolntely  refused  to  assume  the 
title  of  Baron  Cderaine,  to  which  he  sacceeded  on  his  brother's  death  in  1814. 


32  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

During  the  Kaffir  War  of  1846  to  1852  a  few  Lancaster 
rifles  (Plate  V.,  fig.  3)  were  issued  to  the  Ist  Batt.  Bifie 
Brigade  in  South  Africa.  They  were  generally  similar  to  the 
Brunswick  rifle,  but  carried  a  conical  bullet  with  a  flat  base, 
and  a  rib  on  each  side  to  fit  the  grooving.  This  was  a  very 
heavy  bullet,  and  the  flight  was  not  very  certain,  but  the 
rifles  were  sighted  to  900  yards,  and  seem  to  have  done 
good  work.  With  this  exception  the  Brunswick  rifld  lasted 
until  the  regiment  embarked  for  the  Crimea,  when  it  was 
armed  with  the  Minie  rifle,  which  was  then  being  issued  to 
the  line  regiments. 

It  may  be  said  on  the  whole  that  the  improvements  made 
in  rifles  since  they  have  been  recognised  as  serviceable  in 
war  are  due  to  their  developement  in  that  capacity,  and  not  as 
sporting  weapons.  We  have  before  alluded  to  the  obstacle 
which  for  so  many  years  had  almost  prohibited  the  use  of  the 
rifle  in  war — the  accumulation  of  fouling,  owing  to  which  the 
bullet  could  not  be  driven  home,  except  with  immense  diflS- 
culty,  after  a  very  few  shots  had  been  fired.  The  ordinary 
musket  used  by  the  troops  was  free  from  this  defect,  because 
the  ball  was  so  much  smaller  than  the  size  of  the  barrel  that 
it  would  drop  into  it  very  easily.  A  gap  was  thus  left,  known 
as  windage,  between  the  bullet  and  the  barrel,  which  wasted 
a  good  deal  of  the  power  of  the  powder,  for  the  powder  gases 
could  leak  out  freely  round  the  bullet  as  it  went  up  the  barrel- 
The  accumulation  of  fouling  on  the  surface  of  the  bore  after 
a  few  shots  had  been  fired  helped  to  fill  up  this  space,  but  if 
the  bullet  was  small  enough  in  proportion  to  the  bore  a  great 
many  rounds  could  be  fired. before  any  difficulty  was  expe- 
rienced in  loading. 

The  musket  is  not  generally  looked  upon  as  a  weapon  with 
which  very  rapid  practice  could  be  made ;  something  like  two 
shots  a  minute  seems  to  have  been  the  speed  which  could  be 
reached.  How  much  slower  the  rifle  was  in  loading  is  shown 
by  Colonel  Beaufoy,  who  puts  the  time  necessary  to  load  a 
rifle  at  from  1^  to  2  minutes.  Yet  he  considered  the 
difference  in  accuracy  to  be  so  enormous,  that,  even  allow- 
ing the  musket  a  superiority  of  5  to  1  in  the  rate  of  fire, 
it   might  be  said  that  at  from  250  to  400  yards  the  rifle 


2: 

P 

94 

n 


o 


m 


THE    EXPANDING    BULLET  35 

•would  still  be  more  eflfective  than  the  musket  in  the  propor- 
tion of  7  to  1.  The  great  diflSculty  which  had  first  to  be 
overcome  was  the  labour  and  trouble  of  loading  with  a 
bullet  which  required  to  be  forced  into  the  grooving,  and  it 
was  not  until  the  invention  of  the  expanding  bullet,  which 
<3ame  after  that  of  ignition  by  percussion,  that  this  was  satis- 
factorily accomplished. 

A  strong  claim  to  have  devised  the  first  expanding  bullet, 
that  is,  a  bullet  which  was  small  enough  to  drop  easily  down 
the  bore,  and  yet  was  expanded  by  the  explosion  so  as  to  fit  it 
properly,  has  been  made  by  W.  W.  Greener,  who  produced,  in 
1835,  an  oval  ball  with  a  tapered  hollow  in  it, 
into  which  a  plug  of  similar  shape,  with  a  head 
like  a  round-topped  button,  was  driven  by  the 
explosion  (fig.  2).  This  bullet  was  tried  in  the 
same  year  by  a  party  of  the  60th  Eifles,  but 
the  trials  did  not  convince  the  military  autho- 
rities of  the  day  that  it  was  advisable  to  adopt 
it.  Mr.  Greener's  expanding  bullet  seems  to 
have  been  devised  with  special  reference  to  its 
use  in  the  smooth  bore.  In  1841,  describing 
the  ball  made  by  him  in  1886,  he  speaks  of  "^*  * 
its  expanding,  and  'thus  either  filling  the  grooves  of  the 
rifle,  or  destroying  the  windage  of  the  musket,  as  the  case 
may  be,'  and  goes  on  to  say :  *  As  regards  its  application  to. 
rifles,  there  can  be  no  question  of  its  advantage,  if  there  exist 
any  requirement  for  a  ball  to  be  acted  upon  by  the  grooves 
at  all,  which  we  do  not  think  is  advantageous— in  fact,  there 
exists  no  question.'  It  is  only  fair  to  say,  however,  that 
Mr.  Greener's  book,  published  in  1835,  shows  a  considerable 
appreciation  of  the  possibilities  of  the  rifle,  and  criticises  a 
current  American  idea  that  it  really  gave  no  advantage  over 
the  smooth  bore.  The  essential  virtues  of  rifling  had  very 
«lowly  begun  to  be  understood.  The  very  able  author  of 
*  Scloppetaria '  had  maintained  that  the  bullet  spun  merely 
by  virtue  of  the  spiral  impressions  which  its  surface  had 
received  from  the  grooving,  and  which  were  acted  upon  by 
the  air. 

Much   ingenuity  had  been    expended    in    France    upon 

D  2 


86 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


the  subject,  and  M.  Delvigne,  in  1826,  had  brought  to  the 
notice  of  the  French  military  authorities  a  new  device  for 
effecting  the  expansion  of  the  bullet.  His  method  was 
to  use  an  ordinary  round  bullet  of  the  soft  lead  then 
universally  employed,  which  would  easily  fall  into  the 
barrel,  but  to  make  the  powder  chamber  smaller  than  the 
rest  of  the  bore.  This  gave  a  circular  ledge  above  the  powder 
charge,  upon  which  the  ball  rested  when  dropped  into  the 
barrel ;  if  then  a  few  blows  were  given  upon  it  with  a  heavy 
ramrod,  the  upper  surface  of  the  ball  was  slightly  flattened, 
and  it  was  expanded  laterally  until  it  fitted  the  grooving  (fig.  3). 
By  this  means  loading  became  a  very  rapid  process,  not 
materially  slower  than  it  was  with  the  musket,  and  M.  Delvigne 
at  once  obtained  a  very  much  greater  precision  of  fire. 

In  1883  Lieut.-Colonel  Poncharra  proposed  to  modify 
the  Delvigne  system  by  wrapping  the  ball  in  a  thin  greased 
patch,  to  keep  the  grooving  clean,  and  subsequently  the 
patch  was  fastened  to  a  small  sabot,  or  wad  of  wood,  which 
was  interposed  between  the  ball  and  the  shoulders  of  the 
powder-chamber  (fig.  4).   In  1888  this  rifle  was  made  the  arm 

of  the  first  experimental 
company  of  Chasseurs-i- 
pied,  expanded  in  1840 
into  the  Tirailleurs  de 
Vincennes,  who  made  a 
great  mark  in  Algeria  in 
the  operations  against  the 
Arabs,  and  became  the 
nucleus  of  an  establish- 
ment of  ten  battalions  of 
riflemen. 

Yet  it  was  not  found 
that  this  principle  of  load- 
ing was  entirely  satisfactory.  The  ammunition  was  rather 
complicated  to  make,  and  the  difficulty  which  thus  arose  led 
Colonel  Thouvenin,  of  the  Artillery,  to  attempt  an  improve- 
ment upon  it.  His  device  was  to  introduce  a  short  pillar  in 
the  middle  of  the  breech,  roimd  which  the  powder  lay,  and 
upon   which   the   bullet    rested  while   it   was   expanded   by 


FIG.   8 


FIO.    4 


THE    THOUVENIN    RIFLE 


37 


ramming  (fig.  6).     There  was,  however,  no  great  advantage 
in  this  alteration  so  long  as  the   spherical   bullet,   insisted 
upon  by  the    military   authorities,    was 
retained. 

The  round  bullet,  as  has  been  shown, 
had  several  disadvantages.  It  was  im- 
possible to  give  it  suflScient  velocity  of 
rotation  to  maintain  its  speed  for  a  long 
distance,  because  the  grooving  could  only 
catch  hold  of  quite  a  small,  section  of  the 
bullet's  surface,  however  well  it  might  fit 
the  barrel.  If  the  velocity  of  projection 
was  high,  the  pitch  of  the  spiral  had  to 
be  very  slight.  Otherwise  the  bullet 
stripped,  passing  over  the  grooves  instead 
of  along  them.  The  rotation  was  thus 
insufficient  to  keep  the  bullet  true  for  a 
long  distance.  Another  drawback  here 
comes  in.  The  range  for  accurate  shooting 
with  the  round  bullet  was  further  limited 
by  the  fact  that  its  axis  of  rotation  re- 
tained the  original  direction  even  when, 
owing  to  the  curve  of  the  trajectory,  the 
bullet  was  moving  at  a  very  different 
angle.  With  the  long  bullet  of  modern 
days,  which  keeps  its  point  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  curve  of  the  trajectory,  the 
tendency  to  deviate  from  the  proper  line 
of  flight  does  not  increase  so  long  as  the 
spin  is  maintained.  The  round  ball,  on 
the  other  hand,  when  beginning  to  fall, 
no  longer  cuts  the  air  with  its  spinning 
end,  so  to  say,  but  with  the  side,  and 
consequently,  instead  of  opposing  to  the 
resistance  of  the  air  a  symmetrical  axis, 
tends,  as  the  range  becomes  longer,  more 
and  more  to  roll  upon  the  air.  Mr.  Baker,  who  only  a 
hundred  years  ago  thought  it  necessary  to  try  careful  ex- 
periments to  prove  that  a  side  wind  does  aflfect  the  flight  of 


10.    5 


38  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

the  bullet,  speaks  of  200  yards  as  the  greatest  range  he 
could  fire  at  *  to  any  certainty ' ;  and  adds  that  at  300  yards 
he  has  fired  very  well  at  times,  when  the  wind  has  been 
calm,  and  that  at  400  and  500  yards  he  has  frequently  fired, 
and  sometimes  struck  the  object.  But  he  was  evidently  very 
hopeless  about  making  good  practice  at  so  great  a  distance. 
The  third  drawback  of  the  spherical  bullet  was  the  very 
much  larger  surface  presented  to  the  air  in  penetrating  it 
than  that  of  the  elongated  bullet.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  an  entire  revolution  was  eiGFected  by  the  adoption  of  the 
long  bullet  instead  of  the  round  one. 

The  notion  of  using  bullets  of  an  elongated  shape 
was  not  new.  Mr.  Boucher,  in  his  book  published  in  1860, 
says  that  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Henry  V.,  in  1413, 
*  elongated  shot  of  three  and  four  calibres  in  length  were 
fired  from  small  cannon.'  It  is  natural  enough  that  some- 
thing of  the  kind  should  have  been  tried,  since  the  crossbow 
was  made  to  discharge  bolts  and  similar  short,  heavy  pro- 
jectiles, but  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  shot  of  this  shape 
were  a  success,  and  their  failure  is  proved  by  the  fact  that 
their  use  was  not  continued  in  smooth-bored  guns.  Bobins, 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  had  recommended  an  egg-shaped 
ball.  In  the  year  1823  Captain  Norton  produced  an  elongated 
hollow  projectile  (figs.  6  and  7)  on  the  expansion  principle, 

making  the  hollow  in  the 
bullet  contain  the  powder 
charge.  In  1824  he  sub- 
mitted it  in  an  improved 
form  to  the  Select  Com- 
mittee on  Firearms,  but 
this  Committee,  having  a 
most  conservative  objec- 
tion to  novelties,  refused 
to  have  anything  to  do 
with  it,  and  begged  the 
question  neatly  by  saying  that  *  a  spherical  ball  was  the  only 
shape  of  projectile  adapted  for  military  purposes.'  In  1841 
M.  Delvigne  had  included  the  use  of  a  cylindro-conical 
bullet,  an  old  idea  of  his,  in  a  supplementary  patent.     Mr. 


FIG.   7 


PICKET    BULLETS 


39 


Chapman,  in  1848,  says  that  in  America,  while  the  use  of  a 

round   bullet  was  general,  a    round-ended    '  picket '   bullet 

(fig.  8)  was  occasionally  used  before  the  introduction  of  the 

pointed  bullet  with  a  flat  base,  known  as  a  *  flat-ended  picket/ 

The  'picket'  bullet  was  evidently  a  'peaked'  bullet, 

as  distinguished  from   a  round   one ;  the   writer 

knows  a  field  in  the  Midlands  called  locally  the 

*  picked-piece,'  because  it  runs  into  a  sharp  point. 

The  type  of  the  first  flat-based  conoidal  bullets 

may  be  fairly  judged,  and  also  their  great  drawback, 

that  they  had  little  (if  any)  cylindrical  part  to  centre  them 

truly  in  the  bore,  from  Mr.  Chapman's  illustrations  of  what 

was  liable  to  happen  with  them,  which  we  reproduce  (figs. 

9  and  10).     Yet,  so  far,  no  bullet  had  been  made  with  the 


d 


FIO.  8 


FIG.    10 


distinguishing  feature  of  modern  projectiles ~a  flat  or  hollow 
base,  with  a  cylindrical  part  next  to  it,  then  coming  gradually 
to  a  point. 

The  long,  pointed  bullet,  which  is  more  accurately  de- 
scribed as  cylindro-conoidal,  was  a  long  time  before  it  arrived 
at  the  perfection  which  it  has  in  the  present  day.  Delvigne 
found  almost  at  once,  when  he  had  given  the  bullet  a  large 
hollow  in  the  base  to  throw  the  centre  of  gravity  forward, 
that  the  force  of  the  powder  behind  it  was  enough  to  expand 


40 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


it  into  the  grooves  during  its  passage  up  the  barrel.  How 
far  this  was  properly  and  effectually  accomplished  naturally 
depended  upon  several  factors.  The  rapidity  of  ignition  of 
the  powder,  the  degree  of  softness  of  the  bullet,  the  depth  of 
the  grooving,  all  bore  their  share  in  the  result.  In  the  days 
of  which  we  are  speaking,  one  of  the  greatest  diflScultiee  was 
to  obtain  powder  of  even  make  and  of  proper  power.  The 
deficiencies  of  the  powder  had  formed  one  of  the  great 
difficulties  of  the  early  investigators,  and  it  was  not  until  a 
date  later  than  that  we  are  now  speaking  of  that  the  manu- 
facture of  black  powder  was  brought  to  the  perfection  it 
afterwards  attained  in  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Curtis  &  Harvey 
and  other  makers. 

It  would  seem  that  the  first  really  successful  application 
of  the  long  bullet  to  the  rifle  was  made  by  Captain  Minie,  of 
the  Chasseurs  d'Orleans,  the  Eifle  Brigade  of  France.  His 
name  marks  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  rifle  d^velopement. 
His  first  bullet  was  like  Delvigne's,  with  a  solid,  flat  base,  and 
an  ogival  head  (fig.  11).  The  form  of  this  bullet  had  been 
almost  precisely  anticipated  by  Colonel  Davidson,  who  used 
it  in  India  in  1882.  Similar  bullets  of  his  design  are  said 
also  to  have  been  used  by  the  Edinburgh  Rifle  Club  about 
1840  (fig.  12).     Minie's  bullet  was  expanded  in  the  ordinary 

way  by  using  the  Thou- 
venin  rifle  with  the  steel 
pillar.  About  the  same 
time  various  improve- 
ments were  made  in  the 
manufacture  of  the  barrel. 
The  long,  pointed  bullet 
required  a  ramrod  with  a 
countersunk  end  of  the 
same  shape  as  the  point 
of  the  bullet,  in  order 
that  the  violent  ramming  of  it  should  not  disfigure  the  point 
(fig.  5).  In  1849  Minie  introduced  the  use  of  a  hollow-based 
pointed  bullet,  with  an  iron  cup  in  the  base  (fig.  13]r,  with  a 
flat-breeched  rifle  having  no  device  for  expanding  the  bullet  by 
ramming  it,  and  this  is  the  first  rifle  in  which  the  principle 


FIG.   11 


FIG.    12 


H 
P 

C 

0 

< 


U 
H 

C 


\  ; 


i  • 
I.' 


THE    MINi:e    RIFLE  43 

since  carried  to  such  great  perfection  really  appears  in  its 
simplicity. 

The  Minie  rifle  had  a  great  success,  and  was  adopted  by 
France,  Belgium,  and,  in  1850-1,  by  the  British  Government 
under    the   name  of    the    new   'Regulation 
Minie  Musquet/  The  original  English  version  /"    \ 

of  the  Minie  bullet  as  used  in  this  arm  seems         /  \ 

to  show  a  great  want  of  perception  on  the       /  \ 

part  of  those  responsible  for  it.     The  bullet       /  \ 

was  made  of  a  conoidal  shape,  with  practi-  I  \"\  J 
cally  no  cylindrical  part  to  it  whatever ;  and  \  j  '7/ 
there  was  therefore  nothing  to  ensure  that  it  \  <  t  / 
should  travel  up  the  barrel  with  its  point  in  '  !v  '\'i  I 
the  middle  line.     It  was  not  long  before  this  ^^^  ^3 

projectile  was  put  aside  in  favour  of  a  better 
imitation  of  the  Minie  bullet,  with  a  hollow  base,  and  the 
little  iron  cup  which  was  supposed  to  assist  expansion  by 
being  driven  up  into  the  hollow  as  ignition  took  place. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Minie  system,  effective  as 
it  proved  in  its  day,  was  far  from  perfect.  The  expansion 
of  the  bullet  was  not  at  all  instantaneous  on  the  ignition  of 
the  charge.  So  at  least  says  Mr.  Boucher,  who  in  his  book, 
*  The  Volunteer  Rifleman  and  the  Rifle,'  the  first  edition  of 
which  was  published  in  1853,  quotes  experiments  of  his  own 
to  prove  that  the  bullet  was  driven  a  considerable  way  up  the 
barrel  before  it  took  the  impressions  of  the  grooves  properly. 
He  further  showed  that  the  successful  expansion  of  the  bullet 
was  not  really  dependent  upon  the  iron  cup,  and  maintained 
what  had  never  been  previously  understood,  that  it  was  effected 
by  the  powder  almost  independently  of  the  shape  of  the  base 
of  the  bullet.  *  It  matters  not,'  he  said,  *  what  the  shape  of 
the  leaden  projectile  may  be,  if  elongated,  for  all  will  expand, 
from  the  simple  cylindrical  solid  plug  to  the  most  elaborate 
hollow  conoidal  bullet,  and  the  expansion  will  be  more  or  less, 
according  as  the  bullets  are  longer  or  shorter.' 

The  English  form  of  the  Minie  musket  (Plate  VI,  fig.  1) 
had  four  grooves  and  a  spiral  inclination  of  one  turn  in  6  feet 
6  inches.  It  was  not  at  all  a  handy  rifle;  its  calibre  was 
14-bore  ('702  inch)  ;  it  fired  a  heavy  bullet  of  680  grains. 


44  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

and  was  the  first  of  our  military  weapons  to  be  sighted  to 
1,000  yards.  It  was  at  once  evident  that  the  difficulties  in 
loading  caused  by  the  fouling  were  largely  overcome  in  this 
rifle,  because  the  bullet  was  sufficiently  expanded  into  the 
grooves  for  the  fouling  of  each  shot  to  be  moderately  well 
removed  by  the  following  one.  It  is  surprising  at  the  present 
day  to  see  how  enthusiastic  men  of  fifty  years  ago  could 
be  over  the  merits  of  a  weapon  such  as  the  Minie,  clumsy 
and  inaccurate  as  it  seems  to  us.  For  a  time  some  of  the 
percussion  muskets  had  grooves  put  to  them,  and  ivere 
arranged  to  fire  a  bullet  of  825  grains  made  on  Mime's 
principle,  their  bore  being  larger  than  that  of  the  Minie 
musket  proper.  This  was  a  mere  makeshift,  although  it  was 
not  without  its  use  in  the  early  part  of  the  Crimean  War. 

The  importance  of  arming  troops  with  the  best  attainable 
rifle  had  before  now  been  understood,  and  in  1852  careful 
trials  were  made  of  a  rifled  musket,  which  had  been  produced 
in  the  official  factory  at  Enfield,  and  rifles  made  by  the 
best  gunmakers.  Lancaster,  Wilkinson,  and  Purdey  were  the 
most  successful  among  those  whose  rifles  competed  against 
the  Enfield. 

It  will  be  worth  while  to  mention  a  little  more  in  detail 
some  of  the  points  shown  by  these  rifles.  The  Lancaster 
weapon,  which  had  an  increasing  twist,  was  rifled  on  the  oval 
bore  principle  of  two  grooves  rounded  off  into  the  general 
line  of  the  bore  (fig.  14),  which  had  been  described  by  Colonel 
Beaufoy  in  the  early  years  of  the  century, 
and  had  been  applied  to  the  musket  by  the 
Brunswick  Captain  Berner  ;n  1836.  The  Wil- 
kinson rifle  had  five  grooves,  with  a  regular 
twist  of  one  turn  in  6  feet  6  inches.  The 
Purdey  was  a  four-grooved  rifle,  with  an  in- 
creasing twist,  commencing  at  one  turn  in 
6  feet,  and  ending  at  one  turn  in  4  feet  9  inches. 
The  Enfield  had  three  grooves,  with  a  regular  twist  of  one 
turn  in  6  feet  6  inches.  All  these  rifles  had  expandiixg 
bullets;  the  Wilkinson  and  Enfield  had  solid  bases,  the 
Lancaster  bullet  was  hollow  with  a  plug  to  fit  it,  and  the 
Purdey  fired  a  Mini6  bullet  with  iron  cup.     The  Purdey  was 


THE    ENFIELD    RIFLE    ADOPTED  45 

of  -650  bore,  the  Lancaster  and  Wilkinson  '540  and  '580 
respectively,  and  the  Enfield  *577.  The  general  dimensions 
of  the  rifles  were  similar,  the  barrels  being  89  inches  long, 
and  the  weight  of  the  rifles  varied  from  9  lbs.  1^  oz.  to 
9  lbs.  9  oz.  In  such  company  the  Brmiswick  rifle  was  quite 
outclassed,  as  has  already  been  mentioned. 

At  this  time  great  stress  was  laid  upon  the  method  which 
had  been  devised  by  Captain  Tamisier  of  making  the  bullet 
with  a  number  of  grooves  round  the  cylindrical  part  near  the 
base,  which  was  supposed  to  offer  a  much  increased  resis- 
tance if  the  flight  of  the  bullet  became  at  all  eccentric,  and 
to  steady  it  and  keep  it  pointing  truly  in  the  line  of  flight. 
Fig.  15  shows  a  long  bullet  almost  entirely  covered  with  these 
specially  shaped  cannelures.  We  have  since 
learnt  that  a  bullet  having  proper  gyroscopic 
stability  stands  in  need  of  no  such  aid. 
Another  invention  of  his,  that  of  making  the 
grooves,  or  the  whole  barrel,  of  greater  depth 
at  the  breech  than  at  the  muzzle,  was  also 
a  feature  of  some  of  the  competing  rifles. 
Neither  of  these  principles  has  been  proved 
to  be  sound,  although  the  latter  was  retained 
in  as  recent  an  arm  as  the  Martini-Henry.  pi^  ,5 

On  the  whole  result  of  the  trial  it  was 
found  that  the  Lancaster  and  Wilkinson  rifles  had  a  slight 
advantage  in  rapidity  of  loading,  while  the  Wilkinson  had 
rather  the  better  trajectory.  The  Enfield  rifle  (Plate  VI, 
fig.  2)  was  preferred  by  the  Committee,  and  became  the.  arm 
of  the  British  army.  This  was  for  its  period  an  excellent 
weapon,  and  stood  for  many  years  from  1852,  through  the 
change  from  muzzle-loader  to  breech-loader,  until  ousted  by 
the  Martini-Henry  rifle  with  its  smaller  calibre,  better  dis- 
position of  weight  in  the  bullet,  and  higher  velocity. 

About  the  same  time  Colonel  (afterwards  General)  Jacob 
was  devoting  much  attention  in  India  to  the  rifle  question. 
He  was  a  remarkable  man,  who  spent  all  his  adult  life  in 
India.  Distinguished  as  a  mathematician,  a  scientific  man, 
a  mechanic,  he  was  equally  a  noted  artilleryman,  engineer, 
sportsman,  and  soldier.     For  twenty-five  years  previous  to 


y 


46  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

1854  he  was  carrying  on  experiments  with  rifled  firearms. 
He  was  anxious  to  find  a  better  method  of  rifling  than  that 
of  the  Bnmswick  rifle,  and  produced  a  four-grooved  rifle, 
with  a  spherical  ball  with  two  bands  cast  upon  it,  which 
fitted  the  grooves  easily.  The  East  India  Company  refused  * 
to  adopt  this  rifle  in  1846,  maintaining  that  the  Brunswick 
rifle,  being  good  enough  for  the  Royal  army,  was  good  enough 
for  their  service.  General  Jacob's  further  experiments  led 
him  to  abandon  the  round  ball  in  favour  of  a  conical  ball 
almost  without  a  cylindrical  part,  and  with  four  projections 
on  it  to  fit  the  grooving  of  the  rifle.  The  form  of  Minie's 
bullet  which  he  tried  against  this  seems  to  have  been  a  very 
rough  imitation  of  the  original,  and  not  to  have  given  any- 
thing like  a  satisfactory  result.    He  presently  found  that  he 


FIQ.    16 


could  improve  upon  his  conical  or  *  picket '  bullet  by  giving 
it  a  long  cylindrical  part.  He  set  up  a  range  at  Jacobabad, 
in  Upper  Scinde,  which  enabled  him  to  shoot  at  every  distance 
up  to  2,000  yards,  his  butts  being  thick  mud  walls  with  bull's- 
eyes  painted  on  them.  He  spared  neither  expense  nor  trouble 
in  carrying  out  his  experiments.  Knowing  well  what  was 
required  for  a  military  arm,  he  was  working  to  try  to  bring 
to  perfection  an  easy  loading  and  effective  rifle  to  take  the 
place  of  the  musket  and  the  older  pattern  of  rifle.  His  work 
seems  to  have  been  quite  independent  of  influence  from  the 
French  school  of  experiments,  and  he  succeeded  in  producing 
a  very  effective  weapon  (fig.  16).  Its  calibre  was  24,  that  is, 
•579  inch,  similar  to  that  of  the  Enfield  rifle ;  it  was  rifled 
with  four  grooves,  and  had  what  was  then  the  very  rapid 


GENERAL    JACOB'S    RIFLE 


47 


twist  of  one  turn  in  3  feet.  The  bullet  was  a  long  one,  with 
an  ogival  head,  and  four  ribs  cast  upon  the  cylindrical  part, 
which  fitted  the  grooves  of  the  barrel  (figs.  17  and  18)*.  He 
succeeded  •  in  obtaining 
considerable  accuracy  at 
1,000  yards,  and  could 
even  make  something  like 
practice  at  2,000  yards, 
though  using  rather  a 
small  charge.  General 
Jacob,  making  his  bullet 
hollow,  and  to  contain 
an  explosive  charge,  suc- 
ceeded   in    producing   a 

very  eflfective  rifle  shell,  but  the  chief  objection  to  his  method 
seems  to  have  been  that  the  ammunition  required  great 
accuracy  of  manufacture,  and  was  somewhat  complicated  to 
produce.  At  a  time  when  it  was  doubted  whether  the  rifle 
might  not  prove  too  formidable  for  artillery  he  foresaw  the 
practicability  and  the  advantages  of  using  rifled  artillery.  It 
is  to  be  feared  that  his  work  brought  him  little  but  disap- 
pointment, an  experience  common  enough  with  those  who 
have  contributed  to  the  advancement  of  firearms. 

The  Enfield  rifle  held  its  ground  for  many  years,   and 


FIG.   19 


r\ 


a 


FIG.    20 


FIG.   21 


various  alterations  were  made  at  different  times  in  the  bullet 
used.  The  Pritchett  bullet  of  1858  had  a  hollow  base  with 
no  plug  or  cup  (fig.  19).  A  hollow  of  a  different  shape  was 
afterwards  used,  with  a  taper  plug  of  boxwood  or  clay  to  help 


48  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 

in  sealing  the  bore  (fig.  20).  Mr.  Metford  invented,  in  1866,  an 
explosive  shell  (shown  enlarged  in  fig.  21),  which  was  adopted 
by  th6  Government  in  1863,  after  trials  in  which  it  proved 
superior  to  General  Jacob's  shell  and  one  produced  by  Colonel 
Boxer.  The  charge  of  the  Metford  shell,  which  had  a  hollow 
nose,  consisted  of  fiour  of  sulphur  and  chlorate  of  potash  in 
equal  bulk,  well  mixed,  and  was  protected  by  an  airtight  plug. 
This  makes  a  very  effective  charge  if  the  hollow  be  of  a 
fair  size.  In  1869  this  shell  was  declared  obsolete  in  eon- 
sequence  of  the  Convention  of  St.  Petersburg  in  the  previous 
year,  which  had  pronounced  against  the  use  of  explosive 
projectiles  weighing  less  than  100  grammes  (about  14  oz.)  in 
civilised  warfare. 

The  Enfield  rifle,  which  had  been  used  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  Crimean  War  in  substitution  for  the  Minie  rifled 
musket  first  issued,  remained  the  general  weapon  of  the 
infantry  until  the  introduction  of  breechloaders,  in  the  year 
1867.  A  short  rifle  of  similar  pattern  was  the  arm  of  the 
Rifle  Regiments,  and  a  carbine  of  the  artillery  and  cavalry. 
The  Royal  Engineers,  then  the  Corps  of  Sappers  and  Miners, 
had  been  armed  in  1855  with  the  Lancaster  rifle  of  elliptical 
bore  already  alluded  to.  In  1858  the  Navy  was  supplied 
with  a  short  rifle  of  similar  bore  to  the  Enfield,  five-grooved, 
with  a  spiral  of  one  turn  in  4  feet ;  this  rifle  was  found  to 
shoot  better  than  the  Enfield  rifle  pattern  1853,  and  the 
Rifle  Regiments  were  armed  with  it. 

The  method  of  manufacturing  all  the  parts  of  the  rifle 
and  lock  to  very  accurate  gauges  so  that  they  were  inter- 
changeable was  adopted  in  1860,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
features  of  all  manufactures  of  military  rifles  on  a  large 
scale. 

Sir  Joseph  Whitworth's  well-known  experiments  with 
small  arms  for  the  Government  were  begun  in  1854,  and  may 
be  said  to  mark  an  epoch  in  rifle  progress,  not  really  so 
much  because  they  introduced  any  original  step  of  progress 
as  because  they  dealt  authoritatively  with  several  points  still 
in  dispute.  One  great  work  which  they  effected  was  this,  that 
they  led  to  the  general  perception  of  the  importance  of 
extremely   accurate  workmanship  and  measurements  in  the 


THE    WHITWQRTH    RIFLE 


49 


maniifactare.  of  firearms.  Walker,  in  1865,  says  that  at 
l^at  time  the  best  Birmingham  gunsmiths  ^ad  never  reached 
ft. higher  standard  of  exactitude  in  the  size  of  the  calibre  than 
tbe.dSOth  qt  ai^  inch,  and  it  was  Sir  Joseph's  work  which  led 
to  the  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  fractions  of  a 
thouswdth.  He  had  had  no  previous  experience  of  small 
arms  when  he  was  asked  by  Lord  Hardinge,  who  was  then 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army,  to  consider  the  subject 
of  rifling.  After  carrying  out  very  extensive  experiments  at 
thQ  public  expense  he  recommended  a  rifle  (Plate  YI,  fig.  8)  of 
hexagonal  bore  (fig.  22)  and  of  smaller  calibre  than  the 
Enfield,  -450  inch,  yrith  a  spiral  of  one  turn  in  20  inches, 
and  a  bullet  of  580  grs.,  i.e.  of  similar  weight  to  that  used 
in  the  Enfield  of  -577  bore.     This  alone  gave  a  very  great 


advantage  as  against  the  old  rifle,  the  proportions  of  weight 
of  the  bullets  in  effectiveness  for  flight  and  penetration  being 
for  the  Enfield  227  and  for  the  Whitworth  874,  which  g^ve 
the  latter  an  advantage  of  just  about  60  per  cent.  The 
Whitworth  bullet  (figs.  28  and  24)  was  If  inch  long  and  the 
Enfield  bullet  only  |  inch. 

The  trials  of  1857,  according  to  Mr.  Greener,  showed  that 
while  the  penetration  of  the  Whitworth  appeared  to  be  greater 
than  that  of  the  Enfield,  on  referring  to  the  material  of 
which  tjie  bullets  were  made,  and  using  Mr.  Whitworth 's 
hafder  metal  in  the  Enfield  rifle,  and  soft  lead  in  the  Whit- 
worth, the  penetration  of  the  Enfield  was  not, found  to  bo 
inferior  to  that  of  the  other  rifle. 

That  some  such  diminution  of  the  bore  must  have  been 


50 


THE    BOOK    OF   THE    BIPLE 


shortly  brought  about  in  any  case  seems  clear  enough,  as  it 
was  very  obvious  that  mueh  advantage  would  be  gained  by  a 
considerable  reduction  in  the  calibre,  and  there  were,  no  doiibt» 
others  besides  Mr.  Metford  who  had  already  arrived  at  that 
conclusion.  Sir  Joseph  proved  that  it  was  necessary  with  a 
bullet  of  smaller  section  and  greater  length,  such  as  he  was 
using,  to  give  a  very  much  more  rapid  spiral  than  had  pre- 
viously approved  itself.  His  spiral  of  one  turn  in  30  inches 
is,  of  course,  not  only  actually  but  relatively  far  more  rapid 
than  that  of  the  Enfield.  The  strict  proportion  between  the 
calibres  would  have  required  for  the  *450  bore  a  spiral  of  one 
turn  in  61  inches.  The  spiral  of  the  Enfield  rifle  was  in 
itself  inadequate,  and  the  longer  bullet  needed  a  greater 
velocity  in  rotation  to  keep  it  point  foremost. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  distinctive  feature  of  the 
Whitworth  rifle  was  the  bore,  which  was  hexagonal,  the  bullet 
being  shaped  so  as  to  fit  it  exactly.  This  Whitworth  rifle 
met  with  great  success  up  to  a  certain  point ;  it  shot,  as  any 
well-made  rifle  of  such  a  calibre  was  bound  to  do,  with  a  very 
much  lower  angle  than  the  Enfield,  and  its  increased  accuracy 
was  almost  in  the  nature  of  a  revelation.  The  following  table 
of  comparative  accuracy  between  the  Enfield  and  the  Whit- 
worth is  given  by  Sir  Joseph  Whitworth  in  his  paper  on 
'  Guns  and  Steel,'  as  the  results  of  official  experiments  made 
in  1861  : 


Range  in  Yards 


300 

600 

800 

1,000 

1/iOO 


Knfield 


Mean  RtuMtd 
Deviation 


Inches 
12-69 
19-80* 
41-61 
95-01 
133-53 


Mean  Anple 


0  44-8 

1  4513 

2  46-6 

4  3-33 

5  9-48 


Whitworth 


MeanBadial 
Deviation 


Inched 
3-86 
7-29 
15-67 
2313 
46-92 


Mean  AngU 


0  56-49 

1  23-87 

2  X7-6 

3  5-36 

4  8-6 


Sir  Joseph  applied  his  hexagonal  rifling  to  cannon,  but 
good  as  his  results  were,  the  polygonal  form  of  rifling  in  both 
cannon  and  small  arms  was  found  after  a  time  to  possess 
certain  disadvantages.  The  chief  difficulty  which  had  attended 


THE    WHITWOBTH    BIFLE  61 

the  muzzle-loading  rifle,  that  of  the  accumulation  of  fouling 
on  the  surface  of  the  bore,  was  not  absent  even  with  the 
improved  powder  now  manufactured.  Mr.  Greener  in  his 
book,  •  Gunnery  in  1858,'  mentions  the  following  diflSculty 
with  the  Whitworth  rifle.  He  says : — *  The  deposit  from  the 
Government  gunpowder  became  so  tenacious  in  the  hexagonal 
grooves  that  after  a  certain  number  of  shots  loading  became 
a  very  difficult  matter  indeed,  so  much  so,  that  Mr.  Whit- 
worth considerately  provided  a  very  superior  description  of 
gunpowder,  with  which  the  hexagonal  rifle  worked  a  .  little 
better.'  A  little  book  called  *  Notes  on  Rifle  Shooting,'  by 
Captain  Heaton,  who  was  perhaps  the  most  distinguished  of 
rifle  shots  at  the  time  when  the  Whitworth  rifle  was  at  the 
zenith  of  its  fame,  illustrates  the  same  difficulty.  He  says  that 
the  Whitworth  rifle  used  to  foul  after  the  twentieth  to  the 
twenty-fifth  shot  as  ordinarily  loaded,  but  that  since  using 
Whitworth's  mechanical  loading-rod  or  scraper,  he  could  fire 
one  hundred  or  more  rounds  without  the  foulnesa  of  the 
barrel  interfering.  Those  who  remember  to  have  used  this 
appliance  will  recollect  that  it  was  a  scraper  of  the  full  size 
of  the  bore,  and  of  a  shape  to  fit  it  exactly,  with  which  the 
barrel  was  scraped  clean  after  each  shot.  Fouling  that 
required  removal  by  this  very  drastic  process  was  naturally  a 
grave  disadvantage,  and  it  was  clear  that  the  muzzle-loading 
rifle  had  not  been  put  into  its  final  shape. 


E  2 


52  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


CHAPTER   III 

NATIONAL  RIFLE  ASSOOLATIOK — THE  QUEBN*8  PRIZE— SOME  WIMBLEDOK. 
HEROES — MBTFORD'S  BULLET — S,000  YARDS*  -  SHOOTIRO — ^HBTFORD*S 
BYSTEM  OF  OROOVINO — HIS  FIRST  RIFLES— HIS  MILITARY  BRBEGH- 
LOADER — EARLY  BREBCHLOABEBS — THEIR  DIFFICULTIES — NEEDLJS-OUK. 
— SNIDER — MARTINI-HENRY— MARTINI-ENFIELD— THE   *808   RIFLR 

In  1859-60  the  new  Volunteer  movement  had  arisen  as  a 
reply  to  threatening  talk  of  invasion  from  the  other  side  of 
the  Channel.  This  brought  with  it  an  immense  interest 
in  rifle  shooting,  and  the  man  who  had  had  the  good  fortune 
to  obtain  some  practical  acquaintance  with  the  rifle  by  its  use 
for  stalking  in  Scotland  or  otherwise  had  every  opportunity 
of  distinguishing  himself. 

The  Victoria  Rifles  had  continued  to  exist  as  a  Club 
since  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  there  were  a  few 
amateur  clubs  in  which  the*  art  of  using  the  rifle  was  not 
altogether  neglected.  But  it  was  the  Volunteer  moveinent 
of  forty  years  ago,  together  with  the  assembling  at  Hythe  of 
Volunteer  oflScers  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  who  were 
practically  initiated  into  all  the  mysteries  of  rifle  shooting  as 
it  then  existed,  that  led  to  a  developement  most  important  in 
the  history  of  rifles  in  this  country,  the  formation  of  the 
National  Rifle  Association,  with  which  Lord  Wemyss  (at  that 
time  Lord  Elcho)  and  Lord  Spencer,  both  fortunately  still 
among  us,  prominently  identified  themselves. 

The  first  prize  meeting  of  the  Association  was  held  on 
Wimbledon  Common  on  July  2,  1860,  after  several  months 
had  been  expended  in  bespeaking  public  interest,  and  arrang- 
ing for  the  shooting  and  for  the  prizes.  The  scene  at  the 
opening  of  the  meeting  was  a  brilliant  one :  an  immense 
crowd  of  spectators,  among  whom  were  a  large  number  of 
Swiss  riflemen,  who  had  come  over  by  invitation  to  show 
their   skill   to   the   British  marksmen,  was  assembled.     An 


THE    NATIONAL    BIFLE    ASSOCIATION  53 

address  was  presented  by  Mr.  Sidney  Herbert,^  who  was 
.President  of  the  Association,  to  the  Queen  and  Prince  Albert ; 
and  from  under  a  tent  pet  up  at  the  firing  point,  where  was  a 
Whitworth  rifle  hqld  in  a  fixed  rest,  the  Queen,  pulling  the 
4jrigger  with  a  silken  cord,  fired  the  first  shot  of  the  meeting* 
The  target  was  an  iron  one,  400  yards  away,  with  no  visible 
bollseye ;  the  blow  of  the  bullet  upon  it  was  distinctly  heard, 
and  the  result  of  the  shot  was  at  once  announced  from  the 
,bntts :  it  had  struck  the  target  within  an  inch  of  the  centre — 
a  truly  auspicious  omen.  Not  only  did  the  Queen  thus 
personally  open  the  meeting,  but  the  prize  given  by  her  was, 
us  it  reiaained  to  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  still 
is  under  its  new  title  of  *  The  King's  Prize,'  the  *  blue  ribbon ' 
which  carries  with  it  the  championship  of  the  year  for 
Volunteer  marksmanship. 

At  the  meeting  of  1860  the  long  Enfield  was,  naturally, 
the  weapon  used  in  competing  for  the  ordinary  Volunteeir 
prizes,  but  it  had  been  decided  that  at  ranges  beyond  600 
yards,  at  which  the  principal  event  of  the  meeting  was  to  be 
decided,  the  very  best  military  rifle  which  could  be  found 
should  be  supplied  to  the  competitors.  Of  the  wisdom,  from 
the  competitors'  point  of  view,  of  this  decision,  which  put  into 
the  hands  of  skilled  shots  a  weapon  to  which  they  were  not 
accustomed,  and  whose  special  peculiarities  were  quite  strange 
to  them,  various  opinions  have  been  held.  Yet  it  had  this 
great  advantage,  that  it  gave  rise  during  a  series  of  years  to 
an  annual  competition  between  gunmakers,  to  decide  with 
whose  rifle  the  final  stage  of  the  Queen's  prize  should  be  shot, 
.while  at  the  same  time  it  impressed  on  the  public  mind  how 
far  from  perfect  was  the  Army  weapon  of  the  day.  The 
.Whitworth  rifle  conquered  its  competitors  in  the  trial  in  1860, 
and  was  accordingly  used  for  the  long  range  shooting  for  the 
Queen's  prize,  viz. :  ten  shots  at  800,  900  and  1,000  yards. 
The  winner  of  the  Queen's  prize  was  Mr.  Edward  Ross,  then 
just  going  up  to  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

Only  299  Volunteers  competed  at  this  first  meeting,  but 
•there  were  prizes  for  all  comers  as  well  as  for  Volunteers  ; 
there  were  prizes  for  *  any  '  rifles,  with  and  without  magnify- 

>  Mr.  Sidney  Herbert,  afterwards  Lord  Herbert  of  Lea,  died  August  1861. 


64  THE    BOOK    OP   THE    RIFLE 

ing  sights  and  hair  triggers,  and  there  was  a  priae  for  breech- 
loaders, which  was  shot  for  at  800  and  1,000  yards.  In  this 
year  300,  600,  and  600  yards  were  the  distances  in  the  first 
stage  of  the  Queen's  prise,  and  600,  900,  and  1,000  those  at 
which  the  successful  competitors  in  the  first  stage  fired  to 
decide  the  first  place.  The  long  ranges  are  at  this  day  the 
same  for  the  King's  prize.  In  1861  the  200  yards  distance 
was  substituted  for  800  yards,  and  these  six  distances,  at 
which  this  great  prize  was  then  and  is  now  shot,  have  always 
been  the  chief,  indeed,  almost  the  exclusive  ranges  of  the 
National  Bifle  Association  competitions. 

We  are  glad  to  be  able  to  give,  by  the  courtesy  of  Messrs. 
Graves,  of  Pall  Mall,  who  hold  the  copyright  of  the  engraving, 
an  illustration  (Plate  VII)  of  the  picture  painted  by  Mr. 
Wells,  B.A.,  for  the  Diploma  Gallery  in  1866.  It  is  intended 
to  represent  a  group  of  the  most  famous  marksmen  of  the 
day  firing  at  Wimbledon  in  the  Wimbledon  Cup  competition. 
Unfortunately  the  artist  has  shown  them  as  armed  with  the 
military  rifle  and  firing  with  open  sights,  which  must  sorely 
be  incorrect.  The  rifleman  lying  down  to  fire  is  Captain 
Heaton ;  the  one  next  him,  standing  up  and  adjusting  his 
sights,  is  Mr.  Edward  Boss ;  Captain  Pixley,  the  Queen's  Prise 
winner  of  1862,  is  standing  behind,  wearing  the  little  round 
cap  of  the  Victoria  Eifles ;  next  to  him  is  Mr.  Martin  Smith ; 
and  then  Sir  Henry  Halford.  Captain  Horatio  Boss,  father 
of  Edward  Boss,  in  the  uniform  of  the  London  Scottish 
Volunteers,  is  looking  on  nearly  facing  the  spectator.  Above 
the  group  is  the  figure  of  Lord  Elcho  (now  Lord  Wemyss) 
mounted.  The  firers  are  sheltered  from  the  wind  by  a 
canvas  screen,  known  at  the  time  as  an  Elcho  screen,  a  device 
adopted  for  a  few  years  at  Wimbledon,  probably  in  imitation 
of  the  sheltered  firing  points  usual  on  the  Continent. 

The  history  of  the  National  Bifle  Association  includes  the 
history  of  the  rifle  from  1860  up  to  the  present  time,  and  in 
the  competitions  of  the  Association  all  improvements  in  the 
rifle  which  have  stood  the  test  of  practical  usage,  and,  indeed, 
a  great  many  that  have  failed  to  do  so,  have  made  their 
appearance.  One  of  the  most  important  functions  of  the 
Association  has  been  to  provide  an  open  field  in  which  the 


o 

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o 


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HENRY    AND    RIGBY.  RIFLES  57 

inyentions  and  improvements  inide  by  private  individuals 
may  be  .impartially  tested.  In  i860  a'riife  by  Ingram,  of 
Glasgow,  with  ratchet-shaped  grooving,  appeared  in  the  prize- 
list,  followed  by  the  Henry  rifle  and  others  in  1861.  The 
Henry  rifling  (fig.  25)  was  little  «lse  than  a  modification  of  the 
Whitworth  rifle,  but  at  the  angles  of  the  hexagon  were  left 
projections  which  brought  the  barrel  more  nearly  to  a  shape 
with  which  a  cylindrical  bullet  could  effectively  be  used»  The 
success  of  the  Whitworth  rifld  brought  into  fashion  mechani- 
cally fitting  projectiles,  such  as  an  octagonal  one,  made  by 
Westley  Richards  (the  rifling  of  this  is  shown  in  fig.  26), 
.but  nothing  original 
seems  to  have  been  pro- 
educed.  In  1862  the  priB- 
liminary  trial  of  rifles 
again  showed  the  Whit- 
worth rifle  to  be  the  best, 

though  Mr.  J.  Rigby  put  „^  ,.  „^  .^ 

into   competition  a  rifle 

with  ratchet  grooving,  firiug  a  cylindrical  bullet.     In.  1864 
he  again  competed,  but  with  a  rifle  on  a  different  principle, 
.firing  a  mechanically  fitting  bullet  of  hardened  lead.     In  the 
usual  trial  held  by  the  National  Rifle  Association  at  1,(X)0  yards 
.from  the  machine  rest  his  rifle  made  a  figure  of  merit  equal 
to  that  made  by  the  Whitworth  rifle,  1-88  feet ;  and  at  a  sub- 
sequent trial  in  the  autumn  it  proved  itself  the  better  arm,  and 
was  adopted  for,  the  second  stage  of  the  Queen's  prize  in  1866. 
The  shooting  that  year  for  the  Queen's  prize  was  better  than 
any  that  had  hitherto  been  obtained,  but  the  Whitworth  was 
still  the  most  prominent  weapon  in  the  class  for  *  any'  rifles. 
Meanwhile,  just  as  it  seemed  that  the  mechanically  fitting 
bullet  was  carrying  all  before  it,  the  application  of  wise  and 
caSrefttl  experience  began  to  effect  a  fresh  revolution.     Mr. 
-W.  E.  Metfbrd,  a  civil  engineer;  whom  Mr.  Teasdale  Buckell 
Calls   *  the   father  of  modern   rifle-boring,*   had   long  been 
interested  in  all  matters  connected  with  the  rifje.     As  early 
•as   1852,  he   had  carried  on  long-range  experiments  at  the 
■distance,  of  1,200-  yards.     He  had  suggested  to  Mr.  Pritchett 
.the  construction  of  the  Pritchett  bullet  adopted  for  the  Enfield 
rifle  by  the  Small  Arms  Committee  in  1853,  an  invention 


68  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 

which  had  marked  a  great  improvement  in  the  shooting  of 
the  service  arm.  As  we  have  ahready  mentioned,  he  had 
devised  an  explosive  bullet  for  the  Enfield  rifle,  which  met 
with  considerable  success ;  this  was  a  bullet  of  the  same 
weight  as  that  generally  used,  but  it  had  a  cylindrical  hollow 
in  the  fore  part.  He  found  that  his  explosive  shell  was 
decidedly  more  accurate  in  its  flight  than  the  ordinary  Enfield 
bullet,  and  this  led  him  to  adopt  for  his  own  use  a  bullet  of 
similar  form,  but  without  the  explosive  charge.  It  appeared, 
in  fact,  that  the  removal  of  part  of  the  lead  from  the  centre 
to  the  circumference,  which  was  the  effect  of  leaving  a  hollow 
in  the  fore  part  of  the  bullet  without  diminishing  the  weight, 
gave  greater  stability  in  flight.  Mr.  Metford  having  won 
some  important  prizes  at  local  meetings  in  1862  and  1868, 
mainly  owing  to  this  improved  bullet,  made  the  secret  of  it — 
if  the  firing  of  a  bullet  exactly  similar  to  the  explosive  bullet, 
but  without  the  explosive  charge,  may  be  called  a  secret — 
public  at  the  beginning  of  1864,  in  connection  with  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Bifle  Conference  held  in  January  of  that 
year.  Sir  Joseph  Whitworth,  who  patented  a  similar  bullet 
early  in  the  same  year,  when  challenged  by  Mr.  Metford, 
could  not  prove  either  originality  or  priority  of  invention. 
This  bullet,  which  had  a  hollow  base,  was  used  subsequently  as 
the  service  bullet,  both  in  the  Enfield  as  a  muzzle-loader, 
and  in  the  Snider,  after  its  conversion  to  breech -loading. 

In  1862  Mr.  Metford  became  acquainted  with  the  late  Sir 
Henry  Halford,  who  was  in  that  year  a  prominent  prise 
winner  at  the  Wimbledon  Meeting ;  this  acquaintance 
ripened  into  an  intimate  friendship  and  partnership  of 
thirty  years  in  experimental  work  with  the  rifle.  The 
greater  portion  of  Mr.  Metford's  shooting  was  done  on  Sir 
Henry  Halford's  private  range  at  Wistow,  in  Leicestershire. 

In  1865  and  1866  the  National  Bifle  Association  held  a 
special  competition  at  2,000  yards  at  Gravesend  for  muzzle- 
loading  rifles  weighing  not  more  than  15  lbs.  with  telescopic 
sights.  Mr.  Metford  specially  made  for  this  competition  a 
rifle  of  about  -S-inch  bore,  which  gave  fair  results,  and  was 
the  only  rifle  entered  for  the  competition  in  1865,  and  the 
only  rifle  of   two  entered  in  1866  which  found  the  target. 


MR.    W.    B,    MBTFORD  59 

Sir  J.  Whitworth  did  not  enter  a  rifle  in  these  competitions. 
The  shooting  made  was  moderate,  8  to  14  hits  being  made  in 
25  shots  each  by  the  different  competitors  using  Mr.  Metford's 
rifles.  The  target  was  24  feet  wide  by  12  feet  high  in  1865, 
and  24  by  18  in  1866. 

There  was  one  feature  common  to  all  the  rifles  made  up 
to  this  time  in  which  the  bullet  was  not  mechanically  fitted  to 
a  very  deep  grooving.     This  was  that  the  grooves  were  made 
very  substantially  deep,  and  that  it  was  thought  necessary  to 
have  the  bullet  as  soft  as  possible,  in  order  that  it  might  be 
driven  into  them  without  difficulty.    The  margin  of  size  be- 
tween the  bullet  and  the  bore  was  considerable,  and  the  means 
used  for  expanding  the  bullet  into  the  grooves  were  various. 
We  have  spoken  of  the  hollow-based  bullet  and  of  Minie's  iron 
cup,  which  was  superseded  for  the  Enfield  rifle  by  tapered 
plugs,  first  of  boxwood  and  then  of  clay.    Even  by  such  means 
it  was  difficult  to  ensure  the  proper  sealing  of  the  bore  by  the 
expanded  bullet.     Mr.  Metford  was  the  first  to  see  that  the 
very   heavy   friction   set  up  by   the   soft  lead  was  a  great 
disadvantage,  and  that  there  was  no  necessity  whatever  for 
the  use  of  deep  grooving.     He  saw  too  that  if  the  expansion 
of  the   bullet  were   kept  within   limits,   by   hardening   the 
material  of  which  it  was  made,  it  could  still  be  expanded 
sufficiently  to  give  it   any   desired   spin  without  distortion 
and  without  unnecessary  friction.     No  wonder  that  having 
found  that  grooves  so  shallow  as  to  measure  only  one  half 
of  a  thousandth  of  an  inch  in  depth  were  capable  of  giving 
ample  rotation  to  a  bullet,  if  the  surface  of  the  barrel  were 
clean,  he  declared  that  in  the  Whitworth  rifle  the  rifling  had 
as  much  hold  upon  the  bullet  as  would  suffice  to  spin  a  6-lb. 
shot.     He  showed  that  with  a  bullet  of  proper  shape,  and 
slightly  hollowed  at  the  base,  the  expansion  was  effected  by 
the  blow  of  the  powder  upon  the  base  of  the  bullet  actually 
before  the  bullet  had  acquired  any  appreciable  forward  move- 
menty  and  that  a  flat-based  bullet  was  expanded  quite  satisfac- 
torily.   A  civil  engineer  by  profession— a  profession  which  he 
had  been  forced  to  quit  owing  to  the  breakdown  of  his  health 
when  a  railway  engineer  in  India,  from  over-exertion  in  the 
troublous  times  of  the  Indian  Mutiny — he  appreciated  all  the 


60  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    EIFLE 

scientific  aspects  of  the  various  rifle  problems,  as  well  as  the 
need  for  the  most  delicate  measurements  and  e^cact  work  in 
dealing  with  them. 

In  1865  Mr.  Metford  produced  his  first  *  small  bore  '.  rifle, 
with  five  grooves  equal  in  width  to  the  lands  between  them, 
and  only  '004  inch  deep,  and  Sir  Henry  Halford  at  once 
made  a  sensation  by  winning  with  it  the  Cambridge  Cup  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Cambridge  University  Long  Range 
Club,  the  competition  consisting  of  15  shots  at  900,  1,000, 
and  1,100  yards  on  each  of  two  consecutive  days.  The  form 
of  grooving  in  this  rifle,  which  was  of  -ISO-inch  bore,  is  the 
very  counterpart  of  that  of  our  present  service  arm,  the  Lee- 
Enfield  (fig.  27).   This  rifle  was  used  by  Sir  Henry  Halford  in 

the  Elcho  Shield  match  in 
1865,  but  did  not  take  a  high 
place  in  the  competition. 
In  1866  Mr.  Metford's  rifles 
were  very  conspicuous  in 
all  long-range  competitions. 
With  them  the  difficulty 
caused  by  the  fouling  va- 
nished. The  shallow  groov- 
ing was  practically  cleaned 
in  the  act  of  loading,  and 
the  bullet,  in  a  thin  paper 
pj^  27  jacket,  swept  out  absolutely 

all  residuum  in  its  passage 
up  the  barrel,  so  that  no  accumulation  of  fouling  was  possible. 
From  that  time  it  was  clear  that  the  use  of  mechanically 
fitting  bullets  was  doomed.  Other  rifle  makers  followed  the 
new  method,  until  by  the  year  1871  rifles  on  the  old  system 
had  entirely  disappeared. 

The  shallow  grooves,  the  bullets  hardened  with  tin  or 
antimony,  the  rifle  barrel  made  with  an  exactitude  formerly 
unknown,  but  now,  owing  to  improvements  in  gauges,,  tool- 
making,  and  steel  within  the  reach  of  every  gunmaker;  soon 
achieved  results  in  this  country  and  in  America  which  had 
never  before  been  equalled.'  It  was  unfortunate  that  the 
War  Office  Committee,  which  adopted  in  1868  the  Henry 


'     THE  'MET:^ED    EiB'LtS '    '  61 

barrel  and  rifling,  with  a  compoand  cartridge  case  of  rolled 
brass  foil;  and  the  Martini  action,  did  not  fully' appreciate 
the.importance  of  Mr.  Metford's  principles.  His  increasing 
spiral j  it  is  true»  did  not  justify  the  hopes  ^hich  its  scientific 
origih  had  raised,  but  the  Henry  barrel,  with  its  deep-angled 
grooving,  a  veritable  trap  to  hold  the  fouling  of  the  powder 
and  difficult  to  clean  thoroughly,  was  infinitely  behind  the 
accuracy  and  simplicity  of  the  Metford  barrel. 

The  Committee  which  recommended  the  Martini-Henry 
in  1869  had  not  before  it  Mr.  Metford's  inventions,  since,  in 
his  broken  state  of  health,  and  with  fecollections  of  a  not 
over-generous  treatment  by  the  authorities  in  connection 
with  his  old  invention  Of  the  explosive  bullet,  he  did  not  see 
his  way  to  enter  the  gunmakers'  competition  which  was  held 
in  connection  with  the  new  rifle.  But  having  taken  up 
in  his  own  time  the  problem  of  producing  an  efficient  mili- 
tary'  breech-loader,  he  produced  within  two  or  three  years 
a  lifle  which  soon  made  its  mark.  It  was  his  invention 
of  the  hardened  cylindrical  bullet  and  the  shallow  grooving, 
as  agaiQst  the  mechanically  fitting  polygonal  bullet,  which 
had .  brought  the  construction  of  breech-loading  rifles  and 
ammunition  within  easy  possibility.  The  inconvenience  in 
loading  of  having  to  turn  the  cartridge  when  made  up  with  a 
polygonal  bullet,  so  that  the  angles  of  the  bullet  came  opposite 
to  those  of  the  rifling,  was  in  itself  a  considerable  drawback 
in  muzzle-loading  ;  in  a  breech-loader  it  made  serious  delay. 

In  1871  Mr.  Metford  brought  to  Wimbledon  two  rifles  and 
a  limited  supply  of  home-made  ammunition,  and  with  one  of 
these  rifles  Sir  Henry  Half ord  won  the  Duke  of  Cambridge's 
prize  for  military  breech-loaders,  a  single  prize  of  5(W.  decided 
in  a  final  stage  at  1,000  yards.  The  next  year  a  Metford 
rifle  again  won  the  Duke  of' Cambridge's*  prize.  For  these 
breech-loaders  Mr.  Metford  adopted  the  segmental  form  of 
groove,  which  leaves  no  corners  to  hold  the  fouling.  This 
grooving  is  very  similar  to  that  described  by  Mr.  Boucher 
many  yeisrB  before  in  his  book,  *  The  Volunteer  Rifleman  and 
the  Rifle,'  exeep't^  that  Mr.  Boucher  left  hardly  any  lands 
between  this ' grooves ;  he  recommended  five  grooves;  Mr. 
Metford  occasionally  used  five,  but  normally  seven.     A  seg- 


62  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    BIFLE 

mental  grooving  had  also  been  tried  in  America  in  the  year 
1856  in  the  coarse  of  some  official  experiments.  Mr.  Metford* 
as  we  have  seen,  had  used  with  great  success  another  foarm 
of  grooving  for  his  muszle-loading  rifles.  His  adoption  of 
the  segmental  grooving  for  the  breech-loader,  as  helping 
materially  to  deal  with  the  difficulty  of  fouling,  was  a  very 
great  element  in  the  conspicuous  success  of  his  military  rifle* 

We  give  a  diagram  (fig,  28) 

©of  the  Metford  grooving  for 
From  1871  to  1877  hia 
rifles  continued  to  gain 
favour.  Mr.  Metford  gave 
constant  personal  attention 
to  the  supervision  of  their 
manufacture,  first  by  Gibbe, 
of  Bristol,  and  then  also  by 
Westley  Bichards,  in  every 
detail  of  the  arm  and  its 
pj^  ^  ammunition.    Then,    for  a 

long  series  of  years,  in 
fact,  so  long  as  military  rifles  of  '450  calibre  and  the  like 
were  in  vogue,  they  had  something  like  a  monopoly  of  the 
long-range  prizes  for  that  class  of  arm  at  the  meetings  of  the 
National  Bifle  Association.  The  Martini-Henry  soon  found 
its  level  as  a  weapon  of  very  inferior  accuracy,  and  before 
long  disappeared  altogether  from  the  prize  lists  of  the  long- 
range  competitions  open  to  other  breech-loaders. 

Mr.  Metford  was  in  all  things  practical,  and  in  all  his 
inventions  and  improvements  refused  to  be  led  aside  from 
the  path  of  simplicity  and  utility.  His  ammunition  was  fit 
for  service  in  any  climate,  for  he  at  once  adopted  a  solid 
drawn  brass  case,  nor  would  he  have  in  the  cartridge  any 
lubricant  beyond  a  couple  of  felt  wads  saturated  with  paraffin 
wax,  and  not  liable  to  damage  the  powder  by  the  melting  of 
a  greasy  substance.  The  bullet  was  wrapped  in  a  thin  hard 
paper,  which  projected  hardly  at  all  from  under  the  protection 
of  the  metal  cartridge  case.  If  cartridges  of  this  kind,  and 
they  were  really  within  the  reach  of  the  Small  Arms  Com- 


EARLY    BBEECH- LOADING    RIFLES  63 

luittee  of  that  day,  are  compared  with  those  of  the  Martini- 
Henry — extremely  liable  to  deformation  from  a  blow,  with  a 
plug  of  beeswax  behind  the  ballet  ready  to  melt  and  ran  into 
the  powder  if  over-heated  by  the  son,  and  with  paper  roand 
the  ballet  which  the  slightest  rabbing  wonld  inevitably  tear — 
it  will  be  understood  that  the  Committee  which  recommended 
the  Martini-Henry  rifle  must  have  been  unfortunate  in  its 
advisers. 

The  narration  of  Mr.  Metford's  work  has  carried  us  rather 
abruptly  from  the  muzzle-loader  to  the  breech-loader,  but 
the  transition  was  really  a  very  gradual  one.     The  principle 
of  breech-loading  is  very  nearly  as  old  as  the  existence  of 
fire-arms,  and  was  applied  both  to  cannon  and  to  small  arms  in 
very  early  times.    There  is  in  the  Tower  of  London  a  breech- 
loading  arquebus  of  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  bearing  the 
letters  '  H.  B.'  and  the  date  1687  ;  and  there  is  no  reason  at 
all  for  thinking  that  breech-loading  was  a  novelty  at  that 
time.    One  great  inducement  to  adopt  it  for  small  arms 
firing  bullets  was  that  it  obviated  the  need  of  ramming  a 
tightly-fitting  projectile  down  the  whole  length  of  the  barrel. 
Bobins,  as  late  as  1742,  having  mentioned  this  material 
difficulty  of  loading,  great  when  the  bullet  was  wrapped  in  a 
greased  patch,  greater  still  when  the  naked  bullet  was  forced 
down  the  bore,  says: — *  As  both  these  methods  of  charging 
at  the  mouth  take  up  a  good  deal  of  time,  rifled  barrels, 
which  have  been  made  in  England  (for  I  remember  not  to 
have  seen  it  in  any  foreign  piece)  are  contrived  to  be  charged 
at  the  breech,  where  the  piece  is  for  this  purpose  made  larger 
than  in  any  other  part.     And  the  powder  and  bullet  are  put 
in  through  the  side  of  the  barrel  by  an  opening,  which,  when 
the  piece  is  loaded,  is  filled  up  with  a  screw.  .  .  .  And 
perhaps  somewhat  of  this  kind,  though  not  in  the  manner 
now  practised,  would  be  of  all  others  the  most  perfect  method 
for  the  construction  of  these  sorts  of  barrels.' 

The  form  of  breech-loader  which  is  here  alluded  to  seems 
to  be  similar  to  that  known  as  the  Ferguson  carbine,  used  in 
the  American  War  of  Independence  by  British  troops,  and 
illustrated  by  Mr.  W.  W.  Greener  in  his  copious  work  on 
'The  Gun  and  its  Development.'     In  this  rifle  the  trigger 


64  -THf!    B0OK/0P..T5B.'KrFLE:; 

guard  formed  part  of  ^a  lever  which  could,  be  moved  laterally, 
and  was  pivoted  at  its  frpnt  end,  being  attached,  there  to  a 
large  vertical  screw  .which  wa3  raised  or  lowered  by  turning 
the  lever,  and  when  lowered  left  an  opening  at  the  top  of  the 
breech  through  which  the  bullet  and  powder  charge,  could  be 
inserted.  This  rifle  was  the  invention  of  Lieut.-Col.  Patrick 
Ferguson/,  2nd  Batt.  71st  Highlanders,  dating  from  before 
1776  ;  it  was  sighted  from  100  to  500  yards,  and  with  it  he 
could  fire  six  shots  in  a  minute. 

The  earliest  types  of  breechloaders  had  for  the  most  part 
a  detachable  chamber  which  dropped  into  a  recess  behind  the 
breech,  and  was  held  in  place  by  some  sort  of  a  wedge.  The 
difficulty  constantly  experienced  was  that  the  material  and 
workmanship  did  not  admit  of  what  would  be  called  nowa- 
days a  complete  obturation  of  the  breech ;  the  flame  from  the 
explosion  always  leaked  out,  and  was  apt  to  produce  unpleasant 
if  not  dangerous  consequences.  Almost  every  imaginable  de- 
vice was  tried  at  one  time  or  another  to  produce  a  satisfactory 
breech-loader.  The  barrel  was  hinged,  so  as  to  open  at  the 
breech  sideways,  or  downwards  (as  in  the  Lefaucheftux  breech- 
loader of  modern  times)  ;  or  some  kind  of  hinged  shoe  was 
fitted  which  opened  behind  the  barrel,  and  allowed  a  charge 
to  be  inserted.  Many  other  methods  were  tried  by  the  in- 
genious. But  a  more  or  less  disastrous  leakage  of  flame  had 
until  this  period  seemed  inevitable.  Another  trouble  with  the 
early  breech-loaders  was  that  the  yi[orking  of  the  mechanism 
was  apt  to  be  hampered  by  the  fouling  deposited  in  it.  It 
was  little  wonder  that  as  the  necessity  of  having  powerful 
weapons  increased,  the  breech-loading  principle  appeared  to 
offer  more  and  more  difficulties.  .We  are  well  accustomed  to 
it  now,  both  in  small  and  large  weapons,  and  it  is  curious, 
looking  back  even  to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  c^ntury^  to 
see  how  reasonable  were  the  objections  to  the.  breech-loading 
principle  as  then  carried  out  in  sporting  arms,  and  how  gi'eat 
the  prejudices  against  it.  Even  more  recent  is  the  change 
as  regards  artillery,  but  this  is  a  question  wholly  outside  our 
present  limits.  In  1858  Gr^ener  declared  that  *  time  and 
ingenuity  spent  in  planning  and,  constructing  breech-loading 

'     >  This  is  the  same  Ferguson  alrfeady  mentioned  on  p.  24. 


MILITARY    BREECH-LOADERS  65 

ccuinon  will  always  end  in  disappointment  and  failure/  and 
again,  that '  striving  to  produce  perfect  breech-loading  cannon 
is  like  striving  to  square  a  circle.' 

Some  of  the  English  cavalry  were  supphed  with  the  Sharps 
American  breech-loading  carbine  in  1857,  and  about  the  same 
time  trial  issues  were  made  of  Westley  Richards',  Terry's, 
and  Green's  systems.  The  Sharps  rifle  (fig.  29)  had  a  falling 
block  action,  and  was  perhaps  the  best  breech-loader  of  its 
day,  but  the  usual  trouble  of  the  escape  of  gas  at  the  breech 
was  experienced  with  it.  In  Deane's  *  Manual  of  Firearms ' 
is  given  a  list  of  twenty-four  foreign  breech-loading  systems, 


from  1880  to  1854,  of  six  American  actions,  and  of   nine 
English,  from  1858  to  1858. 

The  most  prominent  among  the  early  military  breech- 
loaders was  undoubtedly  the  Prussian  needle-gun ;  this  gun 
dates  from  1889,  and  was  officially  adopted  in  1848.  The 
cartridge  was  made  of  a  thin  material  and  was  self-consum- 
ing. It  had  a  disc  of  fulminating  composition  placed  in  front 
of  the  powder  charge  behind  the  base  of  the  bullet ;  on  the 
trigger  being  pulled  a  long  needle  was  driven  forward,  which 
penetrated  the  base  of  the  cartridge  and  the  powder  charge, 
and  as  soon  as  it  pricked  the  fulminating  disc,  exploded  the 


68  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

charge.  *  This  system  was  open  to  various  objections ;  the 
needles  were  constantly  rusting  and  breaking,  and  the  escape 
of  flame  from  the  breech  became  so  bad  that,  according  to 
Scoflfern,  in  the  Danish  war  of  1864  the  rifles  could  in  many 
cases  not  be  fired  from  the  shoulder  because  of  the  back- 
stroke of  the  escaping  flame.  This  rifle  had  a  bolt-action 
(fig.  30),  and  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  breech  was  a 
matter  of  great  difficulty,  so  that  it  was  thought  by  many 
that  the  needle  gun  must  certainly  be  abandoned.  But  on 
the  contrary  the  Prussian  authorities  added  very  largely  to 
their  supply,  and  they  were  justified  by  the  result,  for  the 
rifle  was  used  with  great  success  in  the  Austrian  War  of  1866, 
and  did  its  work  well  on  the  whole  in  the  Franco-German 


^^TJ 


FIO.   30 


War  of   1870,  although  it  was  not  equal  in  range  to  the 
French  Chassepdt. 

In  June  1864  a  Committee  of  officers  was  assembled  to 
report  on  the  expediency  of  introducing  breech-loading  arms 
for  general  adoption  by  the  British  army.  Plans  for  the 
conversion  of  the  muzzle-loading  Enfield  rifle  into  a  breech- 
loader were  asked  for  from  the  various  gunmakers,  and  nearly 
fifty  different  methods  of  conversion  were  proposed,  the  large* 
majority  of  which  were  found  to  be  unsuitable.  Eventually, 
after  much  labour,  the  Committee  recommended  the  plan 
proposed  by  Mr.  Jacob  Snider,  whose  well-known  breech 
arrangement  consisted  in  fitting  behind  the  barrel  a  hinged 
block,  which  could  be  raised  and  turned  over  laterally  so  that 
the  cartridge  could  be  inserted  in  front  of  it.  Figs.  81  and 
82  show  the  breech  action -closed  and  open.     It  had  by  this. 


THE    SNIDER    RIFLE 


67 


time  become  clear  that  there  were  great  advantages  to  be 
gained  by  the  use  of  a  cartridge  case  of  metal,  although  this 
plan  had  not  yet  been  adopted  by  any  of  the  foreign  Powers, 
and  the  Ghassepot  rifle  adopted  by  France  in  1866  had  a 
self-consuming  paper  cartridge.       The  old    and    perpetual 


na.  Bi 


S?WBlrtl| 


FIO.   S8 


difficulty  of  the  escape  of  gas  from  the  breech  was  found  to  be 
entirely  obviated  by  the  use  of  the  metal  cartridge  case,  as 
the  explosion  of  the  charge,  expanding  it  tightly  against  the 
walls  and  base  of  the  chamber,  effectually  sealed  the  breech 
against  any  backward  escape  of  gas.  The  shooting  of  the 
converted  rifle  was  at  first  not  at  all  equal  to  the  standard  of 

r  2 


68 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


its  accuracy  as  a  muzzle-loader,  but  Colonel  Boxer's  cartridge, 
adopted  in  1867,  remedied  this  difficulty.  Fig.  33  shows  the 
cartridge  in  its  final  form.  Plate  VIII,  fig.  1,  shows  the  com- 
plete rifle. 

The  war  of  1866  between  Prussia  and  Austria,  in  which 
the  troops  of  the  latter  fought  with  a  muzzle-loader  against 

the  needle-gun,  proved 
to  the  world  the  great 
advantages  of  the 
breech  -  loader,  and 
after  that  time  the 
muzzle-loader  was  uni- 
versally converted  or 
superseded  as  a  mili- 
tary arm  in  Europe 
and  America.  The 
conversion  of  the  En- 
field rifle  to  a  breech- 
loaderhad  putEngland 
for  the  moment  ahead 
of  other  nations,  but 
this  was  merely  a  stop- 
gap arrangement,  and 
another  Committee  was  appointed  by  the  War  Office  in 
1866  to  consider  the  question  of  a  new  pattern  of  rifle  for 
future  manufacture.  About  160  different  arms,  and  50  kinds 
of  ammunition,  were  considered  by  them,  but  it  was  found 
that  none  of  them  attained  the  standard  of  accuracy  laid 
down,  one  which  could  be  reached  by  a  reasonably  good 
muzzle-loader.  Various  bores  were  tried,  from  '577  to  '450, 
and  it  was  clear  that  the  question  of  the  barrel  and  cartridge 
to  be  adopted  could  be  separated  from  that  of  the  method  of 
closing  the  breech.  In  the  end  certain  conditions  for  the 
size  and  bore  of  the  barrel,  and  for  the  dimensions  and 
charge  of  the  cartridge,  were  laid  down,  and  a  limited 
number  of  gunmakers  were  invited  to  produce  rifles  con- 
forming to  these  conditions,  all  to  be  fitted  with  one  system 
of  breech-action,  the  Henry,  and  to  be  tried  against  each 
other,  and  against  the  products  of  the  Enfield  and  Woolwich 


FIO.  38 


EH 


53 


fl^ 


r  i  \. 


1  /*  .V 1 


THE    MARTINI-HENRY    RIFLE 


71 


factories.  Messrs.  Henry,  Whitwortb,  Westley  Richards, 
Lancaster,  and  Rigby  competed  ;  Mr.  Metford,  unfortunately, 
did  not  see  his  way  to  do  so. 

These  rifles,  and  also  the  various  breech  actions  which 
had  been  submitted,  were  carefully  tried,  and  in  February, 
1869,  the  Committee  recommended  the  breech  mechanism 
with  a  hinged  block  produced  by  Mr.  Martini,  and  the  barrel 
of  -45  inch  calibre  submitted  by  Mr.  Henry.  The  Henry 
rifling,  which  has  already  been  described,  had  seven  grooves, 
but  its  sharp  re-entrant  angles  tended  to  accumulate  fouling  ; 
the  twist  was  right-handed, 
and  of  uniform  pitch,  the 
spiral  making  one  turn  in 
22  inches.  Martini-Henry 
rifles  were  issued  for  trial 
in  November,  1869,  and  in 
March,  1870,  the  chamber 
and  breech  action  were 
modified  to  allow  of  a 
cartridge  of  bottle  shape, 
that  is,  with  an  enlarged 
powder  -  chamber  behind 
the  bullet,  being  adopted 
(fig.  34).  In  the  spring 
of  1871  the  arm  was  de- 
finitely approved  for  the 
Army  (Plate  VIII,  fig.  2). 
Though  good  work  was 
done  with  this  rifle,  it  had 
one  very  weak  point :  the 
extraction  was  not  power- 
ful enough,  as  our  soldiers 
afterwards  found  to  their  cost  on  some  few  occasions  when 
fighting  in  Egyptian  sands.  This  weakness  of  the  action  had 
been  pointed  out  in  vain  at  the  time  of  its  adoption.  Though 
it  would  be  perhaps  going  too  far  if  we  should  adopt  the 
description,  *  a  miserable  malformation,'  which  has  been  ap- 
plied to  the^Martini-Henry  rifle,  it  certainly  did  not  represent 
the  best  knowledge  and  invention  of  its  time.    An  illustration 


IL 


nfrpff 


FIG.   34 


72  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

is  appended  of  the  Martini  action,  shown  in  section  at  fall 
cock  (Plate  IX). 

Meanwhile  other  nations — Germany,  Holland,  Italy,  and 
Eussia — were  adopting  improved  rifles  with  'bolt'  actions, 
on  the  simple  principle  of  the  door  bolt,  on  which  the  action 
of  the  needle-gmi  was  based,  and  which  is  at  the  present  time 
used  in  nearly  all  modern  military  rifles.  In  the  same  yeax 
Spain  adopted  a  rifle  with  the  American  Remington  action,  and 
between  1873  and  1881  all  the  rest  of  Europe  had  adopted 
rifles  of  about  the  same  power,  with  calibres  of  '480  to  -450. 

The  retention  of  the  bore  of  '450  inch  as  the  general 
calibre  of  military  rifles  did  not  last  very  long.  The  question 
of  changes  was  being  considered  in  this  country,  and  after 
some  investigation  of  magazine  rifles  up  to  1880,  which  led 
to  no  result,  in  1883  a  new  Committee  was  appointed  to 
consider  the  production  of  an  improved  Martini-Henry  rifle, 
and  report  on  the  desirability  of  introducing  a  magazine 
rifle,  and  to  recommend  some  pattern  of  magazine  and  action. 
As  regards  the  first  part  of  their  reference,  it  was  decided  to 
recommend  a  calibre  of  '402  inch  and  rifling  of  seven  grooves 
shaped  to  the  segment  of  a  circle,  of  the  pattern  already 
described,  which  was  used  by  Mr.  Metford  in  his  breech- 
loading  rifles  with  such  marked  success. 

This  form  of  rifling,  unrivalled  as  it  had  proved  itself  at 
Wimbledon  for  many  years,  was  only  adopted  after  exhaustive 
trial  of  other  groovings,  notably  what  is 
known  as  a  ratchet  grooving  (fig.  35),  which 
was  very  nearly  being  finally  selected.  In 
ratchet  grooving,  the  groove,  instead  of 
being  made  symmetrical,  is  deeper  at  one 
side  than  at  the  other.  The  object  of 
making  it  so  has  usually  been  to  overcome 
""■  '*  any    tendency   of    the   bullet  to    strip    by 

giving  it  a  greater  bearing  surface  on  the  side  of  the  groove 
which  takes  the  pressure  of  twisting  it  and  diverting  its 
surface  from  motion  in  a  straight  line  as  it  begins  to  move 
up  the  barrel.  Ratchet  grooving,  called  by  the  French 
rayons  a  virgule,  has  been  tried  by  many  makers,  and 
specimens  of  it  may  be  found  in  ancient  collections.     But  it 


X 


H 


74 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


has,  in  fact,  been  found  that  to  make  the  grooves  deeper  on 
one  side  than  on  the  other  leads  to  no  useful  result.  The 
ratchet  grooving  proposed  for  the  Martini-Enfield  was  much 
<5ritici8ed  because  the  ratchet  was  turned  the  reverse  way.  from 
that  which  was  usual,  and  the  side  of  the  grooves  which  had 
to  take  the  resistance  of  the  bullet  and  give  it  its  spiral 
motion  was  the  sloping  and  not  the  steep  side.  This  was  no 
Accident,  although  it  is  difficult  to  appreciate  the  intention  of 
such  an  arrangement.  The  minds  of  those  who  knew  how 
great  was  the  superiority  of  the  Metford  system  over  any 

other  before  the  public  were 
much  relieved  at  the  final 
decision  of  the  Committee. 
The  rifle  known  as 
the  Martini-Enfield  was 
evolved  as  the  result  of 
the  Committee's  work.  A 
limited  number  were  made 
and  issued  for  trial  in  1886. 
This  rifle  had  a  great 
advantage  in  velocity  and 
flatness  of  trajectory  over 
the  Martini-Henry,  and 
in  many  ways  marked  a 
distinct  stage  of  advance, 
although  it  was  never 
adopted  as  the  arm  of  our 
troops.  The  Martini  action 
was  retained,  the  lever 
being  lengthened  to  give 
greater  power  in  extrac- 
tion, but  it  was  almost 
at  once  evident  that  the 
requirements  of  the  day  had  not  been  fully  met.  In  view 
especially  of  Continental  developements  the  rifle  was  with- 
drawn after  a. considerable  number  had  been  made,  but  before 
it  had  been  issued  to  the  troops.  Fig.  36  shows  the  cartridge 
for  the  machine  gim  of  this  calibre. 

Just  at  this  time,   in   spite   of    the  reluctance    of    the 


FIG.   36 


KEDUCTION    OF    THE    CALIBRE  76 

^authorities  to  depart  from  the  single  loader  to  which  they 
were  accustomed,  the  necessity  for  a  magazine  rifle  was 
asserting  itself  with  overwhelming  force,  and  another  de- 
velopement  almost  as  important,  with  which  we  will  first  deal, 
was  coming  to  the  front. 

'  Experiments  on  the  Continent  had  for  some  years  been 
in  progress  as  to  the  advisability  of  a  further  considerable 
reduction  of  the  calibre.  Major  Bubin,  the  head  of  the  Swiss 
Ammunition  Factory  at  Thun,  had  in  1883  submitted  a  rifle  of 
7-6  mm.  calibre  (-296  inch)  to  the  military  authorities  there. 
Two  principal  difficulties  had  been  found  in  the  production  of 
a  rifle  of  very  high  velocity  and  small  calibre.  One  was  that 
the  bulk  of  powder  necessary  to  give  a  high  velocity  made  a 
very  clumsy  cartridge  for  a  rifle  of  small  calibre ;  and  the 
other  that  the  pressures  and  friction  on  the  leaden  bullet 
in  the  barrel  were  so  severe  as  to  produce  distortion  and 
melting,  and  consequently  very  unreliable  shooting.  The 
first  difficulty  Major  Rubin  overcame  by  using  a  charge  of 
black  powder  pressed  into  the  form  of  a  cylindrical  pellet, 
and  perforated  longitudinally  by  a  small  hole  to  help  to 
carry  forward  the  flame  from  the  cap.  This  pellet  of  black 
powder  was  dropped  into  the  cartridge  case,  to  which  the 
bullet  was  then  fitted  by  the  introduction  of  a  small  brass 
ring,  which  made  up  the  difference  in  size  between  the 
interior  of  the  cartridge  and  the  exterior  of  the  bullet,  and 
was  prevented  from  being  driven  forward  into  the  barrel  by  a 
shoulder  in  front  of  the  chamber  against  which  it  abutted. 
Afterwards  the  same  result  was  attained  by  forming,  on  the 
cartridge  case,  after  the  powder  had  been  put  into  it,  a  neck 
of  the  size  of  the  bullet.  The  latter  system  is  now  generally 
used,  as  the  loose  ring  of  Major  Rubin's  original  cartridge 
was  found  occasionally  to  become  detached  from  the  shell 
and  to  give  trouble  by  remaining  in  the  barrel.  The  other 
point  of  difficulty  which  we  have  mentioned,  that  of  the 
strains  upon  the  bullet,  was  boldly  overcome  by  Major 
Bubin  and  by  Hebler,  who  made  the  bullets  with  a  leaden  core 
fitted  into  an  outer  envelope  of  copper.  This  casing  of  the 
bullet  in  a  hardened'skin  removed  all  the  defects  experienced 
with  the  soft  lead  bullet.     By  these  means  a  new  type  of 


76 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


rifle  suitable  for  military  purposes  and   in   many   respects 
superior  to  all  previous  weapons  was  produced. 

As  is  the  case  with  any  startling  iimovation,  this  sudden 
reduction  of  bore  to  something  far  less  than  had  been  gene- 
rally used,  even  for  shooting  rooks,  in  this  country,  was  not 
easily  accepted.  Even  the  members  of  the  Conmiittee  which 
finally  recommended  it  had  almost  one  by  one  to  be  con- 
verted to  a  belief  in  it  as  a  practical  developement.  The 
writer  believes  that  it  was  the  late  Colonel  Slade,  then 
Commandant  at  Hythe,  who  pressed  it  upon  the  attention 

of  the  Committee,  seeing  the 
immense  military  advantage, 
especially  for  a  magazine 
rifle,  of  a  cartridge  of  much 
reduced  bulk  and  weight. 

Not  only  could  something 
approaching  double  the  quan- 
tity of  ammimition  be  carried 
in  the  same  space  and  for  the 
same  weight  as  formerly,  but 
the  storage  of  a  supply  of 
cartridges  in  the  magazine 
was  rendered  possible  without 
the  clumsiness  and  weight 
which  made  so  much  diffi- 
culty in  applying  the  maga- 
zine to  the  older  rifles.  The 
whole  cartridge  of  the  -303 
rifle  (fig.  37)  weighs  materi- 
ally less  than  the  bullet  of 
the  Martini-Henry,  and  the 
space  required  by  the  am- 
munition in  storage  is  proportionately  reduced.  Some 
disadvantages,  on  the  other  hand,  attend  the  smaller  bore  in 
comparison  with  the  larger.  The  ammimition  is  necessarily 
more  expensive,  partly  because  of  the  use  of  smokeless 
powder,  partly  because  a  compound  bullet,  especially  with  a 
sheath  containing  a  metal  so  expensive  as  nickel,  is  neces- 
sarily costly  to  make.     The  wear  and  tear  upon  the  barrel  is 


ii 


FIG.  87 


CX)MPARISON    OF    THE    OLD    AND    NEW    RIFLES  77 

Tastly  greater,  and  consequently  the  expense  of  repairs  and 
renewals  of  the  arm  is  substantially  heavier.  The  reduced 
diameter  of  the  bullet  in  combination  with  the  hardness  and 
X)0wer  of  resistance  to  deformation  given  by  the  metal  sheath 
as  ordinarily  manufactured  diminishes  its  disabling  power  as 
compared  with  that  of  the  older  patterns,  since  the  bullet, 
instead  of  becoming  distorted  and  opened  by  the  resistance 
it  meets  with,  and  so  expending  the  whole  of  its  force  in 
tearing  and  damaging  whatever  is  in  its  way,  perforates  the 
tissues  and  material,  which  it  penetrates  with  a  clean  hole. 
The  flat  trajectory,  however,  has  a  very  great  military  value. 
It  is  the  balance  between  these  advantages  and  disadvantages 
that  must  decide  to  what  point  the  reduction  of  calibre  in 
military  arms  can  profitably  be  carried. 


78  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


CHAPTER   IV 

DBVICBS  FOB  BilPID  FTBE— THB  BBVOLYBR  PRINCIPLB — RBPEATINO  RIFLBS-^ 
MAGAZINES — CUP  AND  CHAB6BR  LOADING — SOME  FOREIGN  SYSTEMS — 
THE  LEE-MBTFOBD  AND  LEE-ENFIELD — EBOSION — SMOKELESS  POWDEB8: 
— ^ACCURACY — ^VARIOUS  BULLETS — BOLT  ACTIONS — MHJTART  RIFLES. 
DBSCBIBED — AMMUNITION   SUPPLY — FIRE   CONTROL — TOLLBY-FIBINO; . 

Meanwhile*  Continental  developements  forced  the  abandon-- 
ment  of  the  single-loading  principle.  The  rapidity  of  fire* 
obtained  from  improved  hammerless  breech-loaders  was,  it 
is  true,  considerable.  These  naturally  fell  into  two  classes.. 
With  rifles  having  falling-block  actions,  such  as  the  Martini- 
Henry,  the  cartridge  required  to  be  pushed  forward  into  the- 
chamber  before  the  breech  could  be  closed ;  with  the  bolt 
action,  the  cartridge  had  only  to  be  dropped  into  the  trough 
in  front  of  the  bolt,  and  the  closing  of  the  bolt  carried  it  for- 
ward into  the  chamber.  The  difference  in  rapidity  of  loading 
between  the  two  classes  was  not  very  material.  But  when  it 
was  found  that  there  could  be  successfully  applied  to  the  rifle* 
mechanism  which  enabled  a  store  of  cartridges  to  be  placed  in 
it,  and  fired  in  succession  without  being  individually  handled,, 
the  next  great  stride  in  the  developement  of  firearms  was  in 
sight,  and  the  bolt  action,  which  was  especially  convenient  for- 
use  with  the  magazine,  at  once  rose  into  prominence. 

The  best  known  means  of  obtaining  rapid  firing  in  small* 
arms  is  by  mechanism  on  the  principle  of  the  revolver.  This 
has  now  been  in  vogue  for  very  many  years,  and  is  a  far  older 
invention  than  the  time  of  Colonel  Colt.  Revolving  arms  of 
the  sixteenth  century  exist,  and  many-barrelled  weapons  were- 
made  very  early.  The  old  muzzle-loading  revolving  pistol 
known  as  the  *  pepper-pot,'  with  its  full-length  barrels  alT 
revolving  on  a  pivot,  was  effective  in  its  degree,  and  with  the 
invention  of  the  breechloader  it  was  possible  to  apply  the* 
same  principle  in  a  much  more  compact  form.  Weapons  on 
the  principle  of  the  revolver  are  differentiated  from  magazine- 


REPEATING    RIFLES  79 

arms  by  the  fact  that  they  are  in  reality  many-chambered 
weapons ;  that  is  to  say,  although  there  is  only  one  barrel,  a 
certain  nmnber  of  cartridges  can  be  loaded  into  a  cylinder 
containing  chambers  for  them  each  capable  of  withstanding 
the  explosion.  Each  chamber  in  turn  is  brought  into  line 
directly  behind  the  barrel  before  it  is  fired,  and  the  bullet  is 
passed  into  and  through  the  barrel  by  the  force  of  the  explo- 
sion, jumping  over  the  small  interval  between  the  chamber 
and  the  barrel.  This  is  a  very  different  principle  from  that 
of  the  magazine  rifle,  in  which  the  mechanism  is  directed  to 
giving  an  extremely  rapid  supply  of  cartridges,  which  are 
successively  placed  in  the  same  chamber  and  fired.  The 
weak  point  of  the  revolver  principle,  the  break  between  the 
chambers  and  the  barrel,  has  always  prevented  it  from  being 
applied  with  real  success  to  rifles.  So  long  as  the  charge 
is  small,  the  thickness  and  weight  of  the  chambers  in  the 
revolving  cylinder  are  only  moderate,  but  the  actual  mass  of 
metal  which  would  be  required  in  a  cylinder  containing  long 
cartridges  giving  a  high  pressure  would  in  itself  have  been 
enough  to  prevent  the  successful  application  of  the  principle 
to  rifles  of  any  power.. 

Systems  of  loading  which  are  merely  arranged  for  the 
rapid  mechanical  delivery  of  cartridges  into  the  barrel  on  the 
mechanism  being  actuated  by  the  hand,  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes :  repeating  arms,  among  which  by  an  arbitrary 
use  of  the  term  we  may  include  only  those  systems  in  which 
the  cartridges  lie  nose  to  base  in  a  tube  under  the  barrel, 
or  in  the  stock  of  the  rifle  ;  and  magazine  arms,  in  which  the 
store  of  cartridges  lies  compactly  in  a  box  or  other  receptacle 
of  no  greater  length  than  is  required  for  a  single  cartridge.  It 
was  in  America  that  the  repeating  principle  was  first  brought 
into  use.  The  Spencer  rifle  (fig.  88),  which  was  patented 
in  1860,  had  cartridges  placed  in  a  tube  in  the  stock,  and 
brought  forward  by  a  spring.  A  lever  forming  the  trigger- 
guard  and  a  prolongation  of  it  Vhen  pushed  downwards  and 
forwards  actuated  the  mechanism.  In  the  Henry  rifle  of  the 
same  period  the  cartridge  lay  in  a  long  tube  under  the 
barrel;  and  the  Winchester  rifle,  which  followed  it,  had  a 
similar  arrangement.     This  rifle  has  had  for  many  years  a 


80 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE   RIFLE 


great  vogue ;  it  dates  from  1867,  and  was  the  arm  used  by 
Turkey  in  the  Russo-Turkish  War  of  1877-8.  The  enormous 
power  of  j&re  then  developed  from  these  rifles  showed  the 
world  that  it  was  a  great  advantage  to  have  at  command  an 
extremely  rapid  delivery  of  fire,  and  from  that  time  the 
attention  of  all  Governments  began  to  be  turned  towards 
devices  for  rapid  loading.  The  Russians  had  used  in  the 
same  war  an  apparatus  called  the  Ernka  quick-loader,  a 
magazine  attached  to  the  rifle  and  holding  the  cartridges  in 
a  convenient  position  to  be  rapidly  loaded  into  the  rifle  by 


FIG.   88 


the  fingers.     Still,  this  method  was  only  a  makeshift,  and 
did  not  give  rapidity  enough  to  hold  its  own. 

The  repeating  principle,  though  it  still  exists  in  the 
military  arms  of  two  or  three  nations,  and  notably  of  France, 
has  not  on  the  whole  commended  itself  in  these  latter  days. 
Accidents  have  been  known  to  occur  from  the  point  of  the 
bullet  of  a  cartridge  in  the  tube  striking,  in  the  jerk  made  by 
the  recoil,  the  cap  of  the  cartridge  in  front  of  it  and  exploding 
it.  The  balance  of  the  rifle  is  altered  with  every  cartridge 
removed  from  the  magazine  or  put  into  it.  «There  is  no 
option  but  to  put  the  cartridges  one  by  one  into  the  tube ; 
more  than  one  cannot  be  inserted  by  a  single  motion.  From 
such  drawbacks  as  these  the  magazine  system  is  normally  free. 
There  are  many  varieties  of  it,  but  all  of  them  are  most  con- 
veniently used  with  the  bolt  action,  which  in  one  or  another 


X 

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82  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

of  its  forms  may  be  said  to  have  been  universally  adopted 
for  modem  military  arms.  The  withdrawal  of  the  bolt 
extracts  and  ejects  the  case  of  the  fired  cartridge,  and  as  it  is 
pushed  forward  it  carries  with  it  a  fresh  cartridge,  which  has 
been  automatically  brought  into  position  to  engage  with  it, 
having  been  made  by  the  action  of  a  spring  to  protrude  a  little 
while  the  bolt  was  withdrawn.  In  this  way  the  supply  may 
be  continued  until  the  magazine  is  empty,  when  it  is  refilled 
either  by  cartridges  put  into  it  singly  or  by  several  inserted 
at  the  same  time.  There  are  three  methods  by  which  a 
number  are  inserted  simultaneously.  The  first  is  called  clip- 
loading,  and  is  exemplified  in  the  Mannlicher  action  (Plate  X). 
In  this  the  cartridges  are  held  together  by  a  metal  clip,  which 
is  placed  in  the  magazine  with  them,  and  falls  out  through 
an  opening  in  the  bottom  when  the  last  cartridge  is  loaded 
into  the  chamber.  Next  follows  the  system  of  charger-load- 
ings in  which  the  cartridges  are  held  together  by  a  kind  of 
clip  which  enables  them  to  be  swept  into  the  magazine  with 
one  motion  of  the  thumb  ;  the  clip  being  left  behind  is  then 
thrown  away.  The  Mauser  action  (Plate  XI)  is  the  best 
known  example  of  this.  This  system 
allows  the  cartridges  to  be  packed  in  the 
magazine  in  a  double  column,  so  that  it  will 
contain  a  larger  number  in  proportion 
to  its  depth.  Fig.  89  shows  the  packing 
of  the  cartridges  in  the  Mauser,  pattern 
1895.  The  third  system  is  to  supply 
loose  cartridges  into  the  magazine,  several 
being  dropped  into  it  with  one  motion 
of  the  hand.  Similarly  the  magazine 
^^  jg  may   be,  as  in   the  Lee-Metford,   a   box 

lying  underneath  the  action,  which  can 
be  detached  and  loaded  or  emptied  apart  from  the  rifle. 
It  may  be  little  more  than  a  vacant  space  into  which  a  clip- 
ful  of  cartridges  can  be  placed,  and  which  allows  the  small 
metal  clip  which  holds  them  together  to  fall  out  when  the 
last  one  has  been  fired.  It  may  be,  as  in  the  Mauser,  a  box 
into  which  the  cartridges  can  be  swept  out  of  the  charger 
which  contained  them.     It  may  consist,  as  in  some  of  the 


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84  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

latest  patterns  of  Continental  magazine  arms,  of  a  revolving 
cylinder,  which  receives  the  cartridges  as  they  are  pushed 
down  from  the  charger.  Fig.  40  shows  in  section  the  Schonauer 
magazine  used  with  the  Mannlicher  action.  Or  the  magazine 
may  lie  partly  to  one  side  of  the  action,  and 
may  have  a  door  at  the  side  through  which 
cartridges  are  dropped  in  several  at  a  time, 
as  in  the  Erag- Jorgensen  (Plate  XII,  figs.  1 
and  2)  ;  on  closing  the  door  a  spring  is 
brought  into  action,  which  presses  them  up 
so  that  they  are  supplied  one  by  one  as  the 
bolt  is  operated.  Another  type  of  magazine 
which  has  been  produced,  though  not  adopted, 
FIG.  Ao  projects  above  the  action  and  to  one  side  of 

it;  the  cartridges  having  been  placed  in 
this,  gravity  keeps  them  in  such  a  position  that  the  lowest  one 
is  always  ready  to  be  pushed  forward  after  the  bolt  has  been 
withdrawn.  One  still  more  recently  produced,  the  Harris 
system,  has  the  magazine  spring  under  control  of  a  small 
lever  in  the  fore  end,  so  that  the  left  hand  can  put  it  in  or 
out  of  gear  and  thus  control  the  feed  of  cartridges  from  the 
magazine  to  the  action.  This  magazine  can  at  any  time  be 
replenished  with  loose  cartridges.  Examples  of  nearly  all 
these  types  may  be  found  in  the  military  arms  of  the 
present  day.  But  the  Committee  of  1886,  which  adopted 
the  '308  rifle,  had  a  much  more  limited  experience  to  guide 
them.  Whatever  doubt  there  might  have  been  as  to  the 
possibility  of  making  use  of  the  magazine  rifle  on  the  ground 
of  the  obscuration  of  aim  by  the  smoke  of  the  discharge  was 
entirely  removed  if  smokeless  powder  was  to  be  adopted. 
The  Martini  action  could  not  be  used  with  a  magazine. 

The  Committee  had  before  them  all  the  magazine  actions 
of  the  time,  and  submitted  them  to  examination  and  to 
severe  trial,  making  their  tests  resemble  so  far  as  possible 
wgrk  under  service  conditions,  rust  and  sand  being  allowed  to 
do  their  worst  to  hamper  the  free  working  of  all  the  parts. 
Under  the  painstaking  presidency  of  General  Philip  Smith 
the  whole  question  was  dealt  with,  and  the  Committee  finally 
recommended  the  adoption  of  a  rifle  of  a  modified  Lee  action. 


m 


86  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 

and  a  box  magazine  of  special  design  into  which  the  cartridges 
were  placed  one  by  one.  The  bore  of  the  rifle,  almost  the 
same  as  Major  Bubin's,  was  *808,  and  the  form  and  dimensions 
of  rifling,  cartridge,  and  chamber  were  laid  down,  at  the  request 
of  the  Committee,  by  Mr.  Metford.  There  are  seven  grooves, 
and  the  spiral  gives  one  turn  in  10  inches,  or  88  calibres. 

This  rifle,  the  Lee-Metford  Mark  I.  (Plate  XVIII,  fig.  1), 
approved  in  December  1889,  was  produced  when  as  yet 
no  cartridge  but  one  of  black  powder  was  available  for  it. 
With  a  charge  of  70  grains  of  compressed  black  powder  it 
gave  a  velocity  of  1,850  feet  per  second,  and  the  pressure 
in  the  chamber  was  about  18  tons  to  the  square  inch.  It  was 
sighted,  however,  to  a  scale  suitable  for  a  smokeless  powder 
giving  a  velocity  of  2,000  feet  per  second.  The  rifle  was  found 
to  be  generally  satisfactory,  but  the  shooting,  as  already 
mentioned,  was  by  no  means  up  to  the  mark.  The  magazine 
held  only  eight  cartridges.  In  view  of  the  reports  received 
on  it,  a  new  Committee,  appointed  in  July  1890,  produced  a 
new  pattern  of  the  rifle  (Mark  I.*),  with  a  magazine  holding 
ten  cartridges,  a  simpler  bolt,  and  several  improvements  in 
detail ;  this  was  approved  in  December  1891.  This  is  the 
pattern  with  which  the  bulk  of  the  troops  are  now  armed. 
Further  slight  modifications  were  made  in  1892  (Mark  II.), 
and  in  1895  (Mark  II.*).  In  the  latter  year  the  so-called 
Enfield  rifling  was  substituted  for  the  Metford  segmental 
grooving,  and  the  Lee-Enfield  Mark  I.,  in  other  respects  practi- 
cally the  same  as  the  Mark  II.*  rifle,  approved.  In  1899  the 
Lee-Enfield  Mark  I.*  (Plate  XVIII,  fig.  2),  with  little  change 
in  pattern  but  the  abolition  of  the  cleaning  rod,  was  introduced. 
Plate  XIII  shows  the  general  view  of  the  action  from  the 
side  (fig.  1),  and  from  above  (fig.  2).  The  cut-off,  which 
blocks  or  releases  the  supply  of  cartridges  from  the  magazine, 
according  as  it  is  pushed  in  or  pulled  out,  is  well  seen,  and 
also  the  way  in  which  the  empty  cartridge-case  is  jerked  to 
one  side  for  extraction  when  it  has  cleared  the  chamber. 
Plate  XIV  shows  the  detail  of  the  arrangement  of  the 
cartridges  in  the  magazine,  and  the  mode  in  which  they  rise 
into  the  chamber.  Plate  XV  is  a  vertical  view  of  the  same, 
and  very  well  shows  the  cut-off  and  extractor  hook. 


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88  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

It  was  not  for  some  little  time  after  the  adoption  of  the 
*808  that  the  labours  of  Nobel,  supplemented  by  those  of  Sir 
Frederick  Abel  and  others,  produced  the  smokeless  explosive 
known  as  cordite,  which  has  ever  since  been  used  in  the 
cartridges  made  for  the  Government  arm.  The  develope- 
ment  of  smokeless  powders  is  a  special  subject  which  does  not 
fall  within  the  scheme  of  the  present  work.  They  are  much 
more  powerful,  weight  for  weight,  than  black  powder.  For 
instance,  the  charge  of  cordite  for  the  •308  rifle  weighs  from 
30  to  31  grains,  but  is  equivalent  in  propelling  power  to  the 
old  charge  of  85  grains  of  black  powder  used  in  the  Martini- 
Henry  rifle.  Smokeless  powder,  too,  is  much  smaller  in  bulk, 
and  whereas  the  cartridge  would  contain  no  more  than  70 
grains  of  black  powder,  even  when  heavily  compressed  into 
a  pellet,  the  much  more  powerful  charge  of  cordite  leaves  a 
very  considerable  air  space  behind  the  bullet.  The  use  of 
smokeless  powder,  and  of  compound  bullets  with  a  hard 
envelope  usually  either  of  a  mixture  of  nickel  and  copper, 
as  in  the  British  rifle,  or  of  steel  faced  with  a  thin  plate 
of  nickel,  is  general  in  the  military  arms  of  the  present 
day.  The  principle,  however,  on  which  the  bullet  is  fitted 
to  the  grooving  is  practically  a  revival  of  that  which  Bobins 
mentions  in  the  passage  already  quoted,  that  by  which  the 
bullet  being  of  more  than  the  full  size  of  the  bore  is  by 
the  explosion  forced  into  the  grooving.  The  '303  rifle  has 
grooves  about  -005  inch  deep,  so  that  the  extreme  measure- 
ment of  the  circle  including  the  depth  of  the  grooves,  is 
•303+  '005  +  -005,  or  -313  inch,  and  the  diameter  of  the 
bullet  before  it  is  fired  measures  •311  inch.  The  pressure 
of  the  explosion  forces  it  into  the  barrel  under  heavy  stress, 
and  it  is  effectually  fitted  to  the  grooving,  so  that  the  gases 
are  sealed  from  escaping  past  it.  So  complete  is  the  sealing 
when  this  principle  is  properly  carried  out  that  with  most 
modern  rifles  of  this  class  there  seems  little  or  no  advantage 
in  interposing  a  wad  between  the  powder  and  the  bullet. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  principle  of  the  expanding 
bullet,  upon  which  so  much  care  and  invention  was  bestowed, 
and  which  solved  the  problem  of  accuracy  and  rapid  loading 


p. 


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90  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

in  muzzle-loader  and  breech-loader,  has  been  entirely  departed 
from  in  the  new  class  of  military  weapons. 

One  difficulty  connected  with  the  bullet  gave  some  little 
trouble  at  first.  The  heat  set  up  by  the  friction  of  the  bullet 
on  the  bore  is  very  considerable.  It  was  found  with  the  ex- 
perimental ammunition  first  made  for  the  '803  that  the  first 
shot  fired  from  a  clean  barrel  was  never  seen  or  heard  of 
again,  while,  when  once  the  barrel  had  been  fouled,  the  rifle 
shot  satisfactorily.  The  only  reason  was  that  the  friction 
of  the  bullet  in  being  passed  up  the  barrel  developed  heat 
enough  to  melt  that  part  of  the  leaden  core  which  lay  next 
to  it.  Apparently  the  deposit  from  a  shot  previously  fired 
was  sufficient  to  reduce  this  heating  effect.  The  difficulty 
was  so  great  that  it  had  to  be  got  over  by  thickening  the 
metal  envelope  of  the  bullet.  It  could  equally  have  been 
overcome,  as  Sir  Henry  Halford  pointed  out  in  a  lecture 
delivered  at  Aldershot  at  the  time,  by  inserting  a  minute 
layer  of  some  non-conducting  material  between  the  leaden 
core  and  the  metal  thimble.  Some  years  ago  the  writer 
was  trying  a  series  of  experiments  with  various  loads  of 
different  smokeless  powders,  and  a  bullet  of  normal  make 
which  gave  no  trouble.  In  testing  one  particular  powder  at 
the  ballistic  i)endulum  the  shooting  was  found  to  be  extremely 
wild.  On  firing  a  series  of  shots  through  a  cardboard  target 
at  a  distance  of  only  4  or  5  yards,  the  reason  became 
evident.  Most  of  the  shot  holes  were  seen  to  be  surrounded 
by  one  or  more  little  black  cloudy  marks,  sometimes  showing 
a  spiral  inclination,  which  proved  clearly  enough  that  a 
spattering  of  very  fine  particles  of  melted  lead  was  escap- 
ing from  the  base  of  the  bullet  as  it  flew.  Why  the  con- 
ditions of  friction  with  the  deposit  of  this  powder  were  so 
different  from  those  of  all  other  powders  used  with  the  same 
bullet,  it  would  be  very  hard  to  say.  Mr.  Metford,  in  investi- 
gating the  vagaries  of  the  first  shot,  had  been  able  to  see  the 
bullet  in  the  air  surroimded,  as  it  flew,  by  a  little  cloud  of 
melted  lead  consisting  of  particles  so  fine  that  on  recovering 
the  bullet,  and  weighing  it,  it  was  found  to  have  lost  only 
one  or  two  grains  in  weight  during  a  flight  of  several  yards 
through  the  air.     He  found  that  if  the   barrel   had   been 


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92  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

plentifully  greased  the  friction  was  so  far  diminished  that  the 
first  shot  did  not  melt. 

It  will  easily  be  understood  that  where  a  very  large 
amount  of  energy  has  to  be  imparted  by  the  powder  gases  to 
the  bullet  in  a  very  short  time  and  on  a  very  small  area 
of  base,  the  destructive  effects  of  the  blast  of  the  gases  upon 
the  barrel  are  apt  to  be  very  marked.  Every  time  the  rifie 
is  fired  what  is  really  quite  a  large  blast  of  white-hot  flame 
finds  its  way  up  the  very  narrow  pipe  which  the  bore  pre- 
sents. Cordite,  which  has  many  good  qualities  (for  it  keeps 
in  hot  and  cold  climates,  is  very  safe  to  store  and  handle, 
and  does  not  develope  high  pressures  in  the  barrel),  yet  has 
one  grave  disadvantage.  It  is  composed  of  a  mixture  of  two 
of  the  most  violent  explosives  known,  gun-cotton  and  nitro- 
glycerine, and  the  temperature  at  which  it  burns  is  a  very 
high  one,  higher  than  the  melting-point  of  steel.  It  was  soon 
found  that  the  surface  of  the  barrel,  where  the  chamber  was 
narrowed  into  the  rifling,  showed  signs  of  damage  when 
only  a  few  rounds  of  cordite  had  been  fired  through  it,  and 
that  a  few  hlindred  rounds  were  sufficient  to  effect  very 
obvious  injury,  and  to  impair  the  velocity  as  well  as  the 
accuracy  of  the  shooting. 

The  peculiar  appearance  caused  by  erosion,  consisting  first 
of  a  very  minute  grooving  just  in  front  of  the  chamber  in  the 
direction  in  which  the  gases  escape  up  the  barrel,  and,  in  a 
more  advanced  stage,  of  an  irregular  washing  away  of  the 
surface  of  the  bore,  especially  at  the  bottom  of  the  grooves 
in  the  breech  end  of  the  rifle,  and  the  pitting  of  the  surface, 
is  familiar  to  all  those  who  take  an  interest  in  this  subject. 
On  this  account  it  was  found  advisable  to  lengthen  the  '  life ' 
of  the  *303  barrel  by  giving  the  gases  more  of  the  original 
surface  of  the  bore  to  eat  away,  and  the  deeper  five-grooved 
rifling  (p.  60,  fig.  27),  with  the  grooves  concentric  with  the 
bore,  and  with  as  much  land  as  there  is  grooving,  was 
substituted  for  Mr.  Metford*s  more  delicate  grooving.  At 
the  same  time  some  alterations  were  made  in  the  loading  of 
the  cartridge,  which  have  assisted  to  diminish  the  erosive 
effect,  and  the  *  life  *  of  a  barrel  when  used  with  cordite  now 
extends  to  some  eight  thousand  rounds,  a  matter  even  more 


EROSION  AND  METALLIC  FOULING  93 

important  for  machine  guns  than  for  rifles.  The  destructive 
efiTect  of  erosion,  while  it  is  common  in  some  degree  to  all 
smokeless  powders,  is  much  less  developed  in  those  which  do 
not  contain  nitro-glycerine,  but  no'  such  powder  has  as  yet 
been  produced  which  has  been  thought  to  fulfil  the  military 
requirements  of  this  country  (which  include  transport  to  and 
from  all  parts  of  the  world  and  use  in  every  variety  of 
climate)  so  well  as  cordite.  The  labours  of  the  Explosives 
Committee,  now  sitting,  may  perhaps  do  something  towards 
solving  the  problem. 

A  curious  fact  connected  with  erosion,  and  conspicuous 
with  cordite,  is  what  is  known  as  metallic  fouling.  It  is  no 
doubt  due  to  the  immense  heat  developed  and  to  the  friction 
of  the  bullet  that  a  metallic  deposit  is  left  on  the  surface 
of  the  bore  after  firing,  which  is  extraordinarilv  difficult 
to  remove,  and  which  tends  to  accumulate  for  a  lew  shots, 
and  then  seems  suddenly  to  be  swept  out,  with  the  result  that 
the  amount  of  resistance  to  the  bullet  in  passing  up  the 
barrel  varies,  and  that  irregular  shooting  is  produced.  It 
has  even  been  found  that  this  fouling  will  temporarily  reduce 
the  diameter  of  the  barrel  by  as  much  as  the  one-thousandth 
part  of  an  inch.  This  makes  the  chief  difficulty  in  keeping 
the  surface  of  the  barrel  clean  and  in  good  order,  and 
necessitates  the  use  in  cleaning  of  the  wire  brush  and  the 
double  pull-through  of  tightly  fitting  wire  gauze. 

Smokeless  powders  are  so  generally  used  now,  and  so 
well  known,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  add  much  upon  this 
subject.  Most  of  those  in  vogue  among  foreign  nations  for 
their  military  rifles,  as  well  as  those,  other  than  cordite  and 
ballistite,  and  one  or  two  less  well  known,  used  in  sporting 
rifles,  are  made  without  nitro-glycerine,  and  do  not  have  the 
same  degree  of  destructive  effect  on  the  barrel,  although 
erosion  to  some  extent  takes  place  with  all  of  them.  They 
consist  mainly  of  nitro-cellulose,  that  is,  some  sort  of  nitrated 
fibre  brought  to  a  condition  in  which  it  does  not  give  too 
violent  an  explosion.  Schultze  and  '  E.  C  were  the  pioneers 
of  powders  of  this  kind  in  sporting  guns,  but  there  are  now 
many,  and  they  are  improving  every  year.  All  have  the 
advantage  that  they  leave  very  little  fouling  in  the  barrel. 


94  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

and  this  tends  to  accuracy  of  shooting.  On  the  other  hand, 
what  little  deposit  is  left  by  some  of  the  powders  seems  to 
stick  fast  and  to  be  difficult  to  remove,  and  has  a  decided 
tendency  to  rust  the  surface  of  the  bore,  making  it  very 
difficult  to  keep  it  properly  clean.  One  point  in  which 
these  powders  are  generally  capable  of  improvement  is 
conspicuous  to  the  marksman,  that  with  all  of  them  there 
seems  a  tendency  to  irregularity  of  ignition,  and  of  friction 
in  the  bore,  which  gives  an  occasional  shot  wide  of  the 
general  group.  But  in  spite  of  this  the  shooting  obtained 
at  all  ranges  with  modern  rifles  is,  on  the  whole,  superior  to 
that  of  the  older  types.  The  average  deviation  from  the 
point  of  mean  impact  of  a  normal  group  of  shots  at  500  yards 
fired  with  the  Martini-Henry  from  the  fixed  rest  was  about 
11  inches ;  with  the  *30S  it  is  about  7  inches. 

The  difference  is  very  marked,  if  we  take  the  record  of 
prize  shooting  at  Bisley  and  elsewhere,  between  the  scoring 
with  the  two  rifles,  but  it  is  fair  to  say  that  had  the  com- 
parison been  made,  not  with  this  rifle,  but  with  the  Metford 
military  breech-loader,  of  the  same  bore  as  the  Martini- 
Henry,  which  for  so  many  years  was  conspicuous  at 
Wimbledon  and  Bisley,  it  would  probably  not  have  been  in 
favour  of  the  more  modern  rifles.  The  '303  rifle  will  give  good 
shooting  at  a  target  up  to  1,000  yards,  although  it  is  by  no 
means  incapable  of  missing  at  that  distance.  So  excellent 
was  the  shooting  at  an  8-inch  buUseye  at  200  yards  from  the 
knee  or  lying  down  with  the  Martini-Henry,  that  it  seemed  as 
if  it  could  hardly  be  improved  on,  scores  of  33  out  of  35 
being  frequent,  scores  of  34  not  uncommon,  and  the  full 
number  of  35  points  being  occasionally  made.  Since  the 
advent  of  the  -303  rifle  the  scores  have  been  decidedly  higher, 
long  strings  of  34's  and  a  quantity  of  35's  being  constantly 
recorded.  At  500  yards  full  scores  became  ridiculously 
common  from  any  steady  position,  and  in  1901  the  bull's-eyes 
of  both  the  short  and  the  mid  range  targets  had  to  be 
reduced,  the  former  from  8  to  7  inches,  and  the  latter  from 
24  to  20.  These  are  very  small  objects  to  hit,  yet  scores  of 
100  points  or  more  out  of  a  possible  105  in  the  seven  shots 
at  200,  500,  and  600  yards  are  not  infrequently  made. 


ACCURACY  AND  PENETRATION  OF  '303    96 

One  element,  undoabtedly,  which  has  favoured  the  high 
Bcores  made  with  the  -308  rifle,  is  the  absence  of  any  material 
recoil.  The  kick  of  the  Martini-Henry  was  a  terror  to  most  of 
those  who  nsed  it,  and  especially  to  the  unfortunate  recruit 
who  for  the  first  time  experienced  its  violence.  There  were 
few  men  who  did  not  find  that  a  comparatively  small  number 
of  shots  fired  during  the  day  were  enough  to  take  the  edge 
off  the  accuracy  of  their  shootiug.  Many  were  the  bruised 
shoulders  for  which  this  rifle,  and,  indeed,  all  others  of  its 
class,  were  answerable.  Now  this  is  all  changed,  and  one 
of  the  great  advantages  of  the  new  rifles  is  that  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  soldier  has  been  made  very  much  more  easy  in 
consequence. 

The  penetration  obtained  from  the  new  rifles  was  astonish- 
ing. Yet,  in  spite  of  their  increased  power,  it  did  not  follow 
that  the  military  effectiveness  of  these  weapons  was  all  that 
could  be  desired.  The  *303  rifle,  if  the  bullet  is  directed  to 
the  right  place,  will  pierce  the  brain  of  an  elephant  and 
kill  him.  It  will  go  through  a  large  animal  from  side  to  side, 
but  if  it  happen  to  penetrate  without  touching  a  vital  part 
it  will  do  very  little  damage.  It  does  not,  in  fact,  expend 
upon  the  tissues  it  meets  with  in  its  course  the  whole  of  the 
energy  contained  in  it.  It  can  only  be  made  to  do  so  by  so 
arranging  matters  that  on  impact  it  opens  or  spreads,  and 
so  creates  for  itself  a  resistance  sufficient  to  overcome  its 
motion  before  penetration  is  complete.  A  dangerous  or 
charging  animal  requires  to  be  stopped  on  the  instant.  It  is 
of  no  avail  to  penetrate  it  with  a  wound  that  produces  no 
immediate  effect,  even  though  hours  afterwards  it  may  be 
fatal.  The  shot  must  produce  widespread  and  instantaneous 
damage.  It  was  found,  and  not  unexpectedly,  that  in  Chitral 
the  effects  of  the  wounds  ruflicted  upon  the  enemy  were  really 
very  slight.  A  charging  dervish  or  an  Eastern  hillman  at 
close  quarters  must  be  reckoned  as  dangerous  game.  This 
is  why  the  original  bullet  made  for  the  '803,  completely 
sheathed  at  the  point  and  known  as  Mark  II.  bullet,  was 
varied  and  made  hollow-pointed,  in  a  way  which  shocked  the 
peace  delegates  at  the  Hague  Conference.  Not  that  the 
Mark  IV.  bullet  and  the  Dum-dum  were  really  so  inhuman 


96  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

as  their  detractors  on  that  occasion  attempted  to  show,  for 
their  experiments  were  made  with  an  imitation  of  the  real 
Dum-dum  bullet  which  was  far  from  being  a  facsimile  of  it 
The  Mark  IV.  bullet,  the  core  of  which  was  made  of  pure 
lead,  and  which  had  a  hollow  head,  was  manufactured 
during  1898  and  1899,  but  in  the  summer  of  the  latter 
year  it  was  found,  as  those  who  were  at  the  Bisiey  meeting 
will  remember,  that  under  some  conditions  the  core  was 
occasionally  blown  through  the  envelope,  and  that  acci- 
dents could  occur.  Mark  V.  bullet,  similar  in  shape,  but 
rather  harder,  and  consequently  with  less  expansive  power, 
was  then  substituted  for  it,  but  on  the  commencement  of  the 
South  African  War  it  was  decided  to  use  again  only  Mark  II. 
bullet,  and  thus  it  happens  that  on  the  British  side,  and, 
we  may  suppose,  on  that  of  the  Boers  (except  in  so  far  as 
sporting  rifles  and  ammunition  may  have  been  used),  the 
war  has  been  conducted  with  that  regard  to  humanity  which, 
if  it  diminish  the  horrors  of  it,  tends  unfortunately  to  its 
prolongation. 

The  Mark  IV.  bullet  seems  to  have  been  slightly  inferior 
to  the  ordinary  Mark  II.  bullet  in  accuracy,  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  the  Indian  Dum-dum  bullet,  in  which  the 
expansive  property  is  obtained  by  exposing  the  leaden  core  at 
the  nose  of  the  bullet.  The  construction  of  these  bullets  is 
shown  on  p.  142. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  bolt  actions  of  the 
present  day  are  not  immensely  improved  from  the  original 
patterns,  such  as  that  of  the  needle-gun  and  others  which 
followed  it.  With  these  there  was  always  some  danger  that 
in  the  rapid  closing  of  the  bolt  the  point  of  the  needle 
or  striker  might  come  into  contact  with  the  cartridge, 
and  explode  it  before  the  bolt  was  properly  locked.  Safety 
devices  of  various  kinds  have  entirely  obviated  this  defect, 
which  thirty  years  ago  was  a  sufficiently  fertile  source  of 
accidents  to  give  an  almost  undisputed  preference  to  the 
falling-block  system  in  this  country  for  a  good  many  years. 
In  these  days  no  one  would  attempt  to  maintain  that  the  bolt 
action  is  less  safe  than  other  kinds.  It  has  been  made  in 
hundreds  of  thousands,  nay,  in  millions,  to  furnish  the  military 


THE    BOLT    ACTION  97 

weapons  of  most  Powers,  and  accidents  with  it  are  almost  un- 
known. Its  manipulation  is  extremely  simple.  Generally 
speaking,  there  is  a  projecting  lever  on  the  right  side  with  a 
knob  at  the  end  to  afford  a  convenient  hold.  If  this  lever  is 
sharply  turned  upward  to  the  left  a  quarter  of  a  circle,  the  lugs, 
of  which  there  are  usually  two,  holding  the  bolt  in  place  during 
the  discharge,  are  disengaged,  and  the  whole  bolt  can  be  drawn 
directly  backwards.  The  extractor  hook,  which  has  ridden 
over  the  rim  of  the  cartridge  while  it  was  being  pushed 
home,  withdraws  it ;  primary  extraction,  that  is,  a  specially 
powerful  movement  to  start  the  empty  shell  out  of  the 
chamber,  being  given  by  an  inclined  plane  during  the  first  i)art 
of  the  upward  movement  of  the  lever.  It  is  a  simple  matter 
to  arrange  some  little  stud  or  projection  which  shall  catch 
against  one  side  of  the  base  of  the  cartridge  case  when  it 
has  been  drawn  clear  of  the  chamber,  and  jerk  it  clean  away 
to  one  side.  No  difficulty  in  extraction  is  experienced  with 
a  well-made  rifle  and  ammunition;  indeed,  the  principal 
trouble,  and  one  which  has  been  extremely  well  overcome  in 
the  English  military  arm,  is  to  prevent  the  ejection  of  the 
cartridge  being  so  violent  as  to  strike  with  unpleasant  force 
the  man  next  to  the  firer,  or  some  one  in  the  rank  behind 
him.  The  cocking  of  the  action  is  in  some  systems  accom- 
plished during  the  first  sideways  movement  of  the  lever,  but 
in  that  case  it  entails  something  of  an  additional  strain  upon 
the  hand  during  that  portion  of  the  motion,  which  is  also 
the  time  when  the  primary  extraction  is  made.  In  others, 
as  in  that  of  the  British  rifie,  the  cocking  is  the  last  thing 
done  when  the  bolt  is  almost  closed,  the  cocking  piece  in 
the  bolt  being  held  back  by  the  sear  nose,  which  engages 
against  it  as  the  bolt  is  pushed  forward.  The  various 
bolt  systems  differ  chiefly  in  small  details.  With  some  the 
cartridges  have  projecting  rims,  which  limit  absolutely  the 
extent  to  which  the  cartridge  can  advance  into  the  chamber. 
With  others  the  rim  is  replaced  by  a  groove  cut  in  the  brass 
body  of  the  cartridge  just  in  front  of  the  base,  and  in  this 
the  extractor  hook  engages.  This  system  appears  less  satis- 
factory than  the  other,  but  nevertheless  seems  to  work  ex- 
cellently in  practice,  as  the  cartridge  in  fact  is  not  driven 


98  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    RIFLE 

forward  unduly  into  the  chamber.  When  the  rim  is  dis- 
pensed with  the  cartridges  take  upr  less  room  in  packing. 
Some  bolt  actions,  again,  have  a  revolving  head,  which 
enables  the  hinder  part  of  the  bolt  to  be  turned  inde- 
l^endently  of  a  short  part  which  adjoins  the  cartridge.  By 
this  means  the  bolt  is  unlocked  without  the  end  of  it  being 
forced  to  revolve  against  the  head  of  the  cartridge.  Such 
is  the  arrangement  in  the  Lee  action.  The  revolving  head 
appears  on  the  whole  to  be  the  preferable  system,  but,  as  is 
the  case  in  so  many  departments  of  practical  mechanics, 
theoretical  excellence  is  comparatively  unimportant  if  the 
manufacture  be  strong  and  sound. 

This  saying,  in  fact,  may  be  held  to  apply  to  all  the 
varieties  of  modem  lAilitary  arms  used  by  the  different 
nations.  One  may  be  more  perfect  than  another  in  some  one 
respect,,  but,  generally  s^ieaking,  the  differences  in  speed 
of  fire,  ballistic  properties,  <&c.,  are  comparatively  very  small, 
and  any  one  of  these  rifles  may  be  held  to  be  admirably 
efficient  as  a  man-killing  machine.  It  is  not  worth  while 
to  refine  too  much  on  the  various  points  of  comparison 
which  arise  uix)n  inspection  of  a  comparative  table  of  the 
dimensions  and  systems  distinguishing  the  military  weapons 
of  the  present  day.  There  are  two  or  three  countries, 
for  instance,  which  have  adopted  a  bolt  action  requiring 
only  a  direct  pull  and  push  to  actuate  it,  and  not  the  doable 
motion  of  turning  the  bolt  as  well  as  sliding  it  forward  or 
backward.  In  this  way  some  degree  of  additional  rapidity 
is  certainly  gained,  though  when  the  weapons  are  in  hands 
well  accustomed  to  them  the  difference  in  speed  can  only 
be  very  minute.  In  most  straight-pull  systems  the  advan- 
tage gained  in  obtaining  a  primary  extraction  at  enormously 
favourable  leverage  during  the  turning  motion  of  the  bolt 
is  lost,  and  in  any  case  something  of  complication  is  added 
to  the  mechanism.  But  with  the  perfection  and  accuracy 
of  modern  manufacture  straight-pull  actions  answer  practi- 
cally well  enough.  If  we  may  except  that  of  the  American 
6  mm.  rifle,  which  has  what  is  known  as  the  Lee 
straight-pull  action  (Plate  XII,  fig.  8),  but  is  not  really  a 
straight-pull  action  at  all,  they   all   rest   on  a  very  simple 


STRAIGHT-PULL    ACTIONS  99 

principle,  that  of  having  the  bolt  in  two  parts,  one  a  kind  of 
sleeve  over  the  other,  and  actuated  by  what  is  really  a  screw 
mechanism.  The  Swiss  rifle  has  a  straight-pull  action,  of 
which  the  earlier  pattern  is  somewhat  large  and  heavy. 
The  Mannlicher  straight-pull  bolt,  which  is  in  use  in  the 
Swiss  carbine,  and  that  of  the  Mauser  are  much  smaller  and 
more  compact.  Another  straight-pull  action,  which  bears  a 
great  resemblance  to  those  just  mentioned,  is  one  designed 
by  Sir  Charles  Boss,  which  has  not  yet  been  made  in  any 
quantity.  But  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  straight-pull 
action  on  its  merits  will  ever  supersede  the  ordinary  bolt 
action  except  in  so  far  as  it  is  specially  applicable  to  the 
requirements  of  automatic  mechanism.  » 

The  rapidity  of  fire  gained  by  the  use  of  the  bolt  action 
combined  with  the  magazine  consists,  as  has  been  already 
pointed  out,  mainly  in  the  fact  that  it  is  a  device  for  ex- 
tremely rapid  loading ;  that  what  is  either  really  or  practi- 
cally a  single  motion   of   the  bolt  backward,   and   another 
single  motion  forward,  extracts  and  ejects  the  fired  cartridge, 
inserts  a  fresh  cartridge  into  the  chamber  ready  for  firing, 
and  also  cocks  the  lock,  and  leaves  it  so  that  only  the  trigger 
requires  to  be  pulled.     The  saving  of  time  thus  effected  is 
not  to   be  measured  only   by   the   rapidity   of  this  action. 
Anyone  who,  especially  as  a  youngster,  has  used  one  double 
gun  at  a  stand  where  pheasants  or  partridges  were  coming 
thick  and  fast,  must  know  how  great  a  drawback  it  is  to  his 
shooting  to  have  to  fumble  for  cartridges  in  his  pocket,  to 
tnm  them  right  end  foremost,  and  then  to  load  and  close  his 
weapon.     The  simpler  the  motions  involved,  the  more  atten- 
tion will  be  given  to  the  essential  movements  of  aiming  and 
firing.     A   well -practised   manipulator  of   a   magazine   rifle 
may  be  compared  to  the  man  who  has  one  or  two  loaders, 
and  who  whenever  he  has  fired  two  barrels  has  another  gun 
ready  for  discharge  slipped  into  his  hand  ;  he   has  almost 
nothing  to  divert  his  attention  from  his  game.     The  heat  of 
the  barrel  from  magazine  fire  is  so  great  that  it  is  necessary 
to  attach  a  wooden  handguard  over  it,  if  not  to  sheathe  it 
almost  completely  in  wood. 

It  was  evident  enough  when  the  supply  of  cartridges  into 

H   2 

281199 


100  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

the  chamber  of  the  rifle  could  be  satisfactorily  effected  by  the 
direct  movement  of  the  bolt,  that  either  by  the  recoil  of  the 
rifle,  or  by  some  other  application  of  a  part  of  the  force  of 
the  shot  just  fired,  the  loading  could  be  effected  automatically 
as  in  the  Maxim  and  other  machine  guns,  with  which  fiiring 
can  be;  continuously  carried  on  from  a  single  barrel.  The 
difficulties  involved  are  largely  those  of  doing  the  work  with 
a  minimum  of  complication  and  of  weight  in  the  machinery. 
A  further  grave  diflSculty  is  the  supply  of  ammunition  in 
sufficient  quantity  to  justify  the  extremely  rapid  rate  of  fire 
which  can  be  obtained  from  a  weapon  in  which  the  hand 
does  not  have  to  be  shifted  nor  even  a  finger  moved  from  one 
trigger  to  another.  Yet  this  can  hardly  be  considered  an  in- 
superable objection.  The  rapidity,  and,  if  one  may  so  call  it, 
the  smoothness  of  the  fire,  will  be  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 
mere  advantage  in  time  gained  by  the  more  rapid  loading. 
It  is  the  disturbance  of  the  aim,  the  distraction  of  the  atten- 
tion from  the  object,  the  shifting  of  the  rifle  in  the  hands 
to  load,  and  consequently  of  the  whole  centre  of  gravity  of 
the  body,  and  especially  of  the  head,  shoulders,  and  arms, 
demanding  for  every  shot  an  entire  readjustment  of  the 
whole  body,  that  delays  aiming,  ani  consequently  firing. 
With  automatic  loading  these  causes  of  delay  disappear,  and 
it  is  evident  that  the  greatest  possible  use  may  be  made  of 
the  very  briefest  opportunities  of  fire.  With  black  powder 
real  rapidity  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  The  cloud  of  smoke, 
whether  of  a  man's  own  making  or  from  his  neighbours' 
rifles,  made  perceptible  intervals  in  the  firing  a  matter  of 
com-se.  This  is  no  longer  the  case.  Although  automatic 
loading  mechanism  is  one  of  the  problems  that  have  not 
been  entirely  solved,  in  the  sense  that  there  is  room  yet  for 
much  simplification,  it  would  only  require  that  one  of  the 
chief  military  Powers  of  the  world  should  adopt  it  to  force 
all  the  others  to  follow  suit.  Such  a  new  departure  would 
give  a  very  real  advantage,  but  at  the  same  time,  as  is  the 
case  with  the  magazine  rifle,  the  moral  advantage  obtained 
would  probably  be  Out  of  all  proportion  to  the  actual 
mechanical  imi)rovement.  Quite  a  number  of  automatic  rifle 
actions  have  been  arranged,  one  by  Griffiths  and  Woodgate, 


AUTOMATIC    LOADING  101 

and  several  by  Mannlicher  and  other  designers.  The  first 
desideratum  would  appear  to  be  such  an  action  as  could  be 
applied  with  comparatively  little  expense  to  an  existing 
magazine  riile,  and  here  a  straight-pull  mechanism  would 
seem  to  have  the  advantage.  Ingenious  as  are  many  of  the 
patterns  that  have  been  produced,  in  them  the  trouble 
experienced  with  automatic  pistols  is  even  more  intensified, 
owing  to  the  severer  stresses  and  the  greater  length  of  the 
rifle  cartridge ;  yet  the  solution  of  the  problem  in  a  practical 
form  seems  merely  to  be  a  matter  of  time.  When  it  does 
come  the  soldier,  so  far  from  being  denied  access  to  the  work- 
ing parts  of  the  breech  mechanism,  will  almost  necessarily 
be  taught  how  to  clean  and  to  assemble  the  mechanism,  and 
will  be  held  responsible  for  its  efficient  working. 

We  have  spoken  of  automatic  loading  as  a  probable 
developement  in  the  future.  It  remains  to  be  seen  what  other 
changes  in  military  arms  time  will  bring.  The  difficulties  at 
the  present  time  in  keeping  barrels  from  rust  and  from 
deterioration  in  use  are  so  great  that  there  may  possibly  be  a 
reconsideration  before  long  of  the  question  whether  calibres  of 
less  than  7i  mm.  (-295)  do  not  lose  more  in  this  respect  than 
they  gain  in  flatness  of  trajectory  and  lightness  of  ammuni- 
tion. Unfortunately  it  cannot  be  pretended  that  military 
rifles  of  7^  to  8  mm.  are  by  any  means  free  from  the  same 
defects.  The  future  of  this  part  of  the  question  depends  to 
some  extent  on  the  future  of  metallurgical  science.  The 
difficulty  might  be  met  were  it  possible  to  change  the  con- 
stitution of  steel  or  to  substitute  for  it  another  dietal  less 
easily  oxidised  and  capable  of  better  j-esistance  to  the  (destruc- 
tive effects  of  the  explosive,  and  of  the  friction  from  k  hard- 
coated  bullet.  A  remedy  is  more  likely  to  he  found  in  some 
modification  of  the  explosive  which  shall  give  with  compara- 
tively low  temperatures  and  pressures  an  amount  of  work  at 
least  equal  to  that  given  by  existing  powders.  Here  is  a 
wide  field  for  the  chemist.  If  he  can  even  approximately 
solve  this  problem,  we  may  see  a  reduction  of  calibres  beyond 
anything  yet  attempted.  Short  of  such  sweeping  changes 
there  is  room  for  considerable  improvement  in  the  accuracy 
of  firearms.      Special   attention  needs   to   be   given  to  the 


102  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

quality  of  the  residuum  of  the  explosive,  and  to  the  elucida- 
tion of  those  causes  of  irregular  ignition  and  friction  in  the 
barrel  which  are  answerable  at  the  present  time  for  many  of 
the  disappointments  of  marksmanship.  Whether  or  not  the 
bayonet  is  to  be  considered  as  a  serious  weapon  in  coming 
wars,  the  rifle  of  the  future  is  likely  to  be  lighter  than  that  of 
the  present  day  rather  than  heavier. 

In  dealing  with  the  developement  of  destructive  weapons 
it  would  seem  to  be  a  sad  truth  that  the  more  terrible  and 
destructive  they  can  be  made  the  better  will  it  be  in  the  long 
run  for  the  cause  of  humanity.  If  wars,  however  bloody,  are 
short,  the  total  losses  in  them  will  not  be  greater  than  under 
the  old  conditions,  while  the  indirect  injury  they  inflict  will 
be  far  less  than  in  the  case  of  prolonged  and  ineffective 
struggles.  Just  as  the  strength  of  a  big  man  gives  him  no 
advantage  in  a  duel  with  pistols  over  a  small  antagonist  who 
would  have  no  chance  with  him  in  a  hand-to-hand  struggle, 
so  a  great  nation  must,  if  only  war  be  deadly  enough,  pause 
before  facing  the  grave  risks  of  heavy  losses  mseparable  from 
a  campaign  against  even  a  small  nation  well  armed  and 
equipped.  If  weapons  can  be  made  deadly  enough  to  render 
annihilation  of  one  party  or  of  the  other  to  a  fight  a  certainty, 
the  reign  of  universal  peace  cannot  fail  to  be  very  near  at 
hand. 

The  pictures  and  particulars  which  follow  of  the  arms 
of  the  principal  civilised  nations  of  the  world  are  not 
without  interest,  but  the  reader  must  be  warned  against 
drawing  his  deductions  too  widely  from  the  details  given* 
Thus,  although  the  6^  mm.  Mannlicher  rifle  has  a  higher 
velocity,  and  in  the  first  part  of  its  flight  a  flatter  trajectory 
than  the  rifles  of  7  and  7i  mm.,  which  appear  alongside  it, 
the  blow  inflicted  by  it  is  certainly  not  so  great  at  long 
distances.  Similarly  in  the  mechanism  and  system  of  any 
one  rifle  adopted  there  are  various  differences,  the  advantage 
and  disadvantage  of  which  may  easily  be  exaggerated,  since 
they  amount  as  a  rule  only  to  a  very  small  percentage  on 
the  total  effectiveness.  It  may  be  said  of  all  the  military 
magazine  arms  of  the  present  day  that  they  are'  very  well 
adapted  for  their  purj)08e. 


MODERN    MILITARY    RIFLES  103 

Mach  trouble  has  been  taken  in  obtaining  the  particulars 
connected  with  the  different  rifles,  and  the  author  is  much 
indebted  to  Major  H.  W.  W.  Barlow,  R.A.,  for  verifying  many 
of  them.  Although  machine-made  arms  are  wonderfully 
uniform  in  dimensions,  a  certain  margin  has  to  be  allowed, 
owing  to  the  wear  of  the  tools,  within  which  their  measure- 
ments may  vary.  The  difference,  for  instance,  of  half  a 
thousandth  of  an  inch  in  the  calibre  or  the  depth  of  the 
grooving,  and  the  small  variations  in  the  length  or  weight  of 
the  cartridge  and  bullet,  which  are  constantly  found  between 
one  sample  and  another,  are  inevitable,  but  for  practical 
purposes  immaterial.  Although  there  is  a  standard  weight 
for  each  rifle,  the  mere  difference  in  the  compactness  of  the 
wood  of  the  stock  may  make  one  rifle  as  much  as  ten  ounces 
heavier  than  another  of  exactly  the  same  pattern.  In  the 
present  table  some  of  the  particulars  have  been  taken  from 
actual  specimens,  and  may  in  this  way  not  be  absolutely 
normal.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  patterns  often  change 
in  small  details,  and  that  in  such  points  as  the  kind  6t 
explosive  adopted  for  any  rifle  and  the  amount  of  the  charge 
there  is  no  permanence. 

The  initial  velocity  is  not  easy  to  arrive  at  with  perfect 

certainty,  and  in  many  cases  the  observed  velocity  (o.v.)  at 

90  feet,  as  obtained  by  actual  experiment,  has  been  given. 

The   figures  representing  the    pressure    in    tons    must    be 

accepted  with  caution ;  some  of  them  seem  to  be  in  any  case 

only  approximate,  while  the  nominal  ton  of  pressure   can 

hardly  represent  a   true   stress  of   a   ton,  or   some  of  the 

pressures  given  would  be  higher  than  steel  could  stand. 

W 
In  comparing  the  values  of      ,  which  represent  ceteris 

paribus  the  effectiveness  of  the  bullet,  it  will  be  noticed  that 
the  various  rifles  do  not  differ  very  greatly  except  the  United 
States  *286  rifle  and  the  Spanish  Mauser,  which  are  inferior 
to  the  others.  The  absolute  value  for  comparative  purposes 
of  the  figures  must  be  discounted  by  the  fact  that  the  friction 
of  the  air  on  the  sides  of  the  bullet  tells  more  upon  a  light 
one  than  upon  a  heavy  one  of  the  same  length,  and  that  the 
shape  of  the  head  is  an  important  factor  in  flight. 


104 


AUSTRIA - 

,      nrN(;ARY 
Mannlicher 

BKLGUrM 

DEN  af ARK 

Designation  . 

Manser 

Krag. 
Jorgensen 

Date  of  pattern 

1H95 

1889 

1889 

Calibre  in  inches  . 

•315 

•801 

•315 

Length  . 

4  ft.  2  in. 

4  ft.  2i  in. 

4  ft.  4}  in. 

;     Weight. 

8  lb.  5i  oz. 

8  lb.  11  oz. 

9  lb.  llf  oz. 

Weight  with  bayonet 

8  lb.  4}  oz. 

9  lb.  10^  oz. 

10  lb.  4i  oz. 

'         /System     . 

la  1  Clip  or  charger 
vNo.  of  cartridges 

fixed  vertical 
box 

detachable 
vertical  box 

fixed    hori- 
zontal box, 
with  door  at 
side 

clip 

charger 

— 

5 

5 

5 

Bolt  movement 

Straight  pull 

turning 

turning 

Length  in  inches 

301 

80-7 

32-9 

1                /  No.  . 

4 

4 

6 

'■  •_            Width 

as       1      rA 

•138 

•172 

•118 

1    S-?Jl>epth       . 

■008 

•0066 

•0075 

'  n 

2  ^  Shape 

Twistincalibreh 

ratchet 

concentric 

concentric 

31'3— right 

32-5— right 

37^6— right 

\  Angle   of    twist 

.5^  44' 

5<»31' 

4047. 

I    S) 

Length  in  inches 

2-99 

307 

299 

S 

Weight  in  grains 

455 

441 

468 

■   o 

Groove  or  rim  . 

rim 

groove 

rim 

i         [  Explosive 

nitro-cellulose 

nitro-cellulose, 
Wetteren  L3 
(Libbrecht) 

nitro-cellulose, 
flake 

'    ^  I  Weight  in  grains 

42-4 

3704 

34 

1 

Length  in  inches 

1-25 

12 

1^18 

JS, 

Diameter  in  inches 

•323 

•311 

•323 

3  ■ 

Weight  in  grains 

244 

219 

237 

V  Envelope . 

steel 

cupro -nickel 

cupro-nickel 

Initial  velocity,  f.s. 

2.034 

2,034 

1.968 

:     Value  of  W/d^ 

.     '            -334 

•331 

•326 

Pressure  in  tons    . 

.       19-0 

19-7 

151 

> 

X 
Eh 


109 


1 

1. 

1 

FRANCE 

Lebel 

GERMANY 

HOLLAND 

Designation  . 

Mauser        ' 

1 

Mannlicher 

'     Date  of  pattern      . 

1886 

1898           1 

1896 

Calibre  in  inches  . 

^    -315 

•311            1 

•256 

j     Length  .... 

4  ft.  3  in. 

4  ft.  1  in. 

4  ft.  3  in. 

Weight. 

9-lb.  3ioz. 

9  lb.  4  oz. 

9  lb.  11  oz. 

Weight  with  bayonet     . 

10  lb.  1^  oz. 

10  lb.  0  oz. 

10  lb.  8f  oz. 

/System     .        .   •    . 

tube  in  fore 
end 

fixed  vertical 
box 

fixed  vertical  ! 
box 

S    Clip  or  charger 
No.  of  cartridges 

insertion  of 

single 
cartridges 

clip 

clip           1 

! 

1 

1       « 

5 

5         ! 

j 

Bolt  movement 

turning 

turning 

turning       i 

1 

Length  in  inches 

31-5 

291 

311 

1 

/No.    . 

4 

4 

4 

^^ 

. 

Width 

•164 

•173 

•110 

||ij 

Depth 

j          0059 

•0066 

•0066 

Shape 

1      concentric 

concentric 

concentric 

Twist  in  calibres 

j      300-left 

30^2- right 

31-8— right 

\  Angle  of  twist  . 

1         6-  59' 

6°  66' 

6°  39' 

g,  I  Length  in  inches 

;          2-95 

;           3-22 

3 

*C  \  Weight  in  grains 

447-5 

1          431-6 

1 

464 

S  I  Groove  or  rim  . 

,           rim 

groove 

rim 

/Explosive 
^  (Weight  in  grains 

1  nitro-cellulose 

flake 
•     B.F.Vieille 

i    flake  powder 

1 

Troisdorf 

1         42-43 

40^75 

j 

36-26           1 

/Length  in  inches     . 

;       1-26 

1           123 

1-23 

1 

1           -323 

;         -3189 

•263            1 

;S  J  Weight  in  grains      . 

231 

227 

1 

162      ; 

«    Envelope. 

,    cupro-nickel 

1 
1 

steel,  coated 
!          with 
1    cupro-nickel 

steel,  coated    , 

NVith              ' 

cupro-nickel 

Initial  velocity,  f.s. 

1          2,073 

1      2,000  (o.v.) 

2,433  (o.v.) 

Value  of  W/d«       . 

•320 

1           -322 

;            '^^^            I 

Pressm'e  in  tons    . 

18-S 

20-3 

23-5 

no 


-  — 

(iRKAT  BRITAIN 

Lee-Metford 
•              Mark  L*  • 

GREAT  BRITAIN 

Designation 

Lee-Enfield 
Mark  !.♦ 

Date  of  pattern  . 

1892 

1899 

Calibre  in  inches 

•303 

•303 

Length       .... 

4  ft.  li  in. 

4  ft.  li  in. 

Weight      .... 

9  lb.  8  oz. 

9  lb.  4  oz. 

Weight  with  bayonet. 

lOlb.Tioz.   ^ 

10  lb.  3i  oz. 

.System 

1  ( 

detachable 
vertical  box 

detachable 
vertical  box 

§  -I,  Clip  or  charKer  . 

I( 

No.  of  cartridges 

insertion  of  single 
cartridges 

insertion  of  single 
cartridges 

8 

10 

Bolt  movement . 

turning 

taming 

fLength  in  inches 

30-2 

302 

^No.       .         .         . 

7 

5 

Width. 

•113 

•0936 

1  - 

S 

Depth  . 

•004 

•005 

« 

J    1  Shape . 

segmental 

concentric 

1         Twist  in  calibres . 

330— left 

330 -left 

(^       \\ngle  of  twist 

5*>26' 

6°  26' 

§5  ^  Length  in  inches 

305 

306 

S  -  Weight  in  grains 
O    I  Groove  or  rim     . 

416 

416 

rim 

rim 

®   (Explosive   .        .        .        . 

cordite 
60  cords 

cordite 
60  cords 

O    I  Weight  in  grains 

31-5 

31-5 

fLength  in  inches 

1-25 

1-25 

% 

Diameter  in  inches     . 

•311 

•311 

15 

Weight  in  grains 

215 

215 

Envelope     .         .         .         . 

cupro-nickel 

cupro- nickel 

Initial  velocity,  f.s.     . 

2,000 

2.000 

Value  of  W/d«    .        .        .        . 

•326 

•324 

Pressure  in  tons 

16-5 

16-5 

'  The 

nlttte 

renrMentK  the  T>ee-Metfor(l 

Mark  I.  rifle,  the  only  visibl 

B  difference  beinjr  in  the 

U 


X 

I— I 
X! 

< 
Oh 


115 


ITALY 

Garcano 

NORWAY 

Krag- 
Jorgensen 

ROUMANIA 

Designation  . 

Mannlioher    1 

1 

Date  of  pattern     . 

1891 

1897 

1898 

Calibre  in  inches  . 

-256 

•254 

•256 

Ijength. 

4  ft.  2}  in. 

4  ft  2  in. 

4  ft.  Oi  in. 

Weight.        .        .        . 

8  lb.  6  oz. 

9  lb.  5  oz. 

81b.l2}oz. 

Weight  with  bayonet    . 

9  lb.  3  oz. 

9  lb.  18  oz. 

9  lb.  9i  oz. 

/Sjstem     .        .        . 

;a  1  Clip  pr  charger 
^No.  of  cartridges 

fixed  vertical 
box 

fixed  hori- 
zontal box 
with  door  at 
side 

fixed  vertical 
box          1 

j 

clip 

— 

cUp 

6 

5 

5 

Bolt  movement 

turning 

turning 

turning       ' 

/^Length  in  inches 

80-7 

80 

28-4 

/No.   . 

4 

4 

4 

I 

Width 

•118 

•118 

•138           1 

O 

Depth       .        . 
Shape 

006 
concentric 

•0055 
concentric 

•006 
concentric 

Twist  in  calibres 

811— right 

31-left 

31- right      ^ 

\  Angle  of  twist  . 

6«46' 

5<>4r 

5<»  47'        ' 

&  /Length  in  inches     . 
'B  .  Weight  in  gnuns     . 
^  (Groove  or  rim 

8-27 

313 

3 

382 

372 

350 

groove 

groove 

rim 

1- 

Explosive 

ballistite  or 
selenite 

nitro-cellulose 

nitro-cellulose 

■ 

Weight  in  grains 

B.  31-5 
S.  350 

36 

36 

• 

/Length  in  inches 

1-2 

13 

1-24 

Diameter  in  inches  . 

•267 

•268 

•264            \ 

^j 

Weight  in  grains 

162 

166  . 

162 

Envelope . 

cupro-nickel 

steel,  coated 

with 
cupro-nickel 

steel,  coated   ' 

with          1 

cupro-nickel   ' 

Initial  velocity,  f.s. 

2,395  (o.v.) 

2,300  (o.v.) 

2,291  (o.v.) 

Value  of  W/d*       . 

•387 

•331 

•337           ' 

Pressure  in  tons    . 

171 

190 

267 

1  2 


116 




RUSSIA. 

SPAIN 

Manser 

8WITZERI.AKB 

Designation    . 

8-Une  (Nagant) 
Mauser 

Schmidt- 
Babin 

Date  of  pattern 

1891 

1896 

1893  > 

Calibre  in  inches    . 

•300 

•276 

•298 

Length    .... 

4  ft.  8J  in. 

4  ft.  1  in. 

4ft.3iiQ. 

Weight   .... 

9  1b. 

9  lb.  6}  oz. 

9  lb.  13^  oz 

Weight  with  bayonet 

9  lb.  12  oz. 

10  lb.  5i  oz. 

10  lb.  13f  oz. 

9 
B 

I 

'  System    . 

fixed  vertical 
box 

fixed  vertical 
box 

detachable 
vertical  box 

Clip  or  charger 

charger 

charger 

charger 

S 

No.  of  cartridges 

5 

6 

12 

Bolt  movement 

turning 

turning 

straight  paU 

Length  in  inches 

31-5 

29-05 

80-7 

/No.    . 

4 

4 

3 

-3 

Width 

•150 

•1536 

•150 

S  ^  IJ  Depth        . 

•007 

•0065 

•0055 

5 

Shape 

concentric 

concentric 

concentric 

Twist  in  calibres    : 

31-7-  right 

31-4 -right 

86 -right 

\  Angle  of  twist  . 

5°  40' 

5<>43' 

4059' 

8>| 

Length  in  inches     . 

3 

3 

8 

1" 

Weight  in  grains 

363 

877 

430 

5 

Groove  or  rim . 

rim 

groove 

groove 

^  1  Explosive 

nitro-cellulose 

nitro  cellulose 

nitro-cellulose 

J  (  Weight  in  grains      . 

33 

38 

29 

/Length  in  inches      . 

1-19 

1^21 

M8 

Diameter  in  inches  . 

•307 

•284 

•819 

1  -i 

Weight  in  grains 

214 

172 

218 

& 

Envelope . 

cupro-nickel 

cupro-nickel 

steel  (head 
only),  and 
paper  patch 

Initial  velocity,  f.s. . 

1927  (o.v.) 

2.200 

1.940  (o.v.) 

Value  of  W/d' 

•324 

•310 

•341 

Pre 

Bsur 

8  in  tons 

18-4 

222 

171 

'  The  pattern  of  189S  diffen  little  from  that  of  IKH9  bLowq  iu  the  plate.    The  action  bolt  id 
rather  shorter  and  lighter. 


J 


X 
X 

< 


(4 

P 

H 


O 


I 


CD 

pq 

H 

H 


121 


Designalion  . 

Date  of  pattern 
Calibre  in  inches 
Length  . 
Weight . 
Weight  with  bayonet 
System 

I," 

Clip  or  charger 

No.  of  cartridges 

Bolt  movement 

Length  in  inches 

/No.   . 

1  Width 

I  I  )  Depth 

Shape 

Twist  in  calibres 

^  Angle  of  twist 

&  /Length  in  inches 

■g  "  Weight  in  grains 

O  I  Orooye  or  rim  . 

^[Explosive 

jQ  I  Weight  in  grains 

/Length  in  inches 

Diameter  in  inches 

a  J  Weight  in  grains 

W  I  Envelope 


Initial  velocity,  f.s. 
Value  of  W/d« 
Pressure  in  tons    . 


& 


TDHKEY 


Mauser 

1893 

•302 

4  ft.  0}  in. 

9  lb.  2  oz. 

10  lb.  Si  oz. 

fixed  vertical 
box 

charger 

6 

turning 

2903 

4 

•173 

•0055 

concentric 

38- right 

6°  26' 

3 

417 

groove 

nitro-cellulose 

40-9 

1-2 

•810 

213 

steel,  coated 

with 
cupro-nickel 

3,004  (o.v.) 

•322 

190 


UNITED 
STATES 
(ARMY) 

Krag- 
Jorgensen 

1894 

•3 

4  ft.  1  in. 

9  lb.  8f  oz. 

10  lb.  8i  oz. 

fixed  hori- 
zontal box 
with  door  at 
side 

5 

turning 

30 

4 

-166 

•0045 

concentric 

333— right 

6°  23' 

3 

408 

rim 

nitro-cellulose 

41-5 

1-26 

•308 

219 

steel,  coated 

with 
cupro-nickel 

1,869  (o.v.) 

•387 

17-0 


UNITED 
STATES  I 

I         (NAVY)  I 

Lee  '  Straight 
pull'i         I 

1898 

•236  I 

3  ft.  ll^in.  I 

8  lb.  8^  oz.  i 

9  lb.  4^  oz.  I 

fixed  vertical   , 
box  f 

i 
charger       i 

I       »       i 

straight  pull   ■ 

28 

>  6 

I  100 

•005 

segmental 

31^8— right 

5°  39'  I 

311  I 

311 

groove 

nitro-cellulose  , 

32-4  I 

103  I 

•243  I 

112 

copper,  nickel- 
plated 

2,489  (o.v.)     , 
•275 
22  ! 


Recently  discarded  in  fayour  of  the  rifle  used  by  the  U.B.  Army. 


122  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

We  have  given  the  rate  of  twist  of  the  rifling  both  in 
calibres  and  in  angular  measurement.  The  latter  is  not 
comi9only  given,  but  it  shows  what  the  diversion  of  the 
surface  of  the  bullet  is  from  the  straight  line. 

The  Italian  Mannlicher  is  the  only  modem  rifle  with  an 
increasing  spiral.  It  begins  at  the  breech  with  one  turn  in 
19}  inches,  and  ends  with  one  in  8^  inches  at  the  muzzle. 
It  may  be  noted  that  with  the  Erag- Jorgensen  rifle  a  charger 
can  be  used,  but  we  believe  that  it  is  not  usually  supplied. 

Japan  adopted  in  1900  a  rifle  (which  we  have  not  been 
able  to  illustrate)  of  *256  calibre,  having  the  Mauser  action 
and  the  Lee  magazine  with  a  movable  bottom,  and  loading 
from  a  charger.  Its  observed  velocity  at  90  feet  is  2,286  Ls., 
and  it  does  not  largely  differ  in  dimension  and  arrangement 
from  other  recent  rifles  of  tbe  same  calibre.  The  sheath  of 
the  bullet,  however,  is  made  of  copper.  The  bullet  weighs 
168  grains. 

The  United  States  6  mm.  Navy  rifle  has  proved  a  failure. 
It  was  found  necessary  to  lighten  the  bullet  in  order  to 
reduce  the  pressures,  and  consequently  the  rifle  becune 
comparatively  ineffective.  Colonel  Bubin  has  succeeded  in 
producing  an  experimental  rifle  of  6  mm.  with  an  initial 
velocity  of  2,625  f.s.,  the  weight  of  the  bullet  being  188  grains. 
The  velocity  is  obtained  partly  by  lengthening  the  barrel  and 
partly  by  altering  the  form  of  the  cartridge  so  as  to  bum  a 
large  charge  without  increasing  the  pressure. 

Many  have  been  the  criticisms  to  which  the  British 
service  rifle  has  been  subjected  from  both  competent  and 
incompetent  judges — principally,  indeed,  the  latter.  Every 
detail  of  its  parts  seems  to  have  been  called  in  question,  and 
although  in  many  respects  it  has  stood  the  practical  test  of 
service  very  satisfactorily,  there  are  undoubtedly  points  in 
which  with  the  greater  knowledge  and  experience  of  the 
present  day  we  should  not  follow,  if  we  were  starting  afresh, 
the  lines  upon  which  it  was  designed. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  bolt,  which,  although  it 
has  really  met  the  demands  made  upon  it  by  the  service 
cartridge  with  ample  success,  yet  is  somewhat  deficient  in 
strength  as  compared  with  actions  designed  for  higher  pres- 


THE  -308  MAGAZINE  EIPLE  123 

sores,  especially  at  the  head.  The  average  pressure  (and  it 
does  not  vary  mach)  given  by  the  service  ammonition  is  from 
14  to  IS  tons  per  square  inch ;  the  bolt  is  ample  to  resist 
pressures  up  to  20  tons,  but  in  considering  the  margin  of 
safety  to  be  given,  it  is  not  the  average  pressure  which  has 
to  be  considered,  but  the  abnormal  stresses  of  an  occasional 
shot  which  from  scMiie  cause  or  another,  rather  difficult  to 
define,  may  (though  it  very  rarely  hs^pens  with  cordite)  give 
an  excesave  pressure.  To  meet  this,  a  margin  of  strength 
of  about  25  per  cent,  is  usually  allowed.  The  bolt  of  the 
Lee-Metford  is  $^)od  up  to  a  pressure  of  some  24  tons  to  the 
square  inch,  and  probably  will  in  fact  resist  considerably  more. 
There  are  some  foreign  rifles  which  are  designed  for  much 
higher  average  pressures  than  the  '808. 

It  may  be  regarded  as  certain  that  the  members  of  the 
Committee  ot  fourteen  years  ago,  if  they  were  sitting  again 
now  to  recommend  a  magazine  rifle  de  novo,  would  not  adopt 
precisely  the  present  pattern  of  bolt ;  nor,  we  may  be  very 
sore,  would  they  again  recommend  what  was  at  that  time 
decided  only  after  much  debate,  the  adoption  of  a  rifle  with  a 
magazine  only  intended  for  occasional  use,  and  which  can 
only  be  filled  with  cartridges  inserted  one  by  one,  to  be  held 
in  reserve  against  some  moment  when  it  may  be  important 
to  pour  in  an  exceptionally  rapid  fire  for  a  few  seconds. 

The  whole  tendency  of  the  present  day  is  to  adopt  any 
practical -expedient  which  will  give  a  continuous  rapid  fire, 
because  there  are  moments  which  have  to  be  seized,  and 
which  may  last  much  longer  than  the  time  it  takes  to  empty 
a  magazine  once,  when  it  is  essential  to  bring  to  bear  upon 
the  enemy  the  hottest  fire  that  it  is  possible  to  deliver. 
These  occasions  are  undoubtedly  more  frequent  in  defence 
than  in  attack,  for  in  delivering  an  attack  men  must  expose 
themselves  in  advancing,  and  during  that  time  cannot  fire. 
A  defence  is  but  little  concerned  with  moving,  and  whenever 
it  sees  an  exposed  target  can  pour  in  fire  upon  it.  It  is  pro- 
bably owing  in  part  to  this  difference  that  our  troops  in 
South  Africa  have  not  felt  themselves  at  a  disadvantage  in 
being  armed  with  what  is  after  all  for  practical  purposes  a 
single  loading  rifle.    The  magazine  of  the  British  rifle  can  be 


124 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


emptied  in  from  10  to  20  seconds,  after  which  the  rate  of 
fire  is  no  greater  than  it  was  with  the  Martini-Henry,  15 
to  20  per  minute  in  skilled  hands.  With  charger  or  clip 
loading  the  rate  of  fire  can  be  maintained  at  double  this 
speed  so  long  as  ammunition  is  to  hand. 

The  great  difficulty  of  maintaining  fire  in  these  days  is 
that  of  keeping  up  the  supply  of  ammunition,  a  difficulty 
which  is  undoubtedly  more  serious  with  constant  magazine 
fire  than   when  the  magazine  fire   is  only  occasional  ;    and 

there  is,  of  course,  a 
nl  tendency  to  waste  am- 
munition. Modem 
cartridges  are  small. 
Fig.  41  shows  the  car- 
tridge of  the  7  mm. 
(•275)  Mauser  rifle, 
fig.  42  that  of  the 
6i  mm.  (-256)  Mann- 
licher,  and  fig.  48  that 
of  the  6  mm.  (-236) 
U.S.  Navy  rifle.  The 
Mannlicher  cartridge 
has  a  rim  and  the 
others  grooves.  The 
difference  in  size  and 
weight  between  these 
and  the  military  car- 
tridges of  an  earlier 
date  will  at  once  be 
seen.  They  are  easily 
spilt ;  and  we  should  probably  get  some  astonishing  figures 
if  we  could  know  how  much  ammunition  had  been  dropped 
unused  on  the  ground  by  British  troops  in  South  Africa. 
The  writer  has  been  assured  by  an  officer  who  himself 
carried  a  rifle  in  much  of  the  fighting  of  the  Natal  Field 
Force,  that  his  personal  experience  was  that  from  25  to 
30  per  cent,  of  the  cartridges  he  carried  leaked  out  from 
under  the  flap,  or  at  the  ends,  of  his  pouches,  and  were 
lost.     A  thick  leather  pouch  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  un- 


FIG.    41 


FIQ.  43 


WASTE  OF  CARTRIDGES  J2& 

suitable  receptacles  tor  carrying  the  small  cartridges  of  the 
present  day  that  can  be  imagined,  however  admirable  its 
qualities  may  have  been  in  connection  with  the  use  of  the 
musket  100  years  ago.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  the 
waste  of  cartridges  is  not  greater  with  our  o^n  single-loading 
rifle  than  when  they  are  placed  in  the  rifle  five  at  a  time  in 
a  clip  which  drops  out  when  the  last  one  has  been  fired,  or 
when  they  are  swept  into  the  magazine  out  of  a  charger  that 
has  a  clip  which  does  not  enter  the  magazine,  but  is  thrown 
away  before  the  first  cartridge  is  used.  It  used  to  be  thought 
that  a  man  who  would  put  five  cartridges  into  his  magazine 
and  fire  two  or  three  of  them  would  throw  away  the  remainder 
in  order  to  put  in  a  new  clipful,  and  to  feel  that  he  had  a 
full  number  of  cartridges  in  reserve.  But  there  is  probably 
not  very  much  in  this  contention,  for  it  would  seem  as  if  the 
leakage,  when  cartridges  ar6  carried  singly,  must  be  so  much 
greater  than  the  loss  of  them  when  carried  in  clips  holding 
several,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  active  service,  as  to 
neutralise  any  advantage  in  carrying  them  singly.  Certainly 
packets  of  ammmiition  of  a  substantial  size  which  can  be  put 
straight  into  the  magazine  are  much  less  likely  to  be  dropped 
by  flurried  fingers  than  single  cartridges.  The  comparative 
advantages  of  a  magazine  that  can  be  filled  with  loose 
cartridges  as  against  one  suited  to  loading  from  clips  or 
chargers  are  worthy  of  the  most  careful  and  patient  experi- 
ment. It  is  unfortunate  that  cartridges  in  clips  or  chargers 
require  more  packing  space  than  when  they  are  laid  head 
and  tail  alternately,  as  in  the  packets  to  which  the  British 
Army  is  accustomed. 

It  may  be  observed  that  with  a  rifle  specially  adapted  for 
single  loading  there  is  some  advantage  in  having  the  base  of 
the  chamber  exposed  to  view  when  the  bolt  is  withdrawn, 
especially  for  cleaning  purposes.  In  such  rifles  as  the 
Mannlicher,  where  the  head  of  the  bolt  enters  into  the  sleeve 
befimdlbhe  barrel,  which  is  long  enough  to  give  space  for  the 
lugs  on  the  bolt  head  to  engage  immediately  behind  the 
chamber,  the  insertion  of  single  cartridges  is  more  trouble- 
some than  with  our  own  rifle,  because  there  is  no  *  cut_  off,' 
but  in  loading  from  the  magazine  there  does  not  seem  to  be 


136  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    EIFLE 

any  real  disadvantage  in  this  arrangement,  although  Hbe 
bearings  for  the  logs  are  less  accessible  for  cioaninfr 

With  regard  to  the  general  question  of  what  is  the  most 
practical  method  of  fire  for  the  soldiw,  it  will  be  seen  to  be  a 
most  important  thing,  if  possible,  to  have  to  teach  only  one 
method  of  loading  or  firing  the  rifle.  If  this  be  done,  an  almost 
mechanical  exactitude  of  manipulation  and  obedience  to  the 
word  of  command  is  much  more  easily  acquired  than  if 
there  is  an  attempt  to  teach  two  systems*  It  is  far  more 
practicable  for  the  commander  to  obtain  a  complete  fire 
control  if  the  soldier  does  not  have  to  be  taught  sometimes  to 
load  a  single  cartridge,  and  sometimes  to  fill  the  magazine 
and  load  from  it.  In  the  change  and  variety  of  wcMrds  of 
command,  and  of  the  actions  to  which  they  refer,  there  is 
confusion  and  there  is  flurry.  If  the  loading  is  always  from 
clips  or  chargers^  and  the  shots  are  always  fired  from  the 
magazine,  the  manipulation  becomes  so  entirely  mechanical 
that  it  can  hardly  go  wrong,  and  the  only  necessary  distinction 
would  seem  to  be  that  between  slow  fire,  either  continued  at 
a  given  rate  or  with  the  number  of  rounds  to  be  expended 
named,  and  rapid  fire  to  be  poured  in  unceasingly  until  it  is 
stopped  by  word  of  command. 

The  same  reasoning  applies  to  volley  firing,  upon  which 
in  the  British  army  so  much  time  and  trouble  has  been 
expended.  It  was  a  method  of  collective  firing  which  had 
some  excellent  points  in  the  days  of  black  powder  and  close- 
order  formations  of  two  ranks.  The  man  who  did  not  fire 
simultaneously  with  those  on  each  side  of  him  had  his  field 
of  vision  entirely  obscured  by  the  smoke  from  their  rifles, 
and  must  either  hold  his  fire  or  discharge  at  random.  Nor 
was  exactitude  of  aim  of  great  importance  when  you  could 
wait  until  you  saw  the  whites  of  their  eyes  as  the  enemy 
advanced,  for  the  mark  was  a  large  one.  In  these  circum- 
stances the  physical  effect  of  the  volley  was  crushing,  and  its 
moral  effect,  especially  when  it  was  instantly  followed  by  a 
charge  with  the  bayonet,  made  it  irresistible.  In  the  last 
thirty  years  the  case  has  altered.  Smokeless  powder  has 
entirely  removed  the  necessity  for  simultaneous  fire.  Long 
ranges   have  deprived  it  both  of  its  mor^kl  and   physical 


PIBE  CONTBOL  127 

efiectiveneBs.  The  man  who  is  ordered  to  fire  at  a  given 
instant  must  often  lose  something  of  his  accuracy  and  aim. 
A  Pathan  crouching  behind  a  rock  and  hearing  the  rattle  of  a 
volley  on  the  stones  round  him  knows  that  he  has  a  few 
seconds  in  which  he  can  show  himself  and  deliver  his  shot  in 
perfect  safety.  And,  finally,  the  inevitable  use  of  extended 
order  against  foes  armed  with  modem  weapons  has  made 
volley  firing  almost  impossible,  since,  with  men  ten  or  twenty 
paces  (or  even  further)  apart,  no  commander  can  exercise  an 
efifective  control  over  every  shot  fired  even  by  a  small  body 
of  men.  Although  the  volley  can  be  used  at  extreme  ranges 
when  it  is  not  necessary  to  open  the  line  of  men  to  intervals, 
yet  such  occasions  must  be  so  rare,  and  the  advantage  in 
each  circumstances  so  small,  as  not  to  compensate  for  the 
trouble  of  learning  an  otherwise  unnecessary  exercise.  If, 
as  seems  certain,  in  the  battles  of  the  futm*e  from  90  to 
96  per  cent,  of  the  firing  must  be  independent,  is  it  worth 
while  to  teach  two  systems  of  fire  ?  at  least,  would  it  not  be 
better  to  concentrate  attention  on  that  one  which  is  indis- 
pensable ?  So  far  as  we  have  heard,  the  control  of  indepen- 
dent fire  has  in  the  Beer  War  been  found  much  less  difficult 
than  was  expected.  Men  fighting  in  scattered  formations 
soon  realise  how  vital  it  is  to  husband  every  round.  The 
long  distances  of  present-day  fighting  tell  against  panic  and 
the  unthinking  waste  of  cartridges. 

The  developement  of  the  drill  book  and  the  firing  exercises 
has  mainly  consisted  in  cutting  away  unnecessary  complica- 
tions since  the  time  (three  hundred  years  ago)  when  almost 
every  mathematical  permutation  and  combination  of  figures 
was  exhausted  in  the  complicated  countermarchings,  turnings, 
and  formations  which  were  then  considered  necessary  to  the 
art  of  a  soldier.  This  process  of  cutting  away  all  that  is  not 
essential  is  being  continued  with  advantage  at  the  present 
day. 


128  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


CHAPTER  V 

EARLY  SPORTING  RIFLES — SIR  SAMUEL  BAKER*S  RIFLES— CAPT.  FOBSTTH*S 
VIEWS — THE  EXPRESS  RIFLE— THE  *  FIELD  *  TRIALS,  1883 — THE  RE- 
DUCTION OF  CALIBRE — PENETRATION  AND  EXPANSION  OF  MODBRy 
RIFLES— ACCURACY — TRAJECTORY  TABLES — SINGLE  AND  DOUBLE  KIFLES 
— BALL  AND  SHOT  GUNS — ROOK  AND  GALLERY  RIFLES— CLUB  BXFIXS — 
THE   MORRIS  TUBE — ADAPTORS  FOR  MILITARY   RIFLES 

The  developement  of  sporting  rifles,  beginning,  as  we  have 
seen,  earlier  than  that  of  military  rifles,  has,  nevertheless,  in 
later  times,  followed  that  of  military  arms.  It  may  almost 
be  said  that  the  history  of  the  latter  is  the  history  of  the 
former.  The  fact  that  the  fouling  was  so  great  a  cause  of 
difficulty  in  firing  a  series  of  shots  in  a  short  time  with  the 
rifle  was  of  far  less  importance  when  it  was  used  for  sporting 
purposes  than  as  a  soldier's  weapon.  We  have  seen  that 
Alonso  de  Espinar  says  that  tightly  fitting  bullets,  driven  by 
force  into  the  grooving,  and  fired  without  the  wadding  soaked 
in  pitch,  which  he  recommends,  cannot  be  got  into  the  barrel 
for  two  shots  running  on  account  of  the  fouling,  and  that  the 
barrel  has  to  be  washed  before  loading  again.  He  seems  to 
have  done  something  in  his  day  towards  solving  the  problem 
by  using  a  wadding  of  the  proper  kind. 

Certainly  the  earliest  rifled  arms  with  which  we  are 
acquainted  are  sporting  arms,  and  not  military,  and  weak  as 
were  the  charges  and  short  the  distances  at  which  game 
was  killed  in  early  days,  the  improved  accuracy  of  the  rifle 
was  certainly  appreciated.  We  may  take  it  that  the  Con- 
tinental rifles  used  in  Switzerland  and  the  Tyrol  in  the 
eighteenth  century  existed  primarily  as  sporting  weapons.  It 
would  naturally  be  in  shooting  chamois,  roe-deer,  or  larger 
game  that  the  advantage  in  range  given  by  the  rifle  over  the 
smooth-bore  would  most  clearly  appear.  We  have  already 
said  something  of  these  Continental  rifles,  and  also  of  the 
rifles   used   in   the   American  war  early  in  the  eighteenth 


EARLY    SPORTING    RIFLES  129 

century.  These  were  made  primarily  for  the  backwoodsman's 
use.  The  Kentucky  pea-rifle,  really  a  genetic  term  for  the 
rifles  of  small  calibre  used  by  the  American  hunters,  carried  a 
very  small  round  ball  (for  lead  was  very  scarce,  and  the 
hunter  had  to  make  his  own  bullets),  propelled  by  a  charge  of 
powder  not  very  large,  for  powder  also  had  to  be  economised, 
yet  ample  to  give  the  ball  considerable  velocity.  It  is  clear 
that  for  dangerous  game,  such  as  bears,  these  rifles  lacked 
power,  whence  probably  arose  the  terrible  reputation  of  the 
grizzly  bear ;  but  their  accuracy  was  admirable,  even  if  it  was 
not  quite  up  to  the  standard  of  the  heroic  feats  recorded  in 
Fenimore  Cooper's  novels.  Colonel  Hanger  speaks  of  the 
American  rifle  used  in  the  war  as  having  carried  a  ball  of 
thirty-six  to  the  pound,  that  is,  it  was  a  half-inch  bore — very 
small  compared  with  the  musket.  But  the  real  pea-rifle  was 
of  a  very  much  smaller  bore  than  ^his.  One  which  formerly 
belonged  to  Sir  Henry  Halford,  and  is  in  the  possession  of 
the  writer,  with  a  barrel  45^  inches  long,  has  a  calibre  of 
only  '390.  Greener  speaks  of  the  American  rifles  as  being  in 
some  cases  as  small  as  90-bore,  i.e.,  about  '870  bore. 

The  rifles  used  even  for  dangerous  game  in  India,  and  in 
Africa,  were  up  to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  what 
we  should  now  call  very  feeble  weapons.  The  normal  weapon 
seems  to  have  been  generally  of  from  12-  to  16-bore,  firing 
a  spherical  bullet  of  an  ounce  or  so.  The  distances  at 
which  such  rifles  were  effective  were  not  great,  the  velocity 
being  very  moderate,  and  the  striking  power  rapidly  lost  in 
flight.  The  smooth-bore,  in  fact,  held  its  own  very  fairly  for 
all  sorts  of  jungle-shooting  until  quite  modern  times.  Very 
accurate  shooting  could  be  obtained  from  small-bore  rifles 
made  to  fire  light  charges  for  rook-shooting  and  the  like; 
these  were  effective  at  no  very  great  distance,  for  the 
trajectory  was  very  curved.  There  seems  to  have  been 
almost  no  attempt  to  produce  a  rifle  of  large  bore  and  smashing 
power  until,  in  1840,  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  having  had  experience 
in  the  East  with  the  want  of  effect  of  the  ordinary  rifles  upon 
big  and  dangerous  game,  designed  a  large  and  heavy  rifle, 
which  he  afterwards  used  with  great  success.  This  rifle  is 
described  by  Mr.  Greener  in  *  The  Gun  and  its  Develojpment.' 


130  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

It  weighed  21  lb.,  and  fired  a  charge  of  16  drachms,  with  a 
round  bullet  3  oz.  in  weight;  it  was  nearly  an  inch  in 
calibre,  and  it  had  two  broad  grooves,  making  one  turn  in  the 
length  of  the  barrel.  This  rifle  was  made  by  Gibbs,  of  Bristol. 
Sir  Samuel  Baker  afterwards  used  with  success  a  doable- 
barrelled  10-bore  ('TTO  inch)  rifle  made  on  the  same  principle. 
These  heavy  rifles  furnished  a  type  for  the  elephant  rifles 
of  4-bore  and  8-bore  so  frequently  used  afterwards. 

An  interesting  picture  of  the  condition  of  the  sporting  rifle 
in  1863  is  given  in  Captain  Forsyth's  book,  *  The  Sporting 
Rifle  and  its  Projectiles.*  Writing  as  a  sportsman  of  large 
Indian  experience,  he  distinguishes  two  classes  of  rifles,  the 
deer  rifle,  which  is  carried  by  the  sportsman  himself,  and  the 
heavy  rifle  for  dangerous  game,  to  be  carried  by  a  gun  bearer. 
He  distinguishes  the  requirements  of  the  sporting  rifle,  as 
against  the  military  rifle,  in  its  not  being  used  at  long  ranges. 
He  adds  that  the  sporting  rifle  should  give  not  merely  a 
penetrating  but  a  disabling  wound ;  and  he  draws  attention 
to  the  importance,  where  penetration  is  equal,  of  having 
a  projectile  which  should  have  a  large  striking  surface; 
he  would  therefore  use  the  largest  bore  of  rifle  consistent 
with  the  limitations  of  its  weight.  The  rifle  must  be  accu- 
rate up  to  160  (Sir  Samuel  Baker  says  200)  yards,  for 
practically  all  shots  in  jungle-shooting  are  within  100  yards. 
The  trajectory  must  be  as  flat  as  possible.  He  cites  the 
Kentucky  rifle  as  an  ideal  in  this  respect.  He  considers 
9  lb.  as  about  the  limit  of  weight  for  a  rifle  to  be  carried  by 
the  shooter ;  the  recoil  must  not  be  excessive,  and  the  barrels 
must  be  short  and  handy.  In  dealing  with  the  question  of 
the  bullet  he  agrees  with  Sir  Samuel  Baker  that  its 
anterior  surface  must  not  be  sharper  than  a  hemisphere,  as 
the  effect  of  the  bullet  should  be  rather  in  the  nature  of  a 
blow  than  a  penetrating  thrust.  His  conclusion  is  that  a 
rifle  taking  a  spherical  ball  should  be  used  with  a  large 
charge  of  powder.  The  spiral  for  a  barrel  of  14-bore  he  puts, 
as  previously  mentioned,  at  one  turn  in  8  feet  8  inches,  the 
grooves  being  very  shallow  and  broad,  and  the  bullet  wrapped 
in  a  patch.  With  such  a  rifle  firing  its  ordinary  load  he 
makes  the  height  of  the  100  yards  trajectory  to  be  as  little  as 


CAPTAIN    FORSYTH'S    VIEWS  131 

2|  inches  at  50  yards.  He  does  not  say  what  the  normal  charge 
was,  nor  does  he  define  the  term  *  pomt-blank/  which  he  uses 
when  he  says  that  *  the  point-blank  of  this  rifle  with  3  drachms 
is  about  60  yards ;  with  4  drachms,  about  85  yards ;  with 
5  drachms,  100  yards.'  His  objection  to  the  use  of  conical 
bullets  is  that  they  either  penetrate  too  much,  or,  if  made 
expansive,  open  without  sufficient  penetration ;  and  that  the 
velocities  which  General  Jacob  obtained  from  them  are 
insufficient  to  deal  with  heavy  game.  The  best  of  the  rifles 
of  that  time  which  fired  conical  bullets  he  considers  to  be 
Purdey's  two-grooved  rifle,  with  one  turn  in  6  feet  of  barrel, 
which  was  accurate,  but  would  not  kill  on  the  spot  anything 
larger  than  wild  antelope  or  bustard.  He  makes  his  compari- 
sons, however,  by  comparing  rifles  of  the  same  bore,  carrying 
spherical  bullets,  against  those  carrying  conical,  and  conse- 
quently finds  that  within  the  limits  of  the  weight  of  the  rifles^ 
the  former  have  the  advantage  in  velocity,  and  therefore  in 
trajectory  at  sporting  ranges.  He  does  not  consider,  as  we 
should  at  the  present  day,  the  total  striking  effect  of  the 
bullets,  and  the  problem  of  regulating  a  conical  bullet  to  give 
the  precise  amount  of  penetration  and  expansion  required  was. 
far  from  being  solved. 

Captain  Forsyth  was  not  alone  in  his  views.  Mr.  Greener 
says  in  his  book,  '  Gunnery  in  1858,'  that  for  other  purposes 
than  war  rifles  will  continue  to  be  constructed  on  the  poly- 
groove  principle,  and  with  spherical  bullets.  He  adds  that 
small-bore  elongated  bullets  were  very  rapidly  adopted  for 
sporting  purposes,  and  as  rapidly  abandoned,  because  they 
did  not '  kill  dead.'  It  is  proverbially  dangerous  to  prophesy, 
and  Mr.  Greener  was  not  fortimate  in  some  of  his  predictions. 
His  forecast  that  *  for  close  quarters,  line-firing,  or  quickness 
of  loading  the  musket  will  hold  its  place  for  centuries  to 
come  '  has  by  no  means  been  justified  by  the  event. 

Sir  Samuel  Baker  found,  naturally  enough,  that  with  his 
very  heavy  two-grooved  rifle  a  spherical  3-oz.  bullet  would 
stop  a  charging  elephant,  but  says  that  a  4-oz.  conical  bullet 
quite  destroyed  the  effect  of  this  rifle.  The  spherical  ball 
was  certainly  effective  enough,  and  so  the  change  was  un- 
necessary.    About  this  time  the  ingenuity  of  gunmakers  was 

K   2 


132  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

exercised  upon  producing  effective  rifles  carrying  cylindro- 
conical  bullets.  The  two-grooved  rifle  was  the  favourite  form- 
Greener  made  at  that  time  what  he  called  a  Cape  rifle  of  40 
or  52  calibre,  *500  or  *450,  and  other  gunmakers  were  on  the 
same  track.  Purdey*s  rifles  of  the  same  kind  and  similar 
calibre  were  very  successful.  These  rifles  followed  the  lead  of 
the  American  rifles  of  which  we  have  spoken,  in  laying  special 
stress  on  the  velocity  obtained,  and  in  1856  he  gave  them  the 
name  of  *  Express  train '  rifles ;  hence  the  term  *  Express/ 
which  has  been  used  to  define  sporting  rifles  of  a  certain  kind 
down  to  the  present  time.  It  only  required  careful  experiments 
by  gunmakers,  who  realised  the  importance  of  combining 
sufficient  striking  power,  a  proper  degree  of  expansion  in  the 
bullet,  and  the  flattest  possible  trajectory,  to  put  the  spherical 
bullet  out  of  court  altogether.  The  essence  of  the  Express 
rifle  is  in  the  points  just  mentioned. 

Mr.  Walsh's  admirable  book  on  '  The  Modern  Sportsman's 
Gun  and  Bifle '  shows  some  kind  of  consensus  of  opinion  that 
the  velocity  of  an  Express  rifle  should  be  not  less  than 
1,600  feet ;  and  Mr.  Walsh's  own  definition,  in  which  some 
gunmakers  agreed,  was  that  the  velocity  should  be  not  less 
than  1,750  feet,  which  he  considered  to  give  a  trajectory 
such  that  the  bullet  rises  not  more  than  4^  inches  in  the 
course  of  a  flight  of  150  yards  when  correctly  sighted.  This 
was  certainly,  in  1884,  when  his  book  was  published,  the 
furthest  distance  which  could  fairly  be  used  in  stalking,  if 
we  may  exclude  the  occasional  long  fluky  shot,  which  figures 
from  time  to  time  in  most  sportsmen's  records,  and  is  so 
frequently  regretted.  The  same  opinion  is  expressed  by  Van 
Dyke,  in  his  excellent  book,  *  The  Still  Hunter,*  published  in 
New  York  in  the  previous  year.  His  view  is  that  150  yards 
is  the  furthest  fair  sporting  distance,  and  that,  if  possible, 
one  should  get  a  great  deal  nearer  than  this.  Up  to  half  a 
dozen  years  ago,  in  fact,  a  shot  at  120  yards  was  rather  a 
long  shot,  and  the  bulk  of  shots  in  stalking  were  taken 
very  much  within  that  distance. 

The  Express  rifle  quickly  revolutionised  deer-stalking. 
The  rifle  of  old  days,  whether  a  Purdey  two-grooved  rifle, 
carrying  a  belted  ball,  or  one  of  the  older  poly-grooved  rifles, 


MODERN    DEER-STALKING  133 

with  a  large  round  ballet  and  a  comparatively  small  charge, 
had  never  made  certain  work.  The  delightful  and  exciting 
episodes  described  in  Scrope*s  book  on  deer-stalking,  and  in 
other  writings  of  the  same  period,  depend  largely  upon  the 
use  of  the  deerhound  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  rifle.  Landseer 
tells  us  pictorially  the  same  story.  The  chase  after  a  wounded 
hart,  to  be  singled  out  skilfully  from  his  companions  by  the 
fleet  hound,  to  be  chased  relentlessly  until  he  turned  to  bay, 
probably  in  some  rocky  pool  of  a  rapid  burn,  there  to  be 
dispatched  by  a  well-timed  shot  at  close  quarters,  or  by 
the  knife  of  the  daring  hunter;  the  brave  dog,  gashed  or 
seriously  maimed  by  a  stroke  of  the  horn  ;  these  picturesque 
and  exciting  elements  have  almost  disappeared  from  the 
sport.  The  chase  of  the  quarry  which  has  been  shot  at,  so 
far  from  being  inevitable,  has  become  quite  exceptional.  The 
improvement  in  rifles,  which  brought  about  the  deadliness  of 
the  shot,  has  made  an  ill-placed  bullet,  followed  by  a  long 
hunt,  everywhere  a  lamentable  accident,  and  on  some  forests 
a  positive  disgrace  to  the  shooter. 

Is  deer-stalking  the  poorer  for  this  ?  Surely  not.  It  is 
at  least  more  merciful  than  it  used  to  be.  The  delight  of  the 
wild  scenery,  the  exhilaration  of  bodily  exercise  in  pure  air, 
and  the  ever-varying  circumstances  of  wild  country  and 
majestic  scenery  ;  the  inspiring  sense  of  solitude,  broken  only 
by  the  whistle  of  the  curlew  or  the  croak  of  the  raven ;  the 
intimate  communing  with  Nature  in  every  aspect  of  sunshine, 
mist,  and  storm — all  these  remain,  and  with  them  the  satisfy- 
ing of  that  hunter's  instinct  which  is  one  of  the  most  deeply- 
rooted  things  in  human  nature,  the  delight  of  pitting  the 
human  intellect  and  the  human  senses  against  the  trained 
instincts  of  self-preservation  of  a  really  wild  animal. 

But  this  change  in  the  aspect  of  a  noble  British  sport 
will  hardly  compare  in  importance  with  the  effect  which 
powerful,  high-velocity  rifles  have  had  in  altering  the  condi- 
tions of  sport  on  other  continents.  The  dangerous  reputation 
of  the  grizzly  bear,  savage  and  enormously  powerful  as  he  is, 
has  been  largely  discounted  by  the  more  destructive  weapons 
of  modern  days.  There  is  danger  enough  even  now  from 
the  tiger,  the  buffalo,  or   the  charging  elephant,  especially 


134  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

when  wounded,  bat  the  odds  are  far  mote  heavily  against 
the  animal  with  the  rifles  of  almost  milimited  power  now 
made  in  a  comparatively  handy  form,  and  effective  at  com- 
paratively long  distances.  Anyone  who  has  read  that  de- 
lightful book  by  Colonel  Walter  Campbell,  '  The  Old  Forest 
Ranger,'  or  who  is  familiar  with  the  literature  of  sport  in 
India  or  in  Africa  fifty  years  ago,  and  studies  also  that  of 
to-day,  will  realise  the  immense  difference  in  the  character  of 
modem  sport ;  and  it  is  certain  that  the  comparison  will  in 
no  wise  detract  from  his  high  opinion  of  the  pluck  and  daring 
of  our  forefathers.  Besides  the  greater  power  of  improved 
rifles,  the  invention  of  breech-loading  has  multiplied  many- 
fold  the  advantage  enjoyed  by  more  modern  sportsmen. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  record  here  something  of  the 
capabilities  of  the  Express  rifles  of  twenty  years  ago.  We 
have  mentioned  the  qualities  as  regards  velocity  which  the 
Express  rifle  of  that  time  possessed.  The  account  given  by 
Mr.  Walsh  in  the  second  volume  of  *  The  Modem  Sportsman's 
Gun  and  Rifle,'  of  the  '  Field '  trials,  held  in  1883  at  Putney, 
show  authoritatively  how  good  was- the  accuracy,  and  how 
admirable  the  velocity,  attained  at  that  time.  The  smallest 
calibre  of  Express  rifle  used  was  the  '400,  a  bore  which 
was  at  that  time  too  small  to  be  popular,  though  for  deer- 
stalking nothing  better  existed.  The  Express  rifles  of  -450 
and  -600  bore,  which  were  much  more  commonly  used,  were 
shot  in  the  *  Field '  trials  at  the  same  time.  We  will  quote 
the  velocities  and  particulars  of  the  trajectories  of  these  rifles 
in  the  order  in  which  they  are  given  by  Mr.  Walsh,  taking  for 
particular  examples  Messrs.  Holland  &  Holland's  rifles,  which 
were  the  winning  rifles  in  the  trials  in  all  three  classes. 

To  arrive  at  the  trajectories,  the  position  of  each  shot 
was  very  carefully  recorded  at  different  distances  by  firing 
through  a  series  of  light  paper  screens,  very  exactly  levelled. 
The  trajectories  were  also  calculated  by  Major  McClintock, 
of  the  Royal  Small  Arms  Factory.  The  flight  of  the  bullets 
thus  calculated  from  trials  with  the  chronograph  seems  to 
have  shown  a  curve  slightly  more  regular,  and  a  little  lower 
at  its  highest  'point,  than  that  of  the  observed  diagrams. 
The  probability  is  that  the  actual  diagrams  give  a   closer 


THE    'FIELD'    EIPLE    TRIALS  136 

approximation  to  the  real  form  of  the  curve  described  by  the 
ballet  than  the  calculations. 

If  we  take  the  curve  of  the  '400  in  a  flight  of  150  yards, 
we  find  that  its  height  above  the  zero-line  joining  the  muzzle 
of  the  rifle  to  the  point  struck  by  the  bullet  was  as  follows  : — 


At  25 

50 

75 

80> 

100 

125  yds. 

2o2 

312 

4-35 

4-45 

3-28 

2-28  in. 

The  initial  velocity  of  this  rifle  was  1,874  feet  per  second  ; 
it  was  double  barrelled,  and  weighed  7  lb.  14  oz. ;  the 
charge  of  powder  was  3  drachms  (82  grains)  ;  and  the  bullet 
weighed  only  219  grains.  The  accuracy  obtained  was  ad- 
mirable, the  average  deviation  of  ten  shots,  fired  five  from 
each  barrel,  being  only  3*23  inches  at  150  yards. 

The  winning  -450  rifle,  also  made  by  Messrs.  Holland  & 
Holland,  weighed  8  lb.  4  oz.,  and  fired  110  grains  of  powder 
and  a  bullet  of  828  grains.     The  trajectory  was  as  follows  :— 


25 

50 

75 

80» 

100 

125  yd8. 

203 

3-33 

4-65 

4-68 

3-56 

2-45  in. 

The  average  deviation  of  five  shots  from  each  barrel  with 
this  rifle  was  1*45  inch— a  very  remarkable  performance. 

The  winning  rifle  in  the  class  for  *500  double  rifles  was 
again  Messrs.  Hollands'.  Although  at  150  yards  its  perform- 
ance was  very  slightly  inferior  to  that  of  Messrs.  Adams', 
on  the  whole  three  ranges  it  was  the  more  accurate.  It 
weighed  9  lb.  1  oz.,  and  fired  138  grains  of  powder  and  a 
bullet  of  435  grains.     The  trajectory  was  as  follows  : — 


25 

.   50 

75 

80' 

100 

125  yds. 

212 

3-43 

4-72 

4-82 

3-63 

2-47  in. 

Ab  to  its  accuracy,  the  average  deviation  of  five  shots  from 
each  barrel  was  2*9  inches,  that  of  the  Adams  rifle  at  the 
same  distance  being  2*4  inches. 

It  is  very  noticeable  in  the  shooting  of  these  rifles,  of 
which  full  particulars  are  given  by  Mr.  Walsh,  that  the 
accuracy  with  Messrs.  Hollands'  rifles  was  in  almost  every 
case  superior  in  proportion  at  150  yards  to  that  at  50  and 

*  Eighty  yards  is  inserted  as  being  approximately  the  culminating  point  of 
the  trajectory. 


136  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

100  yards.  The  tendency  of  Express  rifles  at  this  time  was 
towards  lightening  the  ballet  almost  too  much  in  order  to 
obtain  high  velocity.  Complaints  have  been  made,  and  even 
the  reputation  of  Express  rifles  as  a  class  has  suffered,  be- 
cause men  have  had  experience  of  bullets  which  absolutely 
broke  up,  as  it  were,  on  the  surface  of  an  animal  on  striking 
a  bone,  and  did  not  penetrate  to  the  vital  parts.  This  is 
more  particularly  liable  to  happen  with  such  heavy  animals 
as  sambur  or  tiger,  for  which  more  penetration  is  required 
than  for  the  stag  of  these  islands.  It  is  noticeable  that  m 
the  *  Field  '  trials  all  the  Holland  rifles,  which  took  the  first 
place,  fired  bullets  rather  heavier  than  those  of  the  other 
rifles  entered  in  the  same  classes.  It  would  seem  that  not 
only  does  effective  killing  power  suffer  from  too  light  a  bullet, 
especially  as  the  range  increases  (for  a  light  bullet  loses  its 
velocity  far  more  quickly  than  a  heavy  one),  but  that  a 
positive  loss  in  accuracy  takes  place  when  the  bullet  is  lightened 
beyond  a  certain  point.  Where  bullets  are  made  very  light 
in  proportion  to  the  calibre  of  the  rifle,  not  only  do  they 
have^to  be  made  with  a  large  cavity,  but  they  are  often 
liable  to  be  deformed  by  the  explosion.  They  also  become 
so  short  that  there  is  some  risk  of  the  bullet  being  a  little 
tilted  and  not  delivered  true  from  the  barrel,  after  the  fashion 
already  shown  in  figs.  9  and  10,  p.  39. 

Figs.  44  and  45  show,  in  section.  Express  bullets  of  the 
•500  and  -450  bores,  weighing  410  and  350  grains  respec- 
tively. These  are  more  effective  projectiles  than  the  standard 
sizes  weighing  340  and  270  grains.  We  illustrate  also  (figs.  46 
and  47)  the  complete  cartridges  for  the  best  known  of  the 
Express  rifles,  the  -500  and  -450,  with  bottle-shaped  case. 

We  will  now  pass  to  the  trial  of  rather  heavier  rifles,  and 
those  specially  suited  for  large  game.  The  Express  rifle  of 
•577  bore,  limited  to  a  weight  of  12  lb.,  comes  distinctly  into 
this  class.  Six  rifles  of  this  kind  were  entered  in  the  *  Field ' 
trials  by  different  gunmakers,  and  again  Hollands'  rifle  took 
the  first  place.  At  150  yards  the  average  deviation  of 
five  shots  from  each  barrel  was  2*42  inches;  the  charge 
was  164  grains  of  powder,  the  bullet  weighed  591  grains, 
and  the  average  velocity  ^as  1,663  feet  per  second.     The 


EXPRESS    RIFLES 


137 


trajectory  for  150  yards,  as  shown  on  the  screens,  was  as 
follows : — 


At  25 
1-92 


50 
3-44 


76 

4-84 


80» 
4-86 


100 
8-72 


125  yds. 
2-68  in. 


This  rifle,  then,  with  its  rather  lower  velocity,  still  had  a 
trajectory  less  than  5  inches  in  height  at  this  distance. 

We  may  now  compare  the  striking  energies  of  these  rifles 
at  the  muzzle  and  at  150   yards,   as   calculated   by   Major 


iJi  1  1  llioia 
m  1  nilUlH 

f 

.■ 

i 

1 

4-/'. 

FIG.   44 


FIG.    45 


FIG.    47 


McClintock,  for,  after  all,  it  is  the  striking  power  which  is 
eflfective  rather  than  the  energy  developed  at  the  muzzle. 
The  striking  energy  depends  even  more  on  the  velocity  than 
it  does  on  the  weight  of  the  bullet.  With  bullets  of  different 
weights,  moving  at  the  same  speed,  it  will  vary  directly  as 
the  weights  of  the  bullets  ;  but  if  two  bullets  of  the  same 
weight  strike  an  object  with  different  velocities,  the 
variation  in  the  effect  i«   not    directly  proportional    to   the 

'  Eighty  yards  is  inserted  as  being  approximately  the  culminating  point  of 
the  trajectory. 


138 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 


velocities,  but  varies  as  their  squares.  By  increased 
veloQit^,  then,  striking  power  can  be  obtained  almost  dispro- 
portionate to  that  which  a  change  of  weight  in  the  bullet  wHl 
give,  as  the  following  table  shows : — 


Bore 

•400 

•460 

•500 

1  -577 

Ballet 

pn*. 
209 
322 
444 
591 

At  Mazzle 

VAlnrftv                 Striking 
Veloclt>                 g^g^y 

f.«.                     ft.  lb. 
1,874                 1,628 
1.777                2,264 
1,784                3,134 
1,663                3,626 

At  160  Yards 

Remainiiif^             Striking 
Velocity                Energy 

f.  s.                     ft.  lb. 
1,326                   816 
1,335                1,274 
1,382                1,939 
1,286                2,169 

From  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  -400  rifle  lost  half 
its  original  striking  energy  in  the  150  yards  flight,  though 
losing  only  one- third  of  its  velocity,  and  that  all  the  rifles  lost 
more  than  one-third  of  their  striking  power  in  the  same 
distance,  though  maintaining  a  much  larger  proportion  of 
their  velocity  and,  of  course,  all  their  original  weight. 

The  still  heavier  rifles,  to  which  we  now  come,  give  very 
considerable  striking  energy,  with  greater  penetration  than  the 
hollow  bullet  of  the  Express  rifle,  with  which  we  have  been 
dealing.  These  rifles,  the  successors  of  Sir  Samuel  Baker's 
heavy  rifle  already  mentioned,  were  tried  for  velocity  both 
with  spherical  and  conical  bullets,  and  the  calculations  by 
Major  McClintock  of  the  energies  and  remaining  velocities 
gave  the  following  results : — 


Bullet 


•835 in.'   1.267  grs. 

Spherical 

862  grs. 

about  )■  1  QQo  «^ 
1-05  in.'   1.882  grs. 

Spherical 
1,250  grs. 


At  Muzzle 


^'^^y    '    ^^"^ 


At  ISO  Yardfl 


Hemfiioing     ,         Striking 
Velocity  Bnergy 


f.8. 

1,600 
1,654 
1,330 
1,460 


ft.  lb. 
6,273 

5,232 

7,387 

6,912 


f.  g.  ft  lb. 

1,178        I        3,870 


1,038 

1,091 

981 


I 


2,069 
4,969 
2,869 


LARGE-BORE    RIFLES  139 

The  8-bore  rifle  weighed  16^  lb.,  and  fired  a  powder 
charge  of  238  grains.  The  4-bore  rifle  weighed  20  lb.,  and 
fired  a  powder  charge  of  828  grains.  The  velocities  were 
arrived  at  from  chronograph  observations,  and  the  height  of 
the  trajectories,  &c.,  calculated  from  the  same.  There  are 
some  interesting  points  which  come  out  in  connection  with 
these  tables,  as  they  enable  us  to  compare  spherical  and 
conical  bullets  of  the  same  calibre.  Taking  first  the  8-bore 
rifle,  we  see  that  with  a  conical  bullet  it  lost  822  f.s.  of 
velocity,  whereas  the  spherical  ball  lost  616  f.s.  The  loss  of 
velocity  is,  of  course,  greater  at  high  speeds  than  at  low,  and 
with  bullets  of  the  same  shape  a  velocity  of  1,654  f.s.  would 
fall  off  more  quickly  than  one  of  1,500  f.s.,  other  conditions 
being  alike ;  but  in  the  present  case  the  falling  off  with  the 
round  bullet  of  equal  penetrating  surface,  but  not  much  more 
than  two-thirds  of  the  weight  of  the  conical  bullet,  is  so 
great  that,  starting  with  an  advantage  of  154  f.s.  its  velocity 
is  reduced  to  140  f.s.  below  that  of  the  other  at  the  same 
distance.  In  striking  energy  the  difference  is  even  more 
apparent.  Similarly  with  the  4-bore,  the  spherical  bullet 
starts  with  180  f.s.  more  velocity,  but  ends  with  ilO  f.s. 
less. 

Here  we  get  some  slight  indication  of  the  immense  gain 
in  maintenance  of  velocity  and  striking  energy  given  by  the 
conical  bullet.  With  it  the  great  power  of  these  heavy  rifles 
stands  out  in  contrast  even  with  that  of  the  powerful  Express 
rifles  which  we  have  been  considering.  Taking  the  conical 
bullets,  we  see  that  the  power  of  the  4-bore  is  double  that  of 
the  -577,  itself  a  very  smashing  rifle,  while  that  of  the  8-bore 
is  double  that  of  the  *500.  Small  wonder  that  a  charging 
elephant  can  be  stopped  or  turned  with  such  weapons  as 
these  ;  and  small  wonder,  too,  that  occasionally  the  hunter 
finds  himself  unexpectedly  recumbent  from  the  effect  of  the 
recoil  after  a  hasty  shot. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  effects  of  recoil  are  so  little 
noticeable  when  firing  actually  at  game,  whether  with  the 
rifle  or  a  shot  gun.  The  recoil,  which  even  with  the  12-bore 
shot  gun  is  so  marked  when  shooting  at  the  target  as  to  be 
apt  to  bruise  the  shoulder  and  possibly  to  cause  flinching. 


140  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

will  commonly  be  taken  up  with  perfect  ease  by  the  muscles 
of  the  shoulder  in  actual  shooting ;  and  even  large- bore  rifles 
are  far  more  capable  of  being  used  without  material  in- 
convenience to  the  sportsman  than  might  be  supposed. 

While  the  great  stopping  power  to  which  we  have  alluded 
is  so  necessary  under  certain  circumstances  with  dangerous 
game,  it  is  very  possible  to  do  good  work  with  the  ordinary 
Express  rifle.  To  kill  elephants,  as  Mr.  Sdous  has  done 
again  and  again  in  Africa,  with  the  single  Express  rifle  of 
'460  bore,  rifled  on  the  Metford  system,  and  carrying  a  solid 
bullet  and  charge  such  as  were  used  for  match  shooting  at 
long  range,  must  require  an  amount  of  coolness,  of  nerve, 
and,  it  may  be  added,  of  experience,  which  it  can  fall  to  the 
lot  of  very  few  mortals  to  acquire.  In  such  conditions  the 
bullet  must  be  planted  in  exactly  the  right  place.  Although 
elephants  can  be,  and  have  been,  killed  with  the  -303,  the 
novice  is  not  recommended  to  attempt  the  feat. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  progress  shown  in  the  develope- 
ment  of  the  Express  rifle,  which  had  in  comparatively  few 
years  substituted  a  safe,  rapid,  and  convenient  breech-loader 
for  the  old  muzzle-loaders,  that,  good  as  they  were,  had  in 
their  degree  serious  drawbacks,  not  the  least  being  the 
increased  chance  of  a  missflre  at  a  critical  moment  owing  to 
damp  or  rain.  But  another  developement  almost  as  important 
was  at  hand,  of  which  we  seem  even  as  yet  hardly  to  see  the 
end.  In  connection  with  military  rifles,  we  have  mentioned 
the  application  to  them  of  smokeless  powder,  and  the 
reduction  in  calibre,  and  in  the  weight  and  size  ot  the 
cartridge,  without  anything  like  a  proportionate  loss  of  power> 
which  have  now  come  about.  The  sporting  rifle,  which  has 
in  its  later  history  followed  rather  than  led  the  improve- 
ments in  the  soldier's  weapon,  has  now  similarly  changed  its 
character.  When  the  intro4uction  of  the  Lee-Metford  was 
first  decided  upon,  it  was  maintained  in  debate,  even  in  so 
enlightened  a  place  as  the  House  of  Commons,  that  an  arm  of  so 
small  a  calibre  could  not  possibly  be  an  efi^ective  killing-weapon. 
The  same  idea,  that  excellent  conservative  love  for  things 
that  we  know  and  can  trust,  has  made  the  general  adoption 
of    small-calibre    rifles  for    deer-stalking    a    very    gradual 


PENETRATION    OF    MODERN    BULLETS  141 

process  ;  their  accuracy,  however,  is  unmistakable,  and  their 
killing  power  ample.  i 

A  chief  feature  of  these  rifles,  humane,  indeed,  in  war, 
bat  less  satisfactory  in  sport,  is  that  with  a  hard  bullet  the 
penetration  is  very  great.  It  may  be  judged  from  the  follow- 
ing table  of  thicknesses  of  material  which  are  usually  necessary 
to  stop  the  regulation  -803  inch  bullet :  — 

Proof  at  any 
Material  range  in  inches 

Sand 20 

Earth,  free  from  stones  (not  rammed)     ....  28 

Peat  earth 60 

Clay  (penetration  depends  on  amount  of  moist  are  in  it)  48 

Oood  brickwork       ........  9 

Fir 48 

Elm 33 

Teak 36 

Oak 27 

Wrought  iron  or  mild  steel  plate    .  -fg 

Hardened  steel  plate ^ 

Shingle  between  boards 4 

The  bullets  find  their  way  through  joints  of  walls  unless 
made  very  fine  and  set  in  cement.  About  150  rounds,  con- 
centrated on  nearly  the  same  spot  at  200  yards,  will  breach 
a  9-inch  brick  wall,  and  about  800  rounds  at  the  same  range 
will  breach  a  14-inch  brick  wall.  The  penetration  into  green 
timber  is  practically  the  same  as  into  dry,  hence  trees  and 
logs  afford  but  poor  protection.  Stockades,  to  be  of  any  use, 
should  contain  a  core  of  shingle,  brick,  sand,  or  macadam 
from  roads.  Bammed  earth  gives  less  protection  than  loose. 
Sandbags  and  cartridge  boxes  filled  with  earth  or  clay  cannot 
be  depended  upon  unless  banked  up  with  earth. 

In  striking  an  animal  the  bullet  is  not  necessarily  deformed 
even  against  bone,  and  therefore  penetrates,  making  a  very 
small  hole,  and  causing  little  injury  unless  it  strikes  the  spine 
or  the  heart,  or  one  of  the  large  blood-vessels.  This  had  been 
so  clearly  shown  in  recent  years  in  South  America,  in  Chitral, 
and  in  the  Turco-Greek  war,  that  it  should  not  have  come  as 
a  surprise  to  us  in  the  Boer  war.  In  South  Africa  we  have  had 
endless  examples  of  the  most  wonderful  recoveries  from  wounds 
which,  if  they  had  been  made  with  the  old  rifles  of  large  bore 
and  leaden  bullets,  must  have  been  fatal.  The  penetration  of  the 


142 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


abdomen,  the  thorax,  and  even  of  the  brain,  has  in  some  cases 
caused  almost  nothing  beyond  a  little  temporary  inconvenience. 
It  has  been  stated  on  very  high  authority  that  more  than  one 
case  has  occurred  where  the  actual  muscular  part  of  the 
heart  has  been  perforated  without  fatal  results.  Yet  take 
this  same  bullet,  and  weaken  the  hard  metal  thimble  of  it  at 
or  near  the  nose,  either  by  filing  it  away  at  the  point  so  as  just 
to  expose  the  lead,  or  by  slitting  the  fore  part  of  it  at  the  side, 
or  in  some  similar  fashion,  and  a  remarkable  change  will 
be  found.  A  stag  struck  by  such  a  bullet  in  the  right  place 
seems  paralysed,  as  the  bullets  of  the  older  rifles  could  not 
paralyse  him.  If  struck  '  too  far  back,'  instead  of  going  a 
long  distance,  and,  perhaps,  getting  clear  away,  he  seems 
incapable  of  any  exertion,  and  this  whether  the  rifie  used  is 
the  -303,  with  a  bullet  of  about  215  grains,  or  the  "256,  the 

bullet  of  which  weighs 
only  156  to  160  grains. 
We  give  an  illustration 
(fig.  48)  of  the  solid  mili- 
tary bullet  used  with  the 
•303  rifle.  The  envelope 
in  these  is  unbroken  ex- 
cept at  the  base,  and  is  a 
good  deal  thicker  at  the 
nose  than  further  back. 
The  cannelure,  or  groove 
near  the  base,  serves  to  give  the  cartridge  a  hold  upon  it,  three 
nicks  being  impressed  into  the  case  at  the  neck,  which  engage 
in  it  and  prevent  the  bullet  dropping  out  or  being  pressed 
further  than  it  should  into  the  cartridge.  The  Dum-dum 
bullet  (fig.  49)  has  a  very  similar  envelope,  but  the  core  is 
exposed  at  the  nose,  so  that  it  naturally  *  mushrooms  *  and 
breaks  up  upon  striking  any  substance  that  resists  it.  Fig.  50 
shows  the  Mark  IV.  bullet,  which  has  a  hollow  in  the  nose,  at 
the  base  of  which  is  a  small  coned  disc  of  cupro-nickel.  The 
principle  on  which  the  hollow  nose  is  substituted  for  the  method 
of  simply  exposing  the  lead  point  is  ingenious.  It  is  found  that 
with  a  hollow-fronted  bullet  of  moderately  hard  composition 
there  is  considerable  penetration  into  wood  or  any  dry  sub- 


FIO.   48 


FIG.   49 


FIG.  60 


MODERN    SPORTING    BULLETS  143 

stance  without  the  bullet  being  shattered,  but  if  any  substance 
containing  a  large  amount  of  liquid  be  struck,  then  a  hydraulic 
pressure  is  set  up  within  the  hollow  which  causes  the  bullet 
to  open  at  the  nose  and  expand  considerably.  Consequently 
in  animal  tissues  the  bullet  will  inflict  considerable  damage. 
That  the  expanding  effect  depends  almost  entirely  upon  the 
presence  or  absence  of  moisture  has  been  completely  shown 
in  a  series  of  experiments  upon  clay  containing  different 
percentages  of  water.  The  two  bullets  illustrated  (figs.  51 
and  52)  are  bullets  of  -450  bore  fired  from  a  high  velocity 
rifle  and  cut  out  from  the  carcase  of  a  rhinoceros.  They 
are  good  examples  of  the  mushroom  shape  into  which  a  com- 
pletely sheathed  bullet  will  open  in  meeting  heavy  resistance 
from  animal  tissues.  We  have  seen  cases  in  which  the  little 
bullet  of  the  *256  Mannlicher  taken  from  the  body  of  a  stag 
has  been  found  to  have 
opened  to  almost  as 
large  a  disc  as  the 
bullets  here  shown. 

The  absence  of 
smoke  from  the  explo- 
sion is  all  against  the 
quarry.     The  power  of  no.  5i  fi*.  53 

rapid    reloading    given 

by  the  magazine  action  tells  also  heavily  against  him,  and, 
curiously  enough,  even  the  admirable  accuracy  of  the  Express 
rifle  is  surpassed  by  these  rifles  of  more  than  express  speed. 
The  records  of  the  Martin  Smith  competition  at  Wimbledon 
and  Bisley,  a  competition  shot  at  100  yards  at  a  target  1  foot 
in  diameter,  with  a  bullseye  of  2  inches,  show  clearly  how  ex- 
tremely accurate  the  little  rifles  are  at  such  distances.  We 
reproduce  by  permission  a  diagram  (fig.  53)  of  five  shots  at 
100  yards  made  by  Mr.  St.  George  Littledale  with  a  -256 
Mannlicher  rifle,  a  similar  weapon  to  that  which  had 
accompanied  him  almost  to  Lhassa  in  the  previous  year,  and 
had  constantly  supplied  his  whole  caravan  with  meat. 

Diagrams  of  this  class  can  never  be  held  to  represent  the 
normal  accuracy  of  a  rifle.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  make  them  without  excellent  qualities  both  in  the 


144  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


FIO.  U 


TRAJECTOEIBS    OF   SPORTING  EIFLES  146 

rifle  ai^d  in  the  man,  as  well  as  that '  turn  of  the  luck  '  which 
80  often  crowns  skill  with  success. 

We  reproduce  also  (fig.  54)  the  first  full  score  ever  made 
at  a  similar  target  in  the  Martin  Smith  competition  at  Bisley 
(1900)  with  all  seven  shots  in  or  touching  the  central  2-inch 
circle.  This  was  also  made  with  the  *256  Mannlicher,  and  is 
an  exceptionally  fortunate  score,  as  the  first  shot  only  grazed 
the  edge  of  the  2-inch  ring,  and  the  remaining  six  shots, 
fired  with  a  change  of  aim,  fortunately  grouped  themselves 
well  within  it.  It  is  somewhat  noticeable  that  the  *80d  fails, 
as  a  rule,  to  do  so  well  at  100  yards  as  the  *256.  With 
the  latter  rifle,  if  ten  shots  are  fired  with  the  same  aim,  and 
all  goes  reasonably  well,  nine  shots  out  of  the  ten  can  usually 
be  brought  within  or  touching  a  2-inch  circle,  drawn  so  as 
to  include  the  greatest  possible  number  of  shots. 

The  trajectories  of  these  rifles  up  to  200  yards  are  as 
superior  to  those  of  the  Express  rifles  as  theirs  were  to  their 
predecessors.  We  append  a  table  of  the  trajectory  and  fall 
up  to  500  yards  of  the  bullets  of  the  -256  and  '308  rifles,  as 
<sontaining  much  information  useful  to  the  sportsman  who 
uses  them.  The  figures  in  ordinary  type  read  downwards  show 
the  height  of  the  bullet  above  the  line  of  sight  when  aimed 
for  any  particular  distance.  Those  in  italics  show  the 
Amount  of  the  bullet's  fall  after  passing  the  distance  for 
which  it  is  aimed.  Thus,  if  we  take  200  yards  in  the  top 
line,  the  figures  below  this  show  that  the  -803  bullet,  when 
jfired  with  the  elevation  for  200  yards,  rises  to  3*9  inches  at 
50  yards,  5*5  inches  at  100  yards,  and  to  4*3  inches  at 
150  yards.  At  200  yards  it  is  assumed  to  strike  true, 
at  300  yards  it  has  fallen  1  foot  7'3  inches  below  the  line 
of  aim  ;  at  400  yards,  4  feet  7-3  inches ;  and  so  on.  From 
this  table  may  be  readily  seen  what  would  be  the  amount  of 
the  error  in  elevation  introduced  by  a  miscalculation  of 
•distance  of  50  or  100  yards.  The  table  for  the  -256  rifle 
is  exactly  similar,  but,  owing  to  its  flatter  trajectory,  the 
^quantities  dealt  with  are  smaller.  When  out  stalking,  the 
writer  has  found  it  convenient  to  carry  in  the  pocket  for 
reference  a  card  with  these  tables  printed  on  it. 

It  should  be  noted  that  in  these  tables  no  allowance  has 


146 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    WFLE 


been  made  for  the  height  of  the  foresight  above  the  bore,  whieh 
slightly  affects  the  relation  of  the  fall  of  the  ballet  to  the  line 
of  aim,  though  not  appreciably  at  anything  like  a  long 
distance.  The  tables  assume  that  the  line  of  aim  crosseB 
the  centre  of  the  axis  of  the  barrel  at  the  muzzle,  and,  in 
fact,  leaves  the  rifle  exactly  from  the  same  point  as  the 
bullet.  This  is  not  the  case,  but  the  error  introduced  is  for 
practical  purposes  very  trifling. 


•308  Rifle.  216  gi 

.  Bullet,  muxxle  velocity  2,000  f. 

8. 

Ele^a. 

1 

1 

1 

tion 
given 

0            60          lOJ 

150 

200         260 

80  J         360 

400         460 

500 

for 

Heigia 

of 

' 

BuUet 

' 

at 

ft.  in.    ft.  in.    ft.  in. 

ft.  in. 

ft.  in.  ,  ft.  in. 

ft  In.    ft.  in. 

ft  In.    ft  In. 

ft  In. 

60 

11       -            1-2 

2-6 

3*9          6-6 

7-2          9-0 

10^9     1       -9 

1     »D 

lUD 

46         2-4  \     ^ 

2G 

6-6          8-6 

11-9     1    3-6 

1    7-3     1  11-4 

S     8-6 

160 

10-9  '       7-6         *•« 

._ 

4-8          9-0 

1    2-0  a    7-3 

2    -       2     M 

S     1-6 

200 

18-8     18-8       11-0 

6-7 

—     1       6-2 

1      -9  jl     8-0 

2    8-6     2  11-7 

3     8-8  , 

860 

2  9i)     2  8-6     1  9-6 

1   2-9 

7-8  \     - 

8-3  , 1    6-8 

2    2^8    8      •« 

3  n-6 

800       4   1-7     8   TO  \  2 11-8 

2  89 

1    7-8        lOi) 

—           10-7 

1  10-1  ;  2  10-8 

3  111 

860    1  SJO-4     6  2-7     4  e-8 

8   9-1 

2  11-0    2      -2 

1      •6\     - 

1  1-8  1 2  re 

s    rs 

400     1  711-7     7   2-8     6  6  8 

6  e-7 

4    7-8    8    9-9 

2    6-6^1    8-2 

—      il     4-2 

3    M 

460     10  6-9     9   7-9     8  91 

7  9-8 

e    8-4    6    6-4 

4    3-4    2  11-8 

1    6-2  1     ~ 

1     7-3 

600     18  6-8   12  e-2   11   6*2 

10  6-1 

9    2-7    7  11-2 

e    6-6    6       7 

8    6-6  1 1    9-4 

Angle  used    1 2''1226     4'-41 

6'-9226 

9'-66    12'-6S86 

16''81  ;19'-2326 

S2'-86  |26'>73S6 

•c-si 

—            — 



" 

■366  Rifle,  166  gr 

Bullet,  muscle  velocity  2,860  f. 

t. 

Elera-               | 

1 

X'   *      *" 

100 

160 

200    ;    260 

800         360 

400         460 

600 

for 

— 

1 

1 

I'^r* 

1  Ballet 

>     at      ft.  in.    ft.  In. 

ft  in. 

ft.  in. 

ft  in. 

ft  in. 

ft  in.    ft  in. 

ft  In. 

ft  in. 

ft  in. 

60            ■«       - 

•« 

1-9 

3-0 

4-2 

6-6  !       6-9 

8-4 

10-1 

ii-e 

100           8-6  \       1-8 



*      2-0 

4-2 

6-6 

9-«     1     - 

1    3-1 

1    6-3 

1     9-8 

1    160           8-2  •       6-7 

8-0 

— 

88 

6-9 

10-8     1   S-l 

1     7-6 

2      -S 

2    8-7 

200        2  8-8        11-9 

8-4 

'       4-4 

4-8 

10-1'   1   8-7 

1    9-8 

2    4-3 

2  11-2  . 

260        2  111   8-9 

1   46 

11-6 

"e-o 

— 

6*6     1    1-6 

1    9-2 

2    6-8 

S     2^ 

SCO        8  2-0     2  9-0  .  2  8-6 

1    9-7 

1   8-1 

7-9 

1     —             8-6 

1    6-^ 

2    8-3 

3    1-7 

860        4  e-2  \  4  0-4  \  8   6-1 

2  11-2 

2   8-6 

1   Tl 

1       9-9        - 

10-6 

1  lOO 

2  10-1 

!    400        6  2-1     6   7-4  ^  6     -8 

4    4-8 

8   7-6  \  2  9-9 

1  11-6     1      1 

— 

1    1-0 

2    2^ 

460        8  2i)     7  6-s\  BIOS 

6    1-6 

6  3-6  \  4  4-8 

8    6-0     2  4-8 

1  2-6 

— 

1     3-5 

600       10  62     9  9-8     9      9 

8    2-9 

7  39     6  8-9 

6    2-8     4     -7 

1  2  96 

/   S-3 

■~ 

1    Angl 

e  used     l    1''6 

3'-3 

6'-2 

.    7'S 

1 

0'.6 

12'1       14'-8 

;    17'-7 

20"8 

24'1 

Trajbctory  Tableh 

Of  'SOJi  and  -266  Rifles,  to  600  yards,  Bhowlng  the  height  of  the  bullet  above  or  below  the- 
line  of  aim  when  elevation  is  given  for  any  even  distance  of  60  yards. 

Thfi  measurements  are  given  to  the  nearest  ^t)x  of  an  inch.  Tboee  in  UaUc*  are  mteitf 
quantities,  i.e.  the  bullet  is  below  the  line  of  aim.  N.B.-  No  allowance  has  been  made  for  bei^bt 
of  foresight  above  centre  of  bore. 

It  may  be  estimated  from  these  trajectories  what  great 


BOLT  ACTIONS    FOR    SPORTING    RIFLES         147 

advantage  is  gained  with  rifles  of  such  high  velocity  in  firing 
at  game  within  sporting  range  at  distances  which  have  to  be 
guessed.  Especially  for  shooting  such  game  as  chamois, 
black  buck,  and  antelope  of  all  kinds,  where  the  mark  is 
small,  and  the  margin  which  can  be  allowed  for  the  drop  of 
the  ballet  without  missing  the  shot  very  limited,  these  rifles 
are  fomid  excellent.  It  is  the  common  experience  of  those 
who  have  used  them,  whether  the  *308,  *256,  or  the  Mauser 
-275,  that  the  distance  at  which  they  can  kill  game  has 
been  increased  by  50  to  70  yards.  In  a  drive  the  writer 
has  himself  seen  killed  with  five  cartridges  at  distances 
of  110  to  160  yards  five  chamois  whose  size  may  be  judged 
from  the  fact  that  when  cleaned  and  weighed  it  was  a 
very  big  one  that  would  turn  the  scale  at  four  stone.  The 
red  deer  forms  a  much  larger  mark,  and  in  one  respect^ 
perhaps,  the  interest  of  stalking  is  so  far  diminished  that  the 
shot,  if  it  can  be  deliberately  taken,  may  be  considered  a 
certainty  ^p  to  150  yards,  so  accurate  is  the  rifle  and  so 
immaterial  an  error  of  a  few  yards  in  judging  distance. 

It  will  be  convenient  here  to  say  something  on  the 
subject  of  breech  actions  for  sporting  rifles.  The  magazine 
is  for  nearly  all  purposes  admirable.  It  is  true  that  the 
opening  and  closing  of  the  bolt  in  loading  from  it  is  apt  to 
make  a  noisy  clicking,  and  this  is  urged  as  a  disadvantage. 
If,  however,  the  breech  be  opened  and  closed,  as  the  hand 
can  be  trained  to  do  it,  the  instant  after  pulling  the  trigger, 
the  noise  of  reloading  is  really  lost  in  the  echo  of  the  shot ; 
such,  at  least,  is  the  experience  not  only  of  the  writer,  but  of 
some  of  his  friends.  It  is  certain  that  the  magazine  action 
is  amply  safe ;  most  forms  of  it  have  excellent  safety  bolts. 
It  has  the  advantage  of  cheapness  over  the  falling-block 
actions,  which  offer  the  only  alternative  for  single-barrel 
sporting  rifles,  and  still  more  over  the  break-down  form  of 
action  universally  applied  to  shot-guns  and  to  double-barrelled 
sporting  rifles.  There  was  diflSculty  at  first  in  producing 
double-barrelled  rifles  in  the  smaller  bores  on  the  latter  prin- 
ciple because  of  the  high  pressures  involved,  which  were  apt 
to  be  too  much  for  the  action.  This  difficulty  of  manufacture 
has  now  been  overcome,  and  good  double-barrelled  rifles  are 

L  2 


148  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

made  in  these  calibres.  There  is  great  question,  however, 
whether  for  such  game  as  we  have  been  speaking  of  there  is 
any  advantage  in  double  barrels.  Many  deer-stalkers  used 
to  prefer  the  single  Express  to  the  double  as  being  handier, 
safer,  and  less  liable  to  damage  from  a  blow.  The  advent  of 
the  magazine  has  made  the  single  rifle  almost  as  rapid  as  the 
double. 

If  we  come  to  dealing  with  large  and  dangerous  game  the 
case  is  altered.  At  the  critical  moment  o{  a  charge  from  a 
wounded  animal  it  is  certainly  better  to  have  the  two  barrels 
ready  loaded,  and  requiring  only  a  second  pull  of  the  trigger 
to  discharge  the  second  shot,  than  to  have  four  or  five  spare 
cartridges  in  the  magazine  which  have  to  be  loaded  separately 
into  the  barrel,  however  rapidly  this  can  be  done.  But  where 
dangerous  game  is  not  in  question,  the  double  barrel  hardly 
seems  to  give  a  material  advantage, 

•  There  is  another  reason  which  has  aided  in  depriving  the 
double  rifle  of  its  popularity.  Formerly  the  weight  necessary 
to  control  the  recoil  of  the  Express  rifle  was  considerable,' 
Aad  a  single  rifle  was  almost  necessarily  heavier  on  this 
account  than  it  needed  to  be  for  considerations  of  strength  of 
breech  action  and  barrel  alone.  The  double  rifle  was  there- 
fore but  little  heavier  than  the  single.  At  the  present  time, 
with  small  calibre  rifles  of  high  velocity,  the  recoil  is  so  small 
that  the  single  rifle  can  be  made  much  handier  and  lighter 
than  the  old  Express,  and  consequently  the  double  weapon 
involves  proportionately  more  weight.  It  is  never  easy  to  adjust 
the  barrels  of  a  double  rifle  to  shoot  precisely  together. 
The  movement  of  recoil,  which  begins  before  the  bullet  has 
left  the  barrel,  affects  the  direction  in  which  the  bullet  is 
delivered,  and  the  barrels  have  to  be  set  so  as  very  decidedly 
to  converge  towards  a  point  some  little  way  in  front  of  the 
muzzle,  more  especially  when  heavy  charges  are  fired.  The 
adjustment  of  the  barrels  is  very  capable  of  being  disturbed 
by  a  blow  or  strain. 

With  magazine  or  repeating  weapons  the  rapidity  of 
loading  is  such  as  to  have  enabled  Dr.  Carver,  in  his  exhibi- 
tion shooting  with  the  Winchester  rifle,  which  had  a  lever 
action,  to  fire  two  shots  towards  a  glass  ball  thrown  into 


DOUBLE    VERSUS    SINGLE    EIFLES  149 

the  air,  but  purposely  missing  it,  and  with  the  third  shot 
to    break  it  before   it  could    reach    the   ground.      Single- 
barrelled  shot-guns,  with  mechanism  actuated  by  a  moveable 
handle  in  the  fore  end,  operated  by  the  left  hand,  are  some- 
times used  in  America  and  by  a  very  few  sportsmen  in  this 
country.      The   power   of   firing  five  or   six  shots  in  rapid 
succession  without  even  loosing  hold  with  either  hand  of  the 
gnn,   gives   an   advantage   that  may   counterbalance    some 
degree  of  xmhandiness  in  the  weapon  itself.     The  probability 
of  a  largely  increased  use  of  rifles  and  shot-guns  made  on 
this  principle  is  not  great,  but  if  anything  of  the   kind   is 
really  required    it    may  perhaps   take  the  form  of   a  good 
magazine    '  scatter-gun '    with    automatic    loading.       It    is 
perhaps  as  well  in  the  interests  of  sport  that,  ever  since  the 
time  of  Dame  Juliana  Berners,  at  least,  the  wariness  of  wild 
animals  has  kept  pace  with  the  increase  of  destructiveness 
in  weapons,  and  is  likely  to  continue  to  do  so. 

A  diflSculty  of  the  single-barrelled  rifle  with  either  the 
falling  block  action  or  the  bolt  action  used  to  be  that  it  was 
impossible  to /shorten  the  rifle  for  the  purpose  of  packing 
it.  Herein  lay  a  decided  advantage  of  rifles  with  the  break- 
down action  like  that  of  the  ordinary  sporting  gun,  which 
enables  the  barrel  to  be  detached  from  the  stock.  But  it  is 
quite  possible  to  arrange  for  the  barrel  to  unscrew  from  the 
action,  if  it  be  properly  fitted  and  secured  in  place  by  a  keeper 
screw.  In  military  arms,  and  in  others  from  which  there 
is  no  need  to  detach  the  barrel,  it  is  well  to  have  it  screwed 
BO  tightly  home  as  to  require  considerable  force  to  detach  it ; 
but  where  a  rifle  is  to  be  used  for  sporting  purposes,  and 
handled  carefully  by  those  who  understand  how  to  clean  and 
put  it  together,  &c.,  there  is  no  disadvantage,  nor  any  ap- 
preciable loss  of  strength,  in  making  the  barrel  detachable. 
Sporting  rifles  thus  arranged  have  well  stood  the  test  of 
rough  usage  on  more  than  one  continent.  It  is  possible  by 
this  arrangement  to  carry  two  barrels,  both  fitting  the  same 
stock,  in  case  of  accident. 

A  new  type  of  sporting  rifle  has  recently  come  to  the 
front.  The  very  high  velocity  which  smokeless  powder  will 
give  has  enabled  far  greater  effect  to  be  obtained  from  rifles 


150 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


of  the  same  calibre  as  the  old  Expresses  than  was  possible 
with  black  powder.  If  the  old  rook-rifle  calibres  can  now  do 
all  the  work  of  the  old  Expresses,  the  Exprei^  calibres  can 
now  be  made  as  effective  for  large  and  dangerous  game  as  the 
old  8-bores  and  4-bores.  These  rifles  are  not  andoly  heavy,  nor 
is  their  recoil  unpleasantly  severe,  yet  they  fire  a  compara- 
tively weighty  bullet.  A  new  form  of  '460  rifle,  for  instance, 
fires  a  nickel-covered  bullet  (fig.  55)  of  480  grains,  similar  in 
weight,  that  is,  to  that  of  the  Martini-Henry  rifle,  with  a  charge 
of  cordite  giving  it  a   muzzle   velocity  of  2,050  f.s.     The 


FIG.   66 


FIG.   66 


FIG.   68 


FIG.  60 


striking  energy  in  consequence  is  fully  4,500  foot-pounds,  or 
just  double  that  of  the  -450  we  have  quoted  in  connection 
with  the  •  Field '  rifle  trials,  which  fired  a  bullet  of  only 
322  grains,  and  had  a  velocity  of  1,777  f.s.  The  energy,  in 
fact,  is  considerably  greater  than  it  was  with  the  -577 
Express  firing  a  very  heavy  bullet  weighing  591  grains. 
Similarly  the  striking  power  of  a  smaller  rifle  of  -850  calibre 
is  nearly  equal. to  that  of  the  old  -500  bore.     Fig.  57  shows 


STRIKING    ENERGIES  151 

the  sheathed  ballet  for  this  rifle  weighing  310  grains,  and 
fig.  58  a  bullet  with  a  leaden  tip.  Fig.  56  is  the  similar 
ballet  of  the  -450  rifle.  The  complete  cartridges  are  illus- 
trated in  figs.  59  and  60.  Rifles  of  this  class  are  handy, 
have  short  barrels,  and  do  not  kick  unduly.  The  energy 
at  the  muzzle  of  the  '450  rifle  is  hardly  equal  to  that  of 
the  8-bore  with  a  spherical  bullet,  but  the  bullet  maintains 
its  velocity  better,  and  at  quite  a  short  distance  it  would  be 
superior.  Such  rifles  as  these  are  fast  coming  into  favour, 
and  may  now  be  had  of  all  rifle-makers.  Much  care  and 
ingenuity  has  been  expended  in  their  production. 

Just  as,  with  cordite,  the  same  explosive  composition  is 
suitable  for  big  guns  or  small  rifles,  the  form  into  which  it 
is  put  being  varied,  so,  in  these  days,  the  same  rifle  and  the 
same  charge  are  suitable  for  game  of  very  different  kinds,  if 
only  the  bullet  be  varied  to  suit  the  occasion.  There  is  no  other 
military  rifle  which  has  so  great  a  penetrative  power  as  the 
*256  Mannlicher,  but  yet  if  this  rifle  be  fired  with  a  lead- 
pointed  bullet  there  is  no  more  .deadly  weapon  for  soft- 
skinned  game  of  moderate  size,  such  as  deer,  antelope,  or 
.  mountain  sheep.  The  '308  is  almost  its  equal,  although  the 
trajectory  is  not  quite  so  flat.  The  initial  energy  is  curiously 
similar  in  the  -303  and  the  -256,  as  they  each  give  a  little 
over  1,900  foot-pounds.  This  energy,  if  it  be  rather  less 
than  that  of  the  old  Express  rifles  of  larger  bore  than  -4,  is 
better  maintained,  owing  to  the  greater  comparative  length 
of  the  bullet.  It  may  be  said  that  the  developement  of 
smokeless  powder  and  small  calibres  has  added  to  the 
sportsman's  battery  an  unequalled  weapon  for  all-round  work, 
handier  to  carry,  quicker  in  loading,  flatter  in  trajectory,  and 
more  accurate  than  any  sporting  arm  before  known. 

It  has  always  been  found  convenient  in  the  wild  countries 
of  the  world  to  have  a  weapon  which,  though  mainly  to  be 
used  for  firing  shot,  would  on  occasion  shoot  ball.  The 
muzzle-loading  smooth-bores  formerly  used  for  jungle-shooting 
fulfilled  this  purpose,  but  when  grooved  barrels  became 
necessary  for  big-game  shooting,  it  was  not  found  possible  to 
obtain  good  shooting  from  them  with  small  shot.  The  virtue 
of  the  rifle  in  imparting  a  rotary  motion  to  its  projectile  has 


152  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

a  most  unfortunate  effect  when  small  shot  is  ip  question,  sinee 
the  centrifugal  force  imparted  to  the  charge  tends  to  cause  it 
as  soon  as  it  has  left  the  muzzle  to  scatter  in  the  shape  of  a 
ring,  and  to  put  its  shots,  unless  at  quite  close  quarters, 
anywhere  but  on  the  mark  aimed  at. 

Mr.  Charles  Lancaster  many  years  ago  solved  the  problem 
by  producing  a  gun  which  had  grooving  enough  to  spin  the 
bullet,  and  yet  would  make  fair  shooting  with  shot.  The 
demand  for  such  a  weapon  was  not  then  much  developed.  Li 
1886  Messrs.  Holland  brought  out  the  Paradox  gun,  the 
invention  of  Colonel  Fosbery,  who  many  years  before  that 
had  invented  and  used  an  effective  rifle  shell,  and  who  has 
recently  succeeded  in  adapting  an  automatic  loading  and 
cocking  arrangement  to  the  revolver.  The  Paradox  gun  may 
be  described  as  an  ordinary  gun  with  an  exaggerate  choke 
at  the  muzzle,  the  choked  part  being  rifled 'with  several 
grooves  inclined  at  an  angle.  The  conical  bullet,  when  fired, 
travels  up  the  smooth  part  of  the  barrel,  and  in  the  last  three 
or  four  inches  just  before  leaving  the  muzzle  is  caught  and 
twisted,  the  sharp  lands  of  the  rifling  cutting  into  it,  and  so 
leaves  the  muzzle  with  an  ample  spin  to  keep  it  steady. '  This 
gun,  which  makes  very  close  shooting  with  shot,  is  a  capital 
weapon  for  general  work,  but  it  would  be  hard  to  say  that 
it  is  better  than  various  other  guns  designed  for  the  same 
purpose  by  different  makers,  whether  they  be  called  Ubique, 
Colindian,  Cosmos,  or  by  any  other  fancy  name.  The 
principle  of  these  is,  generally  speaking,  to  give  the  smallest 
amount  of  rifling  which  will  spin  the  bullet,  an  amount  which 
appears  hardly  to  influence  the  flight  of  the  shot.  It  is  in 
turning  out  such  weapons  as  these,  the  success  of  which 
depends  upon  small  measurements  and  accurate  work,  that 
the  mechanical  advantages  of  the  present  day  are .  most 
noticeable.  The  sportsman  of  to-day  can  carry  a  weapon 
really  accurate  and  effective  with  either  ball  or  shot,  an 
advantage  unknown  to  former  generations.  Such  weapons  as 
these  are  better  than  the  best  of  the  arms  with  which  in  old 
days  large  and  dangerous  game  had  to  be  dealt  with  in  all 
parts  of  the  world. 

It  is  curious  to  reflect  that  up  to,  a  little  more  than  twenty 


ROOK  AND  RABBIT  RIFLES  16S 

years  ago,  tbe  normal  rifle  used  for  shooting  small  game^ 
such  as  rooks  and  rabbits,  had  a  calibre  of  '860  or  -880, 
decidedly  larger  than  that  now  in  use  for  military  rifles. 
These  weapons,  almost  invariably  single-barrelled,  and  with 
some  simple  breech-action  (for  no  great  strain  was  involved 
by  the  small  charge  of  powder  used  with  them)  were  naturally 
not  very  costly  articles  to  produce.  Their  predecessors  of  the 
muzzle-loading  days  had  been  of  still  larger  bore,  and  fired 
spherical  or  belted  bullets,  or  short  conical  ones.  They  were 
capable  of  very  accurate  shooting,  but  their  velocity  was  not 
high,  and  consequently  their  trajectory  was  a  good  deal  curved. 
They  were  displaced  by  rifles  of  -860  or  "880  bore  firing 
conical  bullets,  which,  as  made  for  instance  by  Messrs.  Holland^ 
were  charming  weapons  to  use.  Such  rifles  were  extremely 
accurate,  and  in  this  respect  afforded  a  welcome  contrast  to 
the  cheap  and  badly  made  rifles  of  the  same  type,  which,  like 
the  poor,  are  always  with  us.  If  properly  held  they  would 
not  miss  a  sparrow  up  to  50  yards,  while  the  bullet  was  large 
enough  to  have  a  crippling  effect  if  it  failed  to  strike  an 
immediately  vital  part.  This  type  of  rifle  was  really  much 
more  powerful  than  was  needed  for  the  small  game  for  which 
it  was  used.  The  writer  has  often  shot  fallow  deer  with  it» 
and  found  it  amply  powerful  enough  for  that  purpose,  if  the 
bullet  was  placed,  as  in  killing  venison  in  a  park  it  was 
possible  to  place  it,  exactly  in  the  right  spot. 

A  reduction  of  calibre  has  since  that  time  taken  place. 
In  1888  Messrs.  Holland  introduced  a  rook  rifle,  -295  bore, 
with  a  smaller  charge  of  powder  (10  grains),  and  a  bullet 
weighing  80  grains,  which  was  extremely  accurate,  as  is 
shown  by  the  diagrams  given  by  Mr.  Walsh  in  his  book. 
Other  rook  rifles  of  "820  and  "800  bore  were  introduced 
at  about  this  time.  It  is  possible  that  the  Morris  tube,  a 
rifled  barrel  of  small  calibre,  arranged  to  be  fitted  inside  the 
barrel  of  the  military  rifle  for  gallery  practice,  and  which 
was  of  '280  bore,  had  its  share  in  drawing  attention  to  the 
feasibility  of  reducing  the  calibre  of  small-bore  rifles. 

Perhaps  the  pleasantest,  and  certainly  not  the  least 
accurate,  rifle  to  use  for  small  game  is  the  American  Ballard 
rifle,  or  some  variety  of  it,  such  as  the  Colt,  Marlin,  Win- 


154  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

Chester,  or  Stevens  rifle  of  '220  to  '250  calibre,  with  a  small 
rim-fire  cartridge  firmg  a  bullet  of  only  some  18  grains,  or  a 
longer  central-fire  cartridge  containing  a  comparatively  large 
charge  of  powder.  The  accuracy  of  a  good  rifle  of  this  kind, 
such  as  will  hold  its  own  in  the  gallery  shooting  so  popular 
in  America  at  25  yards,  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired.  The 
writer  had  one  some  years  ago,  which  he  fitted  with  an 
improvised  telescopic  sight,  and  with  which  he  found  that 
excellent  practice  on  rabbits,  &c.,  could  be  made.  The  bullet 
is  so  small  that  it  requires  to  be  put  quite  in  the  right  place 
to  be  certain  in  its  effect,  and  as  with  the  '220  rifle  the 
velocity  with  a  charge  of  7  grains  is  only  about  950  f  .s.,  the 
trajectory  is  very  much  curved,  and  it  is  not  well  to  take 
shots  at  any  great  distance.  With  this  low  velocity  there 
is  a  distinct  interval  between  the  noise  of  the  explosion  and 
the  thump  of  the  bullet  as  it  strikes.  Where  a  careful  shot 
can  be  taken,  the  head  of  a  rabbit  is  a  large  enough  mark 
to  give  almost  a  certainty  of  killing  up  to  about  30  yards, 
and  its  body  up  to  more  than  50  yards.  To  stalk  rabbits 
in  the  evening,  or  to  wait  in  concealment  near  their 
burrows  for  them  to  come  out  and  feed,  is  pleasant  enough 
work,  of  a  very  lazy  kind,  in  fine  summer  or  autumn 
weather,  and  if  the  direction  of  the  wind  be  observed,  and, 
■above  all,  if  only  such  shots  be  taken  as  can  be  killed  dead, 
a  moderate  bag  may  be  made  in  no  very  long  time,  especially 
towards  sunset.  The  very  small  amount  of  noise  made  by 
these  little  rifles  is  a  point  very  strongly  in  their  favour. 
The  use  in  them  of  smokeless  powder  gives  an  even  greater 
advantage  in  this  respect,  but,  so  far  as  the  writer's  experience 
goes,  the  accuracy  with  it  is  not  equal  to  that  of  the  black 
powder  cartridge.  With  the  latter  it  will  usually  be  found 
that  there  is  some  falling  off  in  accuracy  after  a  score  or  two 
of  shots,  and  in  rook  shooting,  or  on  any  occasion  when  a 
large  number  of  shots  are  fired,  it  is  wise  to  carry  a  cleaning- 
rod,  and  occasionally  to  wipe  out  the  barrel.  The  charges 
used  are  so  small  that  with  the  soft  lead  bullets  which  they 
fire  there  is  scarcely  any  wear  and  tear  of  the  barrel,  and 
these  rifles  should  last  an  unlimited  time,  if  it  were  possible, 
as  it  hardly  ever  is,  to  keep  at  bay  the  great  enemy,  rust. 


GALLERY    AND    CLUB    RIFLES  155 

To  this  end  unremitting  attention  is  necessary,  for,  as  with 
all  other  rifles,  so  especially  with  those  of  very  small  calibre, 
a  small  amount  of  rust  or  honeycomb  will  destroy  the  accuracy 
of  the  shooting.  Owing  to  its  size,  the  barrel  is  extremely 
difficult  to  clean. 

This  is  the  most  useful  type  of  rifle  with  which  to  teach 
the  rudiments  of  the  art  of  shooting,  and  is  well  adapted  for 
practice  in  a  garden,  in  a  covered  shed,  or  even  indoors.  It 
is  used  with  great  success  by  some  ladies  who  mtike  marks- 
manship one  of  their  amusements,  and  cases  has  even  been 
lieard  of  in  which  such  large  game  as  roe  deer  has  been 
killed  with  it.  It  is  neither  necessary  nor  desirable  to  use 
for  shooting  rooks  and  rabbits  rifles  of  much  larger  calibre 
or  of  much  higher  velocity  than  this.  There  is  certainly 
more  likelihood  of  killing  if  the  bullet  does  not  strike  quite 
where  it  should,  but  this  fact  encourages  long  shots,  and 
when  an  animal  is  killed  it  is  always  considerably  damaged. 

A  new  use  in  this  country,  though  an  old  one  in  America, 
has  been  found  for  rifles  of  small  calibre  carrying  a  light 
ijharge.  The  establishment  of  a  large  number  of  rifle  clubs, 
many  of  the  members  of  which  depend  for  the  bulk  of  their 
practice,  if  not  for  the  whole  of  it,  upon  a  range  which  is 
quite  a  short  one  and  perhaps  covered  in,  has  created  a 
demand  for  such  weapons,  and  the  ingenuity  of  rifle  and 
ammunition  makers  has  now  for  some  little  time  been  taxed 
to  produce  simple,  accurate,  and  cheap  weapons,  and  cheap 
ammunition  with  which  good  practice  can  be  made.  Perhaps 
the  best  known  of  such  rifles  is  Greener's  Sharpshooters'  Club 
rifle,  but  there  are  few  good  rifle-makers  who  cannot  produce 
a  weapon  suitable  for  club  use.  The  small-bore  American 
rifles  already  mentioned  are  also  extremely  well  adapted  for 
work  of  this  class.  Such  rifles,  whether  English  or  Ameri- 
can, have  not  velocity  enough  to  make  really  good  shooting 
beyond  about  100  yards  unless  the  weather  be  exceptionally 
calm,  but  there  is  a  great  deal  of  satisfaction  to  be  got  out 
of  their  use,  and  for  the  instruction  of  the  young  they  are 
invaluable.  The  Bisley  meeting  of  1901  showed  that  the 
Greener  rifle  is  capable,  under  good  conditions,  of  putting 
nine  shots  out  of  ten  into  the  2-inch  bull's-eye  at  100  yards — 


156  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

a  very  fine  performance,  which  speaks  well  for  the  annnnni- 
tion  as  well  as  for  the  rifle.  The  National  Bifle  Association, 
in  giving  prizes  for  this  class  of  rifle,  have  particularly  made 
it  an  object  to  encourage  the  production  of  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion which  shall  be  worth  using,  and  can  be  used  freely  at 
no  great  expense.  The  large  and  increasing  demand  for  sucH 
rifles  and  ammunition  for  the  use  of  clubs  cannot  fail  to 
make  an  improvement  in  them  all  round,  both  as  regards 
quality  and  price. 

The  small  rifles  which  are  to  be  found  at  gallery  ranges, 
at  fairs,  and  at  exhibitions  are  usually  beneath  contempt 
Whether,  under  any  circumstances,  they  could  make  good 
shooting  no  man  may  know,  for  they  seem  to  live  in  a  per- 
manent condition  of  extreme  foulness.  The  sighting  is 
hardly  ever  correct.  The  probability  is  that  the  barrel  has 
suffered  from  rust,  while  it  is  certain  that  the  pull  of  the 
trigger  is  just  as  the  wear  and  tear  of  many  months  may 
happen  to  have  left  it.  Nothing  can  be  more  disappointing 
than  to  attempt  to  make  accurate  practice  with  such  rifles 
as  these. 

There  are  several  kinds  of  miniature  ammunition  which 
can  be  used  with  rifles  ordinarily  carrying  a  heavy  charge. 
The  best  known  of  these  is  that  for  the  Morris  tube,  which 
has  passed  through  several  phases  since  it  was  first  made  for 
the  Snider  rifle.  In  rifles  of  so  large  a  calibre  as  that  and  the 
Martini-Henry  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  use  some  such 
means  of  diminishing  the  bore  for  practice  with  a  miniature 
cartridge.  The  cartridge  is  bottle-shaped,, being  of  '297  caUbre 
near  the  base  and  -230  at  the  neck.  The  Morris  tube  is  also 
used  with  the  '308,  and  has  hitherto  been  the  only  arrangement 
by  which  it  has  been  lawful  to  fire  a  miniature  cartridge  with 
the  Service  rifle.  Very  good  shooting  can  be  made  with  it, 
and  it  is  almost  unnecessarily  powerful,  since,  under  good 
conditions,  it  will  make  very  fairly  accurate  practice  at 
200  yards,  while  even  at  500  yards  a  wound  from  its  bullet 
might  be  serious.  But,  like  so  many  other  small  bores,  it 
suffers  a  good  deal  from  fouling,  unless  the  ammunition  be 
exceptionally  good,  and  after  a  few  shots  is  apt  to  require 
cleaning  out.    Several  other  systems  have  been  brought  forward 


THE    MORKIS    f UBE    AND    ADAPTORS  167 

at  one  time  or  another  by  which  a  miniature  leaden  bullet 
may  be  fired  through  the  actual  barrel  of  the  rifle,  but  so  far 
as  we  know  there  is  none  at  the  present  time  which  can  be 
said  to  be  entirely  satisfactory.  It  seems  clear,  however, 
that  it  is  worth  while  to  save  the  expense  of  such  a  piece  of 
mechanism  as  a  separate  tube  fitting  into  the  barrel,  and 
also  that  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  barrel  from  its  use  with  a 
small  cartridge  is  inappreciable  compared  with  the  damage 
which  it  suflfers  from  the  ordinary  ammunition  for  which  it 
is  made.  Further,  the  rifle  can  be  fired  without  any  derange- 
ment of  its  ordinary  balance,  such  as  is  inseparable  from  the 
use  of  a  tube  or  any  appliance  which  adds  weight  to  the  fore 
part  of  the  barrel.  We  may  confidently  anticipate  that  the 
great  attention  now  being  devoted  to  the  use  of  miniature 
cartridges  in  the  Service  rifle,  both  by  rifle  clubs  and  by  the 
military  authorities,  will  lead  to  further  improvement  in 
them. 

One  form  of  adaptor  is  in  the  shape  of  the  ordinary 
cartridge  case,  with  a  striker  running  through  the  length  of 
it  as  far  as  the  neck.  What  is  practically  a  pistol  cartridge  is 
fitted  into  the  fore  part  of  it,  so  that  the  bullet  lies  in  the 
barrel.  The  ordinary  mechanism  of  the  lock  when  fired 
drives  forward  the  striker  in  the  dummy  part  of  the  cart- 
ridge, and  this,  impinging  on  the  cap,  discharges  the  shot. 
Another  form  of  adaptor  which  seems  very  promising  consists 
of  a  chamber-piece,  which  fills  up  the  chamber,  reducing 
its  calibre  to  that  of  the  barrel,  and  leaves  only  room  for 
the  small  cartridge  to  lie  in  it.  The  bullet,  when  discharged, 
thus  passes  along  a  short  length  of  smooth  cyhnder,  and 
then  jumps  into  the  rifling.  A  third  system,  by  which  the 
Service  rifle  is  altered  for  gallery  targets,  consists  in  boring 
it  out  to  a  larger  calibre,  so  that  a  short  cartridge  of  the 
same  external  size  as  the  base  of  the  ordinary  cartridge  can 
be  .fired  from  it.  This  entails  the  disadvantage  that  the 
weight  and  balance  of  the  rifle  are  altered,  and  that  it  is 
impossible  to  fire  the  full  charge  from  it.  It  hardly  seems 
practicable  to  devise  a  miniature  system  which  will  enable 
firing  to  be  done  rapidly  from  the  magazine. 

A  great  difficulty  with  miniature  cartridges  is  that   the 


168  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

Bighting  is  ofioally  quite  different  from  that  of  the  full  charge. 
With  the  old  rifles  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  false  fore- 
sight in  order  to  hit  the  point  aimed  at  with  the  Morris 
tube,  the  difference  arising  from  the  smaller  movement  of 
the  rifle  under  the  influence  of  a  small  charge. 

The  targets  made  for  the  Morris  tube  are  proportionate  to 
the  distance,  and  are  such  that  according  as  the  sight  is 
raised,  so  the  bullet  when  aimed  at  a  particular  point  strikes 
a  figure  representing  the  target  for  the  distance  in  question 
which  is  drawn  at  the  proper  height  above  the  buirs-eye 
aimed  at.  By  this  means  practice  is  secured  in  using  the 
sights  with  the  flap  up  as  well  as  with  it  down  on  a  gallery 
range,  and  a  further  advantage  is  gained,  that  the  upright- 
ness of  the  sights  becomes  a  far  more  important  factor  in 
obtaining  good  results  than  is  the  case  in  ordinary  short- 
range  practice. 


169 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  STANBIMQ  P08ITI0K — PULLING  THB  TBIOaER— A  SWISS  MABKSMAN — 
THE  DRAW  FULL — THE  HAIR  TRIOOBR — TRAINING  THE  HUSCLES — THE 
USE  OF  THE  SLING — KNEELING  POSITIONS — THE  SITTING  POSITION — 
THE   PRONE   POSITION — THE   BACK  POSITION  AND  ITS  VARIETIES 

Tkebe  are  quite  a  number  of   books,  beginning  with   the 

official  military  works,  in  which  different  writers  have  laid 

down  directions  for  acquiring  the  steadiest  attitudes  in  which 

to  fire  without  a  rest,  and  it  is  a  subject  to  which  the  beginner 

will  find  it  worth  while  to  devote  serious  attention.     He  will 

do  well  to  discover  from  practical  experience  what  are  the 

elements  of  steadiness  in  holding  the  rifle,  and  so  to  acquire 

that  promptness  of  manipulation  and  readiness  of  co-operation 

between  hand  and  eye  which  lie  at  the  bottom  of  all  successful 

shooting.    We  seem  to  be  entering  upon  something  of  a  new 

epoch  in  these,  matters.     In  the  old  days  of  slow  loading  and 

firing,  and  of  rifles  giving  no  great  velocity,  it  was  not,  as  it 

seems  now  to  be,  absolutely  impossible  to  cross  open  ground 

in  the  face  of  infantry  holding  a  position.     Concealment  in 

war  has  now  been  raised  to  the  level  of  a  first  necessity,  and 

the  practice  of  it  is  almost  a  fine  art.    It  follows  that  the 

occasions  for  shooting  in  the  lying-down  position,  and  from 

behind  entrenchments  or  natural  cover  that  will  allow  of  the 

rifle  being  rested,  must  become  far  commoner  than  hitherto. 

Such  have  always  been  the  conditions  of  sport  in  stalking,  or 

for  a  deliberate  shot  at  long  distance.     But  there  will  always 

remain  many  circumstances,  especially  when  from  any  cause 

the  shooting  is  at  rather  close  quarters,  under  which  it  is  not 

possible  to  us^  a  rest ;  it  may  be  because  of  intervening  ground 

which  requires  the  shooter  to  rise  if  he  is  to  see  over  it,  or 

because  long  grass,  crops,  or  hedgerows  have  a  similar  effect. 

To  shoot  with  any  confidence  in  the  standing  position 

even  when  firing  at  a   mark  of   some   size  requires  much 

practice,  and  the  young  shot  cannot  do  better  than  determine 


160  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

to  make  himself  proficieiit  in  it.  He  will  improve  his  all- 
round  shooting  appreciably.  It  is  better  to  begin  with  a  r^t 
than  to  begin  by  missing  the  target.  A  useful  appliance, 
shown  in  fig.  61,  for  helping  to  support  the  beginner's  rifle 
while  he  is  taught  the  standing  position,  is  used  in  some  of 
the  musketry  schools  abroad.  It  consists  of  a  wooden  upright 
on  four  feet,  on  the  top  of  which  is  a  crosspiece  with  half  a 
dozen  steps  cut  in  it,  each  about  an  inch  deep  and  wide 
enough  for  the  rifle  to  rest  comfortably  on  it,  so  that  every 
man  can  find  a  support  for  his  rifle  at  the  proper  height.  The 
standing  position  admits  of  many  variations.  The  position  as 
generally  used  upon  the  Continent,  and  by  the  bulk  of  those 
on   the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  who  go  in  for  dflf-hand 

shooting,  is  very  different  from 
the  military  standing  position  as 
it  is  taught  in  this  country.  In 
either  case,  the  body  having  been 
turned  half  round,  the  feet  ar^ 
firmly  planted  on  the  ground, 
having  been  well  separated  so  as 
to  obtain  a  wider  base  of  support, 
and  the  knees  are  braced  up  and 
the  whole  body  stiffened.  The 
left  hand,  in  the  •  Hythe '  or  mili- 
tary position,  grasps  the  rifle 
fairly  well  forward,  and  supports  it  especially  upon  the  hollow 
at  the  base  of  the  pahn,  just  above  the  wrist.  The  fingers 
should  clasp  it  firmly,  but  not  so  as  to  interfere  with  a  clear 
view  of  the  sights.  When  the  rifle  is  brought  to  the  shoulder 
the  left  elbow  should  be  directly  underneath  it,  and  the  fore- 
arm inclined  somewhat  forward.  This  position  is  fairly  re- 
presented in  Plate  XXII. 

In  another  variety  of  the  position,  and  one  which  is 
excellent  for  quick  shooting,  especially  if  the  rifle  is  light, 
or  the  muscles  of  chest  and  arm  very  strong,  the  left  arm 
is  extended  almost  straight  under  the  rifle,  after  the  modem 
manner  of  holding  the  shot  gun.  But  the  great  heat  of  the 
barrel  after  a  few  rounds,  especially  in  warm  weather,  makes  it 
advisable  generally  to  hold  the  rifle  behind  the  back  sight, 


PLATE  XXII 


ANEBICAN   MARK8MAK   SHOOTINU   MTANUINCi.   184S 


I  4 


PULLING    THE    TRIGGER  163 

where  the  handguard  protects  the  fingers.  The  fashion  of 
raising  the  right  elbow  well  away  from  the  body  is  often 
exaggerated  into  keeping  it  almost  higher  than  the  shoulder, 
but  this  is  imnecessary.  It  is  well  to  keep  the  upper  arm 
clear  of  the  kick,  and  it  is  necessary  to  avoid  carefully  any 
tendency  to  cant  the  rifle  to  one  side  by  lateral  pressure  upon 
the  side  of  the  toe  of  the  butt,  such  as  may  be  given  by  the 
upper  arm  near  the  shoulder,  but  the  grasp  and  the  pull  on 
the  trigger  are  rather  interfered  with  if  the  elbow  be  too  high. 
It  used  to  be  taught  that  the  work  of  holding  the  rifle  steady 
and  well  pressed  against  the  right  shoulder  was  the  particular 
function  of  the  left  hand,  and  that  the  right  hand  had  no 
share  in  this  work,  but  had  merely  to  apply  the  necessary 
pressure  to  the  trigger.  Yet  nothing  is  lost  by  holding  the 
rifle  firmly  with  the  right  hand,  and  some  additional  steadi- 
ness is  acquired.  The  trigger  is  usually  pulled  with  the  fore- 
finger, but  some  prefer  to  use  the  middle  finger  for  the 
purpose.  .  It  is  doubtful  if  anything  is  gained  by  doing  this 
with  any  ordinary  rifle,  though  the  depth  of  the  action  in  the 
Martini-Henry  made  too  wide  a  stretch  between  the  thumb 
and  forefinger  to  suit  some  hands. 

Without  holding,  perhaps,  the  extreme  view  which  Mr. 
Metford  used  jocularly  to  express  by  saying  that  it  was  evident 
that  the  forefinger  had  been  created  for  the  purpose  of  pulling 
a  trigger,  one  may  at  least  say  that  hitherto  no  more  con- 
venient means  of  discharging  a  firearm  has  been  produced. 
An  alternative  idea  has  not  unfrequently  been  hit  upon,  that 
the  trigger  should  be  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  catch  or 
button  on  the  upper  side  of  the  stock,  so  that  it  could  be 
released  by  pressure  with  the  thumb.  This  is  represented  as 
avoiding  the  tendency  to  pull  off  to  the  right,  which,  with  a 
very  stiff  trigger  and  a  very  inexperienced  -marksman,  is  some- 
times the  result  of  pulling  with  the  finger.  But,  in  fact,  the 
advantages  of  the  thumb  trigger  are  7iil,  and  with  any  rifle 
in  which  the  kick  is  appreciable,  it  is  decidedly  more  likely 
to  lead  to  injury  or  soreness  of  the  digit  than  the  ordinary 
trigger.  It  must  be  remembered  that  leverage  and  command 
of  the  pull-off  are  to  a  great  extent  lost  if  the  pull  is  made 
with  the  end  of  the  finger.     The  trigger  should  be  pressed 

M   2 


164  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    BIFLE 

by  that  part  of  the  finger  which  is  just  above  the  middle 
joint.  Pulling  with  the  tip  of  the  finger  is  apt  to  give  the 
rifle  a  wrench  sideways  as  it  is  discharged,  and  any  tendenej 
to  this  must  be  avoided.  The  pull  should  always  be  directly 
backwards  and  upwards. 

In  what  we  may  for  convenience  call  the  foreign  positi^Hi 
the  upper  part  of  the  left  arm  is  rested  upon  the  chest,  and 
the  rifle  is  held  by  the  left  hand  almost  or  quite  as  far  back 
as  the  trigger  guard.  It  is  even  possible  for  a  bony  individual 
to  rest  the  left  elbow  upon  the  hip,  and  in  this  way  to  get 
something  of  a  support  for  the  rifle.  Continental  match 
rifles  often  have  a  special  handle,  consisting  of  a  rounded 
disc  of  wood  on  a  stem  four  or  five  inches  long,  projecting 
downwards  from  the  fore-end  in  front  of  the  trigger-guard, 
BO  as  to  rest  conveniently  on  the  palm  of  the  left  hand. 

The  use  of  this  position  is  apt  to  lead,  for  target  purposes. 
to  irregular  devices  for  obtaining  additional  steadinees, 
such  as  padding  the  chest  out  under  the  coat,  supporting  the 
rifle  close  to,  or  under,  the  trigger  guard  on  the  tips  of  the 
extended  fingers,  &c.  These  are  difficult  to  prevent  but  qmte 
undesirable,  but  they  are  freely  resorted  to,  both  on  the 
Continent  and  elsewhere,  when  the  conditions  allow. 

The  following  extract  from  a  book  entitled  'The  Boyal 
Rifle  Match,'  published  forty  years  ago  by  Dr.  Scoffem, 
describes  vividly  the  standing  position  as  exemplified  by 
the  Swiss  marksmen  who  attended  the  early  Wimbledon 
meetings : — 

'  The  anxious  moments  of  firing  are  now  come  roand. 
See  how  the  Switzer  employs  them.  He  begins  by  planting 
his  legs  wide  apart ;  left  leg  foremost.  He  tries  the  ground 
under  him  for  a  moment  or  so,  to  find  whether  it  be  soft ; 
and  if  he  can  wriggle  out  two  little  graves,  one  for  each  foot, 
the  better.  Should  you  have  turned  away  your  eye  for  a 
moment,  and  then  direct  your  glance  at  the  Switzer  again, 
you  will  have  found  him  half  as  big  again  as  he  was  when 
you  last  saw  him.  He  has  puffed  himself  out  with  a  deep 
breathing,  like  the  frog  who  aspired  to  become  a  bull.  By 
this  deep  inspiration,  the  Switzer  has  stiffened  himself,  just 
after  the  way  one  takes  the  limpness  out  of  a  Macintosh 


a; 
o 


o 


166  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

cushion — by  filling  it  full  of  wind.  The  Switzer  is  firm 
planted  and  rigid  now ;  he  could  no  more  bend  from  side  to 
side  than  can  a  hard -rammed  sausage.  If  he  were  obliged  to 
hold  his  wind  as  long  as  we  take  to  tell  our  tale,  it  would  be 
bad  for  him.  He  would  burst  outright,  like  an  overcharged 
rifle.  Well !  with  legs  apart — like  a  little  Rhodian  Colossus, 
and  bated  breath— the  Switzer  shoulders  his  piece.  At  the 
end  of  the  stock  is  a  boss,  which  he  tucks  between  the  right 
arm  and  right  ribs.  Gathering  his  two  hands  close  togeth^. 
he  rests  his  rifle  on  the  left  hand,  placed  close  in  front  of  the 
trigger  guard ;  pressing  his  left  elbow,  not  on  the  left  knee, 
indeed — but  upon  the  left  hip.  Lot's  wife  could  hardly  be 
more  rigid.  Limited  power  of  motion,  nevertheless,  the 
Switzer  has.  Heavenward  you  see  his  rifle  pointing,  and  if 
you  observe  the  Switzer's  nose  —that  organ,  only  given  for 
ornament,  as.  some  aflirm — it  is  turned  to  a  purpose  of 
utility.  The  Switzer  is  steadying  the  butt  end  of  his  rifle 
against  it.  His  nose  is  a  lateral  rest.  By  this  time  that 
nose  is  red  on  the  tip,  the  face  turgid,  the  eyes  projecting. 
The  Switzer's  whole  position  is  decidedly  not  graceful — one 
very  suggestive  of  extrusion.  Heavenward  you  see  the  rille 
pointing.  Gradually  down  and  down  it  droops.  The  blank 
is  seen,  the  trigger  pressed.  Rifle  crack  and  Switzer's  gruiit 
follow  on  the  heels  of  each  other.  He  could  not  hold  his 
breath  for  ever.  Picket  and  imprisoned  breath  both  fly  off 
together.  Behold  him  'now  panting  and  puflSng  like  ft 
Cinghalese  pearl-diver,  fresh  from  the  worrying  of  a  ground 
shark.'  We  may  observe,  a  propos  of  this  last  sentence,  that 
a  very  prolonged  aim  in  the  standing  position  is  unwise,  if 
only  because  of  the  unsteadiness  arising  from  holding  the 
breath  for  more  than  a  few  seconds.  In  this,  as  in  other 
positions,  if  firing  under  circumstances  in  which  there  is  no 
hurry,  the  shooter  must  not  hesitate  to  bring  his  rifle  down, 
take  some  full  breaths,  and  after  a  short  pause  aim  again  if 
he  finds  his  shot  likely  to  suffer  from  his  own  exhaustion  or 
temporary  dilBSculty  in  obtaining  a  proper  aim. 

Continental  and  American  rifles  are  often  made  with  a 
*  crutch '  projecting  from  the  heel  and  from  the  toe  of  the 
butt.      These  fit  round   the  upper   arm    close  against   the 


PLATE  XXIV 


STANDING   POSITION,   18118 


\ry  \ 


EARLY    STANDING    POSITIONS  169 

shoulder,  and  thus  additional  steadiness  is  gained.  In  what 
we  have  called  the  foreign  position,  the  rifle  is  supported  much 
more  nearly  parallel  to  a  line  passing  through  both  shoulders, 
than  in  the  Hythe  standing  position,  and  the  liability  to 
bruises  from  the  recoil  with  a  heavy  charge  is  much  greater. 

The  rules  of  our  own  National  Rifle  Association  provide 
that  the  whole  of  the  left  hand  must  be  in  front  of  the  trigger 
guard  at  the  time  of  firing.  This  is  a  very  practical  restric- 
tion, intended  to  limit  the  artificial  character  of  the  position. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  any  degree  of  rapidity  is 
desired  the  simple  English  position  is  best,  and  that  it  lends 
'  itself  far  better  than  the  other  to  shooting  at  a  moving  object. 

The  illustration  already  referred  to  (Plate  XXII)  of  an 
American  marksman,  which  is  taken  from  Chapman's  '  Modern 
American  Rifleman,'  shows  an  excellent  position,  and  a  very 
steady  man  firing  in  it  with  a  telescopic  sight.  Nothing,  on 
the  other  hand,  could  be  less  practical  than  the  position 
described  in  *  The  Perfection  of  Military  Discipline  after  the 
Newest.  Method  ...  or  the  Industrious  Souldier's  Golden 
Treasury  of  Knowledge  in  the  Art  of  Malting  War '  (1690), 
from  which  the  following  quotation  may  be  given  : 

*  Present. — In  this  case,  fall  back  with  your  right  Leg, 
so  that  the  left  Heel  be  against  the  middle  of  the  right  Foot, 
suffering  the  Butt  end  to  rise  to  your  Shoulder,  setting  it  fast, 
your  right  elbow,  even  with  the  height  of  the  Peice,  being 
ever  ready  to  pull  the  Trigger  with  the  Fourth  Finger  of 
your  right  hand,  bending  the  left  Knee  a  little,  and  keeping 
the  right  very  steady,  levelling  breast  high.' 

*  Fire. — Here  you  must  keep  true  motion  in  drawing  the 
Trigger,  doing  it  all  together,  so  that  the  Fire  of  a  Battalion 
may  give  but  one  Report,  or  appear  to  be  no  more  than  one 
Flash,  the  body  steady,  and  the  Musket  close  to  the  Shoulder 
till  the  next  word  of  command/ 

The  fashion  of  bending  one  knee  and  drawing  back  the  right 
foot  dates  possibly  from  the  time  when  a  rest  was  used  with 
the  musket,  and  it  was  necessary  to  lower  the  shoulders  and 
head  so  as  to  bring  the  barrel  to  the  right  elevation.  We  find 
it  in  the  very  beautiful  plates  of  the  manual  exercise  for  musket 
and   caliver  in  J.  de  Gheyn's   book  (1608).      Plate   XXIII, 


170  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

which  is  taken  from  *  The  British  Soldier's  Guide  or  Volun- 
teer's Sell-Instructor,'  1808,  showing  the  positions  for  firing 
in  three  ranks,  serves  to  indicate  how  unimportant  a  steady 
position  was  with  the  musket.  The  ranks  are  well  closed  up, 
the  front-rank  man  kneeling  on  his  right  knee,  and  having 
the  feet  of  the  man  next  behind  him  on  each  side  of  his  right 
leg.  The  man  in  the  third  rank  locks  up  close,  with  his  left 
foot  forward  and  his  right  foot  well  behind  him,  and  only 
touching  the  ground  with  the  toes,  the  knee  being  bent.  All 
ranks  alike  seem  to  ignore  the  rule  that  the  left  elbow  should 
be  underneath  the  weapon;  they  raise  it  and  keep  it  well 
away  to  the  left.  At  such  close  quarters  it  was  very  necessary 
that  the  piece  should  be  held  in  front  of  the  soldier's  body 
while  being  cocked,  and  pointed  straight  up  into  the  air  until 
the  word  *  present '  was  given.  A  long  barrel  must  have  been 
a  great  preventive  of  accidents  in  firing  in  three  ranks.  It 
should  be  noticed  that  the  front-rank  man  has  his  bayonet 
fixed.  There  is  an  element  of  leisurely  dignity  in  the  aspect 
of  the  figures  which  seems  lacking  in  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  present  day  ;  we  can  find  no  time  to  cultivate  repose  of 
manner  in  the  ranks.  The  modern  Volunteer  does  not,  like 
him  of  1808,  have  to  live  up  to  the  privilege  of  being  exempt 
from  the  tax  on  hair-powder.  The  following  description  of 
the  standing  position  is  quoted  from  the  same  book :  '  The 
rifleman  half  faces  to  the  right,  the  butt  is  placed  in  the 
hollow  of  the  right  shoulder,  the  right  foot  steps  back  about 
eighteen  inches  behind  the  left,  the  left  knee  is  bent,  the  body 
brought  well  forward,  the  left  hand  without  having  quitted 
its  hold,  supports  the  rifle  close  before  the  lock,  the  right 
elbow  raised  even  with  the  shoulder,  the  fore-finger  on  the 
trigger,  the  head  bent,  and  cheek  resting  on  that  of  the  rifle, 
the  left  eye  shut,  the  right  taking  aim  through  the  sight.' 

The  Swiss  shooter  is  described  by  Dr.  Scoflfern  as  bringing 
his  rifle  down  gradually  upon  the  bull's-eye,  and  firing  when 
it  reaches  the  right  level.  A  more  common  method,  and  one, 
to  our  thinking,  far  better,  is  to  bring  the  sights  gradually  up 
to  the  mark.  It  is  a  sound  principle  never  to  lose  sight  of 
the  object  to  be  hit,  nor  can  quick  shooting  be  made  unless 
the  rifle  is  pitched  up,  so  that  the  aim  is  at  once  on,  or  a  little 


PLATE   XXV 


STANDINO   POSITION,    18mi 


'  <MJhi 


SHOOTING    STANDING  173 

below,  the  object.  In  firing  in  the  standing  position  without 
a  rest  it  is  hardly  possible  to  hold  a  proper  aim  upon  the 
bull*s-eye,  or  the  desired  spot,  for  more  than  an  instant  at 
a  time.  Most  surprising  fluctuations  and  movements  of  the 
muzzle  of  the  rifle  take  place.  It  may  almost  be  said  that 
the  longer  the  rifle  is  held  in  position  before  firing,  the  more 
unsteady  does  it  become,  as  the  strain  upon  the  muscles 
and  the  nerves  increases.  If  there  is  any  wind  at  all  the 
unsteadiness  is  especially  marked,  and  a  breeze  is  apt  to 
make  extremely  fluky  work  of  the  shooting.  A  good  device 
for  obtaining  greater  steadiness,  not  allowed  in  target  com* 
petitions,  but  at  times  convenient  ia  the  field,  is  to  hold  a 
stick  in  the  left  hand  and  to  grasp  it  with  the  rifle,  resting 
the  other  end  of  it  inside  the  hip.  For  a  snap  shot  or  a 
running  shot  this  method  gives,  of  course,  no  help. 

The  chief  difficulty  in  shooting  standing  is  to  acquire  so 
delicate  and  yet  so  perfect  a  command  of  the  trigger  that  the 
final  pressure  can  be  applied  to  it  in  the  fraction  of  a  second 
during  which  the  aim  is  correct.  It  must  be  confessed  that 
with  the  British  Service  rifle  the  pull  of  the  trigger  is  by  no 
means  well  adapted  to  respond  to  any  delicacy  of  touch. 
There  are  apt  to  be  irregularities  in  the  catching  of  the  full 
bent  upon  the  nose  of  the  sear,  and  the  trigger  has,  for  safety, 
to  be  adjusted  so  as  to  need  a  pressure  of  at  least  6  lb.  to 
release  the  sear  ;  nor  is  there  any  preliminary  movement  to 
show  when  the  pressure  applied  is  almost  sufficient.  In  this 
respect  gunmakers  are  careful  to  regulate  more  delicately  the 
pull  of  the  trigger  in  sporting  arms,  which  demand  only  from 
8  lb.  to  5  lb.  pressiure.  In  the  military  arms  of  most  foreign 
nations  the  difficulty  of  having  the  trigger  neither  too  heavy 
for  manipulation  nor  too  light  for  safety  is  avoided  by  an 
arrangement  known  as  the  draw-pull,  a  normal  form  of  which 
is  shown  in  the  illustration  of  the  Mannlicher  rifle  in  section 
(Plate  X).  The  top  part  of  the  trigger  is  extended  backwards, 
and  the  front  end  of  it  is  hinged  to  a  lever  pivoted  in  front, 
and  carrying  the  projection  in  which  the  bent  engages.  As 
the  trigger  is  drawn  backwards  the  lever  is  drawn  down- 
wards, until  eventually  the  bent  is  released.  But  this  motion 
is  not  continuous.     A  rounded  hump   on  the  arm  of   the 


174  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

trigger,  rather  behind  the  point  at  which  it  is  joined  to  the 
upright,  bears  against  the  body  above  and  forms  a  fulcrum. 
When  the  trigger  has  been  drawn  back  a  certain  distance  the 
fulcrum  is  transferred  to  a  second  curved  projection  at  the 
hinder  end  of  the  arm,  which  gives  less  leverage  and  more 
movement  of  the  sear.  By  this  means  the  trigger  yields  at 
first  to  the  pressure  of  the  finger,  and  can  be  pressed  back 
for  half  an  inch  or  more,  and  in  doing  so  brings  the  catch 
nearly  to  the  point  at  which  it  is  freed.  A  pressure  of  about 
8  lb.  is  thus  absorbed  by  the  draw-pull ;  at  this  point  the 
trigger  ceases  to  yield  to  the  finger  without  a  decided  inarease 
of  effort,  and  the  firer  knows  that  an  additional  pressure  of 
some  2  lb.,  which  he  can  add  instantaneously,  will  release  the 
sear  and  discharge  the  rifle.  There  is  much  to  be  said  for 
this  arrangement  of  trigger,  although  to  hands  accustomed 
to  the  ordinary  English  trigger  it  is  very  baulking,  more 
especially  for  a  hurried  shot,  until  its  use  has  become  habitual. 
The  writer  has  known  men  fail  entirely  to  get  off  a  shot  both  at 
the  running  deer  at  Bisley  and  at  his  live  counterpart  in  the 
Highlands  when  they  were  unaccustomed  to  the  draw  trigger. 
But  the  habit  of  using  it  is  rapidly  acquired,  and  we  believe 
it  to  be  the  safest  and  most  convenient  form  of  pull -off  for 
military  purposes.  An  attempt  was  made  a  dozen  years  ago 
or  more  by  Fraser,  of  Edinburgh,  to  introduce  it  in  his  Match 
rifles,  but  the  idea  did  not  commend  itself,  and,  indeed,  the 
back  position  is  that  in  which  extreme  refinement  in  the 
pull  of  the  trigger  is  least  important. 

One  form  of  trigger  was  no  doubt  specially  developed  in 
order  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  the  standing  position.  The 
hair  trigger,  or  set  trigger,  as  it  is  also  called,  is  said  to  have 
been  invented  by  Wolff  Dauner,  of  Augsburg,  about  the  year 
1543.  It  is  an  arrangement  whereby,  when  the  lock  has 
been  cocked,  a  forward  push  is  given  to  the  ordinary  trigger, 
or  some  similar  movement  made,  by  which  the  discharge  of 
the  rifle  is  left  depending  on  a  second  trigger  of  steel  wire 
projecting  in  the  front  part  of  the  trigger-guard.  The  least 
touch  of  the  finger  is  then  sufficient  to  release*  the  striker. 
This  allows  of  extreme  rapidity  of  discharge,  and  the  rifle  can 
be  fired  at  the  exact  instant  when  the  aim  is  right,  on  giving 


PLATE  XXVI 


.STANDING    POSITION.      PTE.    W.    C.    LUFF,    LONDON    RIFLE    BRIGADE,    1901 


M'U-'.!;.  ... 


L 


A'  1       ».    .^'r     > 
N  FJUH3   " 


CONDITION    OF    THE    MUSCLES  177 

merely  a  backward  flick  of  the  trigger  finger,  without  any 
perceptible  pressure.  The  hair  trigger  was  at  one  time 
allowed  in  Swiss  military  arms,  but  has  now  been  recognised 
as  unpractical  for  war,  though  it  is  still  used  in  many  Con- 
tinental rifle  competitions  and  is  often  found  in  sporting 
rifles  abroad. 

The  secret  of  success  in  shooting  standing  is  constant 
practice  in  the  position.  The  muscles  of  the  arms,  which 
at  first  feel  that  the  rifle  is  very  heavy,  soon  become  braced 
up  and  hardened,  and  the  legs  learn  to  stand  steady— not  so 
easy  a  thing  as  might  be  supposed.  The  standing  position 
can  be  learned  effectively  indoors,  without  firing  a  shot,  and 
all  the  necessary  command  of  the  trigger  and  quickness  of 
the  eye  in  taking  up  the  aim,  can  be  acquired  by  practising 
daily  for  a  few  minutes  at  a  spot,  or  a  very  small  target, 
placed  on  the  wall  in  a  good  light. 

It  is  worth  while  to  have  the  arms  in  good  training. 
Dumb-bells,  not  too  heavy,  are  useful.  The  old  'pump- 
handle  '  form  of  exercise,  that  is,  throwing  the  rifle  forward, 
and  then  bringing  it  to  the  '  present '  and  lowering  it  again  a 
large  number  of  times  in  succession,  was  a  useful  recipe  for 
accustoming  the  arms  and  the  body  to  their  work.  There  is  a 
very  striking  difference  between  the  apparent  weight  of  a  rifle 
or  gun  picked  up  and  carried  for  a  short  time,  after  months 
of  indoor  work,  during  which  familiarity  with  it  has  been 
lost,  and  the  same  weapon  when  it  has  been  handled  for 
some  hours  every  day;  in  the  latter  case  the  weight  is 
hardly  noticed.  It  is  scarcely  necessary,  however,  to  adopt 
the  method  of  the  early  Volunteer,  whom  *  Punch'  represented 
as  carrying  in  the  street  a  heavy  iron  walking-stick  of  con- 
siderable size  to  accustom  his  muscles  to  the  weight  of  the 
rifle.  In  all  shooting,  and  not  least  in  shooting  standing, 
confidence  and  nerve  tell  quite  as  much  as  muscular  con- 
dition, and  sometimes  more.  The  great  practical  objection 
to  the  use  of  the  standing  position  in  prize  shooting  is  that 
the  variations  in  the  strength  and  steadiness  of  the  wind 
are  usually  such  in  an  hour  or  two,  and  sometimes  even  in 
a  few  minutes,  as  to  make  very  serious  inequalities  in  the 
conditions    for    competitors   not   firing   quite   at   the   same 


178  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

moment.  On  the  Continent  this  difficulty  is  abuost  entirely 
obviated  by  covering  in  the  firing-point  and  partitioning  it  cdf 
on  each  side,  so  that  the  wind  does  not  affect  the  shooter's 
body  or  the  rifle.  Yet  it  is  surprising  what  good  work  can  be 
done  in  reasonably  fine  weather  in  the  open  air.  The  team 
which  went  from  the  United  Kingdom  to  shoot  against  the 
United  States  representatives  at  Creedmoor,  in  1882,  did  not 
afford  to  their  opponents  the  easy  victory  at  200  yards  which 
might  have  been  expected,  considering  that  the  standing  or 
'  off-hand '  position  was  at  that  time,  as  always,  assidaously 
cultivated  in  the  United  States,  but  very  much  negleetad 
in  this  country.  The  British  team,  by  dint  of  a  few  weeks' 
practice,  became  every  bit  as  expert  as  their  opponents  in  this 
form  of  shooting,  as  the  scores,  which  are  given  in  another 
chapter,  will  show. 

The  rifleman  represented  by  Colonel  Beaufoy  in  *  Sdop- 
petaria '  (Plate  XXIV)  might  be  known  to  be  using  a  rifle 
and  not  a  musket  by  his  well-studied  position  and  care  in 
taking  aim.  We  can  almost  see  that  he  feels  himself  to  be 
out  of  range  of  the  enemy's  muskets,  and  that  he  can  a£Bovd 
to  be  very  deliberate  in  returning  their  fire.  His  positikm 
is  stated  in  the  letterpress  to  be  that  practised  by  Colooet 
Beaufoy,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberlani^B 
Sharpshooters,  himself,  and  the  picture,  which  may  possibly 
be  a  portrait  of  the  author,  is  entitled  *  Experto  crede.'  Tbe 
chief  feature  of  the  position  is  that  the  left  elbow  is  rested 
upon  the  hip,  which  is  thrust  forward  to  meet  it.  The  rifle- 
man would  be  disqualified  under  Bisley  rules  for  not  having 
the  whole  of  the  left  hand  in  front  of  the  trigger-guard. 
He  supports  the  rifle  on  the  thumb  and  forefinger  only ;  the 
other  three  fingers  steady  the  rifle  by  pulling  at  the  sling, 
which  is  shortened  for  the  purpose. 

The  sling,  which  is  attached  to  military  rifles,  affords 
an  easy  method  of  carrying  them,  and  is  also  in  many  parts 
of  the  world  added  to  sporting  rifles.  It  can  be  used  to 
assist  in  steadying  the  aim  in  most  positions.  In  standing 
or  kneeling  it  is  sometimes  twisted  round  the  left  forearm, 
and  sometimes  round  the  upper  arm.  It  is  arranged  to  be 
of  such  a  length  that,  when  so  twisted,  it  is  drawn  tight  as 


'j...\i\l  , 


THE    USE    OF    THE    SLING'  181 

the  arm  is  bent  to  hold  the  rifle  in  the  proper  place.  Thus 
it  braces  together  stiffly  the  rifle  and  the  arm.  Another  mode 
of  using  it  is  to  have  it  of  such  a  length  that  it  simply  passes 
over  the  left  elbow,  but  this  method  is  suited  chiefly  to  the 
standing  position.  There  are  other  small  variations  in  the 
precise  arrangement  of  it,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  different 
plates  which  we  give,  but  the  principle  in  all  is  the  same.  In 
using  the  sling  in  this  fashion  there  is  a  natural  tendency 
to  arrange  it  in  such  a  way  as  would  not  be  practical  for 
shooting  under  other  conditions  than  those  of  absolute  de- 
liberation, and  it  is  important  that  this  tendency  should  not 
be  carried  too  far.  The  Volunteers  of  a  hundred  years  ago 
commonly  used  the  sling  to  steady  the  aim,  as  Baker's 
picture  (Plate  XXV)  shows ;  and  Colonel  Beaufoy  mentions 
that  he  has  seen  some  riflemen  fire  with  the  sling  passed  round 
the  neck,  and  others  with  it  so  lengthened  as  to  be  put  under 
the  right  foot— this,  presumably,  in  the  standing  position  ! 
The  National  Rifle  Association  has  a  very  natural  and  proper 
rule  that  the  sling  used  with  the  Service  rifle  should  be 
twisted  round  the  wrist  or  arm  only,  and  should  only  be  such 
in  form  and  dimensions  as  is  officially  authorised,  the 
maximum  length  being  54^  inches.  One  method  of  using 
it,  as  well  as  an  excellent  standing  position,  is  shown  in 
Plate  XXVI,  which  represents  Mr.  W.  C.  Luff,  London  Rifle 
Brigade,  in  the  act  of  firing.  The  sling  has  often  been  used 
since  the  days  of  Ezekiel  Baker  in  the  back  position,  but  now 
that  the  match  rifle  is  limited  in  bore,  and  its  recoil  cannot 
be  heavy,  there  is  not  the  same  object  as  formerly  in  passing 
the  sling  round  the  foot  or  knee. 

The  kneeling  position  is  the  one  which  naturally  presents 
itself  next.  At  the  present  day  the  only  variety  of  it  which 
is  ever  seen  at  target  practice  is  that  developed  at  Hythe  in 
the  early  days  of  the  Volunteer  movement  of  1859-60.  This 
is  a  very  artificial  position,  inasmuch  as  it  is  one  which  the 
undrilled  mortal  would  never  dream  of  assuming.  Yet  it 
has  many  excellent  points,  and  seems  to  have  been  invented 
to  meet  the  demand  for  a  fairly  steady  position  in  which  the 
soldier  should  not  take  up  more  room  than  he  occupies  when 
standing  in  close  order  in  a  rank  with  other  men,  while  yet 


182  THE    BOOK  OF    THE   RIFLE 

lie  is  low  enough  to  give  ample  margin  for  the  rear  rank, 
still  standing,  to  shoot  over  his  head.  It  is  probable  that 
the  rare  use  in  the  future  of  close  order  and  double  rank  for 
firing  will  be  found  to  have  deprived  this  position  of  almost 
all  utility.  The  kneeling  position  laid  down  in  the  official 
firing  exercises  is  a  very  good  one.  Thick-soled  boots  are  a 
sine  qua  non  if  steadiness  is  to  be  attained.  The  right  foot 
is  drawn  well  back  behind  the  left,  which  points  to  the  front, 
and  the  shooter  then  kneels  down  on  the  right  knee,  not 
leaning  forward  at  all,  but  bringing  his  weight  well  back, 
and  sitting  nearly  upright  upon  the  right  heel.  To  do  this 
comfortably  requires  much  practice,  as  it  is  something  of  a 
strain  on  the  mnscles,  and  it  may  seem  at  first  as  if  a 
sufficient  flexibility  of  the  knee  joint  and  thigh  could  not 
possibly  be  acquired.  There  are  some  men  who  think  it 
quite  impossible  to  make  heel  and  buttock  meet,  but  even  for 
them  perseverance  will  overcome  the  difficulty.  Some  men 
even  sit,  not  on  the  heel,  but  upon  the  foot,  which  they 
extend  or  place  sideways  on  the  ground.  The  weight  of  the 
body  being  thus  provided  for,  the  weight  of  the  rifle  is  taken 
by  supporting  the  left  elbow  on  the  left  knee.  There  is  a 
little  hollow  behind  the  elbow  joint  into  which  thin  men  will 
find  that  the  knee  cap  conveniently  fits  ;  the  forearm,  which 
should  be  nearly  upright,  supports  the  rifle.  Much  of  the 
steadiness  depends  upon  the  triangle  formed  by  the  two 
feet  and  the  right  knee  being  as  large  as  possible,  and  to 
this  end  the  left  foot  should  be  kept  well  forward,  pointing  in 
the  direction  of  the  mark,  with  the  heel  well  beyond  the  line 
of  the  left  knee.  The  right  knee  should  be  brought  roond 
till  it  is  almost  square  to  the  line  of  fire.  The  head  and  the 
right  hand  and  arm  fall  into  the  same  positions  as  for 
shooting  standing.  This  position  is  best  learnt  at  home. 
It  will  be  found  that  anything  which  makes  a  bunch  behind 
the  knee,  such  as  a  thick  stocking  and  knickerbocker  band, 
adds  to  the  difficulty  of  sitting  upon  the  heel.  The  standing 
position  and  the  kneeling  alike  share  the  advantage  that, 
although  they  lack  steadiness,  the  sights  are  seen  more  truly 
and  with  less  effort  to  the  eye  than  in  the  lying  down 
positions.     A  great  command  of  the  trigger  is  necessary  in  the 


THE    KNEELING    POSITION  la^- 

kneeling  position,  although  it  is  far  steadier  than  the  standing: 
one,  and  far  less  liable  to  serious  disturbance  from  wind. 
The  kneeling  position  is  not  of  great  use  to  the  sportsman « 
but  some  degree  of  proficiency  in  it  is  well  worth  acquiring. 

In  this,  as  in  all  positions,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
no  absolute  rule  can  be  laid  down  as  to  the  best  attitude  for 
the  limbs  and  body.  We  must  fall  back  on  general  principles,. 
since  there  is  much  variation  in  the  human  race  in  all 
three  dimensions — length,  breadth,  and  thickness —and  onlj^ 
experience  will  tell  precisely  how  any  man  will  best  be  suited 
in  detail.  But  the  general  principles  do  not  vary,  and  the 
sensible  beginner  will  conform  with  as  little  variation  as- 
possible  to  the  position  which  he  sees  generally  adopted  by 
the  most  successful  shots. 

Plate  XXVII  shows  Armourer-Sergt.  J.  H.  Scott,  of  the 
Roxburgh  and  Selkirk  Volunteers,  one  of  the  Volunteer  cham- 
pions of  Scotland  both  at  the  Bisley  meeting  and  in  the  South 
African  war.  He  uses  the  rifle  without  the  assistance  of  a 
sling,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  his  scoring  would 
be  better,  were  he  to  use  one,  than  it  is  at  present.  But  a 
majority  of  Bisley  men  use  the  sling  to  steady  the  rifle 
when  kneeling. 

It  is  an  old  joke  that  the  cavalryman  is  not  expected  to 
sit  upon  his  spurred  heel.  It  is  useful  on  occasion — but 
not  for  target  practice— to  be  able  to  fire  kneeUng  with  the 
body  raised  off  the  heel,  and  this  should  to  some  extent  be  a 
familiar  position.  Up  to  about  1860  the  art  of  sitting  on 
the  heel  seems  not  to  have  been  discovered.  The  soldier  of 
1803  (Plate  XXIII)  does  not  attempt  to  rest  his  elbow  on 
the  knee,  and  keeps  his  weight  forward  on  the  left  foot.  Nor 
does  Baker's  marksman  (Plate  XXVIII),  who  also  does  not 
rest  the  elbow  on  the  knee.  Mr.  Gould  in  his  book 
illustrates  a  form  of  the  kneeling  position  which  he  has 
found  useful  for  a  quick  shot  in  hunting  in  the  West, 
The  left  knee  is  fully  bent  and  the  left  elbow  rests  upon 
it,  and  the  whole  weight  of  the  body  is  thrown  forward. 
The  upper  part  of  the  right  leg  is  stretched  out  as  far  as 
possible  to  the  rear,  with  the  knee  and  foot  on  the  ground, 
and  does  little  but  act  as  a  support  against  the  recoil.     This 


186  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

position  brings  the  rifle  to  a  rather  lower  level  than  the 
military  kneeling  position,  though  higher  than  sitting.  It  n 
too  cramped  to  be  comfortable  for  a  deliberate  shot.  The 
kneeling  position  as  shown  by  Baker  is  very  similar  to  thiSi 
but  the  firer  does  not  crouch  so  far  forward.  In  firing  sitting 
or  kneeling,  if  the  left  elbow  is  not  supported,  little,  if  any- 
thing, is  gained  in  steadiness  over  the  Hythe  form  of  tibe 
standing  position.  Another  form  of  the  kneeling  positum 
may  be  improvised  by  keeping  both  knees  on  the  ground  and 
firing  without  any  support  for  the  arm. 

An  advantage  which  the  kneeling  positions  have  over  sitting 
is,  that  the  shooter  can  rise  from  them  and  stand  up  instan- 
taneously, without  needing  to  put  his  hand  on  the  ground, 
while  the  feet  are  taking  the  weight  of  the  body.  But  kneel- 
ing is  not  well  adapted  for  sloping  ground,  however  con- 
venient on  the  level. 

The  sitting  position  has  been  described  in  the  Musketry 
Regulations  apparently  for  the  benefit  of  the  cavalryman,  f6r 
whom  the  ordinary  kneeling  position  is  unsuited.  ProbaUy 
the  reason  why  it  has  never  been  incorporated  into  the  drill 
of  the  troops  is  because  it  requires  more  elbow  room  than  the 
kneeling  position,  and  so  is  not  well  suited  for  close  order. 
Perhaps,  too,  the  long  side-arm,  hanging  from  the  hip,  mth 
which  the  British  soldier  used  to  be  encumbered,  made 
something  of  a  difiiculty.  In  addition  to  these  things, 
it  is  indisputable  that  if  the  ground  be  at  all  wet  or  dirty, 
a  larger  portion  of  the  person  and  of  the  clothing  suffers 
in  the  sitting  position  than  in  kneeling  upon  one  knee, 
and  this  is  a  consideration  which  has  not  been  without 
its  influence  in  the  barrack  square.  But  the  sitting  position 
is  one  in  which,  early  in  the  history  of  the  National  Bifle 
Association,  much  shooting  was  done,  for  the  lying-down 
positions  came  into  general  use  later  than  the  others.  As  in 
the  case  of  kneeling,  the  details  of  the  position  depend  very 
largely  upon  the  particular  construction  and  proportions  of 
the  individual.  The  same  principle  applies  to  this  as  to  other 
positions,  that  the  body  must  be  turned  rather  to  the  right  of 
the  direction  in  which  it  is  desired  to  fire,  so  as  to  bring  the 
left  arm  fairly  underneath   the   rifle.     Both  elbows  can  be 


f: 


THE    SITTING    POSITION  189 

rested  ou  the  knees,  the  feet  being  crossed,  if  convenient,  or 
preferably  kept  well  apart,  the  left  foot  always  towards  the 
object,  and  the  right  foot  well  away  to  the  right  front,  both 
being  placed  flat  upon  the  ground.  With  practice  very  good 
shooting  can  be  made  in  this  fashion.  The  Martin  Smith 
prize  for  sporting  rifles  at  Wimbledon  was  for  many  years 
shot  for  in  the  sitting  position,  and  the  scoring  in  that 
competition  by  the  most  prominent  shots  of  the  time  was 
almost  equal  to  that  made  since  any  ][X)6ition  has  been 
allowed  in  it. 

This  is  the  position  illustrated  in  Plate  XXIX,  which 
shows  Sir  Edmund  Loder  in  the  act  of  firing  with  a  sporting 
rifle.  Many  will  find  the  position  best  with  crossed  feet,  the 
elbows  resting  upon  the  knees  or  on  the  thighs  above  them.  To 
shoot  sitting  is  easy  enough  on  ground  which  affords  a  slightly 
raised  seat :  on  level  ground,  unless  there  is  enough  supple- 
ness of  body  to  enable  the  shoulders  to  be  brought  well 
forward,  there  is  a  tendency  to  topple  over  backward  even 
without  the  assistance  of  the  recoil.  The  sitting  position, 
which  brings  the  rifle  to  a  less  height  than,  the  kneeling,  is 
better  adapted  than  it  for  shooting  at  a  moving  object.  They 
are  both,  to  most  men,  less  convenient  in  this  respect  than 
the  standing  position,  in  which  the  swing  of  the  body  and 
arms  is  unhindered  by  dependence  upon  any  support.  In 
the  illustration  which  we  give  later  on  (Plate  XL VIII)  of 
Mr.  Ranken  shooting  at  the  Bunning  Deer,  it  will  be  seen 
that  he  rests  the  left  elbow  on  the  left  knee,  but  stretches 
out  the  right  leg  upon  the  ground.  The  right  elbow  is  thus 
freed  from  any  tendency  to  cramp  the  free  motion  of  the 
rifle  in  aiming  at  the  moving  target. 

A  variety  of  the  sitting  position  sometimes  used  for 
target-shooting  is  as  follows : — Sit  down  almost  square  to  the 
right  of  the  direction  of  the  target,  bringing  the  feet  nearly 
together  and  .keeping  them  flat  on  the  ground.  Draw  up  the 
knees  as  high  as  they  will  go.  Fold  the  arms,  resting  them 
on  the  knees :  the  right  hand  alone  holds  the  rifle,  which 
rests  upon  the  upper  part  of  the  left  arm  close  above  the 
elbow.  The  recoil  is  taken  on  the  upper  part  of  the  right 
arm  below  the  shoulder.     The  fingers  of  the  left  hand  are 


190  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    RIFLE 

tacked  tightly  in  under  the  right  arm  above  the  elbow.  The 
head  being  bent  forward  and  the  face  inclined  to  the  left,  the 
eye  comes  into  the  proper  place  for  aligning  the  sights.  This 
is  not  a  aseful  position  in  the  field.  We  have  seen  good 
shooting  made  by  a  skilled  shot  with  the  rifle  held  in  an  almost 
exactly  similar  way  standing,  but  it  appeared  not  to  offer  any 
special  advantages  over  the  more  usual  varieties  of  the  standing 
position,  and  would  probably  be  inferior  to  them  in  a  strong 
wind. 

In  the  writer's  opinion  the  sitting  position  is  worthy  of 
far  more  cultivation  than  it  receives.  He  believes  that  for 
practical  purposes,  such  as  stalking  game  of  any  kind,  and 
for  use  on  service,  it  is  generally  more  convenient  to  the 
isolated  individual  than  the  kneeling  position.  There  may 
be  occasions  when  the  slight  advantage  in  height  given  by 
the  latter  is  of  some  value,  but  if  we  come  to  consider 
shooting  in  broken  ground,  or  on  a  downhill  slope,  it  is  not 
at  all  convenient.  The  sitting  position  gives  command  of  a 
much  larger  vertical  angle  of  fire,  and  it  is  easier  to  shoot 
at  a  moving  object,  or  one  suddenly  appearing  somewhat  to 
one  side,  without  losing  the  balance.  It  is  also  by  far  the 
most  convenient  for  firing  downhill,  but  it  is  not  very  well 
adapted  for  use  on  ground  which  slopes  upwards  from  the 
firer.  It  is  fair  to  add  that  it  has  this  drawback,  if  it  be 
materially  a  drawback,  that  the  rifle  has  to  be  held  for  the 
moment  in  the  left  band  so  as  to  leave  the  right  hand  free 
to  be  placed  on  the  ground  to  give  support  in  sitting  down 
and  in  rising.  This,  like  the  dirtying  of  the  trousers,  is,  of 
course,  a  disadvantage  if  the  utility  of  a  military  position 
is  to  be  judged  mainly  from  a  parade-ground  standpoint. 
In  the  sitting  position  a  considerable  help  to  steadiness  may 
be  obtained  if  a  walking-stick,  such  as  is  usually  carried 
when  stalking,  is  rested  on  the  ground  between  the  legs,  and 
grasped  with  the  rifle  in  the  left  hand. 

The  lying-down  positions  are  of  two  kinds.  For  both  of 
them  a  clear  field  of  view  is  required  almost  down  to  the 
level  of  the  ground,  and  thus  they  are  not  suited  for  use  even 
in  long  grass.  The  first,  and  much  the  most  useful,  is  the 
prone  position.     This  position  has  been  very  largely  used  in 


X 

X 

X 

m 

EH 


S5 

c 


ar. 

c 


THE  PRONE  POSITION  193 

the  South  African  war,  especially  where  troops  have  had  to 
move  Tinder  fire  over  open  ground.  It  is  a  position,  too, 
most  useful  in  stalking,  but  for  the  purposes  of  military 
parade  it  has  always  suffered  from  the  very  grave  disad- 
vantage that  it  dirties  the  clothes.  It  is  a  very  simple 
position.  Turn  half  right,  and  taking  the  rifle  in  the  left 
hand,  place  the  right  hand  upon  the  ground,  and  lie  down 
forward  as  you  are  now  facing,  getting  the  lower  part  of  the 
body  well  down  on  to  the  ground.  Place  the  elbows  on  the 
ground,  closing  them  inwards,  so  that  the  left  one  is  nearly 
under  the  rifle,  which  is  held  fairly  well  forward  (how  far 
must  depend  on  the  build  of  the  man)  with  the  left  hand. 
The  knees  should  be  straight,  and  the  feet  may  either  be 
turned  outwards,  with  the  legs  well  spread  apart,  so  as  to 
lie  almost  flat,  or  the  right  foot  may  be  crooked  round  the 
left  ankle.  The  splayed- out  variety  of  the  position  is  perhaps 
slightly  the  steadier  of  the  two,  and  it  is  certainly  that  most 
generally  in  use,  but  if  at  all  exaggerated  it  can  hardly  be 
described  as  neat. 

The  prone  position  is  naturally  far  steadier  than  either 
kneeling  or  sitting.  Its  one  disadvantage  seems  to  be  the 
tendency,  which  affects  some  a  good  deal  and  others  very 
Httle,  for  the  clearness  of  vision  and  correctness  of  aim  to 
be  consciously  or  unconsciously  affected  by  the  rather 
cramped  position  of  the  head.  It  is  important  for  comfort 
that  in  this  position,  and,  indeed,  in  all  others,  the  clothing 
should  not  be  at  all  tight  round  the  neck ;  the  modern  high 
starched  collar  is  eminently  unsuitable  to  shoot  in.  Even  in 
firing  prone  the  rifle  is  by  no  means  so  steady  that  the  wind 
cannot  easily  shake  it.  A  very  complete  command  of  the 
trigger  is  necessary  if  the  shot  is  not  occasionally  to  be 
dispatched  when  the  aim  is  not  upon  the  right  spot.  The 
movement  of  the  body  and  limbs  due  to  the  pulsation  of  the 
heart  and  arteries  makes  itself  felt  even  when  the  breath  is 
held,  as  it  always  must  be,  at  the  moment  of  finally  pulling 
the  trigger. 

The  position  of  Ezekiel  Baker's  marksman  (Plate  XXX) 
can  hardly  be  called  a  very  good  one.  He  lies  with  his  body 
and  legs  directly  in  the  line  of  the  target,  and  his  left  fore- 


194  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

arm  seems  to  have  been  expressly  lengthened  in  the  drawing 
to  assist  him  in  holding  the  rifle  well  forward.  The  slii^  is 
gathered  under  the  hand,  and  this  of  itself  is  something  of  a 
disadvantage  in  holding  the  rifle,  though  it  matters  the  leas 
as  he  has  a  rest  to  support  his  rifle. 

The  interesting  photograph  of  that  famous  sportsmamy 
Captain  Horatio  Boss,  which  we  are  able  to  give  (Plate  XXXIQ, 
was  probably  taken  about  the  year  1867,  when  he  was  BtOl 
shooting,  though  growing  an  old  man.  It  represents  liim 
firing  with  the  match  rifle  in  the  prone  position,  for  the  back 
position  was  not  yet  in  vogue.  Though  his  skill  was  admir- 
able, his  attitude  is  not  specially  pleasing  to  modem  eyes. 
The  right  knee  is  bent,  and  the  left  foot  raised  upon  the  toes. 
The  whole  body  lies  more  in  the  direction  of  the  target  than 
is  thought  well  in  these  days.  Yet  there  could  be  nothing 
very  far  wrong  in  the  position,  since  he  could  win  important 
prizes  in  it  when  approaching  seventy  years  of  age,  notably 
in  1867  the  Cambridge  Cup,  shot  for  at  the  extreme  ranges 
of  900,  1,000,  and  1,100  yards. 

Plate  XXXII  represents  Sergeant-Instructor  Wallingford, 
of  the  School  of  Musketry,  Hythe,  who  may  fairly  be  said 
to  be  the  most  skilled  marksman  in  the  British  Army  at  the 
present  time.  He  fires  with  the  sling  stretched  tightly  round 
the  upper  arm. 

On  the  Continent,  where  the  lying-down  positions  are  in 
less  favour  than  they  are  in  this  country,  the  shooting  is 
usually  done,  not  from  level  ground,  but  from  a  plat* 
form  sloped  upwards  at  a  considerable  angle.  The 
marksman  lies  with  the  length  of  his  body  absolutely 
in  the  direction  of  the  target,  a  position  which  deprives 
the  rifle  of  a  large  measure  of  support,  since  the  left  forearm 
cannot  be  brought  fairly  under  it.  The  accepted  explanaticm 
of  this  practice  is  that  to  lie  diagonally  to  the  line  of  fire  is 
to  present  a  much  larger  mark  to  the  enemy.  This  might, 
perhaps,  be  the  case  in  quite  exposed  ground,  but  the  differenoe 
can  hardly  amount  to  a  material  drawback. 

It  will  be  found  in  this,  as  in  the  other  positions,  that  a 
certain  amount  of  practice  will  wonderfully  improve  the 
steadiness  and  trigger  control.     The  right  shoulder  should 


o 

O 

o 


2 

H 


o  2 


THE  BACK  POSITION  197 

be  brought  well  forward  and  the  recoil  taken  in  the  hollow  of 
it  and  not  opon  the  arm.  Special  care  must  be  taken  not  to 
tilt  the  sights  to  one  side,  which  is  far  more  easily  done 
unobserved  in  this  position  than  when  standing  or  kneeling. 
There  are  many  who  maintain  that  the  best  results  with  the 
Service  rifle  are  obtained  when  it  is  grasped  very  tightly.  The 
writer  believes  that  uniformity  of  the  pressure  of  the  shoulder 
and  of  the  grip  of  the  hands,  important  in  all  positions,  is 
especially  so  in  this  if  the  best  results  are  to  be  obtained. 
The  learner  should  drill  himself  to  see  that  his  attitude  and 
mode  of  holding  vary  as  little  as  possible. 

The  second  of  the  lying-down  positions  is  the  only  one 
used  at  the  present  time  in  match  rifle  shooting,  since  it 
is  unapproached  in  steadiness  when  a  rest  cannot  be  used 
with  the  rifle.  This  is  the  back  position.  It  seems  to  have 
been  very  gradually  developed.  We  find  traces  of  it  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  as  has  already  been  mentioned  in 
alluding  to  the  skill  of  Colonel  Ferguson,  who  could  shoot 
*  lying  upon  the  back  or  belly.' 

The  use  of  the  back  position  in  war  may  be  further  illus- 
trated by  the  following  quotation  from  the  'History  of 
the  Rifle  Brigade,'  by  Sir  William  Cope.  In  describing  an 
incident  at  Cacabelos  during  the  Peniasular  War  (1809),  he 
says : — 

*It  was  now  nearly  dark;  and  General  Colbert,  who 
commanded  the  enemy's  cavalry,  conceiving  probably  that 
the  Riflemen  had  retired,  and  that  the  English  cavalry  and 
guns  were  unprotected,  made  a  most  rapid  and  furious  charge 
upon  them  with  a  mass  of  cavalry.  The  Riflemen  again 
instantly  threw  themselves  into  the  vineyards,  and  from  the 
banks  lining  the  road  poured  so  hot  and  well-aimed  a  fire 
that  the  attacking  cavalry  were  instantly  checked.  It  was  at 
this  moment  that  Thomas  Plunket,  a  private  of  the  Battalion, 
noted  for  his  excellent  shooting,  crept  out  with  some  expres- 
sion that  he  "  would  bring  that  fellow  down,"  and,  throwing 
himself  on  his  back  on  the  snow-covered  ground,  he  caught 
the  sling  of  his  rifle  over  his  foot,  fired  with  deliberate  aim, 
and  shot  General  Colbert  dead.  His  orderly  trumpeter  rode 
up  to  assist  him,  but  Tom  Plunket  had  reloaded,  and  he  also 


J 98  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    KIFLE 

feir  before  his  unerring  rifle.  He  had  just  time  to  jump  n^ 
and,  amidst  the  cheers  of  his  comrades,  by  running  in  upon 
one  of  the  rear  sections,  to  escape  the  sabres  of  a  dozen 
troopers  who  spurred  after  him  in  pursuit.' 

The  back  position  is  depicted  by  Ezekiel  Baker  early  in 
the  nineteenth  century  (Plate  XXXIII).  The  rifleman  lies 
nearly  flat  upon  his  back,  with  the  legs  extended.  He  crosses 
his  left  foot  over  his  right,  and  rests  the  muzzle  of  his  rifle 
between  the  toes  of  his  boots.  The  recoil  is  taken  by  the  left 
foot,  round  which  the  sling  of  the  rifle  is  passed.  The  butt 
does  not  appear  to  receive  from  the  body  any  support  against 
the  recoil,  and  the  head  is  unsupported.  The  left  hand  holds  the 
rifle  behind  the  small,  and  it  is  discharged  in  the  usual  way 
by  the  right  hand.  Colonel  Beaufoy's  description  of  tb^ 
position  is  as  follows  : — *  To  fire  lying  on  the  back,  the  slii^ 
must  be  sufficiently  loosened  to  let  it  be  passed  on  to  the  ball 
of  the  right  foot,  and  as  the  leg  is  kept  stiff,  so,  on  the 
contrary,  the  butt  is  pulled  towards  the  breast,  the  head  is 
raised  up,  till  the  front  sight  is  brought  into  the  after  notch  in 
the  usual  way  ;  but  as  the  position  is  not  only  awkward  but 
painful,  this  method  is  very  seldom  used  as  a  position  of 
practice ;  to  which  must  be  added,  that  as  many  fire  with 
holes  instead  of  notches,  it  is  not  possible,  from  the  distance 
of  the  hole  of  the  sight  from  the  eye,  to  take  any  direct  aim, 
and  therefore  in  this  mode  none  but  open  sights  can  be 
applied.'  The  back  position  was  revived,  not  long  after  1860, 
by  two  or  three  ingenious  marksmen,  among  others,  Mr.  Henry 
Whitehead ;  with  one  great  difference,  that  the  butt  of  the 
rifle  was  rested  in  the  armpit,  to  take  the  recoil.  Its  real 
vogue  in  this  country  dates  from  a  later  time,  that  of  its 
reintroduction  from  America  by  the  American  marksmen  who 
had  so  much  success  against  the  British  and  Irish  teams  in 
the  international  matches  of  the  seventies.  It  was  found 
that  where  correct  holding  was  a  necessity  no  position  was  so 
steady.  The  aperture  back  sight  of  the  match  rifle  had  up 
to  this  time  been  most  conveniently  placed  for  prone 
shooting  upon  the  small  of  the  stock  just  in  front  of  the  right 
hand.  Placed  thus,  it  was  too  far  forward  to  be  very  con- 
venient for  use  on  the  back,  if  the  recoil  were  taken  in  the 


MAJOR  YOUNG'S  POSITION  201 

armpit  or  by  the  sling  passed  round  the  foot,  as  has  been 
ahready  shown  in  the  quotation  from  '  Scloppetaria/  although 
moderately  good  work  could  be  done  with  it  if  a  very  large 
aperture  were  used.  In  spite  of  the  rather  heavy  recoil  of  the 
old  rifles,  one  position  at  least  was  developed  which,  to  those 
prepared  to  face  some  discomfort  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  the 
best  results,  allowed  the  sight  to  be  used  on  the  small.  This 
position  is  that  known  from  its  first  inventor  as  the  Fulton 
position  (fig.  62) ;  its  most  successful  exponent  in  more  recent 
days  was  the  late  Major  Young.  We  copy  an  illustration  of 
it  from  his  excellent  little  book,  'The  Three  Rifles.'  It 
required,  perhaps,  rather  more  elasticity  of  person  and 
decidedly  more  moral  courage  than  the  other  forms  of  the 
back  position.     The  left  arm  was  doubled  back  behind  the 


FIG.   63 


head  so  that  the  forearm  supported  it,  and  the  hand  grasped 
the  heel-plate  of  the  rifle,  which  was  passed  behind  the 
shoulder  for  that  purpose.  A  small  cushion  fastened  to  the 
stock  supported  the  cheek  to  save  it  from  being  bruised  by 
the  recoil,  which,  even  so,  was  decidedly  trying.  This  brought 
the  eye  into  a  position  in  which  it  was  not  far  from  the  back 
sight,  and  the  trigger  could  be  pulled  in  the  ordinary  way  by 
the  right  hand.  But  the  hand  was  somewhat  cramped,  and 
very  liable  to  have  the  middle  finger  damaged.  The  evident 
remedy  for  the  diflSculty  involved  by  the  distance  in  the 
ordinary  position  of  the  back  sight  from  the  eye  was  to  fit  it 
close  to  the  heel  of  the  stock,  so  that  the  eye  could  be 
brought  close  up  to  it,  while  the  recoil  was  taken  in  the 


202  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

armpit.  This  arrangement,  though  it  adds  an  element  of 
difficulty  due  to  variation  of  the  sighting  by  the  warping  of 
the  stock,  has  for  many  years  been  universally  in  favour 
among  those  who  use  the  match  rifle.  The  eye  is  protected 
from  the  slight  blow  of  the  recoil  by  an  indiarubber  cap 
placed  upon  the  back  sight.  The  position  now  adopted  does 
not  admit  of  much  variation.  Ordinarily  the  left  foot  is 
placed  on  the  ground,  with  the  lower  part  of  the  left  leg 
almost  upright ;  the  right  knee  is  crooked  round  it,  so  as  to 
grasp  it  tightly  just  above  the  ankle,  and  the  rifle  is  rested 
upon  the  inside  of  the  right  knee,  close  to  the  left  leg, 
but  preferably  not  touching  it.  Sir  Henry  Halford,  as 
Plate  XXXIY  shows,  shot  in  this  position ;  it  is  the  one  in 
most  common  use  to-day,  and  the  writer's  experience  of  it  is 
very  satisfactory.  It  is  a  better  position  than  is  obtained 
when  the  right  knee  is  somewhat  raised,  and  the  rifle  rested 
in  the  hollow  between  the  two  legs,  since  the  rest  obtained  is 
decidedly  a  more  solid  one.  Another  and  very  neat  variety 
of  the  position  is  to  lie  rather  on  the  side  with  both  legs 
straight  out  and  the  left  foot  crossed  over  the  right,  so  that 
while  the  feet  are  close  together  a  solid  support  is  obtained 
for  the  rifle,  which  lies  just  behind  the  left  knee.  The  left 
hand  holds  the  stock  just  in  front  of  the  backsight.  If,  at 
the  same  time,  the  trigger  guard  can  be  conveniently  rested 
against  the  body  a  little  inside  the  right  hip,  additional 
steadiness  is  obtained.  The  left  heel  rests  upon  the  ground. 
It  might  be  added  that  this  position  is  not  compatible  with  a 
large  *  corporation,*  were  it  not  for  the  extreme  rarity  of  this 
phenomenon  among  successful  riflemen.  This  position  has 
been  used  for  many  years  with  great  success  by  Mr.  Henry 
Whitehead,  whom  our  illustration  represents  (Plate  XXXV). 

One  great  aid  to  obtaining  steadiness  is  to  keep  the  left 
foot  flat  on  the  ground,  and  not,  as  beginners  tend  to  place 
it,  with  the  heel  only  on  the  ground,  and  the  toes  stuck  up. 
In  some  forms  of  the  position  the  head  is  well  supported, 
and  it  may  be  taken  as  a  rule  that  it  is  worth  while  to  ease 
the  muscles  of  the  neck  of  any  strain,  although  some 
successful  marksmen  are  so  strong  in  the  neck  as  not  to 
find   this  necessary.      One  means  of  obtaining  support  for 


< 
Ah 


o 


THE  BACK  POSITION  205 

the  head  is  by  grasping  the  stock  of  the  rifle  with  the  left  hand 
just  in  front  of  the  back  sight,  holding  with  the  teeth  either 
a  mouthful  of  the  coat-sleeve  or  the  end   of  a  short  strap 
passed  round  the  left  wrist.     Sometimes  a  handkerchief  is 
used  for  the  same  purpose ;  and  there  was  once  a  rifleman 
who  used  to  produce  bom  under  his  waistcoat  and  hold  in 
his  teeth  a  mysterious-looking  leather  string/  attached  some- 
where, ^ne  could  not  tell  where,  beneath  his  garments,  in  the 
region  of  the  navel.    Many  men  find  a  degree  of  discomfort  in 
thus  putting  weight  on  the  teeth,  and  the  coat-sleeve  or  hand- 
kerchief is  apt  to  become  moist  and  unpleasant  as  well  as 
damaged.     Sometimes  the  right  hand  alone  is  used  to  direct 
and  hold,  as  well  as  to  discharge,  the  rifle ;  and  in  that  case 
the  left  hand  is  free  to  support  the  head,  either  by  simply 
placing  the  fingers   round  the  back  of  the  neck   after  the 
manner  practised  by  Sir  H.  Halford,  or  by  resting  the  tips  of 
the  fingers  on  the  gi'ound,  the  arm  being  doubled  right  back  so 
as  to  form  a  rest  for  the  head.     The  latter  form  of  head  rest 
the  writer  can  recommend  from  personal  experience.    Brilliant 
shooting  has  been  made  alike  by  those  who  use  both  hands  to 
hold  the  rifle,  and  by  those  who  only  use  one,  and  it  cannot 
fairly  be  said  that  to  the  well-practised  shot  the  one  system 
offers  more  advantage  than  the  other.     In  one  variety  of  the 
back  position,  now  nearly  extinct,  and  used  by  only  two  or 
three  of  those  who   frequent   Bisley,  the  recoil  of  the  rifle 
is   taken,  and  the  head   supported,   in  the  fashion  already 
described,  but  instead  of  the  knees  being  employed  to  form  a 
rest  for  the  rifle,  they  are  both  raised  in  the  air,  and  inclined 
to  the  left ;  while  the  heels  of  both  feet  are  on  the  ground, 
having  the  toes  close  together  and  projecting  upwards.     The 
barrel  of  the  rifle  is  rested  between  the  toes  of  the  boots, 
which  afford  a  suflSciently  steady  support.     This  attitude  is 
unfortunately  not  at  all  elegant,  and  although  it  has  been 
used  by  some  very  successful  shots,  it  cannot  be  said  to  rank 
higher  from  any   practical  point   of  view   than   the    more 
ordinary  forms  of  the  back  position.     Our  illustration  of  that 
distinguished  shot.  Major  J.  K.  Millner  (Plate  XXXVI),  shows 
him  in  this  position,  in  which  for  many  years  past  he  has 
made  brilliant  shooting  at  long  ranges.    He  leans  the  head 


206  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

well  over  to  the  right,  and  aims  always  with  the  left'  eye,  as 
may  be  done  in  most  forms  of  the  back  position. 

To  the  miaccastomed  who  attempts  to  arrange  himself 
in  one  of  the  ways  here  described  the  position  will  seem 
extremely  strange  and  awkward,  but  a  very  little  practice 
will  show  the  great  advantages  it  confers.  No  position  is 
really  steady  in  a  high  wind,  but  the  back  position  is  far  less 
unsteady  than  any  other.  The  involuntary  movements  of 
the  body  and  of  the  pulses  alone  make  it  impossible  for  any 
position  to  confer  absolute  rigidity.  Mr.  Metford  used  to  say 
that  in  firing  with  a  telescopic  sight  of  considerable  power,  at 
1,000  yards,  in  the  back  position,  he  found  that  owing  to  the 
pulsations  of  the  body  he  could  discharge  only  two  shots  oat 
of  three  with  the  cross  hairs  actually  within  the  6-inch  white 
circle  which  marked  the  centre  of  the  bull's-eye  on  Sir  Henry 
Halford's  range  at  Wistow.  This  probably  represents  rather 
a  high  level  of  steadiness.  It  means  that  in  the  best  shoot- 
ing the  error  of  aim  is  within  the  limit  of  about  1'  of 
angle,  both  vertical  and  horizontal,  but  that  without  some 
form  of  artificial  rest  the  rifle  cannot  be  held  more  steadily 
than  this.  The  one  great  difficulty  offered  by  the  back  posi- 
tion to  those  who  are  not  both  familiar  with  it  and  in  constant 
practice  is  the  difficulty  of  keeping  the  sights  upright.  As 
both  body  and  head  have  to  lean  to  one  side  there  is  an 
inevitable  tendency  to  cant  the  sights  over,  usually  to  the 
left,  that  is,  towards  the  body  of  the  fii*er.  This  almost 
always  affects  the  aim  with  ordinary  sights,  unless  it  is 
possible  to  level  them  along  the  lines  of  targets,  or  to  align 
the  upright  part  of  the  back  sight  with  a  flagpole  or  soiAe 
such  vertical  line.  If  the  head  is  not  upright,^  but  leaning  to 
one  side,  the  body,  and  the  eyes  with  it,  seem  to  lose  all  true 
sense  of  what  is  perpendicular. 

The  beginner  who  aims  through  the  sights  of  a  Match 
rifle  fitted,  as  Match  rifles  are,  with  a  spirit-level  under  the 
fore  sight,  will  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  attain  the  posi- 
tion in  which,  while  he  aligns  the  sights  upon  the  mark,  the 
bubble  of  the  level  is  central.  He  will  be  troubled  with  a 
constant  tendency  in  it  to  run  off  to  one  side  or  the  other 
while  he  is  completing  his  aim.     Habit  soon  overcomes  this 


liEVELLING    THE    SIGHTS  209 

diflSculty,  and  an  accurate  aim  can  be  held  almost  as  long  as 
maj-  be  desired.  The  military  breechloader  of  a  dozen  years 
ago  was  fitted,  like  the  Match  rifle,  with  a  spirit-level,  placed, 
in  this  case,  behind  the  back  sight,  where  it  was  most  aseful 
and  not  liable  to  breakage.  When  once  convenience  and 
comfort  in  the  back  position  have  been  attained  it  is  fomid 
that  a  long  series  of  shots  can  be  fired  without  any  appreciable 
inaccuracy  of  aim.  In  the  highest  class  of  team  shooting  it  is 
absolutely  assumed  by  the  coach  that  every  shot  fired  by 
those  whom  he  is  superintending  has  been  i)erfectly  correct 
in  aim,  unless  he  is  told  at  the  moment,  as  very  rarely 
happens,  that  the  shooter  is  not  perfectly  satisfied  with  the 
steadiness  of  any  particular  shot. 

Very  good  shooting  maj''  be  made  in  the  back  position 
with  the  military  rifle,  and  without  a  spirit-level,  but  the  aim 
requires  great  care;  and,  perhaps  partly  owing  to  the  dis- 
tance of  the  back  sight  from  the  eye,  there  seems  to  be  rather 
more  liability  to  optical  errors  than  with  the  prone  position. 
Where  it  has  been  suflSciently  practised  the  steadiness  of  the 
position  is  entirely  in  its  favour,  and  it  is  well  worthy  of 
cultivation  for  general  purposes.  It  is  extremely  difficult  to 
fire  in  the  prone  position  at  any  long  range  owing  to  the  very 
high  elevation  of  the  sights  and  the  consequent  craning  of 
the  neck  to  see  over  them— a  great  element  of  unsteadiness. 
With  the  back  position,  or  some  hybrid  between  it  and  the 
sitting  position,  this  particular  matter  creates  no  difficulty  at 
all.  The  back  position,  however,  can  never  become  effective 
for  military  use  while  the  British  soldier  carries  on  his  back 
quite  so  much  gear  as  at  present.  In  full  marching  order 
he  can  sit  down,  but  he  cannot  possibly  lie  supine.  Of  one 
incubus  he  is,  we  may  hope,  shortly  to  be  relieved.  The 
helmet,  in  which  he  cannot  shoot  in  the  prone  position, 
because  it  at  once  tilts  itself  over  his  eyes,  owing  to  its  long 
projecting  peak  behind,  seems  (in  its  present  form  at  least)  to 
be  going  out  of  fashion,  and  if  it  vanishes  from  the  costume 
of  our  infantry  will  cause  no  regret  to  its  wearers.  Times 
and  manners  change,  and  the  pendulum  of  fashion  or  of 
habit  swings  first  one  way  and  then  another  in  the  matter  of 
positions  as  in  all  else.     When  the  writer  was  first  taught  the 


210  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    KIFLE 

use  of  the  rifle  at  Eton  practically  all  target-shooting  was  done 
ill  the  back  position,  and  this  fact  certainly  made  the  use  of 
the  long  Snider  rifle  possible  for  boys.  Since  then  the  kneeling 
position  has  been  much  in  vogue,  and  the  standing  position, 
the  finest  test  of  nerve  as  well  as  of  training,  has  been  partly 
revived.  The  signs  of  the  times  now  point  to  a  much  larger 
use  of  the  lying-down  positions,  but  it  seems  clear  that  the 
prone  i)osition  will  still  be  by  far  the  most  favoured. 


9 

H 

H 

if 


s 


o 


-1 
n 


fv- 


f.-i  > 


413 


CHAPTER  VII 

SIGHTING — MILITARY  SIGHTS — LATERAL  ADJUSTMENT  FOR  WIND —THE 
NOTCH  AND  THE  BAB  — FORE  SIGHTS — THE  BEAD  SIGHT — PROTECTION 
BT  A  HOOD — SPORTING  BACK  SIGHTS  AND  FORE  SIGHTS — THE  LEWES 
SIGHT — ORTHOPTIC  SIGHTS — MATCH  RIFLE  SIGHTS — WARPING  AND 
LOOSENING   OF  THE   STOCK 

In  the  means  employed  to  direct  the  barrel  so  that  the 
bullet  will  strike  the  mark,  that  is,  in  the  sighting,  there  is 
room  for  endless  variation  of  detail.  The  i5rinciple,  of 
course,  is  clear  enough :  it  is  to  provide  two  points,  one  near 
each  end  of  the  barrel,  which,  when  the  rifle  is  raised  to  the 
shoulder,  come  conveniently  into  coincidence  for  the  eye,  and 
can  be  directed  upon  the  object.  These  points  must  be  such 
as  experiment  has  proved  to  represent  the  direct  vertical  line 
in  which  the  bullet  is  projected.  Some  form  of  adjustment, 
however,  is  necessary  if  the  sights  are  to  be  used  at  more 
than  one  distance,  as  compensation  has  to  be  given  in  the 
aim  for  the  fell  of  the  bullet.  Thus  in  the  military  rifle  it  is 
necessary  to  give  such  adjustment  of  the  back  sight  as  will 
enable  aim  to  be  taken  at  the  mark,  and  a  sufficient  angle  of 
elevation  given  to  the  barrel  to  compensate  for  the  drop  of  the 
bullet  in  a  flight  of  any  distance  up  to  2,500  yards  more  or  less. 
In  sporting  rifles  it  is  not  necessary  to  have  elaborate 
adjustment.  With  a  good  Express  rifle,  as  used  for  deer 
stalking,  sufficient  accuracy  can  be  obtained  by  having  the 
sight  set  so  as  to  shoot  one  or  two  inches  high  at  lOO  yards ; 
aim  can  then  be  taken  a  little  low  at  shorter  distances  than 
this,  and  rather  higher  for  longer  distances  up  to  about 
150  yards.  Still,  this  method  of  making  allowance  demands 
great  coolness,  and  it  seems  to  be  an  excellent  general 
principle  that  the  adjustment  for  elevation  should,  whenever 
possible,  be  made  upon  the  back  sight,  and  the  eye  accustomed 
to  take  always  a  similar  aim  at  the  mark.     Habit  has,  of 


214  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

'  course,  a  great  deal  to  say  to  the  precise  form  of  the  sight 
with  which  good  work  can  be  done. 

In  the  days  of  the  musket  it  was  very  correctly  thought 
that  any  attempt  to  give  accurate  sighting  was  a  mere  waste 
of  labour.  The  tapering  form  of  the  barrel  naturally  suggested 
what  is  the  commonest  and  most  rudimentary  form  of  sighting, 
that  of  having  some  small  knob  or  projection  near  the  muzzle 
which  is  brought  upon  the  mark,  being  directed  by  the  eye 
looking  either  down  the  general  line  of  the  barrel,  as  in  the 
shot  gun,  or  over  a  little  flat  bar,  fixed  near  the  breech  end 
of  the  barrel,  and  usually  having  a  notch  filed  in  the  centre 
of  it.  This  will  give  for  a  single  distance  the  two  necessary 
factors  of  correct  direction  and  elevation. 

The  English  pattern  of  military  back  sight  is  shown  in 
Plate  XXXVII,  fig.  2.  It  has  a  hinged  leaf,  which  lies  flat 
upon  the  bed  fixed  to  the  barrel,  but  can  be  raised  when  it  is 
desired  to  give  elevation  beyond  a  certain  distance.  It  is  in 
the  form  of  two  uprights,  having  a  space  between  them,  but 
joined  at  the  bottom  and  at  the  top;  on  these  uprights 
slides  a  cross-bar  with  a  notch  cut  in  the  centre  of  it,  and 
fitting  them  tightly  enough  to  remain  in  place  when  adjusted 
to  any  of  the  elevations  which  are  marked  in  hundreds  of 
yards  upon  the  uprights.  When  the  flap 
is  down  a  notch  upon  the  fore  part  of  it 
forms  the  sight  for  nearer  distances ;  a 
certain  degree  of  elevation  can  be  given, 
without  placing  the  flap  upright,  by 
moving  the  slide  forward,  when  it  rises  upon  an  inclined 
plane  and  elevates  the  fore  part  of  the  flap  sufficiently  to 
give  the  sighting  for  the  first  400  or  500  yards.  All  rifles  are 
not  correctly  sighted  for  500  yards  with  the  flap  down,  and 
a  specially  narrow  bar  called  the  *  match  slide '  (fig.  63)  is 
allowed  to  be  used  for  target  competitions,  which  gives  eleva- 
tion for  500  yards  with  the  flap  up. 

The  form  of  back  sight  most  favoured  on  the  Continent, 
and  one  for  which  there  is  a  great  deal  to  be  said,  is  hinged 
at  the  end  furthest  from  the  eye,  and  has  a  spring  catch 
which  can  be  adjusted  into  any  one  of  a  series  of  notches 
which  give  elevation  for  the  different  distances.     Such  an 


•"^-^        .^^^I^B 

W'  >  M  . 

M 


O 


THE    BACK    SIGHT  217 

arrangement  has  one  disadvantage,  that  very  small  changes 
of  elevation,  such  as  are  made  use  of  in  target  shooting, 
cannot  be  given  ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  undoubtedly  simpler 
for  the  soldier  to  use.  The  slide  as  we  use  it  is  very  apt  to 
be  either  too  tight  to  be  easily '  adjusted  by  the  finger  and 
thumb,  or  to  become  so  loose  as  to  shift  with  the  jar  of 
firing.  On  the  whole,  it  would  seem  as  if  some  modification 
of  the  Continental  pattern  of  back  sight  may  prove  to  be 
the  most  suitable  thing  for  the  soldier.  In  one  variety,  that 
recently  adopted  in  Germany,  elevation  is  given  by  moving 
a  sliding  piece  upon  a  curved  bed  so  shaped  that,  although 
actually  the  alteration  in  elevation  for  each  100  metres 
increases  rapidly  as  the  range  lengthens,  yet  the  spaces 
through  which  the  slide  has  to  be  moved  from  one  100  metres 
to  anothiBr  on  the  back  sight  remain  very  closely  equal.  The 
principle  of  this  sight  is  certainly  excellent. 

It  is  not  only  adjustment  for  elevation  that  is  needed  to 
obtain  the  best  results.  There  are  times  when  aim  has  to  be 
taken  at  a  considerable  distance  to  one  side  or  the  other  of 
the  mark,  in  order  to  allow  for  the  effect  of  the  wind  upon  the 
bullet ;  it  would,  perhaps,  be  more  correct  to  put  the  fact  in 
this  way,  that  there  are  occasionally  times  when  a  correct  aim 
can  be  taken  at  the  bull's-eye,  and  that  these  times  are  very 
rare. 

At  distances  such  as  are  in  use  with  sporting  rifles,  there 
is  no  great  necessity  to  have  lateral  adjustment,  but  for  longer 
ranges  and  fine  shooting,  especially  when  the  rifle  is  in  skilled 
hands,  it  is  undoubtedly  desirable.  Still,  no  European  nation 
hitherto  has  really  adopted  the  sliding  wind-gauge  as  a 
feature  of  its  military  arm.  There  is  certainly  some  difficulty 
in  arranging  the  application  of  a  transverse  slide  so  that  it 
shall  not  be  so  small  and  so  stiff  as  to  be  difficult  of  adjust- 
ment by  the  fingers  when  they  are  cold  or  hurried,  and  yet 
that  it  shall  not  make  a  clumsy  projection  such  as  will  court 
damage.  If,  however,  we  are  to  accept  it  as  a  principle  that 
the  weapon  put  into  the  soldier's  hands  is  to  be  one  capable 
of  giving  the  best  possible  results  when  handled  by  those 
really  skilled  in  its  use,  even  if  these  are  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  whole,  it  is  clear  that  a  back  sight  with  lateral 


218  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    EIFLE 

adjustment  must  be  accepted  as  giving  a  very  definite  ad- 
vantage at  the  longer  distances. 

In  shooting  at  a  mark,  especially  at  a  clearly  defined 
bull's-eye  such  as  the  ordinary  target  affords  at  a  short 
distance,  the  effect  of  the  weather  will  rarely  be  such  as 
to  make  it  necessary  to  aim  altogether  away  from  it,  but 
the  allowance  which  has  to  be  made  at  the  longer  ranges 
is  at  times  very  considerable.  The  writer  has  in  his  mind  a 
time  some  years  ago  when  strong  westerly  winds  prevailed 
during  the  Bisley  meeting,  and  for  a  week  together  the 
allowance  which  had  to  be  made  at  900  yards  was  more  than 
20  feet.  Even  with  the  large  targets  used  at  this  range, 
the  distance  from  the  centre  of  the  bull's-eye  to  the  edge  of 
the  target  is  but  6  feet,  and  to  aim  in  such  circumstances 
14  feet  or  more  away  from  the  edge  of  the  target  can  only 
make  very  fluky  work.  There  is  nothing  to  guide  the  eye  as 
to  the  exact  amount  of  allowance  to  be  given,  because  the 
target  passes  almost  out  of  the  field  of  view  given  by  the 
notch  in  the  back  sight,  or,  at  all  events,  even  if  it  be  still 
partly  in  view,  it  is  not  near  enough  to  the  point  of  aim  to  be 
any  guide  as  to  the  precise  direction  for  the  shot.  Further, 
one  of  the  most  difficult  matters  in  making  good  shooting  is  to 
take  an  exactly  similar  aim  each  time  in  respect  of  elevation, 
and  not  to  see  more  of  the  fore  sight  above  the  back  sight  at 
one  time  than  at  another.  This  becomes  extremely  difficult 
when  the  sights  are  aligned  at  some  distance  to  one  side  of 
the  mark.  It  is  very  easy  to  shoot  too  high  or  too  low  in 
aiming  at  a  grass  bank,  or,  perhaps,  at  a  general  view  of  the 
country ;  yet  the  elevation  must  be  maintained  if  the  shot  is 
to  be  effective.  These  difficulties  are  obviated  if  it  is  possible 
to  make  an  adjustment  of  the  back  sight  to  one  side,  and  still 
to  aim  through  the  notch,  or  over  the  mark  in  the  centre  of  it, 
directly  at  the  object  to  be  struck.  On  the  occasion  just 
referred  to  at  Bisley,  where  the  intervals  between  the  targets 
are  not  very  great,  it  is  reported  that  some  very  good  scores 
were  made  by  careful  men  who  found  that  they  could  give  the 
right  allowance  by  aiming  at  the  bull's-eye  of  the  next  target. 

Various  methods  of  lateral  adjustment  of  the  back  sight 
have  long  been  used  experimentally.     The  Americans,  in  the 


ADJUSTMENT    FOR    WIND  219 

matches  which  they  fired  with  military  breech-loading  rifles 
against  British  teams  in  1882  and  1883,  used  a  sliding  wind- 
gauge  upon  the  back  sight  similar  to  that  allowed  by  the 
regulations  of  the  National  Rifle  Association.  They  pressed 
hard,  but  in  vain,  for  leave  to  use  a  wind-gauge  with  a 
screw  adjustment,  an  arrangement  which  has  never  been 
accepted  as  practical  in  this  country.  For  many  years  in  the 
military  breech-loading  class  at  Wimbledon,  in  which  the 
Metford  rifle  held  its  own  so  extraordinarily,  the  sliding  wind- 
gauge  was  used  with  admirable  results. 

One  disadvantage  of  the  notch  in  the  back  sight,  through 
which  the  fore  sight  is  seen,  is  that  it  obscures  something  of 
the  surroundings  of  the  mark.  This  may  be  largely  avoided 
by  aiming  over  the  straight  bar,  the  centre  of  which  is  marked 
by  a  conspicuous  vertical  line,  such  as  can  be  made  by  in- 
laying a  little  strip  of  platinum.  If  this  be  done,  a  certain 
degree  of  allowance  can  be  made  by  aiming  over  the  bar, 
with  the  fore  sight  not  directly  over  the  line,  but  a  little  to 
the  right  or  to  the  left.  This  is  the  most  favoured  method 
of  sighting  with  the  military  rifle  in  target  competitions,  and 
is  used  even  at  200  yards,  the  sight  being  set  at  an  angle  so 
that  aim  can  be  taken  over  the  bar,  and  readjusted  for  each 
shot — a  very  artificial  method.  The  rules  of  the  National 
Bifle  Association  allow  black  or  white  lines  to  be  painted  tem- 
j)orarily  upon  the  bar.  The  average  allowance  necessary  can 
thus  be  made  by  painting  a  white  line  as  far  from  the  centre 
as  is  necessary  before  beginning  to  fire.  The  minor  adjust- 
ments are  then  made  by  aiming  a  little  to  the  right  or  left  of 
this  line  as  the  wind  varies  from  shot  to  shot  This  is  the 
most  effective  method,  but  it  is  not  at  all  suited  to  the  condi- 
tions of  work  in  the  field.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  in  target  competitions  it  is  necessary  so  far  as 
possible  to  place  all  competitors  upon  an  equality  in  regard  to 
the  conditions  under  which  they  shoot,  and  that  many  rifles 
have  peculiarities  in  the  way  of  sighting  which  would  create 
unfairness.  If  it  were  not  permitted  to  aim  to  one  side  or 
the  other  in  this  way,  inequalities  would  arise.  In  some 
cases  a  man  whose  rifle  was  sighted  correctly  would  have 
no  advantage  over  those  whose  rifles  shot  to  the  right  or 


220  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

the  left.  If  the  wind  were  from  the  right,  the  man  whose 
rifle  shot  normally  to  the  right  of  the  point  he  desired  to 
hit  would  have  some  degree  of  advantage,  perhaps  a  great 
deal,  and  the  reverse  would  be  the  case  with  the  man  whose 
rifle  had  a  bias  to  the  left.  It  would  even  be  possible  for  a 
man  who  could  afford  to  keep  several  rifles  to  improve  his 
chances  by  taking  out  on  a  day  when  the  wind  was  strong 
from  the  right,  a  rifle  which  shot  wide  away  from  the  mark 
in  that  direction,  and  with  a  left  wind  to  use  a  rifle  of  the 
opposite  tendency,  and  thus  the  average  man,  finding  him- 
self at  a  great  disadvantage,  might  throw  up  the  sponge  in 
disgust.  It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  there  is  considerable 
excuse  for  allowing  some  form  of  adjustment.  If  a  sliding 
bar  were  to  be  adopted  for  the  military  rifle,  those  incapable 
of  using  it  to  full  advantage  would  shoot  no  worse  than  they 
do  now,  while  the  skilled  shot  would  undoubtedly  benefit. 

The  form  of  the  fore  sight  of  the  British  military  rifle 
(Plate  XXXVII,  fig.  1)  is  one  which  seems  to  have  been 
designed  for  strength  rather  than  with  special  reference  to 
its  utility  as  a  means  of  taking  aim.  The  principal  thing 
necessary  in  a  fore  sight  which  has  to  be  used  with  or  without 
a  notch  in  the  back  sight  is  that  it  should  be  shaped  so  as  to 
allow  the  eye  to  see  promptly  and  definitely  how  much  of 
the  fore  sight  it  is  taking  into  view.  If  the  tip  of  the  fore 
sight  seen  over  the  back  sight  is  conical  (fig.  64),  as  it  has 

hitherto  been  in  British  military 
A      -  arms,   then   the   shape   of    the 

^Hi  HliMMHB  P^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^'^  ^^  exactly 
^Hi       HI^HBHIIIH    similar,  whether  only   the    tip 

^„^  ^.  is  taken  or  considerably  more. 

The  fore  sights  of  foreign  mili- 
tary rifles  are  as  a  rule  not  cone-shaped,  but  have  parallel 
sides  no  great  distance  apart,  with  a  broader  top  than  ours, 
and  consequently  the  amount  of  fore  sight  taken  in  aiming 
can  be  regulated  by  its  apparent  shape.  If  so  much  of  it 
is  habitually  taken  that  the  part  seen  above  the  bar  is 
equal  in  height  to  the  width  of  the  fore  sight,  it  will  at  once 
be  noticed  from  the  alteration  of  the  shape  in  the  part  seen 
whether  more  or  less  than  the  normal  is  brought  into  view. 


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222  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

On  the  same  principle  the  bead  sight  (fig.  65)  is  used  iu 
sporting  rifles,  its  virtue  not  being  in  its  thin  stalk,  but  in  its 
being  so  shaped  that  it  is  at  once  noticeable  if  either  more  or 
less  than  the  whole  bead  is  seen  above  the  back  sight. 
Elevation,  therefore,  can  be  maintained  with  great  exactitude. 
There  is  much  to  be  said  for  having  some  arrangement  of 
the  fore  sight  of  the  military  rifle  which  will  make  the  tip  of 
it  definitely  visible  as  a  thing  the  shape  of  which  will  at 
once  make  any  error  in  the  aim  obvious.  The  best  definition 
of  the  fore  sight  is  obtained  when  the  eye  has  to  be  guided 
not  only  by  shape  but  by  colour.  A  white  tip  to  a  black 
fore  sight,  or  a  white  bead  on  a  black  stem,  is  picked  up 
most  quickly  by  the  eye  in  aiming  under  ordinary  conditions 
in  the  field  ;  this  is  why  of  late  years  a  bead  of  white 
porcelain  has  come  very  much  into  favour  as  a  fore  sight 
for  sporting  rifles.  On  the  other  hand,  for  shooting  at  a 
white  target,  a  white  fore  sight  with  a  black  tip  is  perhaps 
the  most  easily  defined.     In  competitions  at   Bisley   every 

possible  combination  of    black 
and  white,  dots  and  lines,  has 
been  applied  to  the  fore  sight  of 
FIG.  65  the  military  rifle.     There  is  a 

necessity  for  some  colour,  even 
if  it  be  only  black,  because  when  first- issued  the  sight  of  the 
rifle  is  black,  but  a  very  small  amount  of  rubbing  polishes 
its  tip  and  angles,  which  then  reflect  the  light,  and  alter  it« 
appearance  considerably  if  the  sun  comes  put  or  goes  in. 

The  degree  of  importance  attached  by  expert  shots  to  the 
colouring  of  the  sights  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  in 
the  Swiss  army  the  armourer  of  each  battalion  is  supplied 
with  a  preparation  for  the  express  purpose  of  blacken- 
ing the  sights  of  all  the  rifles  in  his  unit  on  mobilisation  to 
take  the  field.  The  Swiss  are  a  practical  people,  and  they 
know  the  importance  for  correct  firing  of  a  sight  which  does 
not  reflect  the  light.  A  black  fore  sight  can  be  used  perfectly 
well  under  ordinary  circumstances  for  sporting  purposes.  It 
is  not,  however,  readily  discernible  at  all  times.  The  object 
at  which  aim  is  taken  is  sometimes  hardly  different  in  colour 
from  the  background  against  which  it  is  seen,  and  may  be 


THE    COLOUR    OF    THE    FORE    SIGHT  223 

such  that  a  dark  fore  sight  cannot  be  outlined  against  it ; 
in  a  fading  light,  or  in  the  shade  of  trees,  it  is  very 
easy  to  miss  a  shot,  either  because  the  proper  amount  of 
fore  sight  is  not  taken,  or  from  the  difficulty  in  directing  the 
tip  of  the  fore  sight  on  to  the  exact  spot  desired.  A  white 
tip  does  much  to  remedy  this,  and  facilitates  a  quick  aim. 
The  writer  recollects,  a  good  many  years  ago,  a  competition 
in  which  he  thought  it  worth  while  to  adopt  a  white  fore 
sight.  It  was  in  the  days  when  the  Volunteer  arm  was  still 
the  Snider  rifle.  The  conditions  were  to  fire  two  shots  at 
200  yards  at  a  black  figure  of  the  shape  of  a  man's  head  and 
shoulders,  then  to  run  a  certain  distance,  returning  to  the 
firing  point  to  fire  two  more  shots,  and  so  on,  for  five 
minutes.  He  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  a  black  fore 
sight  would  be  a  disadvantage,  so  he  covered  the  whole  of 
the  barleycorn,  that  is,  the  cone  above  the  square  block  of  the 
fore  sight,  white,  and  found  that  the  rapidity  and  certainty  of 
his  aim  were  decidedly  increased.  He  won  the  competition, 
and  attributes  a  large  part  of  his  success  to  this  *  dodge.' 

The  fact  that  up  till  now  the  regulation  target  has  been 
painted  white  has  had  a  tendency  to  retard  the  pro^^er  ap- 
preciation of  this  part  of  the  sighting  question,  in  which  the 
requirements  of  a  military  arm  in  the  field  differ  hardly  at 
all  from  those  of  a  sporting  weapon.  Hans  Busk,  writing  in 
1858,  and  speaking  of  the  bead  sight,  admits  its  advantages 
for  target  practice,  but  says  that  it  is  not  w^ell  adapted  for 
general  use,  especially  for  military  purposes.  He  makes  the 
following  remark  :  — *  It  must  of  necessity  be  covered  over  by 
an  arched  shade,  or  the  slightest  touch  would  bend  or  break 
it  off.'  The  idea  of  having  the  sight  permanently  protected 
by  a  hood  affixed  to  the  barrel  is  no  new  one.  Mr.  Charles 
Lancaster  has  a  rifle  of  the  Enfield  pattern  many  years  old, 
which  is  fitted  with  such  a  hood,  and  also  with  a  special 
pattern  of  long-range  sight,  consisting  of  a  graduated  slide 
which  folds  underneath  the  wood  of  the  fore  end  when  not  in 
use,  and  can  be  lowered  so  as  to  hang  from  it  when  it  is 
desired  to  take  aim.  We  should  certainly  like  to  see  the 
British  army  provided  with  a  rifle  of  which  the  fore  sight 
should  be  to  some  extent  bead-shaped,  and  with  a  white  tip. 


224  THE*    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

Of  whatever  shape  the  fore  sight  may  be,  it  is  always  liable 
to  damage  from  ill-usage.  A  fall  upon  stones,  an  inadvertent 
knock,  will  easily  spoil  the  sights  of  a  rifle.  This  is  why 
hitherto  the  fore  sight  has  been  rather  arranged  for  strength 
than  for  convenience.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  protect 
the  sight  to  a  very  large  extent,  and  it  has  long  been  the 
custom  to  give  to  the  carbine,  which  has  a  low  fore  sight, 
strong  projections  on  each  side,  rising  rather  above  it.  These 
wings  bear  the  brunt  of  any  hard  knocks  that  are  going. 
A  Tyrolese  modification  of  the  same  idea  consists  of  two 
curved  wings  rising  on  each  side  of  the  fore  sight  towards 
each  other,  but  not  meeting,  and  so  affording  ample  pro- 
tection. This  the  writer  has  adapted  with  complete  success 
to  a  sporting  rifle  (fig.  66).  It  is  clear  that  a  protection  of 
this  kind,  which  is  always  in  place,  and  yet  does  not  inter- 
fere appreciably  with  the  aim,  is  of  far  more  ad\antage 
than  a  detachable  metal  nose-cap.     This  has  to  be  removed 

before  the  rifle  can  be  fired,  and 
carried  separately ;  it  is  very 
easily  lost,  and  very  likely 
to  be  out  of  the  way  when 
wanted.  There  seems  no  valid 
objection  to  the  use  of  a  com- 
plete hood  over  the  fore  sight, 
if  it  is  large  enough  not  to 
FIG.  66  obstruct   the  aim.     But  one 

important  point  must  not  be 
forgotten.  The  ease  with  which  the  fore  sight  is  seen  depends 
not  only  on  its  colour  and  form,  but  on  its  illumination.  In 
firing  at  an  ill-defined  object  on  an  obscure  background,  if 
the  firer  is  himself  in  deep  shadow,  so  that  the  sights  do  not 
get  the  light  of  the  sky  upon  them,  he  will  hardly  be  able  to 
define  his  fore  sight.  A  similar  effect  would  be  produced  by 
a  hood  overshadowing  the  fore  sight ;  and  it  is  wise  to  cut 
away  the  top  of  the  hood  directly  above  the  tip  of  the  sight, 
in  order  to  allow  the  light  of  the  sky  to  descend  upon  it. 

The  various  fanciful  forms  in  which  back  sights  have 
been  made  for  sporting  and  other  purposes  have  often  de- 
parted from  simplicity  to  no  purpose.     The  American  buck- 


SIGHTS    FOR    SPORTING    RIFLES  225 

horn  sight,  which  has  a  very  deep  notch  and  high  curving 
sides,   although   it   may  to  some  extent  enable  the  eye  to 
centre  the  fore  sight  quickly,  seems  as  if  it  were  specially 
devised  to  obscure  to  the  greatest  possible  extent  the  sur- 
roundings of  the  mark.     Mr.  Van  Dyke  has  nothing  to  say 
in  favour  of  it  for  sporting  purposes,   and   from   his   own 
experience  recommends  a  back  sight  of  the  very  simplest 
form ;  merely  a  fiat   bar   of  some  material  that  will  not 
reflect  the  light,  such  as  vulcanite,  or  hard  leather  soaked  with 
ink.     He  does  not  think  it  any  advantage  to  have  a  notch, 
but  says  that  if  one  is  required  a  very  shallow  one  should  be 
cut  in  the  middle  of  the  bar.     The  writer  has  found  a  very 
wide  and  extremely  shallow  hollowing   of  the  whole  width 
of  the  bar,  with   a  decided  but  very  small  notch  in    the 
middle  over  a  bright  line,  to  make  an  excellent  back  sight 
for    sporting   piurposes.      Many  illustrations  of   sights   for 
Bi>orting  rifles  are  given  in  Mr.  Gould's  excellent  book  on 
'Modem  American  Rifles,'  published   in   1892.      He  illus- 
trates various   forms  of  fore  sights ;  among  others,  sights 
with    ivory    tips,    bead    sights    (called    by    our    American 
cousins  pin-head   sights),   and   different  varieties  of  knife- 
blade  and  other  fore  sights.     The  ivory  fore  sight,  which 
he  recommends,  and  which  has  many  excellent  points,  has  in 
this  country  been  superseded,  for  sporting  rifles,  by  the  bead 
sight,  with  white  porcelain  disc.     The  writer  has  found  that  an 
excellent  makeshift  sight  can  be  obtained  by  filing  the  end  of 
the  metal  bead  fiat,  and  at  an  angle  of  45  degrees  from  the 
perpendicular,  so  that  it  reflects  towards  the  eye  the  light 
from  the  sky  above.    A  good  back  sight  is  a  plain  bar  with  a 
triangular  ivory  piece  let  into  the  face  of  it,  the  point  of  the 
triangle  almost  touching  the  edge  of  the  bar  and  marking  the 
centre.     Every  shape,  size,  and  variety  of  notch  has  been  at 
some  time  or  another  tried.     A  semi-circular  notch,  into  the 
middle  of  which  a  bead  is,  as  it  were,  fitted  in  aiming,  gives 
not  at  all  a  bad  combination.     A  form  of  fore  sight,  which 
can  conveniently  be  used  with  a  square  notch  in  the  back  sight, 
is  a  plain  square  block,  with  a  white  line  down  the  centre  of  it, 
or  a  fine  saw-cut,  which  serves  the  same  purpose,  as  it  admits  a 
line  of  light.     The  writer  has  a  very  high  opinion  of  the  Lewes 

Q 


226 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 


sight  (fig.  67)  on  this  principle,  which  was  fitted  to  the  first 
issue  of  the  Lee-Metford  rifle.  The  square  notch  was  cut  of 
proper  size  to  enable  the  whole  block  of  the  fore  sight  to  be 
seen  through  it,  with  a  small  space  beyond  it  on  each  side. 
The  top  of  the  block  was  levelled  with  the  flat  part  of  the 

back  sight,  and  the  point  aimed 

■    ■H^HMH|HH|    at  was  seen  just  above  the  centre 
iUHlli^^H    line  of  the  fore  sight.     One  of 
Fio.  er  the  chief  faults  of  hurried  shooting 

with  the  ordinary  sights  is  a  ten- 
dency to  shoot  high  by  taking  too  much  fore  sight.  If  time 
is  not  given  for  the  eye  deliberately  to  define  the  tip  of 
the  ordinary  barley-corn  fore  sight,  a  considerable  part  oi 
it  has  to  be  brought  into  view  in  order  to  be  certain  that 
it  is  seen  at  all.  With  the  Lewes  sight  no  such  difficulty 
arises.  The  whole  fore  sight  is  seen  in  the  notch  of  the 
back  sight,  and  there  is  no  tendency  to  see  more  of  it  than 
will  bring  its  top  level  with  the  shoulders  of  the  notch.  The 
writer  thinks  it  to  be,  for  efficiency,  de- 
cidedly ahead  of  the  ordinary  sights,  but 
he  believes  that  a  white  bead  sight,  made 
of  good  strength,  and  protected  by  a  fixed 
hood  so  shaped  as  not  to  cut  off  the  light 
from  it,  is  a  better  sight  for  the  military 
rifle  than  any  yet  adopted  in  this  country. 
The  most  usual  arrangement  of  the 'back 
sight  in  sporting  rifles  is  to  have  a  standing 
sight,  with  a  Y-shaped  notch  in  it,  for  the 
shortest  distance  for  which  the  rifle  is 
sighted,  and  to  have  a  series  of  hinged 
leaves  fixed  in  front  of  it,  any  one  of  which 
may  be  raised  when  it  is  necessary  to  fire 
at  a  longer  distance,  as  shown  in  fig.  68« 

Many  are  the  devices  which  have  been 
recommended  for  aiming  in  the  dark.     The 
writer    once  saw  a   company  of    officers 
under  instruction  at  Hy the  fire  volleys  in  the  dark  with  a  sur- 
prising want  of  effect.    Tape  smeared  with  luminous  paint  was 
wrapped  round  the  fore  sights  and  back  sights  of  the  rifles, 


OPTICAL    CONDITIONS    OF    AIMING  227 

but  it  did  not  glow  enough  to  be  of  any  use  until  the  rlflea  were 
well  warmed  with  the  firing,  and  this  was  not  until  the  practice 
was  almost  finished.  Small  electric  glow  lamps  have  been 
suggested  to  take  the  place  of  the  sights  or  to  illuminate 
them  ;  and  sights  pointed  with  diamonds  have  been  recom- 
mended for  sporting  purposes.  The  difficulty  of  the  problem 
lies  very  deep.  If  there  be  no  light  the  sights  cannot  be 
seen  at  all  unless  they  are  illuminated  artificially.  But  if 
this  is  done,  then  their  very  brightness  prevents  the  eyes 
from  seeing  anything  of  the  object  at  which  they  are  directed. 
And  here  we  must  leave  the  matter :  shooting  in  the  dark 
can  be  little  else  but  guesswork  and  fluke. 

The  chief  difficulty  of  the  eye  in  aiming  is  that  it  has  to 
bring  into  line,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  to  focus  at  the  same 
time  three  points  at  different  distances  apart,  the  object 
aimed  at,  the  fore  sight,  and  the  back  sight.  There  is  a 
natural  tendency,  which  is  not  wholly  without  reason,  to 
think  that  the  further  apart  the  fore  sight  and  the  back  sight 
are  the  more  correct  is  the  aim  which  can  be  taken.  But 
if  the  back  sight,  as  ordinarily  used,  be  placed  too  near 
the  eye  it  becomes  so.  badly  defined,  and  so  much  blurred 
when  the  eye  is  fixed  upon  the  mark,  as  to  make  accuracy  of 
alignment  difficult.  This  is  why,  in  the  Martini-Henry  and 
in  the  '808  rifle,  the  back  sight  has  been  put  further  forward 
than  in  the  Snider,  even  though  the  barrel  was  shortened,  and 
the  fore  sight  brought  nearer  to  the  eye.  Certainly  the 
shooting  which  is  made  nowadays  with  our  military  arms 
shows  that  the  sights  are  not  so  near  each  other  as  to  spoil 
the  results. 

What  means  are  there  of  obviating  this  want  of  definition 
of  the  back  sight  ?  Where  the  eyes  are  really  beginning  to 
sufCer  frohi  the  long-sightedness  that  comes  with  middle  life, 
glasses  are  of  much  advantage,  even  if  it  is  necessary,  to  a 
certain  extent,  to  sacrifice  perfection  of  ^definition  of  the 
target  in  order  to  bring  the  sights  better  into  view ;  but  there 
is  one  method  which  benefits  all  eyes,  whether  good  or  bad. 
If  aim  be  taken  through  a  small  hole,  which  cuts  off  the  rays 
that  would  otherwise  pass  through  the  outer  part  of  the  lens 
of  the  eye,  points   at  different  distances  are  defined  with 

u2 


228 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


wonderful  clearness.  The  principle  was  known  long  ago. 
Cross-bows  of  the  sixteenth  century  are  found  fitted  with  a 
back  sight,  consisting  of  a  blade  with  several  holes  in  it  at 
different  heights,  to  give  elevation  at  the  different  distances. 
It  is  probable  that  it  was  some  real  or  fancied  advantage 
of  the  kind  which  led  to  some  of  the  earliest  Continental 
rifles  being  fitted  with  a  kind  of  small  tunnel,  two  or 
three  inches  long,  towards  the  breech  end  of  the  barrel, 
through  which  the  fore  sight  was  aligned  upon  the  object. 
For  target  shooting  the  exactness  of  an  aim  taken  through  a 
small  hole  near  to  the  eye  has  constantly  been  recognised. 


FIG,  69 


We  reproduce  illustrations  showing  devices  of  the  kind 
formerly  in  use,  one  from  Colonel  Beaufoy's  book,  now  nearly 
a  hundred  years  old,  and  one  from  a  pamphlet  upon  '  Rifling 
and  Rifle  Sights,'  edited  by  Lord  Bury  for  the  National  Rifle 
Association  in  1864  (figs.  69  and  70).  The  former  represents 
a  series  of  adjustable  apertures  for  use  at  different  distances  ; 
the  latter,  the  back  sight  of  an  ancient  rifle  in  the  armoury 
of  Warwick  Castle. 

Some  of  the  various  forms  of  sights  which  have  at 
different  times  been  tried  must  have  been  eminently  dan- 
gerous in  use.  It  is  bad  enough  to  have  the  vision  of  the 
aiming  eye  lunited   by  looking  through  a  very  small  hole 


APEKTURE    SIGHTS  229 

placed  close  to  it.  But  when  the  fore  sight  is  also  an  aperture, 
in  the  middle  of  a  metal  disc,  it  is  evident  that  the  surround- 
ings of  the  target  must  be  so  much  obscured  that  there  can 
be  no  certainty  of  seeing  a  danger  signal,  and  very  little 
that  aim  is  taken  at  the  right  object.  No  wonder  that  such 
obstructive  fore  sights  were  condemned  by  the  National  Rifle 
Association  as  dangerous  many  years  ago.  The  aperture 
back  sight  used  in  the  Match  rifle  is  of  the  kind  illustrated  in 
Plate  XXXYIII,  fig.  1,  and  has  delicate  vertical  adjustments, 
the  scale  of  elevation  being  graduated  in  degrees  and  minutes 
of  a  circle,  of  which  the  fore  sight  is  the  centre,  and  the 
distance  between  it  and  the  back  sight  the  radius.  The 
method  of  measuring  the  elevation  given  by  its  angular  value 
instead  of  by  an  arbitrary  scale  of  inches  and  fractions,  enables 
the  same  standard  of  sighting  to  be  applied  to  various  rifles  of 
which  the  sights  are  at  different  distances  apart,  and  gives  a 
proper  comparison  between  different  loads  used  in  the  same 
rifle.  , 

The  back  sight  of  the  Match  rifle  is  not  usually  fitted  with 
any  lateral  adjustment  to  allow  for  wind,  although  a  form  of 
sight  is  made  by  Mr.  Eraser,  of  Edinburgh,  which  can  be 
moved  transversely  for  this  purpose.  In  the  early  years  of 
the  Wimbledon  meetings  many  attempts  were  made  to  give 
such  an  adjustment  to  the  back  sight,  but  it  was  found 
simpler  and  more  satisfactory  to  arrange  the  fore  sight  so  as 
to  slide  laterally  in  a  dovetail  upon  the  tm-ning  of  a  screw. 
This  is  the  principle  generally  adopted  at  the  present  time, 
the  measurement  of  the  wind-allowance  being,  like  that  of  the 
elevation,  made  in  minutes  of  angle.  Plate  XXXYIII,  fig.  2, 
shows  the  complete  fore  sight  ready  to  attach  to  the  barrel  of 
the  *808.  The  actual  sight  which  is  aligned  upon  the  bulFs- 
eye  is  usually  in  the  Match  rifle  arranged  in  a  little  disc 
fitted  in  the  body  of  the  fore  sight :  the  precise  form  of  it 
varies  according  to  taste,  A  very  favourite  shape,  and  one 
excellent  for  use  at  the  target  in  a  good  light,  consists  of  a 
little  ring  set  upon  an  upright  stem  (Plate  XXXVIII, 
figs.  8  and  4).  The  ring  may  be  larger  or  smaller  according 
Ax}  the  taste  of  the  user,  but  it  must  be  so  large,  at  all  events, 
as  to  enable  the  bull's-eye  to  be  seen  through  the  middle 


230  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

of  it,  with  a  small  circle  of  white  surrounding  it.  Another 
sight,  which  is  not  so  popular  now  as  it  was  twenty  years 
ago,  is  the  calliper  (Plate  XXXYIII,  fig.  5),  two  arms 
projecting  horizontally  towards  each  other,  with  an  interval 
left  between  them  in  which  the  bull's-eye  is  placed.  Another 
form  of  fore  sight,  which  has  not  infrequently  proved  itself 
useful  in  a  dull  light,  is  some  variety  of  what  is  known  as  the 
Goodwin  bar  (Plate  XXXVIII,  fig.  6),  a  straight  horizontal 
bar  with  a  vertical  line  in  the  centre,  not  unlike  to  the  Lewes 
fore  sight  already  described.  This  split  bar  (for  the  line 
generally  consists  of  a  cut  down  the 
middle  of  it)  is  used  by  placing  it  just 
under  the  bull's-eye,  which  can  be  done 
in  fog,  or  even  on  a  dark  day  when  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  see  the  bull's-eye  at 
^^^'  ^^  all.     Major  Young  preferred   to   use   it 

with  a  small  semi-circular  notch,  into  which  the  bull's-eye 
fitted  (Plate  XXXVIII,  fig.  7).  The  Goodwin  bar  proper,  now 
very  rarely  used,  is  shown  in  fig.  71  in  the  text. 

We  now  come  to  the  form  of  Mateh  rifle  sight  which 
the  writer  has  found  the  most  satisfactory,  and  has  used 
under  all  circumstances  of  rain  or  shine,  not  without  some 
measure  of  success,  for  more  than  fifteen  years.  This  is  no 
other  than  the  bead  or  pin-head  sight,  of  small  size  and 
delicate  shape  (Plate  XXXVIII,  fig.  2).  It  is  a  sight  almost 
more  pleasant  to  use  in  a  dull  or  bad  light  than  in  a  very 
bright  one,  but  yet  in  a  good  light  no  other  sight  will  give 
better  results.  It  requires,  as  does  the  ring  sight,  to  be  to 
some  extent  proportionate  to  the  apparent  size  of  the  bull's- 
eye  for  the  distance  at  which  it  is  used.  Major  Godsal,  who 
was  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  British  shots  in  the 
eighties,  invariably  used  this  sight.  One  clear  advantage  it 
has,  that  whereas  the  man  who  uses  the  ring  sight  will 
almost  certainly  have  to  change  to  another  if  in  the  course  of 
his  shooting  the  light  becomes  bad,  he  who  is  accustomed  to 
the  bead  sight,  and  uses  no  other,  does  not  require  to  disturb 
his  habit  of  aiming  by  any  alteration.  There  is  certainly  a 
great  deal  in  accustoming  the  eye  always  to  take  exactly 
similar  aim,   because  it  thus   becomes   a  matter   of   almost 


PLATE   XXXVIII 


Fie.  a 


FIG.  4 


FIO.  0 


FIG.  1 


FIG.  r 


232  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    EIFLE 

mechanical  habit,  and  makes  the  smallest  demands  upon  the 
attention  and  the  vision. 

With  the  Match  rifle,  the  bead  sight  is  commonly  placed 
upon  the  bull's-eye  so  as  to  cover  it  up,  and  when  used  in  this 
way  it  should  be  of  such  a  size  as  will  just  blot  out  the  image 
of  the  bull's-eye.  It  could,  in  fact,  be  centred  in  the  middle  of 
a  blank  target  with  almost  equal  accuracy.  Under  certain 
conditions  of  light,  as  when  the  sun  is  behind  the  target,  it  is 
not  always  easy  to  define  the  outline  of  the  target,  and  the 
bull's-eye  alone  remains  visible.  These  conditions  are  very 
uncommon,  and  when  they  occur,  good  results  may  still  be 
obtained  if  the  bead,  instead  of  being  placed  so  as  to  hide  the 
bull's-eye,  is  put  alongside  of  it,  so  as  to  make  a  kind  of  *  figure 
of  eight,'  allowance  being  made  for  the  distance  between  the 
centre  of  the  bead  and  the  centre  of  the  target.  Major 
Gibbs  constantly  uses  the  sight  in  this  fashion.  It  was 
formerly  common  when  the  bead  was  used  with  the  Match 
rifle  to  have  it  on  an  upright  stem,  but  many  now  prefer  to 
use  it  with  the  stem  horizontal.  The  difference  does  not 
really  amount  to  much,  but,  as  the  long-range  target  is  twice 
as  wide  as  it  is  deep,  accidental  inaccuracy  that  might  give 
a  miss  vertically  would  probably  not  do  so  horizontally.  By 
using  a  horizontal  stem  the  outline  of  the  target  at  top  and 
bottom  is  not  broken. 

In  all  cases  where  adjustable  sights  are  fitted,  it  is  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  see  that  the  slides  or  screws  do  not 
become  loose,  worn,  or  bent,  as  they  are  very  apt  to  do.  It 
is  extraordinary  how  great  a  power  the  jar  of  the  recoil  has  in 
loosening  screws.  The  fastenings  of  the  sights,  of  the  stock, 
and  of  the  barrel  must  occasionally  be  looked  to  ;  all  moving 
parts  must  be  kept  oiled  and  free  from  dirt,  and  the  greatest 
care  exercised  to  prevent  damage  to  them  from  blows,  falls, 
or  other  accidents. 

Timber,  however  old  and  seasoned,  is  always  liable  to 
warp,  and  the  stocks  of  rifles  form  no  exception  to  this  rule. 
Where,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Match  rifle  arranged  for  use  in 
the  back  position,  the  back  sight  is  fitted  near  the  heel  of  the 
stock,  and  quite  independently  of  the  metal  of  the  barrel  and 
action,  it  is  very  necessary  occasionally  to  check  the  correct- 


BENDING    OF.  STOCK    AND    BARREL  233 

ness  of  the  sighting.  After  the  rifle  has  been  put  away,  or 
exposed  to  the  weather,  it  has  often  happened  that  the  first 
shot  has  been  thrown  away  owing  to  sufficient  warping  of  the 
stock  having  taken  place  since  the  rifle  was  last  used  to  make 
it  miss  the  target  at  long  range.  Sir  Henry  Halford  truly 
says : — '  As  the  sights  of  a  Match  rifle  are  placed  on  the  butt, 
the  zeros  should  be  verified  occasionally,  especially  if  the 
rifle  has  been  exposed  to  wet  or  sun.  A  rifle  stock  should  be, 
as  far  as  possible,  kept  out  of  both,  and  never  allowed  to  be 
on  the  ground  exposed  to  sun  or  damp.  It  runs  great  risk  of 
getting  warped.  A  rifle,  if  put  down  when  there  is  a  hot 
sun,  should  be  covered  or  put  in  the  shade  of  a  table  or  chair. 
Many  a  match  has  been  lost  by  carelessness  in  this  matter.' 
Nor  is  the  effect  on  the  sighting  of  the  warping  of  the  stock 
confined  to  the  Match  rifle.  Where,  as  hitherto  in  the  Service 
rifles  of  this  country,  the  barrel  is  for  almost  its  whole  length 
laid  in  a  long  trough  of  exactly  its  own  size  and  shape  in  the 
fore  end,  and  held  tightly  to  it  by  metal  bands,  any  warping 
of  the  fore  end,  such  as  is  in  some  degree  almost  inevitable 
at  times,  cannot  fail  to  disturb  the  sighting  of  the  rifle,  and 
may  materially  injure  the  accuracy  of  the  shooting. 

There  are  many  people  who  do  not  understand  what  a 
very  flexible  thing  a  rifle  barrel  is.  After  it  has  been  first 
bored,  and  before  it  is  rifled,  its  straightness  is  tested  by 
inspection ;  it  is  pointed  towards  the  top  of  a  high  window, 
when  the  outline  shadow  thrown  by  the  light  at  once  enables 
the  practised  eye  to  detect  any  unevenness  of  surface.  A 
barrel  which  is  not  perfectly  straight  has  its  irregularities 
removed  by  a  skilled  workman  with  a  few  taps  of  the  hammer 
applied  at  exactly  the  right  spots.  The  heat  of  a  lighted 
candle  placed  three  or  four  inches  below  the  barrel  will  at 
once  produce  an  irregularity  in  the  shape  of  the  bore  which 
is  quite  noticeable,  and  a  little  pressiure  with  the  fingers  will 
also  bend  the  barrel;  appreciably.  It  is  not  surprising,  then, 
that  a  warped  fore  end  may  entirely  upset  the  shooting  of  a 
very  good  rifle,  and  this  is  one  of  the  points  to  which  the 
attention  of  rifle-makers  may  well  be  directed.  In  one,  at 
least,  of  the  Continental  rifles,  the  Swiss  infantry  arm,  the 
stock  is  so  arranged  that  the  woodwork  is  in  contact  with  the 


234  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

barrel  only  at  the  breech  end,  but  leaves  a  space  round  it  all 
the  way  to  the  point  near  the  muzzle,  where  the  nose  cap  is 
attached.  Here  the  barrel  has  a  collar  of  soft  metal  round 
it,  which  fits  quite  loosely  into  the  hole  in  the  middle  of  the 
nose  cap.  It  is  clear  that  however  the  woodwork  may  warp, 
it  can  hardly  disturb  the  freedom  of  the  barrel.  The  adop- 
tion of  some  similar  arrangement  in  the  British  rifle  will  be 
a  decided  step  towards  improvement.  It  was  formerly  the 
fashion  to  regard  the  barrel  of  the  rifle  mainly  as  a  strong 
stem  on  which  the  bayonet  was  to  be  fixed,  but  there  is  no 
reason  why  with  modem  rifles  the  bayonet  should  not  be 
attached  to  the  nose  cap,  and  depend  hardly  at  all  on  the 
barrel  for  its  support.  Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that 
barrels  from  which  any  degree  of  accuracy  is  required  most 
be  watched  to  see  that  they  do  not  become  wood-bound,  and 
that  the  more  care  is  taken  to  keep  the  wood  from  abBorbing 
moisture,  the  less  likely  is  it  that  trouble  will  arise  from  this 
cause. 

With  the  -808  rifle,  the  stock  of  ^which  is  in  two  pieces, 
being  divided  by  the  metal  work  of  the  action,  one  special 
caution  is  necessary.  The  butt  is  attached  to  the  action  by  a 
strong  screw  reached  by  opening  the  trap  door  which  lies  in 
the  heel  plate,  and  removing  the  cleaner  and  the  oil  bottle, 
and  a  leather  washer  which  lies  beyond  them ;  this  exposes 
the  head  of  the  screw,  which  may  be  reached  by  a  long  screw- 
driver, and  will  commonly  be  foimd  to  be  capable  of  being 
tightened  if  it  has  not  been  looked  to  for  some  time.  It  is 
curious  how  often  even  comparatively  few  shots  will  on 
occasion  loosen  this  screw,  and  one  of  the  chief  difficulties  of 
getting  good  work  out  of  the  Lee-Metford  as  a  Match  rifle  lies 
herein.  The  writer  has  often  found  a  stock  appreciably  loosened 
by  twenty  or  thirty  shots.  On  active  service  the  loosening  of 
the  butt  sometimes  gives  trouble.  The  British  rifle  is  the 
only  modem  military  arm  which  has  a  divided  stock,  and 
although  if  one  part  of  it  is  split  the  other  is  not  likely  to  be 
damaged,  this  hardly  seems  sufficient  reason  for  not  follow- 
ing in  this  matter  the  practice  of  other  nations.  The  un- 
divided stock  is  apparently  cheaper  and  lighter,  and  seems 
to  be  strong  enough  to  meet  most  requirements,  though  the 


WARPING    OF    FORE    END  235 

wood  is  so  cut  away  at  the  action  that  it  is  not  very  strong 
for  bayonet  work.  It  is  no  doubt  owing  to  the  clumsiness  of 
the  long  wooden  fore  end  that  the  Boers,  who  have  no  notion 
of  using  the  bayonet,  in  many  cases  cut  off  the  greater  part 
of  it,  leaving  only  so  much  as  was  required  for  the  grasp  of 
the  left  hand.  In  the  old-fashioned  Match  rifle  the  stock  was 
similarly  cut  short,  which  both  avoided  trouble  from  warping, 
and  enabled  a  greater  weight  of  metal  to  be  put  intt)  the  barrel 
without  exceeding  the  limit  of  weight  allowed. 


236 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


CHAPTER  Vin 


THE  LYMAN  SIQHT— ADJUSTMENT  OF  BIGHTS— HOW  TO  BLACKEN  SIGHTS — 
ATTACHMENT  OF  LTMAN  AND  MATCH  SIGHTS — THE  ZERO  OF  THE 
SIGHTING  SCALE — LONG-RANGE  MIUTART  SIGHTS — TELESCOPIC  SIGHTS— 
THEIR  ADVANTAGES — HOW  FAR  SUITED  FOR  MILITARY  PURPOSES — THE 
INFRASCOPE 

The  principle  of  the  aperture  sight  has  in  these  last  years 
been  applied  very  generally  to  sporting  rifles  for  use  at  deer 
and  antelope,  where  shooting  is  not  at  the  shortest  ranges. 
Like  many  other  improvements  in  rifles,  this  developement 
came  from  across  the  Atlantic.  The  Lyman  sight  (fig.  72) 
is  fitted  just  behind  the  action,  so  as  to  be  within  two  or  three 
inches  of  the  eye,  and  consists  of  a  pillar  hinged  so  that  it 
can  be  folded  down  either  backwards  or  forwards.     It  has 

within  it  a  stem  which  can  be  raised 
or  lowered  by  a  screw  motion,  and 
which  carries  at  the  top  a  small  disc 
containing  an  aperture  through 
which  aim  is  taken.  Usually  the 
main  aperture  is  comparatively 
large,  and  a  small  hinged  shutter 
brings  into  place  a  much  smaller 
pin-hole,  which  can  be  used  for 
specially  fine  shooting,  or  when 
the  light  is  very  bright.  There 
was  a  very  stl^ong  objection  to  the 
use  of  a  sight  too  close  to  the 
eye  a  few  years  ago.  The  Express 
rifle,  with  its  large  charge  and 
heavy  recoil,  was  apt  to  endanger 
the  eye  by  driving  back  the  sight 
against  it.  The  comparatively  small  kick  of  the  modem  high 
velocity  rifles  has  removed  nearly  all  this  danger,  although  care 


FIG.  72 


THE    LYMAN    SIGHT  237 

still  has  to  be  taken  that  the  eye  is  not  put  too  close  against 
the  sight.  The  Lyman  back  sight  is  growing  in  favour  for 
sporting  purposes  every  year ;  it  is  pleasant  to  use,  and  there 
is  no  straining  to  be  sure  that  exactly  the  right  amount  of 
fore  sight  is  taken  in  the  notch  of  a  blurred  back  sight.  This 
advantage  alone  has  given  fresh  power  to  eyes  beginning  to 
suffer  from  the  inevitable  trouble  which  has  been  called 
'  annodominitis/  and  for  which  there  seemed  to  be  no 
remedy  but  to  use  glasses,  a  great  difficulty  in  a  large 
proportion  of  days  on  the  hill  in  some  seasons,  the  sad 
alternative  being  the  entire  abandonment  of  stalking.  The 
Lyman  sight  has  not  only  the  advantage  of  improved  defi- 
nition, but  it  giyes  a  much  freer  view  of  the  surroundings  of 
the  mark,  since  there  are  no  shoulders  of  the  back  sight  to 
obscure  the  aim,  and  this,  especially  for  a  running  shot, 
is  of  considerable  benefit.  It  is  important  to  aim  through 
the  middle  of  the  aperture,  but  the  habit  of  doing  so  in- 
stinctively is  very  quickly  acquired,  and  gives  no  trouble. 
Those  unfamiliar  with  the  use  of  this  sight  are  commonly 
disposed  to  use  too  small  an  aperture  ;  they  think  that  there 
is  a  material  advantage  in  using  the  smallest  possible  hole, 
but,  in  fact,  there  is  no  such  appreciable  advantage  under 
ordinary  circumstances  ;  if  the  hole  be  too  small,  too  much 
light  is  cut  off,  and  there  is  a  difficulty  in  seeing.  For  all 
purposes  in  the  field  an  opening  of  between  *10  and  -05  inch 
will  serve  excellently  well.  The  same  principle  applies  to  the 
Match  rifle,  although  the  aperture  should  hardly  be  so  large 
as  is  permissible  in  the  sporting  rifle. 

There  is  one  objection  to  the  Lyman  sight,  especially 
with  bolt  action  rifles,  when  fitted  on  the  small  of  the  stock. 
When  the  bolt  is  drawn  back  to  unload,  it  strikes  the  pillar 
of  the  sight,  and  knocks  it  down,  and  it  has  to  be  raised 
again  before  taking  another  shot.  This  could  quite  well  be 
obviated  by  a  spring  arrangement,  but  spring  fittings  are 
liable  to  get  out  of  order,  and  in  any  case  when  the  rifle  is  in 
hands  accustomed  to  manipulate  it,  the  sight  is  raised  again 
almost  or  quite  without  a  thought.  Various  attempts  have 
been  made  to  avoid  this  slight  inconvenience,  but  on  the 
whole  they  are  not  satisfactory.    The  aperture  sight  can  be 


238  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    BIFLE 

placed  upon  the  hinder  end  of  the  bolt,  but  the  bolt,  as  a 
rule,  does  not  fit  very  exactly,  and  it  is  difficult  to  be  sure  of 
the  sight  coming  each  time  to  precisely  the  same  place,  after 
the  bolt  has  been  opened  and  closed.  Again,  the  sight  has 
been  fitted  upon  an  arm  hinged  to  the  side  of  the  action,  and 
projecting  over  the  bolt,  but  in  this  position  it  is  unprotected 
and  liable  to  damage.  On  the  whole  it  is  found  worth  while 
to  face  the  slight  inconvenience  involved  in  placing  the 
Lyman  sight  on  the  stock  behind  the  action  for  the  sake  of 
the  advantages  of  the  aperture  sight.  With  the  falling  block 
actions  often  used  in  sporting  rifles,  or  with  the  ordinary 
action  of  a  double-barrel  rifle,  this  difficulty  does  not 
arise.  The  Lyman  sight,  excellent  as  it  is  for  game  shooting, 
seems  difficult  to  apply  to  military  or  long-range  purposes,  as 
it  would  not  be  easy  to  adapt  to  it  any  adjustment  to  make 
an  allowance  for  wind,  nor  is  it  well  adapted  for  giving  the 
wide  variations  of  elevation  required  in  the  military  rifle. 

The  fore  sight  used  with  the  Lyman  back  sight  may  be  of 
any  description,  perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  being  a  bead 
sight  of  moderately  small  size.  To  gallery  rifles  a  bead 
which  can  be  folded  down,  known  as  the  Beach  fore  sight,  is 
often  fitted.  The  Lyman  sight  should  be  so  adjusted  that 
when  it  is  screwed  down  to  its  lowest  position  the  rifle  is 
correctly  sighted  for  the  shortest  distance  at  which  it  is  to 
be  used ;  this  will  be  found  to  save  many  mistakes.  It  is 
important,  as  with  all  others,  so  especially  with  aperture 
sights,  that  they  should  shoot  correctly  to  their  aim'  in  the 
hands  of  the  individual  who  is  to  use  them.  It  is  very 
commonly  found,  in  fact  it  is  the  case  more  often  than 
not,  that  rifles  as  delivered  to  the  customer  do  not  shoot  to 
his  aim  with  perfect  accuracy.  One  of  the  factors  in  the 
success  which  Messrs.  Holland  have  had  with  their  rook  and 
other  rifles  has  been  the  great  care  with  which  they  were 
sighted  so  as  to  be  correct  for  the  average  man.  For  this 
they  owe  a  great  debt  to  Mr.  W.  G.  Froome. 

But  there  is  no  adjustment  of  sighting  so  satisfactory  as 
that  which  is  made  by  the  shooter  himself,  and  it  requires  to 
be  done  with  care  and  some  small  amount  of  knowledge.  In 
rifles  in  which   the  fore  sight  or  the   back  sight,  or   both. 


ADJUSTMENT    OF    SPORTING    SIGHTS  239 

are  fitted  in  a  dovetail  slide,  so  that  they  can  be  removed 
transversely,  it  is  easy  to  adjust  the  sights  for  direction.  It 
is  very  natural  to  take  a  small  hammer,  and  knock  the 
slide,  and  drive  the  sight  to  one  side  or  other  with  it ;  but  it 
is  better  to  interpose  a  little  piece  of  hard  wood,  or  of  brass 
or  some  soft  metal,  between  the  hammer  and  the  sight  base, 
as  otherwise  this  is  apt  to  be  bruised,  and  a  careless  blow 
may  even  damage  the  sight  itself.  It  is  sometimes  advisable 
to  adjust  an  open  sight,  enlarging  or  altering  the  shape  of 
the  notch  of  the  back  sight  with  a  fine  file.  It  is  very 
necessary  to  be  careful  to  file  away  that  side  of  the  notch 
which  will  make  the  correction  ;  the  writer  has  known  a  man 
pazzled  because  the  shots  went  wider  instead  of  straighter, 
as  he  altered  the  back  sight,  when  he  was  really  cutting  away 
the  wrong  side  of  the  sight.  After  any  alteration  shots 
should  be  fired,  not  only  one  or  two,  but  at  least  five  or  six, 
in  order  to  obtain  a  group,  which  will  show  the  general  line 
of  shots ;  if  only  one  or  two  shots  are  fired,  these  may  be 
slightly  abnormal,  and  so  prove  misleading. 

When  it  has  been  necessary  to  file  the  back  sight  (we  are 
speaking,  of  course,  only  of  the  open  back  sight,  and  not  of 
the  aperture  sight),  it  is  very  necessary  that  it  should  be 
blackened  again,  to  prevent  the  glinting  of  the  light  from 
misleading  or  dazzling  the  eye.  The  smoke  of  a  match,  or 
of  a  piece  of  camphor,  will  do  this  for  the  moment.  Major 
Young,  in  his  excellent  little  book,  '  The  Three  Bifles,'  gives 
a  recipe  for  making  a  temporary  dead  black  as  follows  : — 

'  Temporary  Dead  Black. — A  capital  black  may  be  made 
at  a  trifling  cost ;  it  is  far  superior  to  what  is  sold.  It  is 
made  thus : — 

1  oz.  "  stick-lac  "...     cost  about  3d. 
1  oz.  vegetable  black  „         0\d. 

6  oz.  methylated  spirit      .         .  „         6^?. 

Dissolve  the  ''stick-lac"  in  the  methylated  spirit  (it  takes 
about  a  week  to  melt  thoroughly),  then  strain  it  through 
muslin,  and  add  the  vegetable  black,  shaking  up  the  contents 
of  the  bottle  to  insure  a  thorough  mixing.     It  may  happen 


240  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

that  owing  to  slight  differences  in  the  materials,  a  little 
more  or  less  than  the  stated  quantity  of  the  vegetable  black 
may  be  necessary.  This  must  be  judged  by  the  consistency 
of  the  mixture  when  applied.  Cork  it  down  tight,  and  fill  a 
small  bottle  from  time  to  time,  as  required  for  immediate  use/ 

This  is  a  very  tenacious  compound,  and  does  not  by  any 
means  rub  off  with  a  touch.  Major  Young's  recipe  to 
blacken  permanently  sights  which  can  be  removed  from  the 
rifle  is  an  excellent  one,  and  the  author  has  used  it  with 
success  for  the  sights  of  sporting  rifles.  The  nitric  acid,  of 
course,  requires  great  care  in  use  and  in  keeping. 

'  Take  of  nitric  acid  1  part,  and  of  water  7  parts, 
thoroughly  mix,  and  the  solution  will  be  ready  for  use. 
Detach  from  the  rifle  the  part  that  needs  to  be  operated  npon, 
and  with  a  fine  piece  of  emery  cloth  thoroughly  brighten  the 
surface.  Place  the  piece  of  metal  in  boiling  water  (a  tea- 
cupful),  to  which  a  pinch  of  bicarbonate  of  soda  has  been 
added,  and  stir  it  about  briskly  with  a  piece  of  iron  wire, 
glass  rod,  or  stick.  After  a  few  minutes  pour  off  the  water, 
and  add  more  boiling  water  without  soda  ;  treat  as  before,  and 
drain  off  the  water.  The  object  of  this  process  is  to  remove  all 
trace  of  grease^  which  is  an  enemy  to  perfect  success. 

*  Take  of  the  nitric  acid  solution  as  much  as  will 
thoroughly  cover  the  sight  or  sights  that  have  to  be 
'blackened— an  old  wine-glass,  damaged  coffee-cup,  or  any 
such  vessel  answers  admirably  for  holding  the  acid  mixture. 
Drop  the  sights  in  one  by  one,  being  careful  that  no  two  get 
into  close  contact,  as  it  is  necessary  that  the  acid  should  have 
free  access  to  the  surfaces.  After  a  few  seconds  the  bright 
polished  surface  will  assume  a  dull  leaden  look,  and  the  fluid 
will  become  slightly  discoloured  immediately  around  the  metal. 
Gradually  the  smooth  look  will  give  place  to  a  finely  pitted 
appearance,  when  the  sight  should  be  turned  over.  In  about 
three  minutes  the  action  of  the  acid  should  have  been  suflS- 
ciently  marked,  when  the  sights  must  be  removed,  being 
dragged  out  with  a  hairpin  or  wire;  at  once  plunge  them 
into  a  small  vessel  filled  with  boiling  water  (an  empty  salt 
jar  is  as  good  as  any  vessel).  Stir  them  about  briskly,  pour 
off  the  water,  and  fill  again  with  boiling  water ;  allow  them 


RECIPE    FOB    BLACKENING    SIGHTS  241 

to  remain  in  about  five  minutes ;  now  remove  them,  and  put 
them  to  boil  in  an  old  saucepan  for  15  or  20  minutes,  in 
order  to  kill  every  trace  of  acid.  If  the  washing  be  hurried 
over,  the  chances  are  that  red  spots  and  streaks  will  appear 
in  the  next  step. 

•  After  wiping  the  sights  with  a  dry  cloth,  proceed  to 
blacken  as  follows: — Twist  a  piece  of  iron  wire  round  the 
sight,  to  manipulate  with ;  hold  it  in  a  gas  flame,  and  care- 
fully watch  the  colour.  At  first  it  will  turn  straw  colour, 
then  brown,  after  that  dark  brown,  and  lastly  a  bluish  colour, 
when  it  should  be  removed  and  plunged  into  oil  (salad  oil^ 
so  called,  answers  well).  If  allowed  to  pass  the  bluish  colour 
it  will  become  white  with  heat,  and  this  is  undesirable.  After 
allowing  it  to  cool  in  the  oil,  remove  it,  and  the  black  ought 
to  be  "  dead " — i.e.  not  shining — due  to  the  finely  ^Hj^d 
surface  breaking  up  the  light  that  might  otherwise  b%% 
reflected.' 

In  affixing  the  Lyman  sight  to  a  rifle  it  is  important  that 
it  should  be  upright,  and,  of  course,  it  must  be  in  true  central 
line.  When  the  base  has  been  affixed  by  its  screws  as  nearly 
as  possible  in  the  centre,  if  the  sight  shoots  a  trifle  to  one  side, 
and  it  is  not  convenient  to  move  the  fore  sight  (as,  for  instance, 
when  the  Lyman  sight  is  added  to  a  rifle  which  already  has 
the  fore  sight  and  the  ordinary  back  sight  in  proper  adjust- 
ment), the  Lyman  can  be  brought  finally  into  line  by  placing  a 
narrow  strip  of  brass  foil  or  paper  under  the  edge  of  the  base 
on  one  side  or  the  other,  after  loosening  the  screws  so  that 
when  they  are  tightened  up  again  the  pillar  will  be  tilted  a 
little  to  one  side  or  the  other. 

In  adjusting  the  sights  of  Match  rifles  much  care  is 
required.  The  rifle  should  be  held  in  a  vice,  with  cork  jaws, 
and  the  fore  sight  attached  and  put  properly  into  place.  The 
rifle  should  then  be  moved,  if  necessary,  until  the  spirit-level 
on  the  fore  sight  shows  it  to  be  upright.  The  back  sight, 
which  we  assume  to  have  been  fastened  provisionally  in 
place,  must  now  be  tested  with  a  level  set  on  a  square,  to  see 
that  it  is  truly  upright,  or,  if  inclined  at  all,  inclined  very 
slightly  to  the  side  which  will  tend  to  compensate  in  some 
degree  for  the  drift  of  the  bullet.     It  is  well  to  ensure  a 

B 


242  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

proper  fit  between  the  bed  on  which  the  sight  is  hinged  and 
the  part  of  the  stock  upon  which  it  fits  by  scraping  away  the 
stock  until  the  bed  is  solidly  in  contact  with  it.  If  the  sight 
is  not  upright  a  little  more  scraping  one  side  or  the  other  will 
probably  bring  it  so.  Where  a  large  amount  of  adjustment 
in  this  respect  is  needed,  packing  on  one  side  or  the  other 
may  be  resorted  to,  but  it  is  better  to  get  a  proper  fit  if  it  can 
be  done.  The  rifle  will  then  require  shooting  to  test  the 
straightness  of  line  of  the  sights  with  the  barrel ;  and  the 
position  of  the  fore  sight  which  gives  straight  shooting  is 
marked  upon  it,  and  used  as  the  basis  for  wind  allowance  to 
one  side  or  the  other,  the  same  being  done  as  regards  eleva- 
tion with  the  back  sight.  The  elevation  scale  on  the  back 
sight  of  a  Match  rifle  has  a  vernier  scale  by  which  the  eleva- 
tion can  be  correctly  set  to  half  a  minute  of  angle  or  less. 
The  best  match  sights  are  fitted  with  an  adjustable  zero. 
This  is  a  small  sliding  piece,  which  can  be  fastened  with 
binding-screws,  and  which  carries  the  zero  mark  (i.f.  the 
basis  of  the  scale  of  elevation  or  wind  allowance),  so  that 
it  can  be  shifted  to  suit  the  peculiarities  of  the  particular 
rifle  upon  which  the  sights  are  fitted,  or  to  rectify  any  incor- 
rectness of  elevation  or  direction  that  may  arise  during  the 
life  of  the  rifle,  whether  from  the  warping  of  the  stock  or 
from  other  causes.  Such  variations  in  a  small  degree  are 
constantly  arising,  and  it  is  commonly  found  that  when  two 
rifles  are  being  shot  alongside  each  other,  with  careful  com- 
parison of  the  allowance  for  wind,  the  relative  shooting  of  the 
rifles  will  not  remain  precisely  the  same  for  any  great  number 
of  shots  together.  Though  probably  this  is  in  part  an  apparent 
effect  due  to  the  deviation  of  the  individual  shots  from  the 
general  group  which  each  rifle  is  making,  it  is  certainly  in 
part  due  to  actual  fluctuations  of  sighting,  that  is,  to  tempo- 
rary differences  between  the  line  of  the  sights  and  that  in 
which  the  bullet  is  delivered  from  the  barrel. 

Following  the  example  of  Mr.  Metford  and  Sir  Henry 
Halford  in  this  matter,  the  writer  is  in  the  habit  of  checking 
the  correctness  of  the  setting  of  the  sights  of  his  match  rifles 
occasionally  at  the  short  distance  of  12^  yards.  Those 
accustomed  to  big  guns  have  sometimes  criticised  the  use  of 


SHOOTING    FOE    ZEBO  243 

BO  very  short  a  range  as  this  on  the  ground  that  the  bullet 
has  not  settled  to  its  true  flight  at  so  early  a  stage.  But 
there  is  practically  nothing  in  this  idea,  as  is  proved  by 
the  fact  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  adjusting  the  zero,  or 
basis  of  sighting,  both  of  the  vertical  scale  on  the  back  sight, 
and  of  the  horizontal  scale  on  the  fore  sight,  correctly  to 
1  minute  of  angle  at  this  distance.  The  advantage  of  the  use 
of  so  short  a  distance  is  that  it  gives  a  correct  basis  both  for 
elevation  and  wind  allowance,  without  the  complications 
introduced  by  varying  conditions  of  wind  and  weather  which 
make  it  difficult  to  correct  the  sighting  at  500  or  even  at  200 
yards.  In  shooting  for  zero  at  12^  yards,  a  small  spot,  about 
i  in.  in  diameter,  is  made  upon  a  piece  of  cardboard,  or,  better 
.  still,  one,  or  two,  or  three  rows  of  spots  may  be  placed  upon 
it  about  3  inches  apart ;  it  is  convenient  enough  to  punch  out 
these  spots  with  a  wad  punch.  Very  careful  aim  should  be 
taken,  with  the  sights  adjusted  to  what  appears  likely  to  be  the 
right  place,  and  a  general  correction  can'  at  once  be  applied  to 
bring  the  bullet  about  to  the  right  place.  At  12^  yards  1' 
of  angle  is  equal  to  ^  inch  on  the  target,  and  as  the  scales 
of  the  back  sight  and  fore  sight  are  marked  in  minutes,  any 
desired  alteration  can  quickly  be  made.  It  is  necessary  to 
know  precisely  the  vertical  distance  of  the  fore  sight  above 
the  centre  of  the  bore,  since  the  zero  point  has  to  be  that  at 
which  the  line  of  sight  and  the  line  of  projection  of  the  bullet 
are  absolutely  parallel.  If  the  fore  sight  be  1  inch  above  the 
centre  of  the  bore,  the  bullet,  when  the  sight  is  correctly 
placed,  would  strike  just  1  inch  below  the  centre  of  the  spot 
aimed  at,  with  the  addition  of  the  distance  which  the  bullet 
falls  during  its  flight  of  12^  yards.  This  amount  varies  to 
some  small  extent  according  to  the  speed  of  the  bullet.  With 
the  old  Match  rifle  of  '450  bore,  and  a  velocity  of  about 
lySOO  f.B.,  it  was  about  ^  inch,  and  it  will  be  near  enough  for 
practical  purposes  with  the  Lee-Metf ord,  if  we  say  that  the  fall 
due  to  gravity  at  the  speed  of  2,000  f.s.  is  *06  inch.  This 
amount^  then,  requires  to  be  added  to  the  1  inch  already  men- 
tioned representing  an  allowance  for  the  height  of  the  fore 
sight  above  the  bore,  so  the  centre  of  the  shot  should  strike 
1-06  inch  below  the  centre  of  the  spot  aimed  at  for  elevation. 

R  2 


244  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

The  point  thus  obtained  will  represent  the  basis  on  which 
the  scale  of  elevations  for  all  distances  at  which  the  rifle  can 
be  used  can  be  built  up. 

In  sighting  military  or  sporting  rifles,  the  sights  of 
which  have  not  the  same  degree  of  universal  adjustment 
as  those  of  the  Match  rifle,  it  is  only  necessary  to  correct  the 
sighting  at  one  particular  distance.  This  then  serves  as  a 
basis,  as  regards  direction,  for  the  other  distances,  the  proper 
elevation  for  them  being  determined  by  experiment.  This 
may  be  done  without  going  to  each  distance  if  a  table  of 
angles  is  available.  Thus  in  sighting  a  -256  sporting  rifle  at 
200  yards,  if  it  is  known  that  with  the  particular  rifle  and 
charge  used,  the  rise  in  elevation  between  200  and  800  yards 
is  4*8  minutes,  it  is  evident  that  if  the  300  yards  sight  be 
adjusted  so  that  it  shoots  9*6  inches  high  at  200,  the  elevation 
with  that  sight  will  be  correct  at  800  yards.  In  this  way  the 
sighting  can  be  correctly  given  for  a  whole  series  of  different 
distances  without  actually  going  to  them. 

The  ordinary  sights  of  the  *808  rifle  give  elevation  up 
to  1,800  yards,  and  special  long-range  sights  (Plate  XXXIX) 
are  attached  to  the  side  of  the  rifle,  and  can  be  used  from 
1,600  to  2,800  yards.  The  principle  of  the  aperture  sight  is 
applied  here,  the  back  sight  consisting  of  a  thin  stem  carrying 
a  small  ring,  which  is  fixed  to  the  metal  work  on  the  left  of 
the  body  of  the  rifle,  and  when  not  in  use  lies  in  a  recess 
in  the  stock  (fig.  2).  The  fore  sight  is  shown  in  fig.  1.  It  is 
attached  to  the  woodwork  just  behind  the  lower  band,  and 
consists  of  a  dial  and  a  pointer,  the  opposite  end  of  which 
carries  a  small  bead.  The  pointer  may  be  turned  to  any  of 
the  marks  indicating  the  different  ranges  which  are  inscribed 
on  the  dial,  and  moves  very  nearly  a  complete  semicircle,  so 
that  a  very  wide  range  of  motion  is  obtained  for  the  bead. 
This  sight  is  of  a  very  rough  and  ready  kind,  and  could 
probably  be  improved ;  it  cannot  be  depended  upon  in  any 
given  rifle  to  give  a  line  parallel  to  that  in  which  the  rifle 
shoots,  but  on  an  emergency  it  has  undoubtedly  done  good 
work. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  the  use  of  the  aperture  back 
sight  as  here  applied  the  necessary  conditions  are  all  met. 


X 
»— I 

X 
X 
X 


246  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    EIFLB 

It  is  placed  conveniently  for  the  eye,  and  does  not  require 
any  adjustment  for  elevation,  this  being  made  by  raising  or 
lowering  the  fore  eight. 

It  seems  probable,  so  far  as  the  Boer  war  may  be  taken 
as  a  guide  for  future  campaigns,  that  fire  at  very  long  dis- 
tances will  be  more  used  in  future  than  hitherto.  It  will 
always  be  impossible,  so  far  as  we  can  tell  at  present,  to  make 
a  small  arm  which  will  give  its  bullet  an  absolute  accuracy  of 
flight  at  long  range,  and  enable,  let  us  say,  a  single  man  to  be 
struck  with  any  certainty  at  distances  of  a  mile  or  more  ;  but 
now  that  the  number  of  shots  which  can  be  fired  in  a  given 
time  from  a  given  number  of  rifles  is  so  enormously  increased, 
it  is  possible  at  very  long  ranges  to  inflict  loss  by  dropping  a 
large  number  of  shots  in  a  small  area.  To  shoot  at  a  single 
man  at  such  distances  as  those  of  which  we  are  speaking 
demands,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  should  be  possible  to  see 
him.  The  South  African  climate  seems  exceptional  in  this 
respect,  but  there  are  times  when  even  our  own  foggy  air  will 
permit  of  bodies  of  troops  being  seen  a  very  long  way  off. 
There  is  one  means  of  obtaining  great  advantages  both  in  dis- 
cerning the  object  and  in  taking  accurate  aim  at  it  which  in  this 
connection  it  seems  worth  while  at  the  present  time  seriously  to 
consider.  The  telescopic  sight  rests  on  very  simple  principles, 
and  under  certain  circumstances  has  proved  itself  a  very 
practical  addition  to  the  rifle.  It  consists  in  its  essence  of 
a  telescope,  of  no  clumsier  proportions  than  can  be  helped, 
attached  parallel  or  nearly  so  to  the  barrel  of  the  rifle,  and 
having  in  its  field  cross  hairs  or  a  pointer  to  define  the  point 
of  aim.  If  the  telescope  has  been  adjusted  properly  for  the  dis- 
tance, nothing  remains  to  be  done  but  to  place  the  aim  point 
exactly  upon  the  mark  seen  in  the  field  of  the  telescope,  and  to 
pull  the  trigger  steadily.  All  the  effort  to  the  eye  of  aligning 
three  points — the  back  sight,  the  fore  sight,  and  the  mark — 
which  are  at  different  distances,  and  therefore  in  different 
foci,  is  at  once  removed.  The  picture  seen  by  the  eye  is  in 
a  single  plane,  the  pointer  or  cross  hairs  being  quite  as  much 
in  focus  as  the  distant  object.  Such  sights  have  been  of  late 
years  applied  both  to  large  cannon  and  to  field  artillery,  and 


TELESCOPIC    SIGHTS  247 

enable  full  advantage  to  be  taken  of  the  very  great  precision 
with  which  they  project  their  shot. 

The  telescopic  sight  when  applied  to  the  rifle  is  on- 
doubtedly  a  very  practical  improvement  under  certain 
conditions.  It  was  so  applied  in  this  country  a  hundred 
years  ago.  It  has  long  been  used  in  America  for  the  sport 
(not  uncommon  there,  though  unknown  here)  of  making  the 
finest  possible  diagram  at  some  such  distance  as  200  yards,  with 
every  possible  assistance  of  rest,  hair  trigger,  and  an  un* 
limited  waiting  for  weather  between  the  shots,  which  art  and 
ingenuity  can  suggest.  In  this  country  the  National  Rifle 
Association  have  until  recently  discouraged  its  use,  and  with 
good  reason,  since  the  fine  aperture  sights  as  fitted  to  the 
Match  rifle  give  practically  as  good  results  at  the  target  as  can 
be  obtained  at  long  range  with  the  telescopic  sight.  It  is  of 
little  use  to  aim  accurately  (say)  to  a  quarter  of  an  inch,  when 
the  general  deviation  of  the  group  is  perhaps  six  inches.  But 
delicate  aperture  sights,  with  their  adjustments,  are  not 
suited  to  the  rough  work  of  use  in  warfare  or  in  the  chase. 
In  America  the  telescopic  sight  has  long  been  used  for 
other  purposes  than  target  shooting.  An  interesting  chapter 
on  the  subject  in  Mr.  A.  G.  Gould's  book  on  *  Modern 
American  Rifles  '  shows  both  the  respectable  age  of  the  use 
of  telescopes  on  the  rifle,  and  also  that  they  have  proved  of 
very  great  advantage  in  skilful  hands  when  attached  to 
sporting  rifles.  He  mentions  that  short  telescopes  were  used 
many  years  ago  by  turkey  shooters,  but  the  results  were  not 
satisfactory.  During  the  Civil  War  in  America  a  number  of 
Whitworth  rifles  were  shipped  from  England  for  the  use  of 
the  Confederate  sharpshooters,  and  these  were  fitted  with 
telescopic  sights  of  the  pattern  invented  by  Colonel  Davidson, 
which  is  illustrated  in  Lord  Bury*s  pamphlet  of  1864  already 
referred  to,  on  'Rifling  and  Rifle  Sights.'  In  Plate  VI, 
fig.  8,  is  given  an  illustration  of  a  Whitworth  rifle  fitted 
with  the  Davidson  telescope,  dating  from  this  period. 
In  Lord  Bury's  pamphlet  illustrations  are  given  of  an 
American  telescopic  sight  belonging  to  Mr.  Metford,  and 
designed  by  Mr.  J.  R.  Chapman,  C.E.,  in  America,  and  made 
by  James,  of  Utica.     There  is  also  a  complete  drawing  and 


248  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

description  of  a  telescopic  sight  apparently  of  better  design 
than  either  of  these,  invented  by  Mr.  Metford,  and  of  the 
type  which  he  used  for  many  years  for  experimental  work. 
The  American  telescopes  were  usually  made  of  the  full 
length  of  the  barrel  of  the  rifle,  and  placed  directly  over  it, 
as  may  be  seen  in  Plate  XXII.  The  Davidson  and  Metford 
telescopes  were  far  shorter,  •and  arranged  to  one  side,  there 
being  a  great  difficulty  in  giving  sufficient  elevation  for  long 
ranges  if  the  tube  of  the  telescope  be  a  very  long  one.  Mr. 
Metford  used  telescopic  sights  of  his  own  design  as  early  as 
1854,  but  the  bulk  of  his  long-range  experiments  were  done 
with  the  ordinary  Match  sights.  Mr.  Gould  speaks  of  a  con- 
siderable demand  for  the  telescopic  sights  made  by  Mal- 
colm, of  Syracuse,  who  improved  those  of  his  day,  and  after 
1870  many  hunting  rifles  were  fitted  with  them.  He  quotes 
a  letter  from  a  sportsman  living  in  California,  who  had  a 
very  high  opinion  of  the  telescopic  sight  for  game  shooting, 
one  which  was  shared  in  and  acted  upon  by  many  of  his 
friends  in  the  same  part  of  the  country.  Little  is  said  of  the 
advantages  for  hunting  purposes  of  the  telescopic  sight,  but 
clearly  they  have  been  found  to  be  considerable  by  some  of 
those  very  well  qualified  to  judge. 

Besides  the  assistance  to  the  eye  already  mentioned,  and 
that  which  must  in  some  degree  arise,  though  it  is  not  usually 
material  at  sporting  distances,  from  a  more  accurate  aim, 
the  chief  advantage  of  the  telescopic  sight  lies  in  the  in- 
creased visibility  of  the  object  fired  at.  The  writer  has 
himself  on  occasion  killed  rabbits  in  the  dusk  of  evening, 
when,  without  the  telescope,  he  could  not  be  positive  that  the 
object  he  saw  was  a  rabbit,  and  when  the  attempt  to  align 
the  open  sights  upon  it  blotted  it  out  entirely.  It  is  a  great 
advantage,  where  the  object  fired  at  is  difficult  to  define,  or 
perhaps  only  partially  seen,  to  get  a  better  view  of  it  than 
the  unassisted  eye  will  give. 

The  black  and  white  target  commonly  used  for  rifle  com- 
petitions is  the  mark  at  which  open  or  aperture  sights  can 
be  used  to  the  greatest  advantage.  In  war  and  in  sport  the 
conditions  are  changed.  There  is  a  real  advantage  in  being 
able  to  see  through  the  tree  trunks  which  part  of  an  animal 


BEST    FORM    OF    TELESCOPIC    SIGHT  249 

a  patch  of  brown  hide  belongs  to,  or  in  discerning  exactly 
how  and  exactly  where  a  half- concealed  enemy  is  croaching, 
while  to  define  distant  objects  of  no  great  size  (and  the  human 
figure  becomes  very  small  to  the  eye  at  distances  of  over 
half  a  mile)  the  advantage  is  even  greater. 

To  whatever  kind  of  rifie  they  may  be  fitted,  telescopes 
should  possess  the  qualifications  of  strength,  lightness,  and 
compactness.  The  field  of  view  should  be  as  wide  as  possible 
to  avoid  any  difficulty  in  getting  a  quick  sight  of  an  object 
hard  to  find  in  its  surroundings,  or  even  one  that  is  moving. 
There  is  no  advantage  gained  by  reducing  the  field  in  order 
to  get  a  very  high  magnifying  power.  The  field  should  be 
well  lit,  and  the  definition,  especially  in  the  centre,  must  be 
as  good  as  possible.  The  lenses  and  all  other  fittings  of 
the  telescope  must  be  solidly  fixed,  so  as  not  to  be  shifted  by 
the  recoil  or  by  a  blow.  The  telescope  should  be  so  arranged 
that,  while  it  comes  into  a  convenient  position  for  the  eye, 
its  recoil  can  inflict  no  injury  to  the  face.  It  is  well  to  set 
back  the  object-lens  some  little  distance  into  the  tube,  so 
that  it  may  be  sheltered  from  the  sun  and  wet. 

For  general  purposes  it  would  seem  that  a  power  magni- 
fying about  4  times  is  as  high  as  is  useful,  although,  if  the 
object  be  only  to  make  fine  shooting  at  a  target,  a  large  field 
is  not  required,  and  the  magnifying  power  may  be  consider- 
ably more  than  this.  With  the  sporting  rifle,  the  sighting 
of  which  does  not  need  to  extend  beyond  300  or  400  yards 
at  the  very  outside,  the  elevation  necessary  is  best  given 
without  any  shifting  of  the  tube.  A  diaphragm  of  glass, 
upon  which  a  vertical  line  and  a  horizontal  one  are  engraved, 
may  be  placed  in  the  focus  of  the  eyepiece,  and  the  intersection 
of  these  lines  gives  the  sighting  for,  let  us  say,  100  yards  ; 
two  or  three  other  horizontal  lines  engraved  below  the  first 
will  give  the  elevation  for  200,  300,  or  400  yards,  and  the 
eye  can  select  the  proper  line  in  aiming  any  particular  shot. 
It  would  be  possible  to  extend  this  principle  so  as  to  give 
sighting  for  a  considerable  distance,  but  when  the  lines  are 
too  many,  and  when,  as  must  often  be  the  case,  shots  have 
to  be  fired  under  circumstances  of  hurry  or  excitement,  it  is 
very  easy  to  make  a  mistake  and  pick  the  wrong  line.     This 


250  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    RIFLE 

system,  therefore,  is  hardly  suited  for  military  or  even  for 
long-range  target  rifles,  and  it  is  better  to  have  some  form  of 
mechanical  adjustment  of  the  whole  tube  of  the  telescope  to 
give  the  required  elevation,  keeping  the  single-aim  point  of 
crossed  threads  or  of  lines  engraved  on  glass,  so  that,  what- 
ever elevation  is  used,  the  aim  is  always  taken  in  precisely 
the  same  way. 

Mr.  Gould  describes  an  invention  for  giving  elevation  for 
a  long-range  target  rifle  by  inserting  in  front  of  the  object 
glass  prisms  cut  to  different  angles,  and  so  altering  the 
direction  of  the  rays,  and  in  this  way  obtaining  elevation. 
A  similar  contrivance  was  used  by  Mr.  Metford  in  the  tele- 
scopic sights  on  the  rifles  he  made  to  compete  for  the 
National  Bifle  Association  prizes  at  2,000  yards  in  1865  and 
1866.  He  used  it  in  order  to  remove  the  inconvenience  to 
the  head  and  eye  of  having  to  aim  at  an  angle  very  different 
from  that  in  which  the  barrel  was  pointed,  but  the  final 
adjustments  of  elevation  were  given  by  moving  the  whole 
tube.  It  may  be  possible  to  devise  an  arrangement  of  priams 
by  which  the  elevation  can  be  adjusted  as  desired  without 
moving  the  tube  of  the  telescope,  and  such  a  system  as  this, 
if  practicable,  would  solve  many  of  the  mechanical  difficulties 
which  arise  when  the  whole  telescope  has  to  be  shifted. 

An  interesting  competition,  organised  by  the  National 
Rifle  Association,  took  place  at  Bisley  in  1901  with  tele- 
scopic sights  fitted  to  the  Service  rifle.  The  target,  though 
having  the  ordinary  divisions  of  a  long-range  target  marked 
upon  it,  was  so  painted  as  to  be  very  difficult  to  define  with 
open  sights  against  the  stop  butt  behind  it.  The  following 
conditions  were  laid  down  for  the  telescopic  sights :  The 
field  was  to  be  not  less  than  6°,  the  maximum  weight  of 
the  telescope  with  its  elevating  gear  1  lb.,  its  greatest  length 
9  inches,  dimensions  which  give  a  fair  margin  if  compactness 
is  really  aimed  at ;  and  it  had  to  be  so  fitted  as  to  give  eleva- 
tion for  all  distances  to  3,000  yards.  It  had  to  be  capable  of 
being  almost  instantaneously  attached  to  or  detached  from 
the  rifle,  so  that  it  might  be  carried  separately.  The  scoring 
made  under  these  conditions  was  not  higher  than  that  made 
on  the  ordinary  targets,  having  a  visible  bull's-eye,  with  the 


FITTINGS    OF    TELESCOPIC    SIGHTS  261 

ordinary  sighte ;  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  on  a  target  bo 
difficult  to  see  as  was  that  actually  used  it  would  have  been 
possible  to  make  very  accurate  shooting  without  magnifying 
power. 

The  chief  difficulty  in  designing  an  adjustable  telescopic 
sight  is  due  to  the  strain  put  upon  all  its  joints  and  fittings 
by  the  recoil.  There  are  two  systems  upon  which  a  telescope 
can  be  fitted  to  a  rifle.  One  is  to  incorporate  it,  so  far  as 
possible,  with  the  barrel,  as  has  been  done  in  American  rifles, 
or  to  attach  it  at  the  side  so  that  it  is  practically  irremov- 
able. The  other  is  to  accept  it  as  a  principle  that  the  tele- 
scope should  be  carried  separately,  and  only  attached  when  it 
is  likely  to  be  wanted.  The  latter  method  is  the  only  one 
which  is  applicable  to  military  rifles.  Telescopes  attached  to 
the  side  of  the  rifle,  as  in  bolt-action  rifles  it  is  inevitable  that 
they  should  be,  cannot  be  ensured  against  damage  if  they  are 
constantly  on  the  rifle.  It  is  better  to  make  them  as  small 
and  as  light  as  is  possible  consistently  with  strength,  and  to 
have  such  an  arrangement  for  affixing  and  detachment  as 
may  enable  those  operations  to  be  performed  almost  instan- 
taneously. But  there  must  be  no  fitting  on  the  rifle  which  is 
in  the  way  or  liable  to  damage,  and  the  attachment  must  be 
such  as  will  not  easily  become  loosened  by  wear.  Dr.  Common 
and  Mr.  Mallock,  G.E.,  have  given  much  attention  to  the 
production  of  a  telescopic  sight  fulfilling  the  various  require- 
ments here  stated.  The  writer  has  on  a  sporting  rifle  a 
telescopic  sight  designed  by  the  latter  gentleman :  the  tube 
of  the  telescope  is  only  8  inches  long,  and  is  conveniently 
carried  in  a  little  leather  case  on  a  belt.  A  great  advantage 
of  having  the  telescope  attached  on  one  side  of  the  rifle  is 
that  the  ordinary  sights  can  be  used  equally  well  whether  the 
telescope  is  on  or  off. 

It  is  evident  that  in  South  Africa  effective  fire  has  been 
brought  to  bear  from  rifles  at  distances  beyond  those  usually 
contemplated,  and  also  that  in  fighting  a  civilised  enemy 
every  device  of  concealment  and  of  taking  cover  has  to  be 
resorted  to,  which  makes  it  difficult  for  the  enemy  to  be  seen, 
and  an  effective  reply  given  to  his  fire.  In  the  hands  of  a 
properly  trained  and  intelligent  soldier  it  is  quite  possible 


262  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

that  the  results  which  could  be  obtained  in  increasing  the 
effectiveness  of  fire  at  all  distances  might  make  the  telescopic 
sight  well  worthy  of  adoption  as  an  adjunct,  for  some  small 
proportion  of  the  men,  to  a  military  rifle.  Tet  the  telescopic 
sight  cannot  altogether  supersede  the  ordinary  sights,  since  it 
is  useless  in  rain  and  of  little  advantage  in  mist.  The  nomber 
of  shots  fired  in  South  Africa  for  every  casualty  caused  by 
them  must  be  something  incredible,  and  in  these  days  of  rapid 
loading,  when  ammunition  is  so  very  easily  wasted,  whatever 
really  increases  the  effectiveness  of  fire,  so  as  to  enable  the 
same  result  to  be  obtained  with  fewer  shots,  is  a  great  economy 
and  a  great  advantage. 

Itiis  an  interesting  speculation  how  far,  as  war  becomes 
more  scientific,  it  will  be  possible  to  teach  the  soldier  to  use 
scientific  appliances.  The  spread  of  education  has  certainly 
done  much,  more,  perhaps,  than  has  as  yet  been  realised, 
to  remove  the  necessity  for  treating  Tommy  Atkins  as  if  he 
required  dry  nursing  and  spoon  feeding  at  each  instant  of  the 
day,  and  was  not  to  be  trusted  as  a  reasoning  being  in  any 
particular.  Wars  will  in  future  be  won,  if  we  may  judge 
from  South  African  experience,  by  the  intelligence  of  the 
rank  and  file  quite  as  much  as  by  their  bravery. 

A  little  device  may  be  here  mentioned  which  is  the  outcome 
of  the  Boer  war,  and  more  especially,  it  is  said,  of  the  si^e 
of  Mafeking,  called  the  *  infrascope.'  It  seems  clear  that  in 
firing  from  entrenchments  against  our  advancing  troops  in 
more  than  one  battle,  the  Boers  found  the  storm  of  shot  and 
shell  directed  against  them  so  overwhelming  that  they  held  up 
their  rifles  over  the  edge  of  the  entrenchment,  and  discharged 
them  in  the  general  direction  of  the  enemy  without  attempt- 
ing to  take  aim.  Even  such  a  fire  as  this  has  a  degree  of 
eflFectiveness.  At  Mafekuig,  where  the  trenches  got  to  very 
uncomfortably  close  quarters  indeed,  the  fact  that  Nature  has 
placed  the  human  brain  above  the  human  eye  was  sometimes 
found  to  be  inconvenient,  as  the  part  of  the  head  which  the 
enemy  saw  when  he  was  being  fired  at  was  sufSciently  large 
to  form  a  good  mark  for  him.  An  impromptu  device  was 
arranged  to  enable  an  effective  fire  to  be  brought  to  bear 
under  such  circumstances.     Two  small  pieces  of  mirror  were 


THE    INFRASCOPE  263 

attached  so  that  one  coald  be  clipped  on  behind  the  back 
sight,  while  the  other  hang  down  below  and  to  one  side  of  jbhe 
rifle,  and  in  the  latter  could  be  seen  the  reflection  of  the 
line  of  aim  shown  by  the  former.  This  enabled  shots  to  be 
truly  directed  whDe  the  whole  head  of  the  firer  was  below  the 
sheltering  level  of  the  sandbags  or  earthwork  protecting  him. 
The  application  of  this  arrangement  could  hardly  be  very 
extensive,  since  it  admits  of  no  large  field  of  view,  but  under 
special  circumstances  it  has  proved  its  utility.  We  may, 
perhaps,  hear  of  it  again  in  the  future,  when  entrenchments 
have  to  be  defended.  It  might  conceivably  be  of  advantage 
on  occasion  to  use  such  an  aid  in  stalking  animals,  but  we 
do  not  think  that  the  sportsman's  spirit  of  fair  play  would 
approve  of  it,  even  if  the  occasions  on  which  it  might  be 
useful  were  likely  to  be  other  than  quite  exceptional. 


254  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 


CHAPTER   IX 

AIMING— TWO'ETED    SHOOTING — ^AIMING  AT    A    TARGET — USE    OF    THE    BAS 
SIGHT — WIND-GAUGE     SIGHTS— MENTAL     AND     PHYSICAL     CONDITIOM — 

TOBACCO    AND    ALCOHOL — LATERAL    ERROR    FROM    CROOKBD    SIGHTS 

THE    SPIRIT    LEVEL— FIRING    UP   AND  DOWN    HILL— HIGH-ANGLE    FIRS 
— TERMINAL  VELOCITY 

To  learn  to  align  the  sights  correctly  is  not  quite  so  easy  a 
matter  as  might  be  supposed.  Even  what  is  laid  down  in 
military  works  as  one  of  the  most  important  rules  of  aiming, 
that  of  closing  the  left  (or  non-aiming)  eye,  is  a  rule  the 
need  of  which  is  in  no  wise  universally  acknowledged.  Much 
has  been  written  and  many  different  opinions  have  been 
maintained  as  to  the  advantage  or  otherwise  of  aiming  with 
both  eyes  open  with  the  rifle.  That  this  is  the  proper  method 
with  the  shot  gun  is  in  these  days  universally  acknowledged, 
but  there  is  just  this  difference  between  the  gun  and  the  rifle, 
that  with  the  latter  absolute  accuracy  of  aim  is  demanded, 
while  with  the  former  the  aim  need  only  be  approximately 
correct.  The  matter  is  hardly  so  complicated  as  it  is 
sometimes  made  out  to  be.  If  one  eye  be  closed,  and  the 
sights  aligned  upon  the  mark  with  the  other,  no  difficulty  or 
confusion  of  vision  is  experienced.  If  the  other  eye  be 
opened,  and  also  focussed  upon  the  mark,  there  is  conveyed  to 
the  brain  a  second  image  of  the  barrel  and  the  sights  situated 
to  one  side  of  the  line  in  which  the  mark  is  seen  by  the  non- 
aiming  eye.  This  will  be  clearly  observed  if  the  aiming  eye  be 
momentarily  closed.  Just  as  by  dint  of  habit  and  long  usage 
the  right  hand  becomes  better  educated  than  the  left,  and  is 
without  special  thought  set  to  do  any  work  requiring  the 
smallest  skill,  so  the  eye  habitually  made  the  most  use  of  is 
that  naturally  used  in  taking  up  an  alignment.  This  eye  is 
commonly  known  as  the  master  eye.  It  has  often  happened 
that  sportsmen  have  shot  for  years  with  the  gun  from  the 


TWO-EYED    SHOOTING  265 

right  shoulder  with  very  little  success,  and  at  last  found  that 
they  were  aligning  the  image  of  the  muzzle,  or  the  bead  upon 
it,  as  seen  by  the  left  eye,  with  the  mark,  it  being  absolutely 
certam  that  in  doing  this  the  general  line  of  the  barrels  must 
be  pointed  clear  away  from  the  mark,  and  that  no  success  in 
shooting  is  possible  except  by  a  fluke.     In  such  cases  the 
alternative  remedies  are,  either  to  shoot  from  the  left  shoulder, 
or  to  have  the  gun  made  with  a  crooked  stock  so  that,  though 
fired  from  the  right  shoulder,  the  barrels  come  into  place 
and  are  aligned  upon  the  mark  by  the  left  eye.     If  the  right 
eye,  though  not  the  master  eye  by  habit,  have  good  sight,  the 
left  eye  must  either  be  closed  or  bandaged,  or  else  some  kind  of 
small  screen  must  be  interposed  in  front  of  it  so  as  to  prevent 
its  having  a  view  of  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  or  rifle.     Fifteen 
years  ago  a  controversy  on  the  subject  of  two-eyed  shooting 
was  carried  on   in   the    columns    of    '  Land    and   Water,' 
nor  was  this  by  any  means  the  first  time  that  the  subject 
had  been  argued.    Mr.   Gilbert  proposed  to  deal  with  the 
difficulty  by  attaching  to  the  left  side  of  the  weapon  a  little 
leaf  which  blocks  the  vision  of  the  left  eye,  and  which  he 
called  a  '  shooting  corrector.'     It  has  been  pointed  out  that  a 
high  thumb-stall  upon  the  left  hand  will  efiiect  the  same  object, 
that  of  hiding  the  fore  sight  from  the  left  eye,  without  inter- 
fering with  the  vision  of  the  mark  by  either  eye,  and  any  such 
device  has  a  distinct  utility  in  certain   cases.      The   same 
difficulties  occur  in  rifle  shooting.     It  is  found  convenient  to 
instruct  the  recruit  to  shut  the  left  eye  in  firing  so  that  his 
sight  may  not  be  confused  by  the  double  images  set  up,  and 
that  he  may  not  be  tempted  to  use  the  left  eye  even  if  it  be 
the  stronger.     It  would  not  seem  to  require  much  proof  that, 
when  Nature  has  provided  a  screen  for  the  eye  in  the  shape 
of  a  lid,  it  is  normally  better,  if  a  screen  be  necessary,  to  make 
use  of  that  than  to  complicate  the  weapon  by  affixing  to  it 
an  artificial  screen  to  serve  the  same  purpose.     But  if  the 
right  eye  be  very  definitely  the  master  eye,  there  is  no  need 
after  a  reasonable  amount  of  practice  to  close  the  left  eye. 
Formerly,  when   he   had   time  to  shoot  regularly  with  the 
military  rifle,  the  present  writer  with  some  difficulty  formed 
the  habit  of  keeping  the  left  eye  op^n  while  aiming.     The 


256  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

target  gains  much  in  illumination  and  clearness  by  being 
seen  with  both  eyes,  while  the  sights  aligned  upon  it,  though 
seen  only  with  one  eye,  are  sufficiently  well  defined  to  admit 
of  very  accurate  work. 

Ezekiel  Baker  a  hundred  years  ago  came  to  the  same 
conclusion.  He  says :  ^  In  presenting  and  taking  aim,  it  is 
far  preferable  to  open  both  eyes,  as  the  object  is  sooner 
attained,  and  the  sight  more  perfect:  it  also  prevents  that 
blinking  which  is  a  general  case  in  shutting  one  eye.  This 
may  be  difficult  to  many  at  first;  but  "practice  makes 
perfect ''  ;  and  when  it  is  once  accomplished,  the  advantages 
will  be  sufficiently  evident.  From  my  former  observations 
many  persons  have  tried  the  experiment,  and  have  since 
declared  that,  having  accustomed  themselves  to  keep  both 
eyes  open  in  taking  aim,  they  are  satisfied  that  this  method 
is  the  best,  and  that  in  every  instance  it  has  had  the  desired 
effect.' 

Mr  C.  F.  Lowe,  who  has  for  many  years  been  a  con- 
spicuous figure  at  the  meetings  of  the  National  Rifie  Associa- 
tion, and  who  is  a  great  advocate  and  exponent  of  two-eyed 
shooting,  has  pointed  out  that  with  both  eyes  open  it  is  very 
possible  to  do  reasonably  good  work  with  the  rifle  if  a  collar 
of  paper  is  fastened  round  the  muzzle  in  front  of  the  fore- 
sight, so  that  while  the  right  eye  sees  the  two  sights  in  line 
it  cannot  see  the  mark,  but  the  left  eye  has  a  clear  view  of  it. 
When  by  the  general  vision  of  the  two  eyes  every  detail  of  the 
whole  picture  seen  is  fitted  into  its  place,  the  target  or  mark 
seen  by  the  left  eye  appears  as  if  seen  by  the  right  eye 
through  the  paper  collar,  and  the  sights  can  be  correctly 
aligned  upon  it.  In  an  exactly  similar  way  most  sportsmen 
in  shooting  at  a  pheasant  coming  overhead  directly  towards 
them  absolutely  cover  the  image  of  the  bird  with  the  muzzle 
of  the  gun,  but,  because  the  left  eye  still  sees  the  bird,  are 
able  to  know  how  far  in  front  of  the  bird  they  are  pointing 
the  gun,  and  so  to  give  the  proper  allowance  and  direction. 
The  effect  conveyed  to  the  brain  is  that  the  right  eye  sees  the 
bird  through  the  gun  barrels. 

The  physical  and  the  mental  machinery  of  humaR  beings 
differ  so  much  in  particular  instances  that  no  rule  can  be 


METHOD    OF    AIMING  257 

laid  down  as  to  two-eyed  shooting.  To  those  who  find  that 
they  can  keep  both  eyes  open  it  will  be  on  the  whole  an 
advantage  to  caltivate  the  faculty.  Probably  some  perse- 
verance will  be  needed  before  they  properly  develope  it. 
But  there  are  many  very  successful  shots  who  do  close  the 
left  eye,  just  as  there  are  many  who  do  not.  To  keep  the 
left  eye  open  is  certainly  to  avoid  the  small  amount  of 
mascular  strain  on  the  upper  part  of  the  face  otherwise 
involved,  while  the  view  of  the  surroundings  of  the  target 
is  maintained  almost  undiminished. 

Whether  with  both  eyes  open  or  with  one  of  them  shut,  the 
beginner  has  first  to  acquire  the  habit  of  seeiag  the  fore  sight 
precisely  over  the  centre  of  the  back  sight,  and  of  taking  each 
time  precisely  the  same  amount  of  the  fore  sight.  This  must 
be  practised  imtil  it  becomes  a  mechanical  habit.  Our  mili- 
tary rifle  is,  when  quite  normal,  correctly  sighted  for  any 
distance  when  the  back  sight  is  raised  to  the  mark  for  that 
distance,  and  the  top  of  the  fore  sight  seen  in  the  centre  of 
the  V,  and  on  a  level  with  the  shoulders  of  the  V  (fig.  64, 
p.  220).  Some  consider  that  the  simplest  thing  to  teach 
is  that  the  tip  of  the  fore  sight  thus  seen  should  just  cover 
the  object  to  be  hit.  The  writer  believes  this  view  to  be 
fallacious,  and  with  the  sporting  and  the  military  rifle  alike 
prefers  to  have  the  sighting  arranged  so  that  the  point  to 
be  struck  by  the  bullet  is  just  touched  by  the  tip  of  the  fore 
sight.  It  is  a  sound  principle  that  the  object  to  be  hit 
should  never  be  obscured,  as  it  must  be  if  it  is  small,  and 
if,  in  order  to  obtain  the  correct  elevation,  it  has  to  be 
entirely  covered  by  the  fore  sight.  There  are  many  ways 
of  aiming  at  the  ordinary  white  target  with  the  black  bull's- 
eye  on  it.  It  is  not  satisfactory  always  to  aim  at  the  bottom 
of  the  bull's-eye,  because  this  means  that  the  group  of  shots 
has  to  strike  decidedly  higher  than  the  point  aimed  at ;  and 
at  different  distances,  at  which  the  proportions  of  the  bull's- 
eye  vary,  different  degrees  of  allowance  have  to  be  made. 
Nor  is  it  very  easy  always  precisely  to  touch  the  bottom  of 
the  bull's-eye  with  the  tip  of  the  fore  sight.  In  some  lights, 
in  which  the  bull's-eye  is  comparatively  grey,  no  difficulty 
arises,  but  in  a  strong  light  it  may  appear  as  black  as  the 

s 


258  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

fore  sight,  and  then  it  is  difficult  not,  as  it  were,  to  stab  the 
point  of  the  fore  sight  into  it,  instead  of  merely  touching  it. 
A  favourite  means  of  aiming,  for  which  there  is  much  to  be 
said,  is  to  place  the  fore  sight  so  that  it  touches  the  edge  of 
the  bull's-eye  at  what,  if  we  consider  it  as  a  clock  face,  would 
be  nine  o'clock  or  three  o'clock,  making  a  slight  allowance  to 
bring  the  shots  into  the  centre  of  it.  By  this  means  the 
elevation  is  maintained  without  difficulty.  Some  men  make 
good  shooting  who  have  the  habit  of  hiding  the  buH's-eye 
entirely  with  the  fore  sight.  Another  mode  of  aiming  upon 
the  white  target  in  ordinary  use,  one  practised  by  not  a  few, 
is  to  aim  at  the  top  edge  of  the  target.  If  this  be  done,  there 
is  no  difficulty  in  keeping  the  elevation,  while  the  eye  can  judge 
very  accurately  the  centre  of  the  target,  and  allowance  for  wind 
can  be  very  correctly  made  to  the  right  or  the  left  within 
the  limits  of  its  width.  That  this  method  is  capable  of  giving 
very  good  results  many  successful  prize-winners  can  testify. 
For  all  that,  it  is  too  artificial  for  the  writer's  taste,  and  he 
does  not  consider  that  a  system  which  depends  so  entirely 
upon  losing  sight  of  the  object  which  it  is  desired  to  hit,  and 
upon  the  fact  that  the  ordinary  target  is  white,  and  is  bounded 
by  straight  lines  of  known  length,  is  one  at  all  likely  to  lead 
to  good  results  in  the  field.  He  believes  that  as  a  general 
principle  it  is  not  well  to  take  a  very  fine  sight.  If  the  whole 
of  the  barleycorn  down  to  the  block  be  seen  over  the  bar  of 
the  back  sight,  it  will  be  found  that  variations  of  light  produce 
almost  no  effect  upon  the  aim,  and  that  great  uniformity  of 
elevation  can  be  maintained  without  effort,  after  a  little 
practice.  But  in  such  matters  no  general  rule  can  be  laid 
down,  for  the  only  test  is  success,  which  different  individuals 
achieve  by  different  methods. 

The  slow  progress  of  military  arms  in  this  country  has 
never  hitherto  allowed  the  use  of  a  back  sight  capable  of 
sliding  laterally  to  make  allowance  for  wind,  although  duch 
an  addition  is  of  undoubted  and  undeniable  assistance  to 
the  expert  shot,  and  its  use  is  not  at  all  difficult  to  teach  to 
the  beginner.  This  is  a  matter  which  requires  to  be  tried 
fairly  and  without  prejudice.  Warfare  grows  more  scientific 
in  every  decade,  and  our  weapons,  both  great  and  small,  are 


MAKING    ALLOWANCE    FOR    WIND  269 

now  really  arms  of  precision.  A  recruit  of  the  present  day, 
thanks  to  the  progress  of  national  education  since  1870, 
and  the  vastly  increased  supply  of  literature  and  instruction 
of  every  kind,  has  more  intelligence  and  general  capacity 
than  his  predecessors  of  old  times.  Wind-gauge  sights  are 
not  required  for  sporting  rifles,  because  at  the  ranges  at 
which  they  are  used  it  very  seldom  happens  that  any  con- 
siderable allowance  has  to  be  made  for  wind ;  but  with 
military  arms  the  case  is  different.  The  all  but  universal 
practice  adopted  by  expert  target  shots  with  the  military 
rifle  of  using  the  straight  edge  of  the  sliding  bar  to  aim 
over,  instead  of  that  side  of  it  in  which  the  V  is  cut,  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  wind  allowance  can  be  given  by  this 
means  without  loss  of  elevation,  and  without  varying  the 
point  aimed  at.  The  centre  of  the  bar  is  marked  by  a  line 
of  bright  metal;  it  is  usual,  however,  to  blacken  the  bar, 
and  to  put  on  for  firing  at  any  distance  a  temporary  line  of 
white  paint,  giving  what  is  likely  to  be  the  average  allowance 
for  the  particular  conditions  at  the  time.  The  variations 
from  this  average  are  usually  allowed  for  by  aiming  a  little 
right  or  left  of  the  line.  By  such  means  very  excellent 
results  can  be  secured.  It  is  perhaps  less  easy  to  take  an 
unvarying  amount  of  the  barleycorn  fore  sight  over  the 
straight  back  sight  than  through  the  notch  of  the  V,  but  this 
is  largely  a  matter  of  practice,  and  a  little  perseverance  will 
Boon  overcome  the  difficulty.  It  is  hardly  practical  that  in 
competitions  at  the  target  with  a  military  rifle  such  a  means 
of  making  the  correct  allowance,  one  quite  unsuited  to  ser- 
vice conditions,  should  be  the  only  possible  way  of  doing 
justice  to  the  powers  of  the  rifle.  It  is  of  course  possible  to 
make  the  wind  allowance  by  aiming  through  the  V  away 
from  the  bulFs-eye,  and,  if  necessary,  away  from  the  target ; 
but  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  the  elevation  which  this 
involves  has  already  been  alluded  to,  a  difficulty  which 
applies  even  more  in  the  field  than  at  the  target.  There  are 
a  few  ingenious  marksmen  who  succeed  in  obtaining  very 
first-rate  results  by  using  the  Y  sight  and  tilting  the  rifle 
over  to  the  right  or  left,  which  causes  lateral  deviation  in 
the  bullet's  flight.     It  is  marvellous  that  a  really  considerable 

h  2 


260  THE    BOOK    OF    THE   RIFLE 

accuracy  can  be  obtained  in  this  way,  and  the  fact  argues 
exceptional  gifts  on  the  part  of  those  who  can  succeed  by  this 
method. 

Various  forms  of  sliding  and  screw  wind-gauges  for  military 
sights  have  at  different  times  been  invented,  but  no  invention 
depending  upon  a  screw  has  yet  been  accepted  in  Europe  as 
practical  for  military  work,  although  there  was  some  question 
whether  a  screw  wind-gauge  fitted  to  some  American  rifles 
should  be  allowed  in  the  matches  with  British  teams  in  the 
years  1882  and  1888.  The  chief  objection  to  a  screw  wind- 
gauge  is  that  it  cannot  instantaneously  be  put  back  to  the 
centre  at  either  long  or  short  ranges  when  it  may  become 
necessary  at  any  time  suddenly  to  direct  the  fire  upon  some 
object  quite  close  by  in  a  different  direction.  It  is  necessary 
in  such  a  case  that  it  should  be  possible  at  one  movement  to 
return  the  slide  to  its  central  position.  Some  arrangement 
to  enable  this  to  be  done  must  be  an  essential  part  of  any 
military  wind-gauge  sight. 

It  is  of  no  use  to  lay  down  any  special  rule  as  regards  the 
method  of  bringing  the  sights  on  to  the  target.  The  only 
thing  that  need  be  said  is,  that  the  quicker  they  are  aligned 
upon  it  the  better.  The  head  being  inclined  forward  in  the 
line  of  the  sights,  it  soon  becomes  a  mere  matter  of  habit  to 
take  up  a  proper  view  of  the  fore  sight,  seeing  the  right 
amount  of  it  accurately  centred  over  the  proper  part  of  the 
back  sight.  The  amount  of  allowance  for  wind  has 
previously  been  decided,  but  just  before  the  final  aim  on  the 
bull's-eye  is  taken  and  the  trigger  pressed,  a  last  look  is  taken 
at  the  weather  to  see  that  the  wind  has  not  changed 
meanwhile.  When  this  has  been  done,  the  sooner  the  final 
aim  can  be  got  and  the  rifle  fired  the  better.  The  writer 
remembers  seeing  McVittie  shoot  off  a  tie  at  Wimbledon  many 
years  ago.  The  two  competitors  were  told  off  to  fire  at  two 
adjoining  targets.  While  his  antagonist  was  firing  his  first 
shot  McVittie  made  two  bull's-eyes  and  an  inner,  and  the 
prospect  of  having  to  do  better  than  this  quite  demoralised 
the  more  deliberate  shooter.  It  is  important  not  to  prolong 
the  aim,  and  it  is  well,  if  the  aim  cannot  be  quickly  got,  to 
bring  the  rifle  down,  and  "rest  for  a  few  seconds,  before  trying 


MENTAL    AND    PHYSICAL    CONDITION  261 

again,  NervouBness  is  fatal,  but  confideuce  can  hardly  exist 
unless  the  firer  is  in  good  practice,  and,  we  may  add,  in  good 
health.  These  remarks  apply  to  all  the  positions  in  their 
degree,  but  perhaps  least  of  all  to  the  back  position.  In  this 
there  is  no  special  demand  made  upon  the  muscles ;  the 
weight  of  the  rifle  does  not  come  upon  the  arms  and  hands  ; 
and  the  body  is  not  in  a  condition  of  strain.  The  trigger  is 
pulled  to  much  greater  advantage,  as  the  aim  can  be  held, 
if  necessary,  for  a  good  many  seconds  without  appreciable 
variation.  Curiously  enough,  very  brilliant  shooting  has 
been  made  in  the  back  position  under  physical  circumstances 
that  would  have  been  fatal  in  a  military  competition.  There 
are  probably  few  (if  any)  men  who  could,  as  Major  Young 
once  did,  make  a  large  score  in  the  match  for  the  Elcho 
Shield  when  suffering  from  an  attack  of  pleurisy ;  or  as  he 
did  on  another  occasion,  when  almost  every  shot  dislocated 
his  wrist,  which  had  to  be  put  in  again.  The  writer  remembers 
one  occasion  when  an  important  Match  rifle  competition  at 
1,100  yards  was  won  by  a  marksman  who  was  suffering  so 
badly  from  neuralgia  that  he  only  went  to  the  firing  point 
after  much  hesitation,  and  fired  shot  after  shot  without  the 
least  expectation  of  ^making  a  good  score,  and  feeling  utterly 
indifferent  as  to  the  result.  Possibly  the  last  point  may 
have  had  something  to  do  with  his  success.  There  is  no 
more  fatal  condition  of  mind  in  which  to  enter  upon 
an  important .  competition  than  one  of  anxiety  as  to  the 
result.  It  is  well  to  be  reasonably  confident  that  one  need 
not  do  badly,  and  it  is  well  to  be  light-hearted  when  some 
miserable  shot  strays  away  from  the  bull's-eye  or  off  the 
target,  in  spite  of  every  care.  Yet  it  is  equally  undesirable 
to  approach  a  competition  in  anything  of  a  frivolous  spirit, 
for  this  usually  accompanies  a  sufficient  degree  of  careless- 
ness to  affect  the  result  of  the  shooting.  There  can  hardly 
be  a  finer  exercise  in  the  world  for  the  temper  than  to  learn 
to  take  the  floutings  of  fortune,  the  magpie  that  spoils  a 
string  of  bulFs-eyes,  or  the  miss  that  comes  at  a  critical 
moment,  without  excitement  or  anger,  but  only  as  giving 
occasion  for  redoubled  care  and  determination.  A  match  is 
never  lost  till  it  is  won ;  and  many  an  unexpected  victory 


262  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

has  been  gained  by  a  breakdown  in  the  last  few  shots  of 
those  who  have  so  far  held  the  lead.  Often  has  a  first 
prize  been  lost  by  the  slight  demoralisation  which  has 
followed  in  the  last  two  or  three  shots  upon  the  belief  of  the 
leading  man  that  he  held  the  victory  for  a  certainty.  Many 
a  time  has  someone  whose  first  shots  were  onfortunate 
attained  success  in  the  end,  and  by  continued  brilliant 
shooting  made  up  his  lost  ground.  It  is  in  difficult  weather, 
and  at  long  ranges,  that  there  is  most  chance  for  the  man 
who  has  not  begun  very  well.  In  very  easy  weather,  when 
making  bull's-eyes  is  ^  like  shelling  peas,'  as  it  has  been  well 
put,  there  is  no  room  to  pick  up  two  or  three  points  dropped 
by  carelessness  or  misfortune  at  the  beginning  of  a  shoot. 
When  the  wind  is  awkward,  so  that  the  allowance  has  to 
be  judged  afresh  for  every  shot,  the  man  who  can  aim  with 
absolute  certainty  and  steadiness,  but  who  has  not  a  certain 
quickness  of  observation,  bom  of  sharp  wits,  and  educated  by 
experience,  will  find  himself  at  a  disadvantage,  for  he  has  not 
skill  enough  to  cope  with  the  conditions,  and  is  not  really  a 
first-rate  shot.  There  was  one  well-known  long-range  shot 
of  the  muzzle-loading  days,  when  coaching  was  allowed  in 
individual  competitions,  of  whom  it  use4  to  be  said  that  he 
owed  to  his  wife  much  of  his  success,  because  her  observation 
and  judgment  of  wind  were  so  much  better  than  his  !  It  is 
extraordinary  how  sometimes  a  man  who  has  for  years  only 
been  a  steady  shot  and  a  moderately  successful  competitor, 
will  seem  suddenly  to  rise  to  a  higher  level  of  skill,  and  will 
astonish  others;  and  himself  too,  by  his  success.  This  change 
sometimes  follows  victory  in  some  important  competition,  and 
must  then  be  attributed  chiefly  to  increased  confidence.  It  is 
probable  that  the  standard  of  skill,  putting  aside  all  question 
of  the  accuracy  of  different  arms,  is  constantly  increasing, 
but  it  is  difficult  to  believe  even  in  the  light  of  modem 
doctrines  of  heredity  that  human  muscles  and  senses  can  be 
much  better  trained  and  developed  than  they  are  at  present. 
It  is  often  thought  that  success  in  rifle  shooting,  depend- 
ing as  it  does  largely  on  clearness  of  vision,  steadiness  of 
muscles,  and  delicacy  of  touch  upon  the  trigger,  must  be 
favourably  affected   by  abstinence  from  alcohol   and  from 


TOBACCO    AND    ALCOHOL  263 

smoking.  This  idea  is  both  true  and  untrue.  The  occasional 
smoke,  which  hurts  nobody,  does  not,  if  we  may  judge  by  the 
record  of  prominent  winners  at  Bisley,  make  any  difference 
at  all  to  a  man's  chance  of  puccess.  The  late  Sir  Henry 
Halford  was  hardly  ever  without  a  pipe^  in  his  mouth, 
especially  when  shooting,  yet  in  1898,  at  the  age  of  65,  he 
was  eclipsing  his  own  previous  performances  and  those  of 
others,  and  scoring  one  success  after  another  with  the  Match 
rifle.  There  are  in  the  front  rank  of  shooters  a  few  who  never 
smoke,  and  a  few  who  smoke  hardly  ever,  but  the  majority 
are  moderate  smokers.  Similarly  with  alcohol ;  the  Queen's 
or  King's  Prize  has  been  won  more  than  once,  as  in  1901, 
by  a  total  abstainer,  but  the  abstainer  cannot  be  held  to  have 
any  appreciable  advantage  as  against  an  abstemious  or  a 
moderate  man.  There  have  been  distinguished  shots  from 
both  sides  of  the  Tweed  who  have  enjoyed  their  glass  in  its 
proper  place.  Of  one  it  used  to  be  said  that  he  could  not  do 
himself  justice  in  the  last  stage  of  the  Queen's  Prize  unless 
he  had  a  flask  of  whiskey  imder  his  seat,  to  be  constantly 
resorted  to  for  encouragement  during  the  progress  of  the 
shooting.  The  matter  is  largely  one  of  constitution,  and 
still  more  of  habit.  The  writer  has  heard  it  said  by  Sir 
Andrew  Clark  that  after  an  abstinence  o^  two  or  three  months 
from  alcohol,  tea,  and  coffee,  a  strong  cup  of  tea  will  upset 
the  nerves,  and  make  the  hand  shake.  Moderation  and  care, 
which  have  the  effect  of  inducing  the  best  physical  condition, 
are  undeniably  a  help  to  shooting,  and  more  especially  in 
shooting  standing,  or  in  any  other  position  in  which  the  rifle 
depends  for  support  upon  the  steadiness  of  strained  limbs. 
But  the  mental  attitude  is  quite  as  important.  To  be  suffer- 
ing from  the  deprivation  of  some  accustomed  and  harmless 
comfort,  to  be  feeling,  in  fact,  any  abnormal  condition,  will 
distinctly  tend  against  success.  To  have  suddenly  ceased 
smoking  the  day  before,  or  to  shoot  a  match  after  breakfast 
without  smoking  the  habitual  pipe,  is  almost  certain  to  spoil 
the  score,  quite  as  certain,  probably,  as  to  be  smoking  too 
much.  The  refreshment  contractors  at  Bisley  seem  always 
to  find  a  difSculty  in  making  both  ends  meet.  This  is 
probably  due  in  a  great  degree  to  the  moderation,  verging  on 


264  THE    BOOK    OP   THE    RIFLE 

abstinence,  of  the  average  shooting  man,  and  is  most  satis- 
factory as  an  indication  of  his  intelligence  and  self-control, 
even  though  it  make  the  catering  problem  a  serious  one. 

The  uprightness  of  the  sights  at  the  moment  of  firing  is 
an  important  factor  in  making  a  correct  shot,  especially  at  the 
longer  ranges.  It  is  very  easy  to  tilt  the  rifle  a  little  to  one  side 
or  to  the  other  while  aiming,  and  some  men,  as  has  been  said, 
fire  consistently  with  the  rifle  a  little  tilted.  The  actual  line  in 
which  the  muzzle  is  directed  at  the  moment  when  the  shot 
leaves  it,  points,  of  course,  higher  and  higher  above  the  line 
along  which  aim  is  taken  through  the  sights  at  the  target, 
according  as  the  distance  increases.  Thus,  at  100  yards  with 
the  Lee-Metford,  the  muzzle  points  4*4  Laches  above  the  spot 
which  the  bullet  strikes  at  that  distance.  At  500  yards  with 
the  same  rifle  the  muzzle  will  point  about  13^  feet  higher  than 
the  point  aimed  at.  With  the  Martini-Henry  it  would  point 
80  feet  higher.  Now  if  the  -308  were  fired  (to  take  a  hypo- 
thetical case)  at  500  yards  with  the  correct  aim,  but  with  the 
sights  not  perpendicular,  but  horizontal,  the  shot  would  strike 
18^  feet  below  the  point  aimed  at,  and  also  13^  feet  to 
the  right  or  left  according  to  whether  the  rifle  had  been  laid 
on  its  right  side  or  on  its  left.  If  the  sights  were  tilted  to 
right  or  left  at  an  angle  of  45*^,  the  shot  would  strike  about 
8^  feet  to  the  side,  and  the  same  distance  below  the  mark. 
Of  course,  no  one  tires  with  the  rifle  leaning  over  anything 
like  so  far  as  this,  but  it  is  very  easy  to  lean  it  over  quite 
enough  to  throw  the  shot  appreciably  wrong.  If  the  inclina- 
tion be  6°,  that  is,  not  quite  so  far  from  the  perpendicular  as 
the  minute  hand  of  a  clock  points  at  4w«r  minutes  before  or 
after  the  hour,  the  shot  will  strike  at  500  yards  more  than 
14  inches  to  one  side ;  it  will  not,  however,  strike  materially 
low.  With  a  similar  inclination  in  the  case  of  the  Martini- 
Henry  rifle  it  will  strike  about  2  feet  7  inches  to  one  side.  It 
is  probably  not  very  often  that  the  sight  is  leaned  so  far 
over  as  6°,  but  a  tilt  of  8°  is  common  enough.  The  effect  of 
a  degree  of  error  does  not  merely  increase  in  proportion  to 
the  distance.  For  instance  at  600  yards,  for  the  same 
inclination,,  it  is  much  greater  than  for  100  yards,  because  it 
is  proportional  to   the  distance  subtended  by  the  angle  of 


EFFECT    OF    TILTING    THE    SIGHTS  265 

elevation  used  at  each  range.  Thus,  with  the  *308  rifle  at 
500  yards  the  elevation  for  the  distance  (31')  subtends 
18^  feet ;  if  we  consider  this  as  the  radius  of  a  circle,  6"" 
measured  on  its  circumference  are  equivalent  to  a  little  over 
14  inches.  At  1,000  yards  the  muzzle  of  the  '308  points 
77  feet  above  the  point  which  the  bullet  will  strike,  and  that 
of  the  Martini-Henry  142  feet,  these  being  the  amounts  of 
the  fall  of  these  bullets  in  flying  that  distance.  Consequently 
the  lateral  error  from  a  tilt  of  5"  will  be  with  the  '808  16  feet 
and  with  the  Martini-Henry  80  feet.  At  2,600  yards,  with  the 
'808  the  same  amount  of  tilt  would  give  a  deviation  of  no  less 
than  80  yards.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  effect  of  tilting 
at  short  distances  such  as  100  yards  is  very  slight,  but  it 
becomes  important  in  making  an  accurate  shot  at  the  longer 
sporting  distances  to  have  the  sights  properly  upright.  There 
is  great  difficulty  about  this  in  some  surroundings.  In 
steep  ground,  where  there  is  no  horizontal  line  to  show  the 
eye  what  is  level,  it  is  incredible  what  mistakes  may  be 
made.  In  standing  on  a  steep  slope,  and  putting  up  the 
rifle  to  aim  upon  a  mark  with  great  care  in  respect  of  the 
aprightness  of  the  sight,  it  will  be  found  that  the  spirit- 
level  on  the  rifle  does  not  at  all  indicate  the  sights  to  be 
really  upright,  and  that  on  shifting  the  rifle  until  the  level 
is  in  proper  adjustment  the  general  appearance  of  the  sights 
will  be  that  they  are  leaning  right  over  to  one  side.  This 
optical  illusion  seems  to  be  due  to  a  persistent  tendency  to 
cant  the  sights  over  so  as  to  bring  them  more  nearly 
square  with  the  slope  on  which  one  is  standing  than  they 
should  be.  So  strong  is  the  illusion  on  ground  sloping  at 
an  angle  of  80°  or  so,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  the 
moment  not  to  believe  that  the  spirit-level  has  got  alto- 
gether out  of  gear.  The  deception  to  the  eye  is  analogous  to 
that  experienced  in  mountain  railways,  where  trees,  and  even 
houses,  appear  to  be  out  of  the  perpendicular,  because  the 
carriage  and  the  seat  occupied  by  the  traveller,  which  habit 
leads  him  to  assume  to  give  perpendicular  and  horizontal 
lines,  are  in  reality  far  from  doing  so.  It  will  be  noticed 
from  what  has  been  said  that  the  importance  of  having  the 
sights  upright  increases  as  the  range  lengthens.     Tilting  the 


266  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

sights  may  be  avoided  in  target  shooting,  and  especially  where 
there  is  a  row  of  targets,  by  levelling  the  horizontal  part 
of  the  sight  along  the  target,  or  its  uprights  against  a  flag- 
staff or  other  vertical  object,  and  the  careful  shot  habitually 
does  this.  So  skilful  is  it  possible  to  become  in  putting  sights 
just  in  or  out  of  level  for  target  purposes,  that  some  shooters, 
as  has  been  mentioned,  manage  to  make  a  great  part,  if  not 
the  whole,  of  their  allowance  for  wind  by  deliberately  leaning 
the  sight  over  in  the  direction  of  the  wind  to  such  an 
extent  as  will  throw  the  shot  the  proper  degree  to  one  side. 
The  method  of  giving  allowance  for  wind  by  tilting  the  sights 
is  almost  too  artificial  for  use  in  practical  shooting  and 
off  the  range,  when  there  is  no  distinct  guide  to  the  exact 
perpendicular  position  of  the  sights. 

The  writer  considers  that  it  is  almost  indispensable  for 
telescopic  sights  for  use  at  long  ranges  to  be  fitted  with  a 
spirit-level,  and  that  the  spirit-level  is  a  very  useful  adjunct 
to  any  kind  of  rifle.  It  can  be  fitted  under  the  protection  of 
the  projecting  back  sight  in  a  very  substantial  metal  setting, 
as  in  fig.  68,  so  that  it  is  very  unlikely  to  be  damaged,  and  if 
it  should  be  damaged  the  rifle  is,  at  least,  no  worse  than  if 
it  had  never  been  there.  Early  Swiss  target  rifles  were 
often  fitted  with  a  small  plumb-bob  attached  to  the  back 
sight,  so  that  it  might  be  kept  upright. 

We  are  reminded,  in  speaking  of  the  spirit-level,  of  a- 
curious  fallacy  that  crops  up  occasionally,  and  is  brought  out 
with  the  view  of  preventing  the  soldier  from  firing  too  high. 
It  is  to  fit  a  spirit-level  longitudinally  upon  the  rifle,  and  to 
mark  upon  it  the  angles  of  elevation  for  various  distances,  so 
that  when  the  bubble  is  brought  against  one  of  these  the  rifle 
is  correctly  elevated  for  the  distance  in  question.  This  system 
sounds  very  simple  and  effective,  although  it  does  not  provide 
satisfactorily  for  giving  a  correct  direction  to  the  shot ;  but  it 
has  underlying  it  a  gross  fallacy,  which,  obvious  as  it  should 
be,  evidently  escapes  notice.  If  the  earth  consisted  of  one 
dead  level  plain,  on  which  the  object  aimed  at  were  always  to 
be  seen,  then  such  firing  by  clinometer  might  be  effective ;  but 
if  the  firer  is  not  in  the  same  horizontal  plane  as  the  mark,  if 
one  is  higher  than  the  other,  as  is  almost  inevitably  the  case 


FIRING    UP    OR    DOWN    HILL  267 

on  the  earth  as  at  present  constituted,  then  all  that  is  done 
is  to  place  the  shot  very  precisely  above  or  below  the  mark 
aimed  at.  Yet  a  suggestion  of  this  kind  has  even  been 
thought  worthy  of  mention  in  the  Press  in  some  nodding 
moment  of  an  editor. 

The  elevation  required  to  hit  an  object  will  evidently  be 
in  part  dependent  not  merely  upon  its  distance,  but  upon  its 
position  above  or  below  the  shooter.  It  is  quite  clear  that  in 
firing  at  an  object  vertically  overhead  no  elevation  at  all  will 
be  required,  whatever  the  distance  of  it  may  be.  The  bullet 
travels  in  a  straight  line,  and  the  force  of  gravity,  instead  of 
making  its  path  into  a  curve,  acts  merely  to  retard  it.  The 
converse  would  happen  in  firing  vertically  downwards  towards 
the  centre  of  the  earth.  Since  in  these  positions  no  correc- 
tion at  all  needs  to  be  made  for  curvature  of  the  bullet's  path, 
there  is  evidently  between  them  a  point  not  far  from  the 
horizontal  line  at  which,  for  the  distances  which  we  consider 
in  rifle  shooting,  the  effect  of  gravity  upon  the  bullet  will 
need  the  greatest  amount  of  correction.  In  firing  at  different 
'  angles,  as  the  direction  of  fire  approaches  the  perpendicular 
the  curve  of  the  bullet's  flight  will  be  smaller  and  smaller. 

Supposing  the  time  of  flight  of  the  '303  bullet  to  be 
•516  seconds  in  300  yards  when  fired  horizontally,  it  will,  if 
fired  vertically  upwards,  move  in  a  straight  line,  but  the 
'effect  of  gravity  will  be  to  lengthen  its  time  of  flight,  so  that 
in  the  same  time  it  will  travel  4*3  feet  less  than  the  300  yards. 
The  additional  time  required  to  complete  the  300  yards  flight 
will  be  a  very  small  fraction  of  a  second,  since  the  bullet  is 
still  moving  at  about  1,500  feet  per  second. 

In  firing  vertically  downwards  the  bullet  would  be  accele- 
rated by  about  the  same  amount,  and  similarly  take  a  slightly 
shorter  time  to  complete  the  distance.  It  is  thus  evident  that 
in  firing  upwards,  at  any  angle,  a  trifle  more  elevation  is 
required  than  in  firing  downwards.  The  additional  elevation 
required  for  an  increase  of  4  feet  in  the  range  when  firing 
horizontally  at  300  yards  is  only  about  seven  one-hundredths 
of  a  minute  of  angle  ('07'),  or  about  i  inch  of  elevation.  It  is 
clear,  then,  that  we  are  not  deaUng  in  this  respect  with  large 
quantities,  although  at  longer  ranges  they  will  naturally  be 


268  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

much  greater  in  proportion.  The  example  taken  is  merely 
a  theoretical  one,  since  the  ground  can  hardly  slope  more 
than  30"*  without  being  absolutely  precipitous,  and  it  will 
rarely  happen,  unless  in  firing  at  or  from  the  top  of  a  cliff, 
that  the  angle  will  vary  more  than  about  25''  from  the 
horizontal.  If  the  greatest  elevation  is  required  in  firing 
horizontally,  as  is  approximately  the  case,  we  should  expect,  if 
we  neglect  the  small  correction  already  mentioned  for  the 
time  of  flight,  that  the  angle  of  elevation  upwards  or  down- 
wards would  be  approximately,  at  15°,  ^  ;  at  80'',  i  ;  at  45^^, 
^ ;  at  60°,  i  ;  and  at  75°,  I  of  the  angle  required  in  firing 
horizontally. 

It  is  probable  that  with  rook  rifles  of  low  velocity  vertical 
shots  are  often  missed  because  the  sighting  of  the  rifle  is  for 
horizontal  shooting.  Where  the  whole  angle  of  elevation  is  so 
small  as  it  is  with  modem  high  velocity  rifles  at  sporting 
distances,  the  upward  or  downward  angle  of  fire  will  require 
to  be  very  steep  if  the  effect  of  it  upon  the  sighting  is  to 
be  more  than  trifling.  In  firing  at  longer  ranges,  as  in  war, 
there  is  even  less  probability  of  its  being  necessary  to  shoot 
at  steep  angles.  When  the  distances  are  great,  the  difficulty 
of  judging  them  accurately  would  probably  obscure  the 
difference  in  elevation  due  to  the  angle.  The  typical 
downhill  shot  in  shooting  chamois  or  other  mountain  game, 
in  which  the  sportsman  lie^  at  full  length  and  points  his 
rifle  straight  downwards  over  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  while 
his  attendant  holds  his  legs  to  prevent  his  slipping  right  over, 
is  a  very  exceptional  occurrence,  and  it  is  hard  to  give  a  more 
definite  rule  than  that  rather  less  elevation  should  be  given 
than  the  distance  would  appear  to  require. 

If  a  shot  be  fired  vertically  upwards  there  is  no  tendency  for 
the  bullet  to  turn  over  on  reaching  the  highest  poinJt  which  it 
can  attain,  and  it  descends  base  foremost,  for  the  spin  is  suffi- 
cient to  maintain  it  approximately  in  the  same  position  in 
which  it  started.  The  bullet  of  the  military  rifle  rises  so  high 
that  it  is  only  in  the  very  calmest  weather  that  there  is  any 
probability  of  its  falling  near  enough  to  the  firer  to  be  observed. 
The  influence  of  wind  on  it  is  enormous.  Not  only  does  it 
rise  to  the  upper  levels  of  air,  where  the  atmosphere,  though 


HIGH-ANGLE    EIRE  269 

somewhat  less  dense,  has  much  more  movement  than  near 
the  earth,  but,  in  rising  or  falling,  whatever  wind  there  may 
be  inevitably  bears  upon  its  side  surface,  and  so  exercises  the 
greatest  possible,  amount  of  influence  upon  it.  It  is  upon 
very  calm  water  on  a  very  still  day  that  there  is  the  best 
chance  of  observing  the  descent  of  a  bullet  fired  upwards. 
As  Mr.  Tip{)ins  points  out,  a  suggestion  which  has  been  more 
than  once  made,  and  which  Dr.  Conan  Doyle  brought  forward 
early  in  1900,  that  an  effective  high-angle  fire  might  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  an  entrenched  enemy  by  pointing  the 
rifle  upwards,  is  not  really  practical,  since  unless  the  most 
perfect  conditions  of  weather  prevail  it  is  impossible  to  tell 
within  500  yards  where  a  -808  bullet  will  fall.  The  time  of 
the  whole  flight  of  this  bullet  when  fired  vertically  is  believed 
to  be  about  45  seconds.  A  bullet  fired  upwards  in  vacuo 
would  reach  the  earth  again  with  the  same  velocity  as 
that  with  which  it  started ;  in  its  descent  it  would  gather 
up  again  the  whole  of  the  speed  which  it  had  yielded  to 
the  force  of  gravity  in  the  first  instance.  .  In  air  the  case 
is  different.  The  resistance  of  the  atmosphere  retards  the 
bullet  in  its  upward  flight,  and  deprives  it  of  a  very  large 
part  of  the  range  which  it  would  have  in  vacuo.  Equally, 
while  it  is  falling  from  the  height  which  it  has  attained  the 
air  continues  to  obstruct  it,  and  consequently  on  returning  to 
the  ground  it  possesses  only  a  very  small  part  of  the  velocity 
with  which  it  started.  The  same  is  the  case  even  more  notice- 
ably with  small  shot  fired  upwards  from  a  gun  in  covert 
shooting.  This  in  its  fall  would  be  an  immense  source  of 
danger  if  it  were  not  that  the  velocity  with  which  it  descends 
is  not  great  enough  to  do  damage. 

In  such  a  medium  as  air,  the  resistance  of  which  increases 
enormously  with  every  increase  of  velocity,  all  bodies,  if  free 
to  fall  for  a  long  enough  distance,  will  eventually  attain  what 
is  called  their  terminal  velocity,  the  speed,  that  is,  at  which 
the  accelerating  force  of  gravity  is  balanced  by  the  increased 
resistance  of  the  medium.  It  is  quite  true  that  in  a  vacuum 
a  downy  feather  and  a  bullet  fall  equally  fast,  but  in  still  air 
it  is  very  obvious  that  the  feather  sinks  gently  down  to  the 
ground  without  any  acceleration  after  it  has  once  fairly  begun 


270  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

to  fall.  Its  temiinal  velocity  is  very  low.  The  terminal 
velocity  of  the  old  round  musket-ball  was  less  than  300  feet 
per  second,  and  the  blow  of  a  falling  bullet,  although  serious 
enough,  is  not  by  any  means  so  effective  as  that  of  one  just 
discharged  from  a  rifle.  In  firing  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances the  bullet  remains  during  its  flight  closely  tangential 
to  the  trajectory,  and  consequently  descends  point  foremost, 
the  angle  of  descent  being  always  rather  steeper  than  the 
angle  of  elevation  with  which  it  started.  If  the  elevation  be 
raised  more  and  more  from  the  horizontal  there  will  be  some 
angle,  probably  between  26^*  and  40",  up  to  which  the  range 
attained  will  increase  to  its  maximum.  As  the  elevation  is 
increased  beyond  this  point  the  range  of  the  bullet  will 
become  shorter  and  shorter,  imtil  the  rifle  is  fired  perpendicu- 
larly, when  its  range  is  zero.  There  will  evidently  be  what 
may  be  called  a  critical  angle,  at  which  it  will  take  very  little 
to  decide  whether  the  bullet,  having  reached  the  top  of  its 
flight,  will  conform  to  the  curve  of  the  trajectory  and  descend 
point  forward,  or  whether  the  curve  at  the  top  of  the 
trajectory  is  too  short  to  develop  that  tendency.  In  the 
latter  case  the  bullet  will  fall  sideways  or  base  downward. 


271 


CHAPTER  X 

ACCURACY  OF  BIFLES — ESTIMATION  OF  DISTANCE— RANOE-FINDINO  INSTRU- 
MENTS— DENSITY  OF  AIR — TEMPERATURE — ^ATMOSPHERIC  PRESSURE — 
HEAD  WINDS  AND  CROSS  WINDS — VARUBLE  CURRENTS — FLAGS  AND 
MIRAGE — WIND  AFFECTING  ELEVATION — PECULIARITIES  OF  RANGES — 
FLAGS — WIND  JUDGMENT  AND   COACHING 

AssuMiNo  that  the  rifie  is  good  enough  to  be  able  to  do  all 
that   is  required  of  it  in   the  way  of  accuracy,  two  things 
are   essential  in   shooting  with   it.     The  first   is  that   the 
mechanical  part  of  the   alignment   of  the   sight  should  be 
quite  perfect.     The  other,  the  intellectual  part,  is  that  proper 
allowance  should  have  been  made  for  the  fall  of  the  bullet  at 
the  distance  in  question  for  the  particular  shot,  and  for  any 
deviation  due  to  wind  or  other  causes.     To  take  the  first  of 
these  headings.     The  trained  eye,   using  open   sights,  and 
able  therefore  to  make  such  s}mimetrical  arrangements   as 
they  admit  of,   can   attain   extraordinary    accuracy.      The 
Snider  rifle  was   not   to   be   trusted    to   make   a   score   at 
600  yards  or  beyond  it ;  at  600  yards  any  score  of  86,  the 
highest  possible  for  seven  shots,  or  within  one  or  two  points  of 
it,  was  very  rare,  and  the  same  was  the  case  in  the  shooting 
at  200  yards.      When   the   Martini-Henry  rifle  was   intro- 
duced the  scoring  rose  at  once,  and  strings  of  seven  bull's- 
eyes  at  200  and  600  yards  in  reasonably  easy  weather  were 
not  infrequent,  while  it  began  to  be  possible  to  make  good 
scores  at  600.     It  was  then  discovered  that  the  inaccuracies 
of  the  Snider  rifle  had  been  much  greater  than  was  supposed, 
and   the  faults   in   aiming  and   making  allowance  for  the 
weather  much  less.     When  the  -308  rifle  was  introduced  it 
was  not  anticipated  that  any  very  material  rise  in  the  score 
would  take  place,  yet  we  find  that  the  strings  of  bull's-eyes, 
which  were  occasional,  have  become  so  common  and  so  long 
as  to  verge  upon  monotony,  and  that  the  Martini-Henry,  which 


272  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

in  its  day  was  thought  to  be  capable  of  very  accurate  shooting 
at  short  distances,  was  in  reality  not  nearly  equal  to  doing 
justice  to  the  '  holding '  of  those  who  used  it.    This  fact  alone 
will  show  how  inadequate  the  accuracy  of  the  weapons  has 
hitherto   been  when   compared   with   the  skill  and  trouble 
devoted  to  their  use.     The  same  has  been  the  case  from  very 
early  times.     Ancient  crossbows  were  in  many  cases  fitted 
not  only  with  delicate  aperture  back  sights,  but  with  fore 
sights   capable  of  fine  adjustment,   a   bead,  strung  upon    a 
wire,  supported  by  two  horns  of  metal,  between  which  the 
projectile  passed,  being  one  of  them ;  yet  the  accuracy  with 
which  the  crossbow  will  shoot  is  by  no  means  worthy  of  very 
delicate  sighting.    The  fact  is  that  there  has  been  at  all  times 
a  blessed  inability  on  the  part  of  both  shooters  and  spectators 
to  realise  that  skill  is  only  one  of  the  elements  involved,  and 
that  with  the  most  accurate  arms  the  ideal  shot,  which  strikes 
the  absolute  centre  of  the  mark,  demands  a  large  proportion 
of  good  luck.     The  stories  of  the  prowess  with  the  rifle  of 
'  Leather  Stocking,'  and  other  heroes  of  romance,  has  little 
more  foundation  in  fact  than  those  of  Robin  Hood  with  the 
longbow,  which — alas !  for  the  beliefs  of  our  childhood  !  —have 
now  finally  passed  into  the  domain  of  fable.     Salem  Wilder, 
whose  recollections  of  shooting  matches  extended  back  aixtj^ 
years,  in  lecturing  at  Winchester,  Massachusetts,  in  1892, 
said  that  he  supposed  that  most  of  his. hearers  had  read  the 
wonderful  stories  which  had  been   printed   concerning   the 
shooting  of  the  old  Western  pioneers  like  Daniel  Boone,  of 
Kentucky,  and  added,  *  Well,  doubtless  Daniel  Boone  was  a 
fine  marksman,  and  under  the  conditions  then  existing  he 
did  remarkable*  shooting;  but  there  were  no  rifles  then  in 
existence  which  would  stand  a  ghost  of  a  chance  in  a  test  of 
accuracy,  even  at  200  yards,   if  brought  into  competition 
with  our  modern  first-class  target  rifles,  while  at  500  yards 
distance  a  modern  target  rifle  would   hit  a   10-inch   circle 
oftener  than  one  of  the  best  of  the  old  rifles  would  hit  a 
30-inch  ring.'     The  rifle  has  not  yet  been  made  which  will 
*  drive  the  nail '  every  shot  at  a  hundred  yards,  unless  it  be 
a  nail  with  an  abnormally  large   head;   but  one  thing   is 
certain,  that  the  more  accurate  the  rifle   the  better  is  the 


ESTIMATION    OP    DISTANCE  273 

work  which  can  be  done  with  it,  and  that  no  continuous 
good  work  can  be  done  without  every  care  being  taken  by 
the  shooter.  It  is  of  no  use,  therefore,  to  expect  absolutely 
perfect  results,  or,  when  some  extraordinarily  good  shot  is 
made,  to  attribute  its  success  entirely  to  skill. 

The  second  part  of  good  aiming  consists  in  correctly 
judging  and  allowing  for  the  conditions  of  weather  and  of 
distance  which  have  to  be  met,  and  this  is  the  part  which 
demands  something  more  than  mechanical  skill  of  well- 
drilled  muscles  and  a  correct  eye,  and  calls  into  play  all  the 
faculties  of  quick  and  accurate  observation,  judgment,  and 
decision,  which  are  so  necessary  to  success  under  all  other 
circumstances  of  life.  As  regards  the  adjustment  of  the  sights 
the  first  thing  is  to  know  the  distance  accurately,  or,  if  it  is 
not  known,  to  estimate  it  with  some  approach  to  correctness. 
It  is  elsewhere  shown  that  owing  to  the  curved  form  of  the 
trajectory,  the  bullet  will  strike  above  or  below  the  object 
if  the  sight  be  not  so  placed,  and  aim  so  taken,  that  the  line 
of  aim  intercepts  the  path  of  the  bullet  at  the  point  which 
it  is  desired  to  hit.  In  shooting  at  a  target,  not  only  is 
the  distance  almost  invariably  known,  but  a  series  of  shots 
are  fired,  and  if  the  first  be  too  low  or  too  high,  the  correction 
for  it  can  be  made  in  the  sighting  or  in  the  aim.  In  war  it 
is  urgently  important  that  the  first  shot  should  strike  in  the 
right  place,  for  there  may  be  no  opportunity  for  another; 
yet  the  distance  is  not  known  unless  under  quite  exceptional 
circumstances,  nor  is  there  in  most  cases  anything  to  show 
where  the  first  shot  hit,  so  as  to  enable  the  aim  to  be 
corrected.  The  same  applies  in  a  large  degree  to  sporting 
shots,  but  the  estimation  of  the  distance  with  them  is,  as  a  rule, 
less  difficult  and  less  important,  because  the  distances  judged 
are  very  much  shorter  than  they  are  in  war,  and  because  no 
attempt  is  made  to  shoot  at  distances  at  which  the  trajectory 
has  become  very  much  curved. 

Many  patterns  of  range-finding  instruments  have  been 
invented  for  military  purposes  and  have  obtained  a  greater 
or  less  degree  of  success.  Col.  Watkin's  Mekometer  is  an 
excellent  instrument  when  the  proper  conditions  for  its  use 
are   present.     With    it,   observations  can  be  made   almost 

T 


274  THE    BOOK   OF    THE    EIPLE 

instantaneously  and  very  accurately,  but  it  requires  t^o 
observers,  who  from  the  two  ends  of  a  cord  some  30  yards  long 
stretched  between  them  must  be  able  to  see  clearly,  not  only 
each  other,  but  the  distant  point,  the  range  of  which  is  to  be 
taken.  It  is  often  difficult,  in  ground  which  is  broken  or 
timbered  or  cut  up  by  many  hedgerows,  to  fulfil  these 
conditions:  Nor  is  this  all.  *  The  fact  that  two  observers  are 
required,  and  that  they  have  to  align  their  instruments  with 
great  accuracy  upon  the  same  point,  leads  to  difficulties.  It 
requires  a  very  well  defined  point  for  observation.  It  is 
not  enough  to  say,  '  Take  that  house,*  it  must  be  some 
particular  chimney,  or  particular  comer  of  the  building. 
Very  often  it  is  difficult  to  fix  on  an  object  which  can  be 
sufficiently  well  defined  and  described  to  give  both  observers 
an  unmistakable  point,  and  even  then  mistakes  are  liable  to 
be  made  by  confusion  as  to  which  tree  or  rock  is  meant. 
This  class  of  difficulty  applies  to  all  instruments  which  depend 
upon  two  observers.  Of  other  range-finding  instruments, 
similarly  depending  on  a  base  of  some  length,  but  requiring 
that  the  same  observer  should  move  to  different  points,  and 
make  successive  observations,  it  can  only  be  said  that  they 
are  far  slower  in  use,  and  even  more  dependent  upon  favour- 
able ground  and  convenient  points  of  alignment  being  found. 
They  are,  in  -fact,  only  capable  of  being  used  under  very 
exceptional  circumstances,  as  when  preparing  a  position  at 
leisure  for  possible  attack. 

There  is  another  class  of  range-finding  instruments,  in 
which  the  base  is  a  great  deal  shorter,  and  the  observation 
made  by  a  single  observer,  two  images  of  the  object  being 
received  at  the  two  ends  of  the  base,  and  reflected  so  that 
they  are  brought  together  to  the  eye.  The  most  successful 
of  these,  perhaps,  is  one  which  has  been  adopted  in  H.M. 
Navy,  the  Barr  and  Stroud  range-finder.  The  base  of  this  is 
4  feet  6  inches  long,  and  it  has  a  vertical  pivot  in  the  middle  so 
that  it  may  be  turned  in  any  direction.  It  is  capable  of  great 
accuracy  up  to  long  distances,  compensation  being  ingeniously 
made  for  such  troubles  as  that  caused  by  the  effect  of  changes 
of  temperature  on  the  metal  of  the  tubes  in  which  the  prisms 
are   set.     Such   instruments  depend  largely  upon  telescopic 


RANGE-FINDING  275 

magnification  to  effect  the  accurate  coincidence  necessary  for 
80  short  a  base.  The  Barr  and  Stroud  instrument  has  not 
come  into  vogue  for  infantry  purposes,  and  great  as  are  the 
advantages  of  using  so  short  a  base,  no  instrument  of  this 
kind  seems  to  have  been  as  yet  produced  which  is  capable  of 
being  used  in  the  field  under  service  conditions.  The  question 
is  still  occupying  the  attention  of  scientific  men.  Any  range- 
finder,  if  it  is  to  be  really  useful  for  military  purposes,  must 
be  capable  of  being  used  under  fire,  and  of  rapidly  giving 
accurate  readingis.  The  problem,  then,  of  a  really  service- 
able range-finder  for  use  by  infantry  on  service  at  fighting 
ranges  still  awaits  a  solution.  It  is  really  the  problem  of 
producing  a  portable  instrument  with  a  self-contained  base, 
capable  of  very  great  accuracy  in  the  measurement  of  minute 
angles  on  marks  not  too  well  defined,  even  when  handled  by 
a  man  with  no  great  amount  of  special  training. 

In  the  absence  of  such  an  instrument  what  means  have 
we  of  determining  distance?  Very  little.  The  velocity  of 
sound,  about  1,100  feet  per  second,  being  known,  it  used  to 
be  possible  in  war  to  observe  the  interval  between  the 
discharge  of  a  gun  and  its  report,  and  so  to  calculate  the 
distance.  This  method  can  no  longer  be  used  in  daylight 
since  the  introduction  of  smokeless  powder ;  the  eye,  educated 
by  experience,  is  now  the  only  guide,  and  it  is  a  guide  liable 
to  great  deception.  Take  the  Highland  gillie,  who  can  judge 
the  distance  of  a  stag  or  a  hind  on  ground  with  which  he  is 
familiar  with  an  error  of  perhaps  plus  or  minus  5  to  10 
per  cent,  up  to  200  yards,  a  degree  of  accuracy  which  the 
unskilled  man  under  the  same  conditions  will  not  be  able  to 
approach.  Ask  him  on  unfamiliar  flat  ground  to  judge  the 
distance  of  some  object  of  which  he  does  not  know  the  exact 
size,  and  increase  the  distance  five  or  six  fold,  and  it  may  be 
imagined  what  the  result  will  be.  The  fact  is,  that  the 
estimation  of  distance  by  the  eye,  while  capable  of  being 
acquired  in  a  certain  degree,  must  always  be  incomplete  and 
unsatisfactory.  The  varying  light,  the  difference  between  a 
low  stm  and  a  high  sun,  between  the  appearance  of  things 
towards  the  sun  and  away  from  it,  the  degree  of  clearness  in 
an  air  without  mist,  the  degree  of  thickness  in  all  stages  of 

•  t2 


276  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    EIPLE 

mist,  fog,  or  rain,  the  deceitful  appearance  of  onfamiliar 
ground  and  perhaps  of  water,  all  seem  to  make  it  i^lpo88ible 
that  a  sufficiently  accurate  estimate  of  distance  for  military 
purposes  should  be  made  by  the  eye  alone.  Within  sporting 
distances  a  fair  degree  of  proficiency  may  be  acquired  by 
constant  practice  on  varying  ground,  the  actual  distances 
being  carefully  paced  after  being  estimated,  but  it  seems  im- 
possible to  acquire  in  this  way  any  degree  of  proficiency  in 
judging  distances  for  infantry  fire  in  war. 

The  one  help  which  remains  is  to  observe,  when  prac- 
ticable, the  effect  of  fire.  For  artillery  fire,  at  which  it  is 
possible  to  use  range-finding  instruments,  this  is  still  the 
main  check  on  the  correctness  of  the  distance  assumed. 
Colonel  Fosbery,  V.C,  in  the  Umbeyla  Campaign  in  India, 
many  years  ago,  used  explosive  bullets  in  the  Enfield  rifle 
with  great  success  to  ascertain  distances.  The  explosion  of 
the  shell  on  striking  the  ground  could  be  observed,  and  the 
elevation  thereby  corrected,  and  so  given  to  the  other  rifle- 
men. Two  things  have  happened  since  then,  besides  the 
abolition  of  explosive  bullets,  i,e.  that  the  ranges  at  which 
fire  is  effective  are  much  greater,  and  the  size  of  the  bullet^ 
which  in  favourable  ground  will  make  a  visible  disturbance  of 
the  soil  where  it  strikes,  is  much  less.  It  is  even  more 
difficult  than  formerly  to  observe  the  effect  of  the  fire  if  the 
movement  of  a  visible  enemy  do  not  *give  some  clue  to  its 
accuracy  or  the  direction  of  its  inaccuracy.  There  is  probably 
no  better  range-finder  than  a  small  gim  of  rather  low  velocity, 
firing  shells  whose  explosion  on  impact  can  be  seen  at  a 
long  distance  ;  but  this  is  so  cumbrous  an  instrument,  requir- 
ing the  undivided  attention  of  several  men,  that  it  seems  an 
expedient  that  could  not  well  be  arranged  to  accompany 
infantry.  As  hai-dly  needs  to  be  pointed  out,  the  margin  of 
error  which  can  be  allowed  in  ascertaining  distances  decreases 
with  the  increase  of  distance,  and  this  is  why  guesswork  is  so 
singularly  ineffective  when  we  come  to  the  ranges  used  in 
war. 

Let  us  assume,  then,  that  the  firer  knows  his  distance  to 
a  nicety,  and  knows  from  careful  practice  exactly  how  to  align 
his  sights  ;  he  must  know,  in  addition,  the  peculiarities  of 


EFFECT    OF    TEMPERATUEE  277 

his  rifle  as  regards  sighting.  Eyes  and  habits  of  seeing 
differ,  and  sights  set  correctly  for  one  man  are  not  neces- 
sarily correct  for  another.  The  divisions  of  the  back  sight 
of  a  rifle  are  not  often  correct,  even  at  the  shortest  ranges, 
and  observation  alone  can  teach  the  precise  adjustments 
required.  Then  (we  are  still  considering  elevation)  come 
the  effects  of  atmosphere  and  of  weather.  The  air  is  some- 
times less  resistful  to  the  bullet  than  at  others:  if  the 
barometer  is  high,  the  air  is  dense,  and  the  bullet  takes 
longer  to  penetrate  a  given  distance  of  it,  and  falls  further 
in  the  time,  hence  greater  elevation  is  required. 

The  density  of  the  air  is  far  more  affected  by  temperature 
than  it  is  by  the  variations  in  height  of  the  atmosphere 
which  the  barometer  indicates.  Sir  Henry  Halford  for  a 
long  series  of  years  was  constantly  shooting  at  long  ranges 
with  the  best  rifles  that  could  be  made,  in  all  weathers  both 
of  winter  and  summer,  and  making  very  careful  notes  of  his 
results.  He  foimd  in  early  days  that  the  winter  elevations  were 
consistently  much  higher  than  the  summer  ones,  and  arrived 
for  himself  at  the  true  reason,  that  cold  air  offers  more  re- 
sistance to  the  bullet  than  warm  air.  He  put  the  change  in 
elevation  with  the  Metford  '461  Match  rifle,  firing  80  grains 
of  Curtis  &  Harvey's  No.  6  powder,  and  a  bullet  of  670  grains, 
with  an  initial  velocity  of  1,300  f.s.,  and  fired  at  1,000  yards, 
at  1'  of  angle  for  every  4^°  Fahrenheit  of  temperature  ;  that 
is  to  say,  that  the  variation  between  a  temperature  of  80**  and 
one  of  SO''  would  be  as  much  as  11'.  He  ^ates  the  same 
fact  in  another  form  by  saying  that  the  angle  which  would 
be  correct  with  the  thermometer  at  30°  for  1,000  yards  would 
be  correct  when  it  was  at  SO"*  for  1,055  yards.  We  may 
picture  to  ourselves  what  happens  in  this  way :  that  the 
particles  of  which  the  atmosphere  is  composed  are  closer 
together  in  a  low  temperature  than  they  are'  in  a  high 
one,  and  therefore  the  bullet  in  travelling  a  given  distance 
will  have  to  push  aside  more  of  these  particles.  The 
effect  of  temperature  upon  the  flight  of  the  bullets  of  modern 
military  rifles,  starting  at  a  velocity  of  2,000  feet  and 
upwards,  is  no  doubt  considerably  more  in  proportion  than  it 
was  with  the  Match  rifle,  although  the  amount  of  fall  in  the 


278  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

whole  flight  being  less,  and  the  angle  of  elevation  for  any 
distance  consequently  smaller,  the  total  e£fect  will  not  neces- 
sarily be  greater.  Mr.  Tippins,  in  his  book  on  'Modem 
Rifle  Shooting/  gives  an  empirical  formula  for  the  effect  of 
temperature  changes  which  is  probably  about  correct.  With 
the  -808  rifle,  which  almost  coincides  for  the  1,000  yards 
distance  with  Sir  Henry  Halford's  reckoning,  it  is  very 
simple.  He  says :  '  Multiply  the  number  of  degrees  of 
change  of  temperature  by  the  number  of  hundreds  of  yards 
and  divide  the  result  by  10.'  The  result  represents  in  yards 
the  increase  of  range  for  which  elevation  has  to  be  given. 
Calculated  by  this  method,  the  effect  of  a  fall  of  temperature 
from  80°  to  30°  would  require  that  the  elevation  should  be 
raised  from  1,000  yards  to  1,050  yards.  The  need  for 
changing  the  distance  allowance  in  accordance  with  the 
temperature  is  not  very  material  in  shooting  at  close  ranges, 
but  it  is  one  of  the  factors  to  be  taken  into  accoimt  at  long 
ranges,  and  must  not  lightly  be  lost  sight  of.  The  modem 
custom  of  allowing  a  sighting  shot  before  the  shots  to  be 
coimted  for  competition  is  unsatisfactory  in  that  such  con- 
siderations as  those  of  temperature,  which  have  to  be  taken 
into  account  if  the  first  shot  is  to  be  planted  well  in  the 
centre  of  the  target,  are  apt  to  be  lost  sight  of.  Even  at 
long  ranges  it  is  very  improbable  that  the  first  shot  will 
not  hit  the  target  somewhere,  and  the  errors  of  this  shot 
being  corrected,  the  competitor  starts  fair  for  the  shots  which 
count  for  the  prize  list.  In  match  shooting  at  long  ranges  it 
does  sometimes,  though  rarely,  happen  that  a  very  rapid 
change  of  temperature,  taking  place  with  or  without  a  shift  of 
wind,  is  enough  to  cause  a  general  round  or  two  of  misses, 
which  the  really  observant  competitor  may  be  lucky  enough 
to  escape. 

If  the  barometer  is  low,  the  density  of  the  air  is  less,  and 
the  elevation  necessary  is  accordingly  diminished.  Yet  the 
variation  due  to  this  cause  is  hardly  noticeable  even  at  long 
ranges  under  ordinary  circumstances,  the  fluctuations  of  the 
barometer  not  being  very  extensive  at  any  given  level.  It 
is  probably  not  very  far  from  the  truth  to  say  that  an  inch  of 
rise  or  fall  in  the  barometer  has  the  same  effect  as  a  corre- 


ATMOSPHERIC    PRESSURE  279 

sponding  change  of  15°  in  temperature.  Thus  the  state  of 
the  barometer  may  tend  either  to  counteract  or  to  increase 
the  variation  from  the  normal  required  by  the  temperature 
on  any  particular  day.  The  effect  of  the  density  of  the  air 
as  shown  by  the  barometer  is  not  so  great  that  it  need  be 
separately  taken  into  account  in  shooting  under  ordinary 
conditions,  especially  at  short  ranges.  It  has,  however, 
considerable  effect  under  circumstances,  not  of  variation  of 
the  weather  at  sea-level,  but  of  change  of  station  of  the 
shooter.  At  high  mountain  elevations,  such  as  sportsmen 
attain  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  the  West  or  on  the  plateaux 
and  mountain  ranges  of  Asia,  the  reduced  density  of  the  air 
flattens  the  trajectory  quite  appreciably,  and  is  very  well 
worth  noticing.  A  height  of  5,000  feet  means  a  reduction 
in  the  height  of  the  barometer  from  80  inches  to  a  little 
under  25  inches,  and  this  would  correspond  to  a  temperature 
difference  of  about  75''.  The  practical  result  is  this,  that  in 
going  to  very  high  altitudes  it  would  be  worth  while  to 
check  the  sighting  of  the  rifle  carefully  rather  than  to 
attempt  for  sporting  ranges  to  make  a  correction  by  calcula- 
tion of  the  density  of  the  air. 

Changes  of  elevation  to  meet  variations  of  density  in  the 
air  are  as  nothing  compared  to  those  due  to  the  effect  of 
wind.  It  took  several  hundred  years  of  knowledge  of 
firearms  before  the  full  effect  of  the  resistance  of  the 
air  to  the  bullet  was  appreciated.  We  are  wiser  now, 
and  can  appeal  even  to  our  own  experience.  The  high 
speeds  of  locomotion  of  the  present  day,  whether  on  board 
ship,  on  bicycles,  or  in  the  train,  have  taught  every- 
one what  a  material  factor  in  resistance  and  in  pace  the 
wind  can  be.  Winds  blowing  from  50  to  100  miles  per  hour 
are  classed  as  gales  or  hurricanes,  and  can  do  an  immense 
amoimt  of  damage.  The  speed  of  the  Lee-Metford  bullet 
starting  upon  its  flight  is  fully  1,800  miles  per  hour,  and  any 
increase  or  decrease  of  the  resistance  of  the  air  is  accord- 
ingly very  noticeable  as  affecting  its  speed.  The  effect  of  a 
front  or  rear  wind  upon  the  bullet  may  be  understood 
by  considering  how  far  the  wind  travels  with  or  against 
it   while   the    bullet   is   in   the  air.      The    time    of    flight 


280  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    RIFLE 

of  the  '308  bullet  for  1,000  yards  being  2*3  seconds, 
supposing  the  wind  to  be  meeting  it  at  the  rate  of  30  miles 
an  hour,  the  wind  will  in  2*8  seconds  have  travelled  105  feet, 
or  85  yards,  and  accordingly,  instead  of  passing  through 
1,000  yards  of  air  during  its  flight,  the  bullet  passes  through 
1,085  yards.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  resistance  varies,  not  in 
proportion  merely  to  the  quantity  of  air,  but  in  a  very  much 
higher  ratio,  due  to  the  speed  of  the  air  and  of  the  ballet. 
The  rule  given  by  Mr.  Tippins  for  the  difference  in  elevation 
due  to  a  direct  front  or  rear  wind  is  as  follows :  '  Multiply 
the  velocity  of  wind  in  miles  per  hour  by  the  number  of^ 
hundred  yards  in  the  range,  and  divide  the  result  by  4.  This 
will  give  the  increase  or  decrease  of  the  range  for  which  ele- 
vation is  to  be  given  in  yards.' 

It  will  be  seen  that  when  strong  winds  are  in  question, 
and  especially  when  they  are  combined  with  differences  of 
temperature,  the  variation  in  allowance  from  one  day  to 
another  may  be  very  considerable  indeed.  It  is  simple  enough 
to  allow  for  wind  when  it  is  only  blowing  straight  up  or  down 
the  range,  but  wind  has  a  very  perverse  way  of  blowing  at  one 
time  or  another  from  all  points  of  the  compass,  and  also  of 
constantly  shifting  to  some  extent  its  direction,  so  that  when 
it  is  blowing  as  straight  as  possible  up  the  range,  it  is 
almost  certain  to  swing  a  little  to  one  side  or  the  other  with 
quick  changes,  varying  sufficiently  to  make  the  shooting 
difficult  at  long  range.  According  to  the  direction  of  the 
wind,  as  well  as  its  strength,  so  will  the  allowance  need 
varying.  It  is,  of  course,  most  when  the  wind  is  straight 
across  the  range  or  the  direction  in  which  the  shot  is  fired, 
not  only  because  it  is  then  most  effective  to  carry  the  bullet 
out  of  its  straight  course,  but  because  the  surface  of  the  bullet 
exposed  to  its  influence  is  much  larger  than  when  the  bullet 
is  meeting  the  wind  or  flying  from  it.  Mr.  Tippins,  as  the 
result  of  much  experiment,  gives  a  table  of  wind  allowances 
which  must  be  very  near  the  mark  for  all  practical  purposes. 
The  direction  of  the  wind  is  in  ordinary  rifleman's  parlance 
described  by  the  figures  on  a  clock-face.  It  is  assumed  that 
the  firing  point  is  in  the  centre,  and  that  the  target  represents 
12   o'clock.     A   wind  blowing  from  the  target  to  the  firing 


WIND    ALLOWANCES  281 

point  is  called  a  12  o'clock  wind ;  winds  from  the  right  and 
left  3  and  9  o'clock  winds,  and  so  on.  Mr.  Tippins  considers 
that  with  the  wind  at  2,  4,  8,  or  10  o'clock,  the  amount  of 
allowance  required  will  be  two-thirds  of  what  it  is  with  a  wind 
of  the  same  strength  blowing  from  9  o'clock  or  8  o'clock ;  and 
that  if  its  direction  is  from  1,  5,  7,  or  11  o'clock,  one  third  of 
the  same  allowance  will  be  required.  By  giving  for  each  100 
jardB  up  to  1,000  yards  the  allowance  required  for  six  different 
degrees  of  strength  of  wind  (gentle,  moderate,  fresh,  strong, 
very  strong,  gale),  he  forms  a  very  useful  table,  which  we  do 
not  presume  to  copy,  for  practical  shooting  with  the  'SOS  rifle. 
If  a  spherical  bullet  were  used,  the  effect  of  the  wind  upon  it 
would  no  doubt  be  strictly  proportionate  to  the  angle  at  which 
the  wind  meets  it,  because  the  form  of  the  bullet  acted  on  by 
the  wind  does  not  vary,  whereas  with  a  long  bullet  the  surface 
exposed,  for  instance,  to  a  side  wind  is  quite  different  from 
that  exposed  to  a  wind  from  11  or  7  o'clock. 

For  bullets  of  a  larger  bore  the  proportions  of  allowance 
for  winds  of  different  directions  approximate  more  nearly  to 
those  for  the  spherical  ball,  than  is  the  case  with  more 
modern  rifles.  Sir  Henry  Halford  gives,  in  his  little  book,  a 
table  of  wind-allowances  for  the  old  Match  rifle  up  to 
1,000  yards.  With  this  rifle  Mr.  Metford  considered  that  at 
800  yards,  if  the  wind  was  square  across  the  range,  1'  or 
8  inches  of  allowance  had  to  be  made  for  every  mile  per  hour 
of  the  wind  speed  ;  thus,  a  wind  moving  at  20  miles  per 
hour  would  require  20'  of  allowance.  At  shorter  ranges 
somewhat  less  in  proportion  is  required,  at  longer  ranges 
something  more,  since  the  velocity  of  the  bullet  is  variable, 
and  the  wind  has  a  longer  time  in  proportion  to  act  upon  it 
at  long  ranges  than  at  short.  Judging  the  amount  of  allow- 
ance to  be  made  for  wind  is  largely  a  matter  of  practice  and 
of  habit.  There  are  a  very  few  people  to  whom  it  comes 
after  some  experience  almost  instinctively,  and  who  do  not 
appear  to  require  any  large  amount  of  practice  to  maintain 
their  skill.  For  the  first  shot  it  is  well  to  consider  what  the 
strength  of  the  wind  is,  and  what  the  allowance  should  be, 
supposing  it  to  be  blowing  straight  across  the  range.  By 
taking  a  proper  proportion  in  accordance  with  the  angle  at 


282  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

which  the  shot  is  to  be  fired,  the  amount  of  allowance  to  be 
made  can  then  be  closely  arrived  at,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
variation  from  the  normal  elevation  due  to  the  direction  of 
the  wind  allowed  for.    When  the  target  has  been  found,  there 
comes  in  the  additional  difficulty  of  the  variation  of  the  wind 
from  shot  to  shot.     There  are  places  and  there  are  ranges 
where  this  commonly  amounts  to  very  little  ;  by  the  seaside, 
where  the  wind  is  usually  strong,  a  long  series  of  shots  may 
sometimes  be  fired  with  a  large  allowance  for  a  stifiT  breeze 
blowing  across  the  range  with  almost  no  alteration,  the  shots 
continuing  to  group  themselves  well  into  the  centre  of  the  target. 
Paradoxical  as  it  sounds  to  say  so,  there  is  no  weather  in 
which  the  shooting  is  so  easy  as  when  it  tends  to  be  foggy 
and  thick,  for  at  such  times  the  great  cause  of  wind  currents, 
the  heat  of  the   sun,  is   absent.       The  ordinary  course   of 
a  typical  English  summer  day  is  interesting  to  watch  from 
this  point  of  view.    Just  before  dawn  all  will  be  still ;  not  a  leaf 
stirs  upon  the  trees,  not  a  blade  of  grass  sheds  its  dew-drops : 
there  is  a  gentle  tendency  to  haze,  smoke  rises  quite  perpen- 
dicularly, and  the  atmosphere  seems  to  be  absolutely  placid 
and  calm.     But  as  soon  as  the  sun  has  risen  well  above  the 
horizon  trifling  currents  are  set  up,  and  by  the  time  that  it  is 
well  up  in  the  sky,  if  the  day  be  not  cloudy,  the  eddies  will 
have  grown  and  grown  into  a  decided  movement  of  the  air. 
It  may  be  that  a  brisk  breeze  will  arise,  or  it  may  be  that 
constant  restless  eddyings  and  temporary   shifting  currents 
only  will  prevail,  but  this  is  far  rarer.     Then,  as  the    sun 
droops  in   the   heavens   the   breeze  dies   away  slowly,    the 
eddyings  diminish,  the  flags  to  which  the  marksman  looks  to 
guide  him  in  estimating  the  wind's  strength  and  direction, 
droop  little  by  little,  till  they  hang  motionless  against  their 
poles.    Then,  as  has  often  been  seen  at  Wimbledon  and  Bisley, 
comes   the   lucky  hour  or  half-hour,   during  which  a  long 
string  of  bulFs-eyes  can  be  made  without  difficulty,  and  some 
score  within  a  point  or  two  of  the  highest  possible,  made  at 
an  earlier  hour  of  the  day,  with  much  strenuous  effort  and 
good  judgment,  and,  no  doubt,  a  little  good  luck,  is  dethroned 
from  its   pride  of  place.      Of  course   it  will   often   happen 
that  many  consecutive  days  are  accompanied  from  start  to 


EFFECT    OF    WIND    CDKEENTS  28» 

finish    by   blustering  winds,  and  that  the  cahn  time  nev^r 

comes.     At  Bisley,  for  instance,  in  1894,  for  several  days  in 

succession  the  wind  blew  so  strongly  across  the  range  that  at 

900  yards  the  average  allowance  for  it  was  22  feet,  just  the 

distance  from  the  bull's-eye  of  one  target  k)  the  bulFs-eye  of 

its    neighbour.    This  is,  of  course,  exceptional,  but  it  may 

serve  to  give  some  idea  of  the  amount  of  allowance  necessary 

at  times.     As  with  the  bicycle,  so  with  the  bullet ;  a  wind 

blowing  fairly  across  the  course  becomes   something  of  a 

beadwind  owing  to  the  speed  of  the  moving  body,  and  acts 

upon  it  more  effectually  than  if  it  had  no  progressive  motion. 

Owing  to  the  resistance  created  by  its  own  speed,  the  bullet 

is  far  more  affected  by  a  side  wind  during  a  given  time  of 

flight  than  it  would  be  if  merely  allowed  to  fall  for  the 

same  period  in  air  similarly  moving. 

In  spite  of  their  greater  velocity  the  wind-allowance  with 

the  -303  or  the  -256  rifle  is  very  considerably  more  than  it 

used  to  be  with  the  Match  rifle  of  -461  calibre,  with  its  heavy 

bullet,  since  the  lighter  bullet  is  very  much  more  affected  by 

a  side  wind.     The  allowance  with  the  '803  rifle  may  be  taken 

to  be  about  30  per  cent,  more  than  it  was  under  the  same 

conditions  with  the  old  rifle,  and  that  with  the  -256  rifle 

decidedly  more  again.     It  must  not  be   supposed  that  the 

strongest  winds  are  always  the  most  fatal  to  scoring :  the 

light,  eddying  breeze  that  changes  in  a  moment  and  swings 

round  with  some  invisible  current  in  the  path  of  the  bullet 

instantaneously,  as  it  seems,  between  the  moment  of  aiming 

and  the  moment  when  the  shot  is  in  the  air,  is,  perhaps,  the 

most  diflScult  and  baffling  of  all.     When,  as  may  sometimes 

be  seen,  the  flags  at  the  firing-point  show  a  current  from  the 

right  rear,  those  at  the  target  another  from  the  right  front, 

and  perhaps  those  half-way   down  the  range  one  from  the 

left,  it  becomes  almost  as  much  a  matter  of  guesswork  as  of 

judgment  to  estimate  the  combined  effect  of  all  these  upon 

the   bullet.     Flags,   too,   in   such  winds  are  often  notorious 

Uars ;  they  are  usually  higher  in  the  air  than  the  trajectory 

of  the  bullet,  and  the  currents  at  different  elevations  may  be 

influenced  by   some  obstacle  which   diverts  the   air   at    a 

particular  place.    When  the  sun  is  shining,  as  it  usually  is 


284  THE    BOOK    OP   THE    RIFIiE 

when  the  wind  is  particularly  tricky,  it  is  often  possible  to 
get  some  help  by  watching  the  movement  of  the  miragf)  or 
boil  of  the  heated  air  as  seen  against  the  target.  Carioasly 
enough,  this  is  a  much  truer  guide  than  the  flags,  and  its 
apparent  movement  seems  fairly  well  to  sum  up  the  average 
effect  of  the  different  currents,  but  it  has  to  be  wat'Ched 
closely,  for  the  slight  drift  one  way  or  the  other  which  can 
be  observed  will  sometimes  instantaneously  disappear,  or 
change  to  the  opposite  direction.  In  tricky  weather  there  is 
scope  for  a  good  deal  of  luck  as  well  as  of  skill  in  making  a 
good  score,  for  the  change  may  come  just  after  the  last  look 
at  the  wind,  and  before  the  trigger  is  pulled,  or  it  may  happen 
not  to  do  so.  In  long-range  competitions  a  man  may  often 
be  heard  to  exclaim  at  such  times,  after  firing  his  shot,  that 
the  wind  had  changed  while  he  was  aiming,  and  too  often  this 
is  confirmed  by  the  shot  being  marked  away  from  the  bulFB- 
eye.  The  advantage  of  aiming  and  firing  quickly  under  such 
conditions  is  obvious,  and  the  slow,  poking  shot  will  often 
waste  his  own  and  his  neighbour's  time,  and  secure  only  a 
worse  result  after  all  than  if  he  had  shown  more  promptitude. 
It  is  a  good  rule,  when  in  great  doubt  about  changing  the 
allowance  after  a  successful  shot,  not  to  do  so.  Sometimes 
at  long  ranges  the  wind  will  apparently  alter  a  good  deal,  and 
the  marksman  will  make  what  he  thinks  to  be  a  corresponding 
allowance,  only  to  find  towards  the  end  of  his  shooting,  that 
if  he  had  consistently  fired  with  the  average  allowance,  and 
without  altering  it,  his  score  would  have  been  better  than  it 
was.  It  happens  often  enough  that  one  or  two  shots,  which 
are  really  a  little  wide  of  the  proper  group  of  the  rifle  to  one 
side  or  the  other,  will,  being  reckoned  as  straight  shots,  dis- 
turb the  shooter's  judgment  of  the  wind  in  his  subsequent 
shots  enough  to  spoil  his  score.  Sometimes,  of  two  men 
shooting  at  the  same  target,  one  will  be  found  to  have  fired 
all  through  with  very  little  change  of  allowance,  while  the  other 
may  have  made  many  alterations,  and  yet  both  will  have 
made  good  scores.  This  is  an  illustration  of  how  much  may 
be  due  to  the  element  of  luck  which  comes  in  on  certain  days 
when  the  wind  changes  a  good  deal,  since  for  one  man  it  may 
happen  to  return  to  its  average  strength  at  the  moment  when 


WIND    AS    AFFECTING    ELEVATION  285 

he  happens  to  be  firing,  for  a  majority  of  his  shots,  while 
for  another  it  may  not.  Judging  the  wind  can  never  be  re- 
duced to  an  exact  science,  since  often  enough  a  small  local 
gust  at  the  firing  point  deceives  the  shooter  into  thinking  it  a 
real  change,  or  some  increase  t^kes  place  further  down  the 
range  which  is  not  obvious  at  the  firing  point. 

In  weather  in  which  the  changes  of  wind  are  very  con- 
siderable, young  shots  are  apt  to  forget  that  every  change  of 
direction  of  the  wind  is  apt  to  require  some  change  of  eleva- 
tion.     For    instance,    a    wind    which    shifts    in    direction 
from  3  to  1  o'clock,  or  from  6   to  4  o'clock,  as  sometimes 
may  happen,  will  require  a  distinct  rise  in  elevation,  since  it 
adds  to  the  time  of  flight,  but  the  contrary  is  the  case    if 
the    winds   shift   from    1    to   8    o'clock,    or   from    4    to    6 
o'clock.     The  writer  remembers  one  occasion,  when,  in  a  long- 
range  competition,  with  a  fairly  light   wind,  almost  every- 
body began  to  miss  before  they  had  observed  that  the  wind 
had  shifted  from  2  to  12  o'clock,  and  required  an  additional 
elevation  of  about  4'. 

The  amount  of  the  allowance  to  be  made  for  the  wind  is, 
of  course,  most  easily  learnt  and   explained,  and  put  into 
practice,  in  target  shooting,  but  it  has  also  its  practical  appli- 
cation in  the  field.     The  experienced  man  knows  at  least  this 
much,  which  to  the  inexperienced  man  is  incredible,  that  if 
there  is  anything  of  a  cross  wind,  it  is  quite  certain  you  can- 
not hit  a  small  object  by  ainiing  at  it.      In  deer-stalking,  or 
for  a  long  shot  at  antelope,  it  is  very  important  to  know  how 
much  allowance  is  likely  to  be  required.     An  illustration  of 
this  may  be  given.     It  was  on  a  very  windy  day  in  Scotland, 
and  a  stag  had  been  shot  at  lying  down  in  high  ground.     The 
wind  made  it  difficult  to  hold  the  rifle  steady.     He  was  badly 
wounded,  and  looked  like  falling,  but  managed  to  carry  on, 
being  encouraged  by  a  smaller  stag,  which  would  not  leave 
him.     The  ground  was  bare,  and  he  went  slowly  for  about  a 
mile,  stopping  occasionally  ;  he  was  led  on,  and  there  was  no 
cover  in  which  he  could  conceal  himself.     It  was  getting  late 
in  the  day,  and  though  it  was  evident  that  he  could  not  go 
much  further,  there  was  a  chance  of  losing  him.     He  was 
followed,  of  course,  and  one  or  two  attempts  made  to  intercept 


286  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

his  retreat,  but  in  vain.    At  last  the  two  stags  stood  for  a  few 
moments  in  a  shallow  bottom,  and  their  pursners  had  time  to 
come  within  sight  of  them,  and-  near  enough  for  a  long  shot 
round  a  shoulder  of  a  knoll.     Unluckily,  before  the  shot  could 
be  fired  the  animals  moved   on,  crossed  a  little  burn,  and 
began  to  ascend  the  slope  on  the  other  side.     '  It  is  no  use 
now,'  said  Angus,  for  if  an  ineffectual  shot  were  fired,  there 
was  every  probability  that  they  would  increase  their  pace,  and 
go  quite  out  of  reach.    But  after  going  some  50  yards  over 
the  burn,  the  wounded  stag  stood  and  turned  broadside.     It 
might  be  possible  to  kill  him.     The  Lyman  sight  had  been 
screwed  up  for  a  long  shot  as  he  had  moved  away,  but  a  strong 
wind  was  blowing  exactly  across  the  line  of  fire.     *  I  think  I'll 
try  him.'    A  quick  but  careful  aim  was  taken,  and  the  trigger 
pulled ;  he  staggered  forward  a  few  yards,  and  fell,  never  to 
rise  again.    The  distance  was  carefully  paced  afterwards,  and 
found  to  be  not  less  than  240  yards.     Now  the  point  of  the 
story  is  this,  that  the  bullet  struck  him  well  forward  in  the 
shoulder,  and  that  aim  was  taken  on  his  haunch,  close  to  the 
tail,  as  he  stood  offering  a  fair  broadside.     Probably  no  one 
without  a  good  deal  of  experience  of  the  effect  of  wind  on  a 
bullet  would  have  made  so  bold  an  allowance,  firing  when 
there  was  not  a  second  to  spare,  and  no  time  to  enter  into 
elaborate  calculations. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  it  is  always  a  straightforward 
matter  to  judge  the  wind.  Wind  currents  are  very  curious 
things,  as  may  be  noticed  in  mist,  or  when  snow  is  falling. 
Just  as  the  stream  of  a  river  is  in  any  straight  part  of  its 
course  fastest  in  the  middle  and  at  the  top,  and  slowest  at  the 
sides  and  at  the  bottom,  so  the  movement  of  the  air  is  greatest 
where  it  is  not  impeded  by  the  earth  drag  which  interferes 
with  its  motion.  Sometimes,  when  there  is  only  a  brisk 
breeze  near  the  ground,  the  shadows  of  high  clouds  show  that 
aloft  the  wind  is  travelling  at  60  miles  an  hour.  With  the 
free  movement  of  the  air  every  blade  of  grass,  every  ear  of 
corn  interferes ;  still  more  does  every  bush  and  tree ;  and,  in 
a  yet  larger  degree,  every  elevation  or  depression  of  the 
ground.  The  formation  of  snow-drifts  shows  this  well ;  large 
eddies  are  formed  where  the  circumstances  are  favourable,  as 


PECULIARITIES    OF    RANGES  287 

where  the  ground  is  steep,  and  the  wmd  always  tends  to  follow 
a  valley  or  depression  in  the  ground,  much  as  it  blows  either 
up  or  down  the  line  of  a  street.     The  man  who  is  accustomed 
to  stalk  game,  whether  rabbits  or  stags,  gets  to  know  some- 
thing of  the  variableness  of  currents.     If  he  takes  to  target 
shooting,  and  fires  on  different  ranges,  where  the  configura- 
tion of  the  ground  varies,  lie  very  quickly  finds  that  they 
have  their  peculiarities  accordingly.     Oddly  enough,  a  range 
apparently  sheltered   is   often   actually  the  most    difficult, 
because  a   straightforward    wind,   however    strong,   can   be 
judged,  but  when  eddies  and  cross  currents  are  set  up,J;he 
peculiarities  of  the  range,  and  the  amount  of  allowance  to  be 
made  when  the  wind  is  in  any  particular  direction,  are  only 
to  be  learnt  from  experience.     There  are  said  to  be  ranges, 
sheltered  by  steep  ground,  on  which,  when  a  strong  breeze 
is  blowing  across  them  from  one  side,  the  allowance  really 
needs  to  be  made  on  the  other,  since  the  air  through  which 
the  bullet  moves  is  not  the  direct  current,   but  an  eddy 
moving  in   the  opposite  direction.     A  range  with  a  deep 
dip  between  the  firing  point  and  the  targets,  which  perhaps 
is  not   at   all  obvious  from   the   firing  point,   will  require 
more  allowance  than  if  the  ground  were  flat  all  the  way, 
because  in  any  cross  wind  the  current  will  be  much  stronger 
where  the  bullet  crosses  the  dip.     For  such  peculiarities  of 
ranges   it   is  impossible  to  lay  down  any  but   very  general 
rules,  and  the  principal  thing  to  be  depended  upon  is  the 
observation  and  judgment  of  the  shooter  himself. 

On  most  ranges  there  is  something  in  the  way  of  flags  to 
assist  the  judgment  as  to  the  behaviour  of  the  wind.  But 
here,  again,  special  experience  may  be  necessary.  The  flags 
used  at  Bisley  are  long  pointed  pennants,  21  feet  in  length, 
and  these  show  a  light  breeze  to  great  perfection^  since  their 
delicate  points  are  lifted  almost  by  a  slight  drift.  As  the 
wind  increases  the  flag  is  more  and  more  completely  raised 
until  it  is  extended  to  the  full.  The  heavier  the  material 
of  which  the  flag  is  composed,  the  stiffer  will  be  the  breeze 
required  to  extend  it  fully,  and  thus  some  difference  between 
the  size  or  weight  of  the  flags  of  an  unknown  range  and 
those  of  the  range  to  which  one  is  accustomed  may  prove  quite 


288  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 

misleading  if  the  deductions  are  not  made  very  caulioasly. 
One  not  uncommon  snare  in  a  light  wind  is  brought  about  bj 
the  flag  becoming  twisted  round  its  pole,  and  looking  as  if 
it  were  hanging  in  a  dead  calm,  when  really  there  would  be 
wind  enough  to  raise  it  if  it  were  free.     The  flags  on  the  range 
at  Bisley  are  not  of  very  heavy  material,  and  with  a  wind 
of  more  than  about  12  to  15  miles  an  hour  they  begin  to  fail 
to  respond  to  its  slight  variations.    When  once  the  breeze  has 
reached  the  strength  at  which  the  flag  is  blown  out  rather 
stiffly,   there   is   only  one    further   indication   of  increased 
strength :    the  point  or  outer  edge  of  the  flag  begins  every 
now  and  then  to  kick  upwards  into  the  air,  as  if  in  a  violent 
effort  to  free  itself.     Usually  when  the  limit  has  been  reached 
to  which  flags  will,  show  the  wind,  there   is  nothing  much 
to  rely  on,  beyond  a  feeling  that  the  wind  is  more  or  less 
strong,  and  anything   that  genei»l  observation  may  point 
out  as  giving  some  indication.     The  writer  remembers  an 
experienced  shot  who  noticed  on  one  occasion  that  when  the 
wind  increased  beyond  a  certain  strength  the  halyards  of  a 
neighbouring  flag  began  to  drum  against  the  pole,  and  kept 
his  ears  open  for  this  indication.     We  no  longer  have  one 
guide  that  used  to  furnish  most  useful  information,  the  drifting 
in  the  wind  of  the  smoke  from  the  rifles  ;  but  where  several 
targets   are   in   use   at   the   same   time,   there  remains   an 
excellent   indication   that   is   always  worth   watching  for,  a 
general  tendency  of  the  shots  fired  by  others  to  go  wide  to 
one  side  or  the  other.     It  is  important,  however,  to  be  very 
cautious  in  drawing  deductions  from  the  shots  of  other  people. 
Sometimes,  when  a  man  gets  a  wide  shot,  and  it  is  naturally 
assumed  that  the  wind  has  changed,  what  has  really  happened 
is  that  he  has  imagined  a  change  and  allowed  for  it ;  some- 
times a  wild  shot  caused  by  an  abnormally  bad  let-off  will 
hopelessly  mislead  the  next  firer.     It  is  important,  then,  to 
trust  to  one's  own  judgment  very  largely,  and  only  to  assist  it 
by  the  observation  of  what  happens  to  others.     The  wind  may 
become  stronger  at  one  moment,  and  then  return  to  its  normal 
velocity ;  a  light  wind  may  similarly  change  in  direction,  and 
return  more  or  less  quickly  to  a  normal  direction.    In  shooting 
in  matches,  or  for  prizes,  it  is  bad  form,  and  unfair  to  others^ 


WIND    IN    TARGET    SHOOTING  289 

to  do  what  sometimes  has  been  done:  when  the  wind  has 
changed  from  its  normal,  to  refrain  from  firing  with  the  view 
of  waiting  and  waiting  until  it  has  come  back  again.  Sir 
Henry  Half ord  says  on  this  point :  *  I  do  not  think  it  well  to 
alter  the  sight  for  small  changes,  but  this -must  be  done  when 
evident  changes  are  taking  place ;  it  is  generally  best  to  wait 
a  few  seconds  till  the  flags  show  that  the  wind  is  about  as 
it  w^as  when  the  last  shot  was  fired.  This  waiting,  however, 
must  not  be  carried  too  far;  I  have  often  seen  it  done  in 
match  shooting  to  the  annoyance  of  all  the  other  competitors. 
When  this  is  done  habitually  it  shows  selfishness  of  character, 
and  is  not  good  style.' 

The  ranges  at  Bisley  and  elsewhere,  where  competitions 
are  habitually  held,  are  very  systematically  flagged,  but  on 
many  country  ranges  flags  are  scarce.  The  writer  has  often 
shot  upon  a  long  range  in  the  country  where  the  movement  of 
the  wind  in  the  boughs  pf  a  large  tree  nearly  in  the  line  of  the 
range  was  the  chief  guide  as  to  changes  in  the  strength  or 
direction  of  the  wind.  Useful  indications  are  often  given  by 
the  movement  of  long  grass,  and  at  the  right  time  of  year 
corn-fields  show  excellently  the  wind  currents  that  are  pass- 
ing. As  a  general  rule,  it  is  wisest  not  to  be  too  ready  to  alter 
the  wind  allowance  merely  upon  the  suspicion  of  a  change 
of  wind;  on  most  days,  and  especially  when  there  is  an 
appreciable  amount  of  it,  the  changes  will  be  gradual  rather 
than  sudden,  and  it  is  wiser  to  '  hedge,'  and  not  make  quite 
the  full  apparent  alteration,  than  to  make  large  changes.  A 
pofiT  may  come  sometimes,  but  it  will  often  die  down  as  quickly 
as  it  rose,  and  if  too  bold  a  change  has  been  made  for  it,  the 
result  may  be  disastrous. 

In  the  very  difficult  weather  caused  by  the  light,  shiftily; 
airs  of  which  we  have  spoken,  weather  that  is  far  more 
difiScult  at  long  ranges  than  at  short,  it  will  occasionally 
happen  that  in  a  series  of  ten  or  fifteen  shots  the  wind  allow- 
ance has  to  be  judged  afresh  for  every  single  shot,  because  the 
conditions  are  so  unstable  that  they  do  not  remain  the  same 
even  for  the  interval  of  two  or  three  minutes  between  the 
shots  of  each  competitor.  The  constant  watchfulness,  which 
is  at  all  times  necessary  to  obtain  good  results  at  the  target, 

u 


290  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

is  especially  indispensable  at  such  times,  and,  it  may  be 
added,  involves  appreciable  wear  and  tear  of  the  nervouB 
system.  In  exceptionally  tricky  weather  there  will  some- 
times be  such  rapid  variations  of  the  wind  as  to  make  it 
necessary  to  change  the  allowance  four  or  five,  or  even 
six  times  before  the  shot  can  be  got  off.  The  eyes  have  to 
be  kept  on  the  watch  for  any  signs  of  change  until  the 
moment  of  the  final  aim  and  of  the  trigger  being  pressed. 

In  properly  organised  team  shooting  much  of  the  exertion 
to  the  firer  of  watching  the  wind  while  firing  is  avoided.  The 
best  results  in  the  match  for  the  Elcho  Shield  of  late  years 
have  been  attained  by  the  good  organisation  and  good  coaching 
which  the  teams  have  had  at  command.  There  is  many  a 
man  who  can  be  trusted  to  fire  every  shot  of  a  long  series 
with  perfectly  correct  aim,  but  is  not  himself  a  first-rate  judge 
of  wind.  With  a  really  good  judge  of  wind  (and  there  are  noi 
a  great  many  of  them)  behind  him  to  inspire  confidence,  to 
watch  constantly  every  indication  of  the  weather,  and  to  give 
decided  orders  as  to  the  changes  in  allowance  which  are  to  be 
made,  such  a  man,  loyally  following  the  instructions  giv^i, 
and  concentrating  himself  merely  on  firing  with  a  perfect  aim, 
will  have  an  even  better  chance  of  making  a  big  score  than 
the  man  who  is  coaching  him  would  were  he  himself  firing 
without  assistance.  The  qualities  required  in  a  coach  cannot 
be  better  illustrated  than  by  the  following  example.  It  was 
in  the  Elcho  Shield  match.  The  man  firing,  an  exceptionally 
fine  individual  shot,  was  in  a  very  nervous  state,  and  kepi 
hesitating  to  fire.  The  coach,  who  had  already  told  him  what 
he  considered  the  proper  allowance  to  be,  bade  him  fire 
his  shot,  as  he  was  sure  that  it  would  be  a  bull's-eye.  Bat 
he  still  hesitated,  and  presently  said,  '  Will  you  swear  that 
it  will  be  a  buirs-eye?'  'Yes,*  said  his  coach  with  great 
presence  of  mind,  *  I  swear  it  will  be  a  bull's-eye.'  The 
doubtful  marksman  under  this  assurance  fired  his  shot,  and  a 
bull's-eye  it  was.  So  firm  and  so  confident  does  a  coach  require 
to  be,  or  at  all  events  to  seem.  Even  the  most  accomplished 
judge  of  wind  will  gain  something  by  having  a  trustworthy 
man  behind  him  who  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  watch  for 
changes,  and  to  stop  him  from  pulling  the  trigger  as  one  comes 


ADVANTAGES  OF  COACHING        291 

OB.  The  biggest  scores  on  record  at  long  ranges  have  been 
made  under  such  conditions.  Major  Gibbs's  often  quoted 
shooting  at  Wistow,  in  1886  (see  p.  490),  when  he  made  at 
1,000  yards  48  bull's-eyes  out  of  50  shots,  ending  with  a 
string  of  87  consecutive  bull's-eyes,  was  made  in  quite 
steady  and  rather  foggy  weather,  his  judgment  being 
assisted  by  all  Sir  Henry  Halford's  experience  and  watch- 
fulness. Major  Lamb's  record  for  Wimbledon  and  Bisley 
of  220  points  out  of  a  possible  225  in  shooting  for  the 
Army  against  the  Volunteers,  in  1892,  under  Elcho  Shield 
conditions  (16  shots  at  800,  900,  and  1,000  yards),  and  his 
big  score  of  219,  made  in  1898,  in  the  Elcho  Shield  match, 
were  both  made  under  the  careful  coaching  of  Colonel 
Hopton,  then  Captain  Dutton  Hunt.  The  wind  at  Creedmoor 
and  in  the  United  States  generally,  as  in  India,  is  habitually 
8o  much  steadier  than  here,  that  it  was  possible  for  the 
American  teams  to  work  on  the  following  principle.  The  two 
or  three  men  firing  at  the  same  target,  when  they  had  begun» 
would  go  on  firing  without  any  question  of  a  change  until  one 
of  them  had  a  shot  which  was  out  of  the  bull's-eye  to  one  side ; 
then,  after  consultation,  the  next  one  would  probably  alter  hi& 
allowance  accordingly,  and  the  shooting  would  proceed  until 
another  change  showed  itself  in  the  same  way.  At  Bisley,  on 
the  other  hand,  and  the  same  was  the  case  at  Wimbledon^ 
the  attention  of  the  coach  is  constantly  occupied  in  watching 
and  judging  the  wind,  and  it  is  only  under  exceptional  con- 
ditions that  even  a  short  series  of  shots  is  fired  without  some 
change  of  allowance. 

What  has  been  already  said  about  sighting  shots,  and 
their  disadvantage  in  depriving  the  judgment  on  which  the 
first  shot  is  fired  of  its  fair  value,  applies  almost  more  to 
team  shooting.  In  the  Elcho  Shield  match  no  sighting  shots 
are  allowed ;  the  allowance  for  wind  and  elevation  to  be  made 
for  the  first  shot  of  each  team  and  of  each  man  is  accordingly 
the  subject  of  very  careful  consideration  by  the  shooter  himself 
and  also  by  the  coaches,  for  the  loss  of  two  or  three  points 
on  the  first  shot  is  a  serious  matter. 


V  2 


292  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    RIFLE 


CHAPTER  XI 

ANGLES  OF  ELEVATION  —  TABLES  FOB  '308  AND  OTHEB  RIFLES  —  SHAPE 
OF  TBAJECTOBT — ANGLE  OF  DESCENT — TRAJECTORY  DIAGRAMS  AND 
TABLES — SHOOTING  AT  EXTREME  RANGES  ^— SHAPE  OF  BULLET  — 
TUBULAR  BULLETS 

The  simplest  method  of  sighting  a  rij9e  is  by  ascertaining 
from  experiment  what  height  of  back  sight  is  necessary  at 
any  particular  distance,  and  this  can  be  measured  by  any 
convenient  means.  The  only  method  by  which  a  proper 
comparison  can  be  made  between  the  elevation  required  by 
different  rifles  is  to  measure  the  elevation  on  the  back  sight  in 
degrees  and  minutes  of  a  circle  which  has  the  fore  sight  for 
its  centre.  In  this  way  the  precise  angle  of  inclination  of 
the  barrel  above  the  mark  is  accurately  measured  and  ex- 
pressed in  the  same  terms,  whether  the  barrel  be  short  or 
long,  and  whether  the  sights  be  near  together  or  far  apart. 
We  have  described  elsewhere  the  means  by  which  the  zero  or 
basis  of  the  scale  of  elevation  is  found.  It  is  evident,  since 
the  bullet  in  its  flight  falls  with  increasing  rapidity,  that  the 
rise  of  elevation  in  the  second  hundred  yards  will  be  greater 
than  in  the  first  hundred,  and  that  in  the  third  hundred 
greater  than  in  the  second  hundred,  and  so  on,  the  curve  de- 
scribed by  the  bullet  growing  gradually  steeper.  If  the 
angles  for  three  or  more  distances  are  correctly  known,  it  is 
possible  to  construct  tentatively  a  table  of  angles  which  shall 
give  the  elevation  for  the  intermediate  distances.  In  dealing 
with  such  matters  it  is  necessary  to  check  by  experiment  very 
carefully  the  series  of  angles  arrived  at.  We  give  here  a  com- 
plete table,  which  appears  also  in  the  official  Text  Book  for 
Small  Arms,  1894,  and  for  which  Sir  Henry  Halford  and  Mr. 
Metford  are  responsible,  giving  the  angles  of  elevation  for  the 
•303  rifle  up  to  2,500  yards.   It  is  certainly  correct,  so  far  as  it 


TABLES    OF    ANGLES 


293 


ANGLES  OP  ELEVATION   FOR  -303  LEE-METFORD  RIFLE  » 
Velocity,  2,037  /.«.     Service  Load 


Range 


Angle 


000 

100 

200 

300 

400 

500 

600 

700 

800 

900 

1,000 

1,100 

1,200 

1,300 

1,400 

1,500 

1,600 

1,700 

1,800 

1,900 

2,000 

2,100 

2,200 

2,300 

2,400 

2,500 


00000000' 

4-4039233' 

9-6563566' 

15-8062999' 

22-9027632' 

30-9947166' 

401311898' 

60-3611731' 

1*»    1-7336664' 

1°  14-2976697' 

1°  28-1021830' 

1°  43-1962063' 

1*»  59-6287396' 

2°  17-4487829' 

2°  36-7053362' 

2°  57-4473996' 

3°  19-7239728' 

3''  43-6840561' 

4°  90766494' 

4°  36-2507527' 

5°  61563660' 

5°  35-8394893' 

6^    8-3521226' 

6°  42-7422659' 

7**  19-0589;92' 

7°  57-3510825' 


lift  Difference 


4-4039233' 

6-2524333' 

61499483' 

7-0964533' 

8-0919633' 

9-1364733' 

10-2299833' 

11-3724983' 

12-5640033' 

13-8045133' 

15-0940288' 

16-4325333' 

17-8200433' 

19-2565533' 

20-7420633' 

22-2765733' 

23-8600833' 

25-4925933' 

271741033' 

28-9046133' 

30-6841233' 

32-6126383' 

34-3901433' 

36-3166533' 

38-2921633' 


2nd  Difference      Srd  Difference 


0-84851' 
0-89751' 
0-94661' 
0-99651' 
104451' 
109361' 
1-14251' 
1-19151' 
1-24051' 
1-28961' 
1-33861' 
1-38751' 
1-43661' 
1-48551' 
1-53451' 
1-58351' 
1-63251' 
1-68151' 
1-73051' 
1-77951' 
1-82861' 
1-87751' 
1-92651' 
1-97551' 


0-049' 
0-049' 
0-049' 
0049' 
0049' 
0049' 
0049' 
0-049' 
0-049' 
0-049' 
0-049' 
0-049' 
0-049' 
0049' 
0-049' 
0-049' 
0049' 
0-049' 
0-049' 
0-049' 
0049' 
0-049' 
0049' 


goes,  for  it  was  checked  by  Mr.  Metford  up  to  fully  that 
distance.  Yet,  such  a  table  is  never  to  be  depended  upon  at 
distances  beyond  those  at  which  it  has  been  actually  tested. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  third  difference  is  a  constant  quantity, 
and  that  the  other  differences  and  the  angles  are  obtained 
merely  by  addition.  A  similar  table  can  be  constructed  for  any 
rifle  with  any  load,  but  it  will  usually  require  to  deal  with 
many  figures  in  the  decimal  columns.  A  word  of  warning 
here  as  to  this  is  advisable.  Although  the  steps  of  increase 
at  each  stage  are  in  perfectly  regular  progression,  yet  if,  to 

*  This  table  depends  upon  a  formula  given  to  Mr.  Metford  by  Mr.-  William 
Froodef  C.E.,  which  is  fully  explained  in  the  Text  Book  for  Small  Arms, 
1894.     It  is  as  follows  :— Angle  of  elevation  in  minutes 


2  2  3  2 


1     n-! 
3 


/'-Ad... 
4 


where  n  =  the  range  in  yards  ;  A,  the  angular  value  of  the  fall  for  1  yard  in 
vacuo ;  B,  G,  D,  values  for  air  resistance,  which  have  to  be  determined  for 
each  particular  bullet  and  charge. 


294  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

save  space,  they  are  only  given  to  one  or  two  places  of  deci- 
mals, and  if  then  the  differences  be  taken  oat  from  the 
figures  as  they  stand,  apparent  discrepancies  will  arise,  by 
dwelling  on  which  the  table  can  be  made  to  appear  inaccurate, 
although  it  is  really  so  only  in  the  omission  of  detail  for  the 
sake  of  convenience.  The  path  of  the  projectile  as  given  in 
the  table  of  angles  is  one  to  which  no  individual  shot  can  be 
expected  absolutely  to  conform,  for  some  deviation  from  the 
normal  of  every  shot  of  a  group  fired  is  quite  noticeable,  but 
the  trajectory  table  will  give  the  central  line  round  which 
the  group  of  shots  will  form  itself  at  each  distance. 

Such  tables  are  not  capable  of  perfectly  rigid  application. 
They  are  arranged  to  be  correct  for  a  normal  temperature 
of  60''  and  a  barometric  pressure  of  80  inches,  and  as  is  men- 
tioned elsewhere,  the  variation  of  these  conditions  affects 
the  flight  of  the  bullet  considerably.  They  represent,  there- 
fore, standard  curves  which  any  variation  of  temperature 
or  pressure  will  affect  proportionately  in  all  of  their  parts. 
Wind  pressure  from  the  front  or  rear  has  a  similar  effect. 
The  writer  prefers  building  up  tables  of  angles  which  accord 
with  the  experience  of  a  good  many  hundred  shots  to  any 
attempt  to  lay  down  what  the  path  of  the  bullet  should  be 
from  considerations  of  the  effect  of  gravity,  and  of  what  in 
theory  the  loss  of  velocity  from  the  resistance  of  the  air 
should  be  at  each  stage.  He  has  known  calculations  based 
upon  Bashforth's  admirable  experiments  to  go  entirely  wrong 
from  want  of  appreciation  of  the  differences  introduced  by 
the  use  of  leaden  instead  of  iron  shot,  and  by  alteration  in 
the  shape  of  the  head.  In  trajectory  work,  as  in  more 
abstruse  matters,  calculation  may  be  misleading  unless  it 
goes  hand  in  hand  at  every  step  with  experiment. 

Besides  a  complete  table  of  the  angles  of  elevation  for 
the  -803  rifle  for  a  velocity  of  2,037  f.s.,  and  the  normal 
Metford  bullet  of  215  grains,  there  has  been  added  an  elevation 
table  for  the  Martini-Henry  rifle  up  to  1,200  yards,  for  a 
velocity  of  1,815  f.s.,  and  a  bullet  of  480  grains ;  and  one  for 
the  old  Metford  Match  rifle  of  *461  bore  up  to  the  same 
distance  for  a  velocity  of  1,300  f.s.,  and  a  heavier  bullet  of 
570  grains,  which,  owing  to  the  shape  of  its  head,  as  well  as 


FIRING    AT    UNKNOWN    DISTANCES  295 

its  weight,  has  a  lower  trajectory  than  that  of  the  Martini- 
Henry.  The  table  for  the  '402  experimental  rifle  is  carried  to 
2,000  yards,  its  velocity  being  1,570  f.s.,  with  a  bullet  of 
384  grains.  These  tables  of  angles  correspond  with  the 
trajectory  curves  shown  in  the  diagrams.  Similarly  with 
the  *256  Mannlicher,  for  which  a  table  of  angles  up  to 
1,100  yards  is  given. 

Those  who  have  tried  shooting  at. unknown  distances  will 

most  easily  understand  the  advantages  gained  by  high  velocities 

combined  with  flat  trajectories.     The  chief  difficulty  in  the 

field,   a  difficulty  which    begins    almost  where    the   whole 

instroetion  in  the  art  of  aiming  and  firing  correctly  at  the 

rifle  range  ends,  is  that  of  ascertaining  the  distance  of  the 

mark.     As  the  firer  is  further  from  the  mark,  not  only  is 

it  more  difficult  for  him  to  estimate  the  distance  accurately, 

bat  the  flight  of  the  bullet  demands  that  it  should  be  even 

more  nearly  known  than  at  closer  distances.    For  instance, 

while  an  exposed  man  standing  would  be  hit  at  any  distance 

up  to  565  yards  by  the  bullet  from  a  '808  rifle  sighted  for 

that  distance,  and  aimed  at  his  feet,  the  flight  of  the  bullet 

when  fired  with  suitable  sighting  at  a  man  1,000  yards  away 

will  only  jeopardise  him  if  the  distance  be  judged  correctly  to 

within  less  than  25  yards  one  way  or  the  other,  because  the 

angle  at  which  the  bullet  falls  is  so  much  steeper  at  further 

than  at  nearer  distances.     At  1,000  yards  with   the  Lee- 

Metford  it  is  about  2""  25'.     At  2,000  yards  the  bullet  is 

falling  at  an  angle  of  about  10°,  and  the  danger  zone  for  the 

man  is  only  about  12  yards. 

It  is,  of  course,  four  times  as  hard  to  judge  the  distance  at 
2,000  yards  to  within  12  yards  as  it  is  to  judge  it  at  1,000 
yards  within  25  yards,  but  much  greater  errors  in  estimation 
of  distances  than  that  of  25  yards  at  1,000  are  frequently 
made.  With  the  Snider  rifle,  independently  of  the  inaccuracy 
of  its  shooting,  a  far  more  exact  estimation  of  distance  was 
required,  as  the  more  rounded  character  of  its  trajectory  at 
once  shows.  It  is,  perhaps,  hardly  necessary  to  enlarge  upon 
this  subject,  since  it  is  one  the  comprehension  of  which  goes 
with  the  most  rudimentary  knowledge  of  the  flight  of  a  bullet. 
Whereas  in  early  times  the  path  of  a  projectile  was  imagined 


296 


THE    BOOK    OF   THE    RIFLE 


>o 


ANGLE  OF  DESCENT  OF  BULLET     297 

to  be  in  a  straight  line,  or  practically  so,  for  a  considerable 
distance,  and  then,  when  the  speed  failed,  to  carve  quite 
suddenly  until  the  projectile  fell  perpendicularly,  it  has  been 
recognised  fully  since  the  experiments  of  Bobins  in  1740^ 
that  this  is  not  the  case,  but  that  the  efiEect,  firstly,  of  gravity, 
and  then  of  the  resistance  of  the  air,  is  to  make  the  path  of 
any  projectile  into  a  curve.  This  curve,  while  it  is  very 
gradual  in  the  beginning  of  the  flight,  becomes  steeper  and 
steeper  during  its  whole  length,  for  the  double  reason  that 
the  projectile  is  retarded  by  the  resistance  of  the  air,  while 
its  downward  motion,  due  to  gravitation,  is  constantly  in- 
creasing. 

The  angle  of  descent  of  a  bullet  at  different  distances 
can  very  easily  be  found  if  a  complete  table  of  angles  of 
elevation  for  the  particular  rifle  is  available.  The  method 
was  devised  by  Sir  Henry  Halford,  and  is  thus  stated  in  the 
official  Text  Book  for  Small  Arms,  1894  :— 

'  First  find  the  increase  of  angle  required  to  cover  the 
last  yard  of  the  distance  at  which  it  is  desired  to  find  the 
angle  of  descent. 

'To  do  this,  add  the  increase  of  angle  for  the  last  100 
yards  of  this  distance  («)  to  the  increase  of  angle  required  for 
the  100  yards  beyond  it,  OS)  and  divide  the  sum  by  200.  This 
will  give  the  mean  increase  of  angle  for  each  yard  of  these 
200  yards. 

'  This  mean  increase,  though  accurate  enough  for  practical 
purposes,  may  be  corrected  for  the  precise  yard  in  question  by 

subtracting  '^;^.   The  formula  will  then  be  N  "^"^jf  -  "^  ;Lf 
100  taOO         100 

=  angle  of  descent  in  minutes. 

*  Example. — Find  the  angle  of  descent  of  the  Lee-Metford 
bullet  at  1,000  yards  range. 

'Eeferring  to  the  Table  of  angles  of  elevation,  second 

1  1000 X  (13-804  + 15-094)     13-804  + 16-094      .....or 

column,       -^     2^  -^--      ^^^-  =144-49 

—  •289= 144-201' -2°  24.201',  which  is  the  mean  angle  of 
descent  for  the  last  yard.' 

Plates  XL  and  XLI  show  the  comparative  heights  reached 


298  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

by  the  bullets  of  military   rifles   in   a  flight   of  500   and 
1,000  yards. 

Similar  diagrams  have  often  appeared,  but  a  comparison 
of  the  kind  is  vital  to  an  appreciation  of  what  modern  rifles 
are  when  compared  with  the  more  ancient  ones,  the 
object  being  to  represent  the  form  of  the  curves  made 
by  the  different  bullets.  The  height  has  been  enormously 
exaggerated  in  proportion  to  the  length  of  the  curve.  In  the 
500  yards  diagram  (Plate  XL,  fig.  1),  whereas  on  the  vertical 
scale,  a  quarter  of  an  inch  represents  a  height  of  one  foot,  on 
the  horizontal  scale  a  quarter  of  an  inch  represents  60  feet, 
and  the  whole  500  yards  is  compressed  into  a  little  more  than 
6  inches.  The  curve  made  by  the  Enfield  or  Snider  bullet 
is,  as  will  be  seen  at  once,  the  highest,  reaching  in  the 
500  yards  flight  a  height  of  11  feet  4  inches,  well  above  the 
height  of  a  horseman's  head,  while  for  the  middle  800  yards 
of  its  flight  it  is  too  high  to  catch  a  six-foot  man  standing 
upright.  The  trajectory  of  the  Martini-Henry,  '450  bore,  with 
a  bullet  of  480  grains,  and  an  initial  velocity  of  1,800  feet  per 
second,  culminates  at  a  little  beyond  250  yards  at  a  height  of 
just  under  8  feet  6  inches,  so  that  its  whole  flight  is  within 
the  height  of  a  mounted  man,  and  for  only  about  150  yards 
would  it  fail  to  endanger  an  infantryman.  The  trajectory  of 
the  *402  [experimental]  rifle  is  similar  on  the  whole  to  that 
of  the  Martini-Henry,  but  decidedly  flatter.  The  two  lower 
curves  offer  a  striking  contrast  to  the  upper  ones.  The  bullet 
of  the  Lee-Metford,  -303  bore,  weighing  215  grains,  and  pro- 
jected with  a  velocity  of  2,000  feet  per  second,  rises  only  just 
over  4  feet  from  the  line  of  aim  in  the  same  distance,  and 
would  therefore  strike  the  kneeling  figure  of  a  man  at  any 
point  in  the  whole  trajectory.  The  -256  Mannlicher,  with  a 
bullet  of  156  grains,  and  2,350  feet  velocity,  rises  not  much 
more  than  3  feet  in  the  same  distance.  We  have  to  guard 
against  the  error  of  supposing  that  because  the  curve  is  a 
constantly  increasing  one  it  is,  with  the  high  velocities  of 
modem  times,  one  of  which  the  angles  really  are  extremely 
steep.  The  necessity  of  exaggerating  in  diagrams  the  height 
of  curves  in  relation  to  their  length,  as  well  as  the  habit  the 
eye  has  of  judging  the  trajectory  of  a  bullet,  which  it  cannpt 


o 


o 
p 


II 


5  !2  ^ 


o 


300  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

easily  follow,  by  analogy  from  that  of  a  cricket  ball  or  a  golf 
ball,  which  it  can  follow,  tends  to  mislead  the  perception  of 
the  true  proportions  of  the  curves  of  bullets.  The  whole  tra- 
jectory of  the  -256  rifle  for  the  first  800  yards  of  its  flight, 
although  in  every  point  it  is  a  curve,  would  be  contained  in  a 
straight  12-inch  pipe,  and  the  small  diagram  given  (Plate  XL, 
fig.  2)  will  give  some  idea  of  the  real  shape  of  the  curve 
made  by  the  -808  bullet  in  a  flight  of  1,000  yards.  Plate  XLI 
shows  similarly  the  trajectories  at  1,000  yards.  Li  it  -05  inch 
is  equal  to  one  foot  vertically,  but  to  21-7  feet  horizontally. 

Flat  as  the  curves  are,  yet  the  vertical  height  reached  by 
the  bullet  in  the  course  of  its  flight  at  the  long  ranges  be- 
comes considerable.  The  bullet  of  the  Enfield  muzzle-loading 
rifle  rose  more  than  75  feet  in  a  flight  of  1,000  yards ;  the 
Martini-Henry  bullet  rises  about  44  feet ;  the  Lee-Metford 
bullet  about  25  feet ;  and  that  of  the  -256  rifle  21  feet  only 
above  the  line  of  aim.  In  firing  at  2,000  yards  the  Lee- 
Metford  bullet  reaches  a  height  of  about  196  feet,  between 
1,100  and  1,200  yards,  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle  being  pointed 
no  less  than  170  yards  above  the  mark  aimed  at.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  the  whole  journey  of  the  bullet  along 
the  curve  of  the  trajectory  is  somewhat  longer  than  the 
straight  line  joining  the  two  extremities  of  its  flight.  The 
difference  thus  introduced  is,  in  reality,  very  small.  At  1,000 
yards,  with  the  Lee-Metford,  the  path  of  the  bullet  is  less 
than  one  foot  longer  than  the  straight  line,  and  at  2,000 
yards  it  is  about  2,005  yards. 

A  knowledge  of  the  trajectory  is  sometimes  useful,  and 
may  at  times  enable  one  to  take  a  shot  when  some  object 
apparently  intervenes  without  really  interfering  with  the 
flight  of  the  bullet.  The  writer  has  more  than  once  stalked 
and  killed  rabbits,  flaring  under  the  belly  of  an  intervening  cow, 
because  it  was  evident  that  the  bullet  would  not  rise  so  high 
as  to  touch  it.  He  has  several  times  seen  the  bull's-eye 
struck  at  900  or  1,000  yards  when  the  target  was  partly 
obscured  by  intervening  cattle  within  two  or  three  hundred 
yards  of  the  firer  or  the  target.  In  deerstalking,  when  it 
has  been  a  question  whether  some  slight  intervening  rise 
of  ground  or  tussock  would  or  would  not  be  cleared  by  the 


302  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 

bullet,  he  has  sometimes  foond  a  knowledge  of  the  trajeed  ^^ 
useful,  though  with   the   high-velocity  rifles  it  approacl 
as  we  have  seen,  a  straight  line  at  the  shorter  ranges.  *»*l^ 

must  never  be  forgotten  that  the  trajectory  starts  from  v 

bore  and  not  from  the  line  of  sight,  and  that  heather  or  gn^ 
may  really  be  in  the  course  of  the  bullet  close  to  the  mus 
when  the  aim  is  unobstructed.    The  writer  believes  that  misai 
otherwise  inexplicable,  sometimes  occur  from  a  want  of  cJT 
in  this  respect.     It  is  a  liability  to  be  taken  into  account  wbl 
'firing  from  near  the  ground  level,  and,  if  the  heather  < 
grass  be  long,  it  is  sometimes  worth  while  in  shooting  proa 
to  prop  up  the  elbows  by  any  extemporised  means  to  avol 
the  chance  of  the  bullets  grazing. 

When  the  angles  are  known  there  is  no  difficulty  abon 
ascertaining  the  height  of  the  bullet  at  a  given  distance  it 
the  trajectory.  Thus  with  the  -803  and  the  service  charge 
the  angle  of  elevation  for  200  yards,  as  given  in  the  table,  ia 
9*6'.  This  means  that  the  rifle  at  the  moment  at  which 
the  bullet  quits  the  muzzle  is  pointing  20*22  inches  above  the 
point  it  will  hit  at  200  yards.  In  other  words,  the  bullet 
falls  20*22  inches  in  that  distance.  Now  the  angle  for 
100  yards  is  4*4',  which  at  100  yards  is  equal  to  4*61  inches. 
It  is  clear  then  that  in  the  course  of  its  200  yards  flight, 
when  the  bullet  has  flown  100  yards  it  will  have  fallen 
4*4'  of  the  angle  of  9*66'  with  which  it  was  projected. 
The  value  of  the  whole  of  this  angle  at  100  yards  is 
10*11  inches,  and  deducting  4*61  inches  for  the  fall  in  the  ^ 
first  100  yards,  it  is  evident  that  the  remainder,  6*5  inches,  e 
will  be  the  height  of  the  bullet  above  the  line  of  aim,  sup-  , 
posing,  that  is,  that  the  line  of  aim  passes  through  the  axis 
of  the  bore  at  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle,  for  a  slight  correction, 
inappreciable  at  long  ranges,  has  to  be  made  for  the  height 
of  the  fore  sight  above  the  barrel.  The  rule,  then,  for  finding 
the  height  at  any  point  in  the  trajectory  is  as  follows  : — Prom 
the  angle  for  the  whole  distance  deduct  the  angle  for  the 
shorter  distance  in  question,  and  convert  the  remainder  into 
feet  and  inches  at  the  shorter  distance.  In  making  such 
calculations  it  is  convenient  to  take  as  a  basis  the  fact  that 
one  minute  of  angle  equals  1*047  inch  at  100  yards.     This 


inches  above  line  of  sight  at  ef 
n  on  page  293 

i,  915  grains 


D  X,M»  1,600       I       1,700 


111.         ft     In.         ft.     in. 


ft     In.     '     fl 


4-0 


;6-6 

19 

1-8 

,8-3 

(0 

4-6  i  88 

3-7 

9-9 

1 

98 

8-9 !  68  10-7 

37 

9-7 

10-3 

129 

3-7  1 106 

9-9 

78 

1-4 

!  3-9 

1 

167 

1-6  j  147 

22 

120  11-9 

■9-7 

207 

3-5 

190 

0-2 

166 

60 

|6-3 

249  10*2 

235 

4-8 

214 

8-7 

I  6-4 
I 

294 

10-2 

283 

4-9 

265 

8-8 

!l0-7 

342 

4-6 

334 

1-3 

319 

7-2 

*  80 

392 

6-0 

387 

6-8 

376 

4-8 

TRAJECTORY    TABLE  SOS 

method  is  very  simple,  and  although  it  would  not  be  suffici- 
ently accurate  for  use  in  dealing  with  very  high  angles,  it 
may  be  taken  as  absolutely  correct  for  the  flat  angles  used  in 
rifle-shooting.  So  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able  to  check  it 
by  firing  up  to  1,000  yards  through  screens  of  very  thin  paper 
he  has  not  been  able  to  detect  any  error  in  the  trajectory  as 
thus  deduced  from  the  table  of  angles.  A  complete  table  of  the 
trajectory  of  the  *308  rifle  with  the  service  charge,  calculated 
from  the  angles,  for  all  distances  up  to  2,500  yards,  is  appended. 
It  will  be  found  to  be  closely  correct  in  fact,  even  if  the  velocity 
of  the  charge  used  is  a  little  lower  than  the  2,087  feet  per 
second,  which  was  found  to  be  the  velocity  of  the  particular 
Service  ammunition  with  which  the  angles  of  elevation  were 
determined  some  years  ago.  The  mean  standard  velocity  of 
the  -308  is  now  2,000  feet  per  second  as  against  1960,  at 
which  it  had  stood  for  some  years  previous  to  1901.  A 
similar  table  for  the  Mannlicher  rifle  with  a  standard  load  is 
also  appended,  but  it  extends  only  to  1,000  yards,  as  the  writer 
has  not  had  an  opportunity  of  collecting  data  on  which  to 
base  an  extension  of  it  to  really  long  ranges. 

Trajectory  Table  of  the  Mannlicher  6^  mm.  ('256)  Rifle,  giving  the  height  of 
trajectory  in  feet  and  inches  above  line  of  sight  at  every  100  yards  to 
1,000  yards 

Initial  velocity,  2.350  i.».    Weight  of  buUet,  156  groins 


Range 
in 

100 

200 

1      800 

400 

600 

600 

700 

'      800 

900 

1,0 

Yard# 

I 

ft.  in. 

ft.  In. 

ft.  in. 

,  ft.  in. 

i  ft.  in. 

ft.  in. 

ft.  in. 

ft.  in.    . 

ft.  in. 

ift.: 

200 

0   4-2 

1 

300 

0   9-2 

0  10-0 

1 

1 

400 

1    81 

1     9-3 

1    5-6 

1 

500 

1    9-9 

2  11-4 

3    21 

2    3-3 

1 

600 

2   5-7 

4     3-1 

5     1-6 

4  10-7 

8    3-3 

700 

3    2-« 

5     9-i 

7     4-8 

7  10-9 

7    U-6 

4   6-3 

800 

4   0-9 

7     5-4 

9  11-0 

11     3-2 

11     2-9 

9    6-7 

5  10-5 

900 

6    0-2 

9     41 

12     91 

15    0-6 

16  lie 

15    2-8 

12     59 

7    6-8 

1,000 

0   0-8 

11     6-8 

16  10-9 

19    3-1 

21     2-8 

21    8-6 

19  10-3 

15  11-8 

9   6-6 

0 

The  extreme  range  of  the  '803  rifle  is  very  little  greater 
than  that  formerly  obtained  with  the  Martini-Henry.  With 
the  -808  it  is  put  at  from  8,500  to  8,700  yards  with  an 
angle  of  elevation  of  about  29"*.  The  experiment  is  not  a 
particularly  easy  one  to  make,  since,  except  in  the  very  calmest 
weather,  and  under  the  most  favourable  conditions,  there  ia 


304  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

great  difficulty  in  finding  where  the  bullets  descend.  Probably 
the  easiest  way  of  determining  the  point,  if  it  needed  to  be 
done  afresh,  would  be  to  mount  a  Maxim  gun  so  that  the  barrel 
could  be  elevated  precisely  to  any  given  angle,  and  to  fire 
rapidly  a  few  groups  of  shots.  These  would  be  much  less 
difficult  to  locate,  and  at  the  same  time  would  be  more  pre- 
cisely directed,  than  shots  fired  by  individuals.  The  rifle  now 
used  in  the  British  army,  the  sighting  of  which  extends  to 
2,800  yards,  is  the  only  European  weapon  sighted  for  quite 
such  a  long  distance,  though  some  of  the  Mauser  and  Mann- 
licher  rifles  used  in  other  countries  are  sighted  to  2,400  yards. 
It  is  said  that  at  the  siege  of  Ladysmith,  a  picked  party  of 
the  Bifle  Brigade  more  than  once  silenced  a  Boer  gun  at 
2,900  yards,  and  the  feat  is  quite  possible  if  we  take  into 
account  the  good  atmospheric  conditions  which  usually 
prevail  in  South  Africa,  and  the  very  great  objection  of 
the  Boer  gunners  to  remain  in  a  neighbourhood  in  which 
bullets  were  falling.  Such  a  feat  could  only  be  possible 
under  quite  exceptional  circumstances.  If  it  be  remembered 
that  in  a  flight  of  2,500  yards  the  bullet  rises  almost 
400  feet  above  the  line  of  aim,  it  can  easily  be  seen  how 
susceptible  it  is  to  any  influence  of  the  wind,  which,  as 
already  mentioned,  is  in  more  rapid  motion  at  high  than  at 
lower  levels. 

The  shape  of  the  fore  part  of  the  bullet  is  naturally  a 
leading  factor  in  its  maintenance  or  loss  of  speed.  The  form 
of  bullet  introduced  by  Mr.  Metford,  with  a  long  sloping 
shoulder  and  a  blunt  point,  was  found  to  give  a  very  appreciable 
advantage  in  angle  over  the  more  rounded  form  commonly 
employed  up  to  that  time.  In  America,  a  bullet  with  a  very 
long  curved  fore  part,  ending  in  a  rather  sharp  point,  had  been 
used  for  match  shooting,  and  by  adopting  a  rather  similar 
curve  from  the  cylindrical  part,  and  rounding  off  the  end 
without  prolonging  it  to  a  point,  the  chief  advantages  of  this 
shape  are  retained.  The  resistance  of  the  air  tends  to 
make  flat-headed  shot  fly  true,  but  it  is  at  an  enormous  cost 
in  reduction  of  speed.  A  flat-headed  shot  used  by  Sir  Joseph 
Whitworth  with  some  success  in  piercing  a  ship's  side  under 
water  is   shown  in  fig.  75.     This  form  of   shot  was  found 


BULLETS    OF    VARIOUS    SHAPES 


305 


to  penetrate  the  water,  and  not  to  glance  off  it,  like  ordinary 
pointed  shot.  The  best  theoretical  shape  for  penetrating 
air  with  the  least  resistance  has  a  sloping  stern  to  it  as 
well  as  a  bow,  but  the  attempts  of  Sir  Joseph  Whitworth 
to  make  use  of  this  form  in  projectiles  for  big  guns  have  not 
been  followed  up,  and  the  shape  introduces  certain  practical 
difficulties.  Fig.  73  shows  the  Whitworth  shot  with  tapered 
rear,  and  fig.  74  a  tubular  bullet  of  which  he  thought  highly, 
finding  it  to  give  great  penetration  and  to  cut  a  core  out  of 
elastic  substances.     In  1898,  some  sensation  was  caused  by 


FIG.   73 


FIO.  75 


•the  production  of  the  Krnka-Hebler  tubular  bullet,  which  had 
long  curved  lines  towards  bow  and  stern,  and  which  was 
solemnly  announced  to  maintain  its  velocity  and  penetration 
in  a  wonderful  degree  up  to  extreme  ranges ;  unfortunately  it 
was  not  found  to  stand  the  test  of  actual  experiment  in  these 
respects. 

The  difference  in  shape  introduced  by  Mr.  Metford  will  be 
seen  if  the  -803  bullets  on  p.  142  are  compared  with  that  of 
the  Martini-Henry  on  p.  71.  Any  economy  in  air-resistance 
us  effective  more  and  more  as  the  range  increases. 

The  bullets  of  the   -808  rifle  do  not  ricochet  off  turf  at 


306  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 

8,000  yards,  and  very  few  of  them  beyond  2,000  yards.  At 
distances  approaching  the  extreme  range  of  the  rifle,  the 
impulse  of  projection  is  largely  exhausted,  and  the  velocity 
with  which  the  bullet  strikes  is  due  in  part  to  its  speed  of 
fall  under  the  influence  of  gravity.  But  it  has  little  penetra- 
tion. The  direction  of  ricochets  from  a  smooth  surface  such 
as  calm  water,  naturally  follows  that  of  the  spin,  bat  on 
ordinary  ground  it  is  very  uncertain. 


307 


CHAPTER  XII 

XOYEMEMT  OF  THE  RIFLE  IN  FIRING— ITS  VIBRATIONS — EARLY  IDEAS  AS  TO 
PATH  OF  PROJECTILE — THE  TERM  *  POINT  BLANK* — JUMP  AND  FLIP — 
EFFECT  OF  BOLT  FASTENING  ON  DIRECTION  OF  FIRE— AND  OF  AFFIXING 
BATONKT — EFFECT  OP  TIBRATIONB  ON  ACCURACY — COMPENSATORY  ACTION 
— FRICTION  IN  THE  BORE — FIRST  SHOT  FROM  CLEAN  BARREL — SHAPE 
OF  BULLET-HOLE — SPIN  OF  BULLET — ITS  STABILITY —RATE  OF  SPIN — 
PICTURES  OF  BULLETS  IN  FLIGHT — AIR  WAVES — BULLETS  VISIBLE  IN 
FLIGHT — DRIFT — INFLUENCE  OF  EARTH^S  ROTATION — GROUPING  OF 
SHOTS — THE   BALLISTIC   PENDULUM — THE   ELECTRIC  CHRONOGRAPH 

In  the  skirmishing  kind  of  fire  so  often  necessary  *on 
service,  which  approximates  to  fire  under  sporting  conditions, 
and  which  is  likely  to  be  much  more  the  rule  in  future  than 
hitherto,  the  positions  depend  very  much  on  the  form  of  the 
ground,  and  on  the  circumstances  of  the  moment.  It  is  of 
practical  importance  alwc^ys  to  rest  the  rifle,  if  this  can  con- 
veniently be  done.  The  Volunteers  in  Plate  XLII,  which  has 
been  taken  from  a  little  book  published  by  Ackermann  forty 
years  ago,  illustrate  this  point,  though  the  trees  from  behind 
which  they  are  firing  would  not  in  these  days  afiford  complete 
protection.  The  marksman  whom  Ezekiel  Baker  depicts  shoot- 
ing in  the  prone  position  .(Plate  XXX)  has  taken  off  his  tall 
plumed  hat  (no  doubt  so  made  that  the  crown  is  of  a  con- 
venient height  for  this  purpose),  and,  having  placed  it  on  the 
ground  in  front  of  him,  rests  his  rifle  upon  it.  Such  assistance 
in  steadying  the  aim  requires  to  be  used  with  discretion.  It  is 
as  well  not  to  rest  the  rifle  nearer  the  muzzle  than  can  be 
helped.  The  normal  movement  of  the  rifle  under  the  influence 
of  the  recoil,  which  begins  before  the  bullet  leaves  it,  and 
which  is  taken  into  account  in  sighting  it  when  fired  in  the 
ordinary  way,  is  apt  to  be  disturbed  by  any  support  or  re- 
straint, and  it  may  be  that  a  slightly  abnormal  flight  of  the 
shot  will  be  the  consequence,  which  will  lead  to  failure  if 
great  accuracy  is  essential.  The  ordinary  military  rifle  does 
not  seem  to  be  easily  disturbed  in  this  respect,  if  rested  near  the 

X  2 


308  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

middle  of  the  fore  end.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge 
that  in  a  doable  rifle  or  gun,  the  two  barrels  have  to  be  set  so 
as  to  converge  somewhat  towards  the  muzzle,  and  that  if  they 
are  carefully  examined  the  axes  of  their  bores  will  be  found,  if 
prolonged,  to  cross  at  a  little  distance  in  front  of  the  muzzle. 
The  outward  movement  of  the  recoil,  which  swings  the  muzzle 
to  the  right  when  the  right  barrel  is  fired,  and  vice  versa, 
compensates  for  this  convergence,  and  the  barrels,  if  properly 
adjusted  for  a  given  charge,  will  shoot  parallel  to  each  other. 
The  sighting  of  a  rifle  is  similarly  disturbed  by  any  appreciable 
variation  from  the  normal  charge.  It  may  even  be  that  by 
reducing  the  charge  it  will  at  a  short  range  be  found  to  shoot 
higher,  and  by  increasing  it  to  shoot  lower.  It  is  important, 
then,  that  the  sighting"  of  a  rifle  should  be  checked  if  there  is 
any  variation  of  the  charge,  either  in  the  weight  or  com]x>8i- 
tion  of  the  bullet,  or  in.  the  amount  or  nature  of  the  explosive. 
If  the  barrel  were  free  to  recoil  precisely  in  the  direction  of 
its  own  axis,  and  if  the  centre  of  gravity  of  its  mass,  with  the 
fittings  attached  to  it,  were  in  the  axis  of  the  barrel,  or  in  the 
prolongation  of  it,  we  may  suppose  that  it  would  shoot  quite 
normally,  and  that  its  sights  would  be  correct,  if  their  base 
line,  or  zero  line,  were  made  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  bore ; 
but  it  may  be  said  that  the  correct  line  of  sighting  never 
fulfils  these  conditions.  It  is  well  known  that  in  a  pistol, 
or  revolver,  the  fore  sight  is  a  good  deal  higher  above  the 
barrel  than  the  back  sight,  to  compensate  for  the  upward 
kick  which  takes  place  before  the  bullet  leaves  the  muzzle. 
With  the  longer  barrelled  rifles  the  vibrations  are  more  com- 
plex, and  the  line  of  the  zero  may  diverge  either  above  or 
below  the  line  of  the  axis  of  the  barrel  when  at  rest.  In  the 
Lee-Metford  there  is  normally  an  upward  throw  of  about  20' 
to  25',  hence  the  necessity  for  a  high  ^fore  sight. 

It  is  evident  that  a  long  barrel  when  under  the  influence 
of  the  explosion  of  the  powder  is  thrown  into  a  state  of  vibra- 
tion, the  length  of  the  waves  of  vibration  depending  upon  the 
proportions  of  the  barrel.  This  is  truly  the  case  with  an 
unsupported  barrel,  but  the  vibrations  seem  to  be  checked  and 
modified  when  the  barrel  is  attached  to  a  stiff  and  heavy 
fore  end.  If  the  barrel  be  supported  at  one  of  the  nodes  of 
vibration  its  free  movement  will  not  be  interfered  with,  and, 


5 


3 

M 
H 


MOVEMENT    OF    BARREL    ON    FIRING  311 

indeed,  if  it  be  supported  by  a  rest  at  a  point  at  which  it  is 
lifted  by  the  wave  movement  set  up,  it  does  not  seem  that 
the  delivery  of  the  shot  is  affected.  Bat  if  the  barrel  be 
supported  in  such  a  way  as  to  check  its  first  vibrations,  the 
direction  of  the  flight  of  the  bullet  will  be  modified.  If  the 
fore  end  be  Removed  from  a  military  rifle  the  vibrations  of 
the  barrel,  and  indeed  the  movement  of  the  whole  rifle  will, 
with  the  normal  charge,  be  such  as  to  require  an  entirely 
different  sighting.  Similarly  an  alteration  of  the  proportions 
of  the  barrel  by  cutting  off  an  iuch  or  two  at  the  muzzle  may 
affect  the  sighting  considerably.  We  have  heard  of  an  experi- 
ment with  a  sporting  rifle  having  a  short  fore-end,  in  which 
different  lengths  of  barrel  were  tried  by  cutting  an  inch  at  a 
time  off  the  muzzle.  Each  alteration  of  an  inch  altered  the 
sighting  considerably  at  2(K)  yards,  the  bullet  being  thrown 
higher  or  lower.  The  want  of  appreciation  of  this  fact  of 
the  movement  of  the  barrel  before  the  shot  leaves  it,  gave 
rise  to  one  great  fallacy  which  adversely  affected  the  science 
of  shooting  for  hundreds  of  years.  It  was  natural  to  suppose 
that  the  barrel  would  be  correctly  sighted  for  the  shortest 
distance  if  the  sights  were  arranged  so  that  the  line  of  aim 
was  strictly  parallel  to  the  bore.  This  principle  could  not  but 
apply  to  cannon  as  well  as  to  the  rifle.  Now  it  would  seem  that 
with  the  older  arms,  in  which  the  stress  from  the  charge  was 
not  very  severe,  the  ball  was  almost  always  delivered  from 
the  muzzle  in  a  line  higher  than  that  of  the  axis  of  the  barrel, 
and  therefore  of  the  sighting,  and  that  it  would  fly  some 
distance  before  descending  again  to  that  line.  It  was  found  that 
a  gun  or  rifle  carefully  sighted  and  carefully  aligned,  threw  its 
ball  quite  a  considerable  distance  before  it  fell  below  the  line 
of  aim.  The  fact  that  it  was  not  started  correctly  upon  that 
line  was  naturally  disguised  by  the  comparative  flatness  of  the 
initial  portion  of  the  trajectory.  The  theory  had  therefore  to 
be  made  to  fit  the  facts,  and  it  seemed  as  if  there  must  be  a 
'  point  blank'  range,  that  is,  a  considerable  distance  traversed 
by  the  ball  before  it  began  to  fall,  or  at  all  events,  before  it 
began  to  f «^11  appreciably.  This  appears  to  have  been  accepted 
as  a  principle  by  gunners  up  to  very  recent  times,  although 
since  the  laws  of  gravity  have  been  in  any  degree  understood, 


313  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

it  is  clear  enough  that  no  projected  body  could  fail  to  describe 
a  curve.  Leonardo  da  Yinci,  who  seems  to  have  been  almost  as 
great  a  military  engineer  and  man  of  science  as  he  was  a  painter, 
clearly  recognised  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  (as  was 
pointed  out  in  1B59  by  Captain  Jervis,  M.P.)  that  the  path  of  a 
projectile  is  a  curve  from  beginning  to  end.  But  da  Vinci's 
note-books  were  not  published.  The  same  fact  was  afterwards 
insisted  upon  by  Tartaglia,  who  says,  that  except  it  be  fired 
directly  upwards  or  downwards  a  piece  *  will  not  shoot  fifty 
paces,  nor  yet  one  pace  in  a  right  line.'  Tet  Tartaglia,  who  pats 
in  a  strong  claim  to  be  the  inventor  of  the  gunner's  qoadrant 
or  clinometer,  is  capable  of  maintaining  in  1528  that  if  two 
shots  are  fired  consecutively  the  second  will  travel  further 
than  the  first,  because  '  it  doth  find  the  ayre  not  onely  wfaolj 
stirred  with  the  pellet  of  the  first  shoote,  but  also  much  tending 
or  going  towardes  the  place  at  which  it  is  shot.'  Nor  was  his 
scientific  mind  proof  against  that  desire  for  the  marvellous 
which  is  still  much  too  common,  for  he  gravely  tells  *  How  a 
peece  which  had  beene  oftentimes  togeather  charged  and  dis- 
charged was  made  thereby  so  much  attractiue,  as  that  it  did 
sodainlie  drawe  into  his  concauitie  a  little  dog,  which  by 
chaunce  did  in  going  by,  smell  unto  the  mouth  of  the  same 
peece,'  and  from  this  imaginary  fact  deduces  a  theory  that 
after  discharge  there  is  some  violent  attraction  or  suction 
exercised  by  the  barrel.  William  Bourne,  in  1587,  describes 
the  beginning  of  the  path  of  a  shot  as  being  a  '  Bight 
line,  so  long  as  the  shot  goeth  violently,'  and  also  says 
that  '  point  blanke  is  the  direct  fleeing  of  the  shot  without 
any  descending  from  the  mouth  of  the  piece  unto  the  mark.' 
Robert  Anderson,  in  1690,  says  of  the  first  part  of  the 
parabolic  curve,  which  Galileo  had  shown  to  be  the  path  of 
the  bullet,  '  This  line  I  call  the  line  of  Impulse  of  Fire,  and 
take  it  for  a  right  line  for  ease  of  calculation,  although  I 
believe  the  thing  projected  moves  as  it  can  so  far  as  the 
Impulse  of  Fire  or  violent  shaking  of  the  Engin  is  upon  it.' 
The  term  *  point  blank '  has  been  hard  to  kiU.  Sixty  years 
ago  W.  W.  Greener,  in  writing  on  the  Science  of  Gunnery, 
defined  it  as  being  *  the  distance  to  which  the  rifle  will  project 
a  ball  in  a  parallel  line  with  the  earth  if  a  plain.'     In  recent 


THE    TERM    'POINT    BLANK*  318 

t^imes  the  expression  '  point  blank '  has  often  been  used,  and 
is  mostly  taken  to  mean  the  distance  which  a  bullet  travels 
l^efore  it  has  dropped  any  appreciable  amount.  The  word  is 
t;liaB  used  with  great  latitude,  for  it  is  purely  a  matter  of  taste, 
and  sometimes  of  the  necessities  of  advertising,  whether  the 
trajectory  be  considered  straight  for  practical  purposes  up  to 
100  yards,  or  up  to  600  yards  or  more.  The  fact  is  that  the 
expression  *  point  blank '  is  one  based  on  a  fallacy  and  inca- 
pable of  accurate  definition.  It  has  no  place  as  a  scientific 
term,  nor  has  it  definite  meaning  enough  to  give  it  any  utility. 
The  sooner  it  is  recognised  as  an  anachronism,  and  entirely 
abandoned,  the  better.  Mr.  Van  Dyke  maintains  that  it  is 
-worth  while  to  keep  the  term,  and  defines  it  for  practical 
purposes  as  *  that  distance  at  which  the  ball  will  strike  the 
regulation  bull's-eye  for  that  distance  without  rising  in  its 
flight.'  Such  a  definition  is  necessarily  vague,  and  conveys 
very  little.  Hardly  any  two  people  would  attribute  precisely 
the  same  meaning  to  the  expression. 

The  confusion  of  ideas  expressed  in  the  term  *  point  blank  ' 
is,  as  regards  sporting  rifles,  much  emphasized  by  their  being 
usually  sighted  so  as  to  shoot  a  little  high  for  the  nominal 
range.  Supposing  that  a  -303  rifle,  instead  of  being  accur- 
ately sighted  for  100  yards,  shoots  2  inches  high  at  that  dis- 
tance, then  the  point  where  the  ball  really  crosses  the  line  of 
aim  will  be  some  40  yards  further  on,  and  the  delighted 
owner,  if  not  something  of  an  expert  in  these  matters,  will 
declare  that  the  bullet  from  his  rifle  does  not  drop  appre- 
ciably between  100  and  160  yards.  One  of  the  snares  to 
which  we  are  most  liable  is  to  attribute  special  and  abnormal 
excellence  to  some  favourite  weapon  without  remembering 
that  while  one  rifle  may  shoot  more  accurately  than  another 
the  laws  of  gravity  and  air  resistance  are  the  same  for  all. 
The  writer  remembers  one  marksman  of  great  gifts,  and  very 
prominent  for  a  few  years  at  the  long  ranges,  who  seriously 
maintained  that  he  had  a  rifle  which  did  not  require  any 
alteration  of  elevation  for  change  of  direction  of  the  wind. 
Yet,  though  he  seemed  perfectly  convinced  of  this,  he  knew 
better  than  to  state  it  for  a  fact  in  a  book  on  the  subject  of 
shooting  which  he  afterwards  wrote. 


814  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

We  have  digressed  somewhat  from  the  subject  of  the  move- 
ment of  the  rijQe  before  the  bullet  leaves  it  as  affecting  the 
sighting.  Experiments  have  been  made  on  the  matter  in  this 
country  by  Captain  Close,  E.E.,  and  in  America  by  Dr. 
Crehore  and  Dr.  Squier,  the  method  employed  being  to 
obtain  photographs  showing  the  course  of  certain  points  on, 
or  attached  to,  the  barrel.  These  go  to  show  that  as  or- 
dinarily fired  in  the  hands  of  a  man  the  whole  rifle  moves 
about  an  eighth  of  an  inch  before  the  bullet  quits  the 
muzzle.  Indications  are  also  obtained  of  the  bending  of 
the  barrel  under  the  stress  of  firing.  Investigations  on  the 
same  subject  have  been  made  by  Messrs.  Cranz  &  Koch, 
at  Stuttgart,  in  1899-1900.  They  have  dealt  very  com- 
pletely both  with  the  movements  of  the  different  points  in 
the  length  of  the  barrel  and  the  effect  on  these  movements 
of  variation  in  the  charge,  and  have  also  tried  the  effect  of 
varying  the  degree  of  resistance  opposed  to  the  recoil  of  the 
rifle.  Mr.  A.  Mallock,  C.E.,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Royal 
Society  in  June,  1901,  on  the  *  Vibration  of  Rifle  Barrels,'  has 
dealt  with  the  subject  from  the  mathematical  point  of  view, 
basing  his  calculations  on  observation  of  the  whole  rifle  as  a 
vibrating  system. 

It  seems  clear  that  the  fore  part  of  the  barrel  is  vibrating 
with  definite  periods,  especially  in  a  vertical  line,  or,  rather, 
in  a  line  passing  through  the  centre  of  the  charge  and  the 
centre  of  gravity  of  the  rifle,  which  is  not  always  vertically 
below  it,  and  that  the  rifle  as  a  whole  moves  into  the  general 
upward  kick  due  to  the  fact,  firstly,  of  the  centre  of  gravity  of 
its  whole  mass  being  below  the  plane  in  which  the  backward 
pressure  of  the  powder  gases  is  applied ;  and,  secondly,  to  the 
resistance  of  the  shoulder,  also  at  a  point  below  that  plane. 
The  general  movement  round  the  latter  point,  which  throws 
up  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle  some  4  or  5  inches,  does  not  take 
place  until  after  the  bullet  has  left  the  barrel,  until,  in  fact, 
the  rifle  has  recoiled  something  like  half  an  inch.  It  is  well, 
as  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Tippins,  to  distinguish  the  general 
movement  of  the  rifle  as  'jump,'  from  the  first  movement  of 
the  barrel  usually  downwards,  called  *  flip.'  It  is  not  only  in 
a  vertical  plane  that  the  rifle  can  move.     The  whole  weapon 


VIBRATIONS    ON    FIRING  315 

receives  from  the  boUet  a  twist  corresponding  with  that 
given  to  the  bullet  by  the  rifling,  although  the  movement 
is  not  really  developed  until  after  the  bullet  has  quitted  the 
muzzle.  This  phenomenon  of  the  rifle,  as  distinct  from  the 
•shot  gun,  may  be  distinctly  noticed  by  the  observant  firer. 
If  the  weapon  be  held  loosely  at  the  moment  at  which  it  is 
<lischarged  it  will  be  found  to  have  a  slight  tendency  to  turn 
in  the  hands  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  of  its  spiral.  The 
toe  of  the  butt  tends  with  a  right-handed  spiral  to  move  to  the 
right,  as  it  rests  against  the  shoulder,  and  with  a  left-handed 
spiral  to  the  left,  simultaneously  with  the  recoil.  Deane  even 
mentions  the  twist  of  the  rifle  in  the  hands  on  firing  as  one  of 
the  objections  to  a  rapid  spiral.  The  barrel  can  also  receive 
a  sideways  vibratory  impulse,  if  there  is  any  unevenness  in 
the  resistance  offered  by  the  breech  to  the  recoil. 

In  the  modified  Lee  action  of  the  *803  rifle  the  lugs  which 
lock  the  bolt  when  the  breech  is  shut,  and  which  sustain  the 
stress  of  the  explosion,  are  more  than  4  inches  behind  the 
base  of  the  cartridge,  and  the  action  is  of  unequal  strength 
and  stiffness  on  the  two  sides  ;  consequently,  under  the  stress 
of  the  explosion  an  uneven  sideways  movement,  although  of 
very  small  amount,  takes  place,  and  this  is  enough  to  affect 
the  straight  delivery  of  the  bullet.  It  must  be  confessed  that  it 
is  not  a  good  mechanical  principle  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
length  of  the  bolt  should  be  subject  to  compression,  and  a 
similar  length  of  the  action  to  the  opposite  strain  tending  to 
elongate  it,  when,  if  the  lugs  locking  the  bolt  are  placed,  as  in 
some  other  patterns  of  magazine  rifles,  as  close  as  possible 
behind  the  cartridge,  u'ndue  cross  strains  can  be  avoided,  and 
as  little  metal  as  possible  involved  in  resisting  the  explosion. 
The  objection  to  having  the  resisting  shoulders  for  the  lugs 
immediately,  behind  the  cartridge,  is  that  this  arrangement 
interposes  an  extra  length  of  the  metal  of  the  action  behind 
the  chamber  when  the  breech  is  open,  and  it  is  a  little  less 
easy  to  clean  and  to  inspect  the  chamber  and  the  bearings. 
It  is  found  that  if  the  two  lugs  and  their  resisting  pieces 
are  not  quite  accurately  made,  the  sideways  throw  of  the  rifle 
may  be  considerable.  If  one  lug  bears  when  closed,  and  the 
other  is  two  or  three  thousandths  of  an  inch  clear  in  front 


316  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

of  the  bearing  that  should  support  it,  so  that  it  only  comes  U> 

bear  after  a  certain  amount  of  pressure  has  been  put  upon  the 

bolt,  the  sighting  will  be  affected  to  the  extent  of  several 

inches  at  100  yards.     The  effect  of  these  inequalities  on  the 

sighting  have  only   recently   been   sufficiently  appreciated. 

Mr.  Tippins  first  drew   attention  to   their   effect   upon  the 

sighting,  and  Colonel  Watkin,  the  able  head  of  the  Small 

Arms  Factory  at  Enfield,  independently  arrived  at  this  cause 

of  lateral  variation  in  the  shooting.     It  seems  clear  that  in 

the  same  rifle  the  amount  of  side -throw  will  vary  with  the 

different  charges  used.      The  mass  of  the  rifle  is  not  quite 

symmetrical,  especially  when  it  has  a  projecting  bolt  handle* 

Th3  writer  has  found  a  very  decided  tendency  with  the  'SOS 

rifle  to  require  a  different  lateral  adjustment  with  cordite  from 

its   sighting  with  black   pellet  powder,  amounting  to  about 

4  minutes  of  angle  when  shooting  prone,  but  rather  less  in 

other  positions.     Contrary  to  common  belief,  a  steel  barrel 

not  only  can  bendf  but  is  extremely  sensitive  to  any  cross 

strain.     The  barrel  before  it  is  grooved  is  *  set  up,'  that  is,  it 

is  adjusted,  if  necessary  by  blows  of  a  hammer,  so  that   the 

reflection  of  light  down  its  whole  length  shows  it  to  be,  so  far  as 

the  human  senses  can  tell,  absolutely  cylindrical  and  straight, 

yet  it  can  be  seen  to  bend,  as  has  been  previously  mentioned, 

under  comparatively  slight  cross  strains.     It  is  probable  that 

the  standard  of  straightness  insisted  upon  for  Government 

arms  in  this  respect  is  unduly  high,  for  when  the  barrel  is 

fastened  at  two  points,  if  not  along  its  whole  length,  with  a 

rigid  fastening  to  the  stock,  it  is  practically  certain  to  have 

permanent  cross  strains  put  upon  it.     In  any  case  it  is  clear 

that  the  explosion  of  the  charge .  in  a  barrel  must  and  does 

establish  very  great  vibration,  so  that  on  the  whole  it  is  a 

matter  for  astonishment  that  one  shot  after  another  can  be 

delivered  with  so  little  variation  of  the  movement  of  the  rifle 

as  is  actually  possible. 

If  it  were  necessary  to  bring  home  to  the  incredulous  the 
fact  of  the  influence  of  any  unusual  stress  on  the  rifle,  and 
especially  on  the  barrel,  upon  the  direction  in  which  the 
bullet  is  discharged,  it  would  only  be  necessary  to  instance 
the  effect  of  attaching  the  bayonet.     This  in  the  Martini- 


STRESSES    ON    THE    BARREL  317 

Henry  rifle  was  fixed  to  one  side  of  the  muzzle,  and  the  ballet 
was  deflected  towards  the  opposite  side.  In  the  *308  the 
bayonet  is  fixed  underneath  the  muzzle,  and,  owing  to  the 
different  proportions  of  the  rifle,  the  shot  is  thrown  some- 
thing like  8'  or  10'  (minutes  of  angle)  below  the  ordinary 
line  of  sighting  in  consequence.  The  precise  amount  of  this 
•effect  of  the  bayonet  when  fixed  is  not  constant,  for  there  are 
always  peculiarities  of  particular  rifles  as  well  as  variations 
in  the  fitting  of  individual  bayonets. 

It  is  certainly  the  case  that  the  movement  of  the  barrel 
on  firing  is  to  some  extent  influenced  by  the  degree  of 
tension  of  the  metal  of  which  it  is  made.  Mr.  Metford  found 
that  he  could  produce  the  wildest  shooting  by  setting  up  a 
-state  of  strain  in  the  barrel  by  torsional  stresses  before  firing, 
if  it  were  rigidly  fixed  in  a  vice.  When  by  the  application 
of  fresh  forces  the  barrel  was  set  free  from  the  torsional 
strain,  the  ordinary  vibrations  due  to  the  explosion  were  com- 
plicated by  the  movement  of  recovery. 

It  will  be  better  understood  now  how  important  it  is  to 
be  careful  about  the  amount  of  support  which  the  rifle  may 
receive  from  some  convenient  rest  in  firing  a  shot.  This 
applies  no  doubt  more  to  sporting  rifles,  which  have  the 
barrel  unsupported  for  a  great  part  of  its  length  except  by 
its  own  substance,  than  to  full-stocked  military  rifles,  but  it 
is  a  factor  not  to  be  neglected  under  any  circumstances.  In 
sighting  a  rifle  from  a  table  rest  the  writer  has  usually 
found  it  satisfactory  to  have  a  sand-bag  or  some  similar 
support  against  which  the  left  fore-arm  and  hand  could  be 
rested,  rather  than  to  have  a  special  arrangement  for  sup- 
porting the  barrel  towards  the  muzzle.  In  firing  without  a 
rest  it  is  important  to  keep  the  grip  of  the  hands  and  the 
pressure  of  the  shoulder  on  the  rifle  as  even  as  possible.  In 
,  the  back  position  the  barrel  of  the  rifle  should  not  touch  the 
left  leg  for  one  shot  and  at  another  be  clear  of  it.  The 
position  of  the  body  should  not  vary,  and  care  should  be 
taken  that  it  rests  on  exactly  the  same  spot  of  ground  for 
each  shot  of  a  series.  Under  no  circumstances  should  any 
part  of  the  rifle  touch  the  ground. 

Granted  that  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle  is. put  into  a  state  of 


318  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

vibration  before  the  departure  of  the  bullet,  it  is  evident  that 
the  point  in  the  course  of  the  vibrations  at  which  the  ballet 
will  quit  the  muzzle  may  vary.     If  the  bullet  be  delivered 
while  the  muzzle  is  actually  moving  (let  us  say)  upwards, 
some  slight  irregularity  in  ignition  or  in  friction  tending  to 
retard  its  movement,  though  only  for  the  minutest  fraction  of 
a   second,  will  lead  to  the  bullet  leaving  the   muzzle  at  a. 
slightly  higher  angle  than  the  normal.     The  reverse  will  be 
the  case  if,  at  the  instant  at  which  the  bullet  leaves,  the  barrel 
is  moving  downwards.      It  seems  evident  that  the  effect  in 
this  respect  of  any  irregularities  will   be  minimised  if  the 
point  of  the  vibration  during  which  the  bullet  leaves  the 
barrel  is  either  the  highest  point  at  which,  having  ascended, 
the  muzzle  is,  as  it  were,  halting  momentarily  in  order  to- 
descend,  or  the  lowest  point,  at  which  these  conditions  are 
reversed.    It  might  therefore  be  well  in  designing  a  rifle  ta 
arrange  that  the  charge  and  the  length  of  the  barrel  should 
be  such  as  would  cause  the  exit  of  the  shot  when  the  vibration 
was  at  an  extreme.     Or  it  might  equally  be  advantageous  to 
arrange  for  the  exit  of  the  bullet  to  be  at  such  a  period  as 
would  .cause  it,  if  delivered  with  a  velocity  somewhat  below^ 
the  normal,  to  be  directed  at  an  angle  slightly  above  the 
normal  elevation  ;  and  conversely,  if  endued  with  a  velocity 
higher  than  the  normal,  to  be  delivered  at  a  slightly  lower 
angle.     If  the  patient  reader  has  been  able  to  follow  the  last 
few  sentences  he  will  "understand  that  it  should  be  possible  in 
this  way  to  introduce  a  compensating  element  for  the  varia- 
tions in  velocity  of  individual  shots  which,  although  at  the 
nearest  ranges  it  might  somewhat  exaggerate  their  deviations, 
would   at  longer    ranges    automatically  do  much  towards 
correcting  them.      Sir  Henry  Halford  was   convinced  that 
some  such  automatic  compensation  takes  place  in  the  *803 
rifle  with  the  Service  charge.     The  writer  has  often  noticed  in 
firing  at  a  ballistic  pendulum  at  12^  yards  to  ascertain  the 
velocities  of  a  series  of  shots,  that,  with  the  -808,  shots  the 
velocity  of  which  is  considerably  below  the  normal,  strike 
high,  and  those  above  the  normal  low.      It  would  seem  as  if 
some  considerable  part  of  the  accuracy  at  long  ranges  of  the 
Service  rifle  must  be  due  to  this  compensation.     For  so  far  as. 


COMPENSATOKY    JUMP 


319 


the  writer's  own  experiments  with  the  Service  ammunition 
have  gone,  they  have  not  proved  its  capacity  to  achieve 
merely  from  the  regularity  of  its  shooting  with  the  Service 
charge  the  results  which  it  is  possible  to  obtain  from  it  at  long 
ranges.  Mr.  Mallock  shows  that  an  error  of  plus  or  minus 
40  f .8.  with  the  Service  rifle  would  lead  to  the  following  results. 
Supposing  the  barrel  to  recoil  horizontally,  and  that  there  is 
no  jump,  the  variation  of  the  trajectory  will  be  as  follows  :  ~ 


At    100 y 

ard 

spins  or  minus. 

•14  feet 

„     600 

.        .        .       117    .. 

„  1,000 

.         .         .       3-8      „ 

M  1.600 

.         .         .       7-8      „ 

„  2  000 

.         .         .     13-8      „ 

„  2,600 

.     230      „ 

If  on  the  other  hand  the  shots  of  minus  40  f.s.  velocity 
are  directed  6'  (minutes)  above  the  normal,  and  those  of  plus 
40  f.s.  6'  (minutes)  below  the  normal  angle,  the  result  is  as 
follows : — 

At 


100  yards  plus  or  minus 

600    „ 
1,000    „ 
1.600     ,.        ,. 
2,000    „ 
2,600     „ 


•38  feet 
1-70  „ 
1-26  „ 
0-00  „ 
315  ,. 
9-8      » 


It  is  plain  enough  here  that  upon  the  given  supposition 
the  effect  of  the  movement  of  the  barrel,  while  it  increases 
the  error  at  100  and  at  500  yards  by  a  small  amount,  abso- 
lutely compensates  for  it  at  1,500  yards,  and  enormously 
reduces  it  at  2,000  and  2,500  yards.  It  is  well  worth  the 
attention  of  scientific  men  interested  in  rifle  work  to  attempt 
to  develope  this  side  of  the  problem,  that  so  far  as  possible  the 
inevitable  irregularities  of  the  shooting  may  be  made  to 
balance  each  other.  It  used  to  be  found  with  the  old  Match 
rifle  that  some  barrels  were  much  more  sensitive  than  others 
'to  a  small  variation  of  charge,  and  the  writer  remembers  Sir 
Henry  Halford  speaking  of  a  rifle  of  his  which  could  be 
depended  upon  to  hit  the  target  at  1,000  yards  without 
alteration  of  angle  when  the  charge  of  powder  was  varied 
within  reasonable  limits.  The  movement  of  the  barrel 
compensated  at  that  distance  for  the  variations  in  velocity. 


320  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

There  is  one  Btriking  instance  of  the  effect  of  the  variation 
of  friction  in  the  barrel.  With  the  rifles  using  black  powder 
the  first  shot  was  fired  under  quite  different  conditions  from 
later  ones,  because  it  had  not  to  deal  with  fouling  already 
deposited  upon  the  bore.  The  effect  of  this  was  that  the  first 
shot  from  a  clean  or  oily  barrel  was  not  normal  to  the  sabse- 
quent  shots  fired.  Consequently  it  was  found  advisable  before 
entering  upon  a  competition  to  foul  the  barrel  of  the  rifle 
by  firing  a  shot  into  the  ground.  '  Blowing  off,*  as  this  is 
called,  was  usually  confined  to  a  single  shot,  but  this  was  not 
always  thought  to  do  everything  that  was  required,  and  the 
more  scrupulous  or  imaginative  would  fire  several  shots  into 
the  pit  in  order  to  bring  the  barrel  to  about  the  same  tem- 
perature and  condition  as  during  a  series  of  shots.  It  is 
not  one  of  the  least  of  the  blessings  of  smokeless  powder,  so 
far  as  rifle  competitions  are  concerned,  that  it  has  enabled  the 
greater  part  of  this  trouble,  which  amounted  to  a  nuisance,  to 
be  abolished.  With  the  -803  and  Service  ammunition  it  is 
found  practically  that  the  flight  of  the  first  shot  is  similar  to 
that  of  the  others,  provided  that  the  surface  of  the  bore  is  dry 
and  not  greasy.  This  is  the  case  at  least  at  the  short  ranges. 
The  experienced  marksman  has  usually  convinced  himself 
that  at  long  ranges,  at  which  *  blowing-off '  is  still  allowed  by 
the  Bisley  rules,  it  is  worth  while  to  take  advantage  of  the 
permission,  and  he  knows  that  especially  with  rifles  such  as 
sporting  rifles,  in  which  there  is  no  long  fore-end  to  check  the 
vibration,  there  is  a  liability  to  false  shots  unless  the  barrel 
is  not  only  fouled,  but  warmed  up  to  something  near  the  heat 
it  acquires  at  the  ordinary  rate  of  firing.  The  writer  has 
often  known  shots  go  high  after  a  pause  long  enough  to  allow 
the  barrel  to  grow  cold. 

In  firing  at  a  cardboard  target  at  short  ranges  to  test  or 
compare  any  form  of  loading,  not  only  should  the  size  of  the 
group  made  by  the  shots  be  carefully  scrutinised,  as  denoting 
the  accuracy  of  the  shooting,  but  the  bullet  holes  should  be 
examined  to  see  that  they  are  round  and  true.  They  will 
sometimes  be  noticed  to  be  oval,  and  to  have  a  dirty-  mark 
on  one  edge,  where  one  side  of  the  bullet  has  come  in  contact 
with  them.     This  is  a  bad  sign,  although  with  rifles  of  small 


THE    SPIN    OF    THE    BULLET  321 

calibre  firing  long  bullets  it  is  difficult  to  find  any  form  of 
loading  in  which  it  does  not  sometimes  occur.     It  means  that 
the   bullet  is  not  spinning  truly  upon  its  own   axis,  but  is 
gyrating  with  its  point  and  base  each  describing  a  circle.    Such 
a  flight  must  of  course  be  irregular  and  lead  to  inaccuracy. 
The  writer  remembers   some  years  ago  trying  a  smokeless 
powder  in  a  '461  Metford  Match  rifle.     Beginning  cautiously, 
for    one  cannot   be  too  careful   with   powder  of    unknown 
strength,  the  charge  was  increased  from  a  very  small  one, 
which  proved  insufficient  to  spin  the  bullets  properly,  until 
it  had  arrived  at  a  point  at  which  the  rifle  made  beautifully 
accurate  shooting  at  50  yards.      On  going  to  1,000  yards, 
however,   the  bullets   could   not   be  induced   even   to   keep 
consistently  on  the  target.     A  small  increase  in  the  charge 
put  this  right,  and  the  shooting  at  1,000  yards  was  excellent. 
The  obvious  moral  is  that  accurate  work  at  50  or  100  yards 
does   not  necessarily  mean   accurate  work   at   long  ranges. 
Yet  the  converse  is,  generally  speaking,  true.     Anything  like 
material  inaccuracy  at  50  or  100  yards  means  poor  work  at 
long  ranges.     In  some  cases  the  inaccuracy  may  be  due  to 
the  bullet  having  an  insufficient  rate  of  spin  upon  it.     It  was 
found  in  penetration  experiments  in  America  some  years  ago 
"with  the  military  rifle,  that  when  the  velocity  was  brought 
down  to  about  1,000  feet  per  second  to  simulate  the  effect  of 
the  bullet  at  long  range,  the  shots  would  not  fly  point  fore- 
most.    Unless  the  rate  of  spin  is  very  sufficient,  there  is  sure 
to  be  deviation  due  to  the  instability  of  the  bullet  at  long 
ranges.     The  bullet  of  the  -256  Mannlicher  certainly  has  a 
strong  tendency  to  *  key  hole,'  or  make  an  oblong  hole  in  a 
canvas  target  at  long  ranges.      This  may  or  may  not   be 
mainly  due  to  such  a  cause.     Generally  speaking,  the  rate  of 
spin  which  will  suffice  to  start   a   bullet  steadily  upon  its 
course  without  its  being  materially  disturbed  by  the  blast  of 
the    gases  as  it  issues  from  the  muzzle  will  keep  it  steady 
through  any  reasonable  length  of  flight.     When  we  speak, 
with  the  '803  rifle,  of  the  bullet  making  one  turn  in  10  inches 
of  progressive  flight,  that  expression  is  far  from  being  accu- 
rate for  the  whole  flight.     If  the  bullet  were  to  maintain 
the  speed  with  which  it  left  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle,  it  would 

Y 


322  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

continue  to  turn  in  exactly  the  same  spiral ;  but  its  velocity 
falls  off  at  once,  and  that  very  rapidly.     The  rate  of  spin,  on 
the  other  hand,  diminishes  very  much  more  slowly,  and  the 
consequence  is  that  when  the  bullet  has  lost  more  than  half 
its  speed,  it  will  still  be   spinning   at   more   than   half   its 
original   rate  of   spin.     This   being   so,   it  will   be   making 
perhaps  one  turn  in  only  5  to  7  inches  of  progressive  flight 
instead  of  the  original   10.      That  this  is  the  case  may  be 
noticed  by  anyone  who  has  picked  up  a  Lee-Metford  bullet 
which  has  grazed  upon  sand  after  a  flight  ol  a  few  hundred 
yards.     The  pitch  of  the  spiral  marked  on  the  sheath  of  the 
bullet  by  the  sand  has  an  entirely  different  inclination   from 
that,  of   the   rifling  marks.      In   firing   at  2,000  yards,  Mr. 
Metford  found  that  the  thin  wooden  target  at  which  he  fired 
marked   the   bullets   at   a   very   different  angle  from    their 
original   pitch.     They  began    their  flight  with  one  turn  in 
16  i  inches,  and  ended  with  one  turn  in  about  6  inches  of  flight 
Mr.  John  Rigby,  the  veteran  riflemaker  and  shot,  who  for 
some  years  was   Superintendent  at  the  Royal  Small  Arms 
Factory  at  Enfield,  relates   a   curious   anecdote   illustrating 
the  persistence  of  the  spin,  which  occurred  within  his  own 
experience.      On  a  short  range  on  the  roof  of  a  gunmaker's 
factory  in  Birmingham  there  was  a  water-tank  with  a  rubber 
panel  at  the  side,  such  as  is  sometimes  used  for  catching  fired 
bullets  uninjured.    A  shot  had  just  been  fired  into  it,  and  one  of 
those  present  said,  *  Hullo,  there's  the  bullet,'  and  pointed  out 
the  bullet  on  the  floor,  not  lying  upon  its  side,  but  standing 
upon  its  end,  spinning  like  a  top.     They  all  saw  it ;  and  he 
stooped  down,  stopped  its  spinning,  and  picked  it  up  with  his 
hand.     It  would  be  almost  impossible  intentionally  to  repro- 
duce what  had  happened.    Something  had  diverted  the  ballet ; 
it  had  lost  almost  all  its  velocity  in  the  water,  but  had  issued 
upwards  out  of  it,  for  the  top  of  the  tank  was  uncovered,  and 
had  dropped  upon  the  floor.     But  though  its  velocity  was 
gone,  its  spinning  had  not  ceased,  and  it  must  have  presented 
an  astonishing  sight  as  it  stood  on  its  end  still  retaining, 
within  a  very  few  yards  of  the  spot  from  which  it  had  beeD 
fired,  much  of  the  rotary  motion  which  it  had  received  along 
with  a  velocity  of  2,000  feet  per  second. 


STABILITY    OF    THE    BULLET  323 

The  stability  of  a  bullet  in  flight,  if  it  start  with  an  ample 
spin,  is  very  remarkable.  In  the  summer  of  1901  Mr.  Eigby 
recorded  in  the  pages  of  the  *  Field '  a  curious  occurrence  which 
happened  in  Ireland  during  long-range  shooting  on  a  range 
by  the  sea.  As  one  of  the  shooters  fired,  a  rook  which  was 
passing  at  a  low  altitude  some  150  yards  in  front  of  the  firing 
point  was  seen  to  drop  dead.  When  picked  up  it  was  found 
that  the  bullet  had  struck  the  head  fairly  in  the  centre  above 
the  bill,  and  had  split  it  so  that  it  almost  fell  in  two  halves  ; 
nevertheless  the  bullet  reached  its  destination,  and  the  marks- 
man scored  a  bull's-eye.  The  writer  remembers  once  firing 
a  series  of  shots  at  900  yards,  and  making  a  fair  score  with 
every  shot  well  on  the  target,  and  finding  afterwards  that  one 
of  the  bullets  had  made  a  hole  in  a  leather  strap,  which,  being 
attached  to  a  telescope  supported  on  a  low  stand  alongside  the 
shooter,  happened  to  have  been  swung  by  the  wind  in  front  of 
the  muzzle,  yet  so  far  as  appeared  without  affecting  the  flight 
of  the  bullet.  Even  with  a  small  rifle  firing  a  light  charge 
it  is  much  less  difficult  than  would  be  supposed  to  bring  down 
two  rooks  in  the  same  tree,  and  some  little  distance  apart, 
with  one  shot.  If  the  further  one  is  carefully  centred  behind 
the  nearer,  and  the  shot  planted  well  in  the  middle  of  the 
nearer  one,  this  double  bag  may  be  brought  off,  so  far  as 
the  writer's  experience  goes,  more  frequently  than  would  be 
thought  possible. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  is  clear  that  when  it  has  left 
the  muzzle  of  the  rifle,  and  especially  in  the  latter  part  of  its 
course,  the  bullet  is  spinning  faster  in  proportion  to  its  rate 
of  progress,  and  is  probably  resisted  to  some  extent  on  this 
account  as  it  spins,  because  its  section  is  no  longer  circular,  but 
has  impressed  on  it  projections  corresponding  to  the  grooves. 
This  is  no  doubt  what  Mr.  Tippins  alludes  to  when  he  speaks 
in  his  book,  *  Modem  Rifle  Shooting,'  of  the  bullet  forcing  a 
way  through  the  air  like  a  corkscrew,  not  screwed  into  a 
cork,  but  dragged  through  it.  We  would  rather  compare  it 
to  a  corkscrew,  which,  as  it  goes  into  the  cork,  is  turned 
faster  than  the  normal  pitch  of  the  screw  cut  upon  it 
would  lead  it  to  do,  and  so  meets  with  additional  resistance. 
It  is  not  easy  to  say  how  far  this  degree  of  resistance  will 

Y   2 


324       •  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

affect  the  flight  of  the  bullet.  Mr.  Tippins  considers  that 
the  difference  in  flight  due  to  this  cause  between  similar 
bullets  fired  from  '803  rifles,  with  concentric  or  segmental 
rifling,  is  very  appreciable,  and  is  decidedly  in  favour  of  the 
latter  at  long  ranges. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  spinning  of  bullets  as  comparable 

to  the  spinning  of  a  top.     It  will  be  interesting  to  give  some 

figures  as  to  what  the  speed  of  spinning  really  is  with  buUete 

of  different  kinds.     The  old  Enfield  or  Snider  rifle,  which  gave 

the  bullet  a  velocity  of  1,300  f.s.,  and  had  a  spiral  making  one 

turn  in  78  inches,  spun  the  bullet  200   times   per    second. 

The   Martini-Henry,   with   the   same   muzzle  velocity,   and 

rifled  with  one  turn  in  22  inches,  gives  a  rate  of    spin  of 

714  times  per  second.     The  bullet  of   the  "303,  moving  at 

2,000  feet  a  second,  is  spun  no  less  than  2,400  times   per 

second.     The  Mannlicher  rifle,  of  -266  bore,  with  a  velocity 

of  2,400  f.s.,  and  a  pitch  of  spiral  of  one  turn  in  7*87  inches, 

gives  the  bullet  a  spin  of  3,657  times  per  second.     Nor  is 

this  all.     Colonel  Bubin's  last  experimental  rifle  of  6  mm., 

which  has  a  velocity  of  over  2,600  f.s.,  if  it  has  a  spiral  as 

rapid  as  that  of  the  6'5  mm.  Mannlicher,  must  spin  its  bullet 

at  the  rate  of  more  than  4,300  times  per  second.     This  is  an 

enormous    speed,  but  it  must  be   remembered  that  in  the 

course  of  one  second  the  bullet  flies  more  than  500  yards.    A 

properly  centred  bullet  makes  no  sound  whatever  in  flight, 

but  if  Colonel  Bubin's  bullet  were  to  hum  like  a  top,  setting 

up  a  vibration  with  each  revolution,  the  note  which  it  would 

give  would  be  above  the  ordinary  range  of  musical  sounds, 

which  Tyndall  puts  at  from  40  to  4,000  vibrations  a  second. 

We  are  able  by  the  kindness  of  Professor  C.  V.  Boys, 

P.B.S.,  and  of  Messrs.  Newton,  of  Fleet  Street,  to  reproduce 

two  of   the  skiagrams,   or   shadow-pictures,  taken   by  him. 

of   bullets   in   flight.      These  pictures,   which   it  has   been 

necessary   to    reduce  slightly    in    scale,    are    obtained    by 

exposing    a    photographic   plate   in    a    dark    box,   and  so 

arranging  matters  that  the  bullet  in  its  flight  makes  a  contact 

between  two  wires,  and  thus  completing  a  circuit,  causes  as 

instantaneous  spark  to  flash  on  the  further  side  of  the  box 

opposite  to  the  negative.      The  shadows  of  the  bullet  and  its 


O 


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*  :-^:.w: 


PICTUEES    OF    FLYING    BULLETS  327 

surroundings  are  therefore  thrown  upon  the  negative.     The 

circuit  of  electricity  is  specially  arranged  so  as  to  give  a  spark 

comparatively  powerful   in   illumination,   but   of  extremely 

short  duration.     The  spark  used  in  taking  these  pictures  was 

so  rapid  as  to  last  not  more  than  one-twelve-millionth  of  a 

second.      Very  large  figures  convey  no  distinct  impression  to 

the  mind,  but  some  notion  of  what   this  period  of  time  is 

may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  it  is  rather  shorter  in 

relation  to  a  whole  second  than  a  second  is  to  three  months. 

Plate  XLIII  shows  a  Martini-Henry  bullet  in  flight.      The 

sharpness  of  outline  of  the  bullet  is  very  remarkable.     It  has 

not   moved  sufficiently  while  the  spark  lasted   to   blur   the 

picture  at  its  nose  or  its  base  in  the  very  least.    The  shadows 

of  the  leaden  wires  with  which  it  is  in  contact  are  clearly 

seen,  and  the  fragments  of  the  wire  which  it  has  broken  away 

and  carried  w^ith  it  form  an  irregular  cloud  of  small  particles 

underneath  it.     The  diflferent  densities  of  the  disturbed  air 

are  distinctly  reproduced  in  the  shadow  picture.     In  the  rear 

of  the  bullet  is  a  wake  of  disturbed  air  having  the  appearance 

•  of  fiocculent  and  broken  matter  flowing  in  to  fill  up  the  space 

behind  the  base.   Three-eighths  of  an  inch  in  front  of  its  nose 

there  is  a  line  which  defines  the  bow  wave  that  the  bullet 

carries  with  it.     This  is  a  wav«»of  compression,  and  it  is  very 

clearly  seen  to  be  reflected  from  .'thS*  surfaces  at  the  top  and 

bottom  of  the  picture,  and,  crossing  the  wake  of  the  bullet,  to 

be  reflected  a  second  time.     Air  waves  are  only  formed  if  the 

bullet  is  travelling  at  a  higher  rate  of  speed  than  the  velocity 

of  sound,  1,100  feet  per  second,  and  accordingly  a  photograph 

taken  by  Professor  Boys  of  a  pistol  bullet  travelling  at  the 

rate  of  750  feet  per  second  show^ed  no  wave  at  all.     It  will  be 

observed  that  the  irregularities  on  the  surface  of  the  bullet 

give  rise  to  a  minor  series  of   waves.     The  Martini-Henry 

bullet  in  the  picture  is  travelling  at  the  rate  of  1,296  feet 

per  second,  or  about  830  miles  an  hour. 

Plate  XLIV  shows  a  precisely  similar  picture  of  a  Lee- 
Metford  bullet  moving  at  the  rate  of  2,000  feet  per  second. 
Here  the  bow  wave  is  very  conspicuous.  It  is  inclined  at  a 
much  sharper  angle  owing  to  the  increased  speed,  and  it  is 
carried  very  much  closer  to  the  nose  of  the  bullet.     If  the 


328  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

bullet  were  moving  at  a  much  greater  speed  than  this,  the 
inclination  of  the  wave  would  be  steeper  still.  Were  it 
possible  to  photograph  the  same  bullet  after  a  flight  of  1,000 
yards  with  its  velocity  of  little  more  than  900  feet  per  second, 
we  should  find  that  it  made  no  wave  at  all.  There  is  a  very 
similar  wave  given  ofif  from  a  little  distance  behind  the  buUet 
from  a  certain  point  in  the  narrowing  wake  of  disturbed 
air.  The  trail  is  much  more  conspicuously  marked  than 
that  made  by  the  Martini-Henry  bullet,  and  it  is  clear  that 
the  air  disturbance  which  it  leaves  behind  does  not  settle 
down  again  for  a  considerable  distance.  The  air  waves  shown 
in  this  picture  have  been  purposely  intercepted  by  plates  of 
copper,  and  we  see  distinctly  how  they  are  reflected  after 
meeting  this  surface,  just  as  a  ripple  caused  in  very  still 
water  is  reflected  from  the  edges  of  a  pool  or  basin.  The 
cloud  of  broken  fragments  of  the  wire  is  again  clearly  seen 
below  the  bullet,  but  they  are  much  finer,  and  evidently,  as 
shown  by  the  shape  of  the  wave,  they  are  travelling  much 
faster  than  those  broken  up  by  the  larger  but  slower  bullet. 
A  curious  phenomenon  may  be  seen  in  front  of  the  bullet's 
nose.  It  has  not  yet  touched  the  second  wire,  but  the  electric 
discharge  jumps  forward  to  meet  it,  as  is  shown  by  the  lines 
of  air  disturbance  between  the  two,  and  by  the  fact  that  the 
picture  was  actually  taken  by  the  spark  caused  by  the  com- 
pletion of  the  circuit  before  the  nose  of  the  bullet  reached  the 
wire.  In  another  photograph  of  Professor  Boys'  series  the 
inclination  of  the  axis  of  .the  bullet  to  the  angle  of  the  bow 
wave  shows  that  the  bullet  was  not  flying  true,  but  wobbling 
decidedly,  since  at  the  moment  when  the  picture  was  taken 
it  did  not  truly  bisect  the  angle  of  air  disturbance  corre- 
sponding to  the  general  direction  of  its  movement.  A  full 
account  of  Professor  Boys'  experiments  will  be  found  in 
'  Nature,'  March,  1893,  and  in  Vol.  87  of  the  '  Jom-nal  of  the 
Eoyal  United  Service  Institution.*  He  proved  quite  clearly 
the  fact,  long  suspected,  that  the  bullet  receives  quite  an 
appreciable  increase  of  velocity  after  leaving  the  muzzle  from 
the  rush  of  the  gases  which  follow  it  out  of  the  barrel.  It 
follows  from  this  that  the  term  *  muzzle  velocity'  is  an 
incorrect  one.     The  full  velocity  is  not  attained,  it  seems,  till 


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BULLETS    VISIBLE    IN    FLIGHT  331 

the  bullet  is  a  short  distance  away  from  the  muzzle.  Initial 
velocity,  meaning  the  highest  velocity  attained  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  flight,  is  a  more  logical  expression. 

It  is  not  diflScult  for  the  practised  eye  to  see  bullets  in 

flight,  although  the  small  bullets  of  modern  rifles  are  less 

easy  to  see  than  were  those  of  earlier  days,  partly  because 

they  move  much  faster,  and  partly  because  they  are  much 

smaller.     The  writer  knows  a  range  where  the  target  is  set 

against  a  wooded  hill,  forming  a  dark  background.     Here, 

late  in  the  day,  it  is  sometimes  possible  to  see  the  bullets, 

for  the  reflection  of  the  sun  on  the  base  of  them  makes  a 

brilliant  little  spot  which  shows  distinctly  against  the  dark 

background.    On  another  range  he  remembers  watching  every 

ballet  from  the  "SOS  for  a  long  series  of  shots.   Some  50  yards 

in  front  of  the  firing  point  was  a  low  hedge ;  the  sun  was 

shining,  and  the  flash  of  the  missile,  a  copper-clad  one,  as 

it  crossed  the  dark  background  of  the  hedge  made  a  brilliant 

line  of  light,  which  was  very  noticeable.     The  bullet  of  the 

Snider  rifle,  big  in  diameter,  and  moving  at  a  low  speed,  could 

quite  well  be  seen  to  curve  downwards  as  it  arrived  at  the 

target.     It  was  always  possible  with  a  good  telescope  to  see 

something  of  the  flight  of  the  bullet  from  the  old  Match  rifle 

at  long  ranges.     The  telescgpe  required  to  be  pointed  towards 

the  upper  part  of  the  curve  of   the  trajectory,  so  that   the 

bullet  should  appear  to  rise  into  the  field  and  to    descend 

again.     The  bullet  itself  was  clearly  seen,  and  appeared  to 

carry  with  it  no  air  disturbance.     Its  velocity  at  the  point 

at  which  it  was  seen  was  probably  less  than  that  of  sound. 

The  bullet  of  the  -303  is  so  much  smaller  as  to  be  in  itself 

less  easily  discernible,  but  owing  to  its  high  velocity  it  is 

accompanied  by  a  column  of  air  disturbance,  making  it  quite 

conspicuous  against  any  broken  background.    The  appearance 

is  that  of  a  rippling  curve  of  disturbed  air,  roughly  perhaps 

a  foot  in  diameter,  which  is  seen  to  rise  into  the  field  of  the 

telescope  and  to  fall  out  of  it  again,  the  bullet  itself  being 

hardly,  if  at  all,  visible.   This  phenomenon  may  be  seen  under 

reasonably  favourable  circumstances  by  anybody,  but  to  see 

the  flight  of  the  bullet  with  the  naked  eye  is  almost  a  gift ;  it 

certainly  requires  a  particular  knack,  which  cultivation  can 


332  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

develope.  Mr.  Thorn,  better  known  by  his  business  name  of 
Charles  Lancaster,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  point  out 
that  the  charge  of  shot  from  an  ordinary  gun  can  be  seen  in 
its  flight  through  the  air.  Anyone  with  good  quick  eyes  can 
acquire  the  knack  of  seeing  a  slow-moving  bullet,  and  probably 
if  the  endeavour  to  see  bullets  in  flight  were  more  often 
made,  we  should  hear  of  the  power  of  seeing  them  being  by 
no  means  uncommon. 

It  might  have  been  thought  that  the  retardation .  due  to 
air  resistance  and  the  fall  due  to  gravity  were,  if  we  except 
any  movement  of  the  atmosphere,  the  only  causes  which  could 
affect  the  direction  of  flight  of  the  bullet.  This  is  not  really 
so,  for  there  is  another  motion  which  a  bullet  acquires  in  its 
flight,  a  sidelong  tendency  which  follows  the  direction  of  the 
twist  of  the  rifling,  or  rather  that  in  which  the  bullet  is 
spinning.  This  deviation  from  a  straight  path  is  known 
as  '  drift.'  At  short  distances  it  is  slight,  and  indeed  almost 
inappreciable,  but  it  is  quite  disproportionately  great  at  longer 
onefi.  The  sideways  path  of  the  bullet  is,  in  fact,  a  curve. 
With  open  or  military  sights  it  is  possible  to  make  allowance 
for  it  by  arranging  the  sliding  leaf  of  the  back  sight  bo  that 
it  has  the  required  degree  of  lateral  movement  as  it  is  raised 
to  higher  elevations.  The  writer  has  seen  a  back  sight  a 
good  many  years  old  in  which  the  slide  had  a  projection 
moving  in  a  curved  slot  cut  in  one  of  the  uprights  of  the 
back  sight,  and  an  almost  precisely  similar  arrangement  has 
quite  recently  been  patented.  An  approximate  allowance  for 
drift  at  the  various  distances  may  be  made  by  tilting  the 
back  sight  2  or  8  minutes  of  angle  to  the  left  for  a  right- 
handed  spiral,  and  to  the  right  for  a  left-handed  one,  and  this 
is  sometimes  done  in  fitting  the  back  sights  of  Match  rifles. 
Where  a  spirit-level  is  not  used  in  connection  with  the 
sights,  the  difficulty  which  arises  in  the  field  of  correctly 
levelling  them  is  so  great  as  to  obscure  very  much  the  efiTect 
of  drift. 

The  actual  cause  of  drift,  which  certainly  increases  at 
extreme  distances  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  range,  is 
neither,  as  has  been  supposed,  an  effect  of  the  reflection  of 
air  waves,  or  explosion  waves,  from  the  earth,  nor  does  it 


DRIFT    OF    PROJECTILES  333 

seem  to  be  mainly  due  to  the  rolling  motion  of  the  shot  upon 
the  air  beneath  it,  though  it  may  be  partly  due  to  this  cause. 
The  most  widely  accepted  explanation  is   that  it  is  caused 
by  the  upward  pressure  of  the  air  upon  the  fore  part  of  the 
ballet  as  it  advances,  and  at  the  same  time  falls.      This 
pressure  upon  a  body  in  a  state  of  gyroscopic  stability  such 
as  is  a  spinning  bullet  tends  to  make  its  point  deviate  with  a 
slow  motion  first  to  one  side  and  then  in  a  circle,  and  it  would 
seem  as  if  the  first  and  chief  motion,  that  to  one  side,  were 
the   cause  of   drift.      But   the  subject  is   one  upon  which 
authorities  differ,  as  was  shown  by  the  remarks  of  Professor 
Greenhill  at  a  discussion  on  a  paper  read  on  the  subject  by 
Major-General  Owen  at  the  Royal  Artillery  Institution  a  ffew 
years  ago  ('Proceedings,'  May,  1896).     The  lecturer  by  some 
experiments  in  1862  and  1864  had  established  the  curious 
fact  that  cylindrical  projectiles  drift  in  the  opposite  direction 
to  pointed  ones.     It  is  very  probable  that  the  drifting  motion 
may  be  a  result  of  other   causes   in  combination  with  the 
gyroscopic  action,  but  this  is  most  likely  its  main  factor. 
There  is  still  room  for  experiment  on  the  subject.     If  Major- 
General  Owen  is  right,  it  should  be  possible  to  make  a  pro- 
jectile which  should  neither  drift  in  the  opposite  direction  to 
the  spiral,  like  a  cylindrical  shot,  nor  with  the  spiral,  like  a 
pointed  one,  but,  being  shaped  on  a  compromise,  should  at 
some   given  speed  have  no  drift.      It  is  hard  to  get  very 
definite  results   from   experiments  on  drift  with   the  rifle, 
and   experiments  with   big  guns  email   an  expense  almost 
prohibitive   when    the    question    to    be    elucidated    is    not 
of   much  practical  importance.      Mr.  L.  R.  Tippins  main- 
tains  that  the  amount  of  drift  with  a  -808  rifle  is  about 

10  inches  at  500  yards,  and  4  feet  at  1,000  yards.  Mr.  John 
Rigby  puts  it  10  inches  at  the  latter  distance.  In  the  1898 
edition  of  the  official  '  Musketry  Regulations,'  it  is  said  to  be 

11  inches  at  1,000  yards  and  23  inches  at  1,200.  The 
writer  has  no  conclusive  experiments  which  would  enable  him 
to  judge  between  so  many  different  opinions  of  great  weight. 
It  is  clear  in  any  case  that  the  zero  of  direction  will  not  be 
quite  the  same  at  500  yards  as  it  is  close  to  the  rifle,  nor  at 
1,000  yards  as   it   is   at  500  yards.     To  give   the   correct 


334  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

direction  for  1,000  yards,  Match  rifles  are  usually  adjusted  to 
shoot  2  to  3  minutes  to  one  side  at  124  yards.  It  is,  howev^er, 
fortunate  that  the  deviation  from  this  cause  only  becomes 
noticeable  when  at  ranges  where  the  natural  inaccuracy  of 
the  flight  of  any  particular  shot  becomes  considerable. 

Far  the  commonest  twist  for  rifles  is  the  right-hand  twist, 
that  is,  the  direction  of  the  spiral  is  similar  to  that  of  tlie 
thread  of  an  ordinary  screw,  and  on  looking  through  the  barrel 
from  either  end  it  seems  to  turn,  as  it  recedes  from  the  eye, 
in  the  same  apparent  direction  as  the  hands  of  a  clock.     The 
Spanish  Mauser,  the  French  Lebel,  and   the  English  Lee- 
Metford  and  Lee-Enfield  rifles,  seem  to  be  the  only  European 
rifles  which  have  the  spiral  in  the  reverse  direction.     This 
was   not   done,  so   far   as   the   British    arm    is    concerned, 
without  a  purpose.     It  seems  clear  that  the  rotation  of  the 
earth  has  an  appreciable  effect  upon  the  flight  of  the  bullet, 
and  that  in  this  latitude  in  the  northern  hemisphere  a  bullet 
which  is  pursuing  an  absolutely  straight  course  will  deviate 
about  6  inches  to  the  right  in  a  flight  of  1,000  yards  in 
whatever    direction  it   may   be    fired.      This    subject    was, 
according  to  Walker  (1865),  investigated  more  than  40  years 
ago  by  various  mathematicians,  and  especially  by  Paul  de 
Saint-Bobert.      The  conclusion  come  to  is  that  the  amount 
of  deviation  does  not  vary  much  with  the  direction  in  which 
the  shot  is  fired.     It  attains  its  maximum  when  the  shot  is 
fired  towards  the  south-east,  and  its  minimum  towards  the 
opposite  point  of  the  compass.     The  deviation  will  be  towards 
the  left  in  the  southern  hemisphere.     It  was  said  to  have 
reached  a  very  appreciable   amount,  some  8  yards,  in   the 
case  of  Armstrong  and  Whitwprth  cannon  fired  at  5,000  yards. 
A  paper  on  the  same  subject  by  Mjr.  Dalton,  printed  in  the 
*  Journal  of    the   Boyal   United   Service   Institution,*   1886, 
Vol.  80,  No.  185,  gives  calculations  leading  to  much  the  same 
result.     The  Small  Arms  Committee  of  1886  was  accordingly 
led  to  decide  upon  a  left-hand  spiral.     It  was  maintained  by 
Sir  Henry  Halford  that  with  the  Metford  '461  Match  rifle  at 
1,000  yards  the  deviation  of  the  bullet,  due  to  the  two  causes 
in  combination,  was  8  feet  6  inches  to  the  right  with  a  right- 
hand  spiral,  but   only  2  feet   6   inches  to  the  left   with  a 


POSITION    OF    BULLET    IN    FLIGHT  335 

left-hand  spiral  of  similar  inclination,  since  by  this  effect  of 
the  rotation  of  the  earth  6  inches  were  in  the  one  case  added 
to,  and  in  the  other  subtracted  from,  the  deviation  due  to 
drift.      That  the  pressure  of  the  air  upon  the  bullet  is  very 
considerable  at  such  high  speeds  as  are  attained  by  modem 
rifles  admits  of  no  dispute.      It   has  been  said   that   at  a 
speed  of  2,200  f.s.   the  resistance  of  the   air  amounts   to 
28  lb.  to  the  square  inch,  and  that,  assuming  a  bullet  of  the 
size  of  the  Lee-Metford  moving  at  this  speed  through  the 
air,  it  would  meet  with  as  much   resistance   as  if  it  were 
moving  in   a   vacuum   with   no  air  to  oppose  it,  but  were 
dragging  with  it  a  weight  of  2^;  lb.     It  is  the  pressure  of 
the  air  upon  it  which  causes  the  bullet  to  keep  itself  con- 
stantly pointed  in  the  direction  in  which  it  is  moving ;  if  it 
were  moving  in  a  vacuum,  it  would  have  no  tendency  to  point 
in  any  other  than  its  original  direction,  and  after  a  long  flight 
would  fall  with  its  nose  well  up  in  the  air,  keeping  its  position 
parallel  to  that  which  it  had  when  it  left  the  muzzle  of  the 
piece.    This  fact,  that  the  axis  of   the  bullet  really  follows 
very  closely  the  curve  of  the  trajectory,  used  to  be  doubted, 
and  is  even  now  not  quite  as  well  known  as  it  should  be, 
probably  because  at  very  low  velocities  the  phenomenon  is  not 
noticeable.    The  writer  has  seen  diagrams  entirely  misleading 
upon  this  point,  in  books  written  by  those  who  had  only  a 
theoretical  knowledge  of  the  subject.     At  whatever  distance 
from  the  muzzle  the  bullet  may  strike,  it  will  be  found  in 
perforating  such  a  body  as  a  wooden  target  to  make  a  round 
hole,  if  it  has  had  sufficient  spin  given  to  it  in  the  first  place. 
This  has  been  practically  demonstrated  with  the  rifle  over 
and  over  again  at  distances  of  2,000  yards  and  more,  and 
with  large  shot  fired  from  big  guns  it  requires  no  elaborate 
proof,  for  it  is  obvious  to  the  eye. 

The  group  which  a  first-rate  rifle  will  make  is,  up  to 
1,100  yards  at  all  events,  not  far  from  proportionate  to  the 
distance  of  the  target  under  equal  conditions.  A  series  of 
shots  may  often  be  placed  within  an  angle  of  3',  i.e,  3  inches 
at  100  yards,  and  not  infrequently  within  the  same  measure- 
ment, i.e.  80  inches,  at  1,000  yards,  although  there  is  a 
distinct  tendency  for  the  shots  which  deviate  from  the  general 


336  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

line  of  the  groap  to  wander  farther  and  further  away  from  it. 
One  corioos  phenomenon  which  may  be  mentioned  here  is 
that  if  a  aeries  of  shots  be  fired  through  several  screens  of 
thin  paper  interposed  in  the  line  of  the  trajectory,  it  will  be 
found  that  hardly  any  one  shot  will  maintain  on  all  the 
screens  its  position  relative  to  the  others,  even  in  the  calmest 
weather.  In  the  central  part  of  the  group,  which  represents 
the  normal  shooting,  the  shot  which  is  highest  in  the  first 
screen  will  often  not  be  so  in  subsequent  ones,  and  so  on. 
The  shots  really  change  places  in  a  way  not  to  be  accounted 
for  by  any  atmospheric  movement.  When  we  come  to  those 
more  wandering  shots  which,  edging  away  in  any  direction 
from  the  centre  of  the  group,  so  often  spoil  a  series  of  buirs- 
eyes,  both  at  short  range  and  at  long,  they  seem  to  have 
some  eccentricity  of  flight  which  carries  them  out  from  the 
group,  and  they  seem  to  wander  further  from  it  at  the  longer 
ranges.  Whether  these  abnormal  shots  are  produced  by 
some  irregularity  of  ignition  of  the  powder,  or  by  some  casual 
deposit  of  the  fouling  in  the  barrel,  causing  unusual  friction, 
or,  it  may  be,  setting  up  some  odd  movement  of  the  muzzle  at 
the  moment  of  firing,  is  not  clear;  but  while  the  general 
grouping  of  the  central  shots  with  smokeless  powder  in 
modem  military  rifles  is  closer  than  it  was  with  the  best  of 
the  old  military  breech-loaders  firing  black  powder,  the  outer 
shots  seem  often  to  fly  more  widely  and  more  wildly. 

To  ascertain  the  regularity  of  different  loads,  as  well  as 
the  actual  velocity  which  they  give  to  the  bullet,  many 
devices  have  been  and  are  used.  It  is  not  possible  here  to 
describe  them  at  any  length.  The  earliest  machine  for  the 
purpose,  that  used,  for  instance,  by  Robins,  Count  Rumford, 
and  Hutton,  was  a  pendulum  ;  the  measurement  of  its  move- 
ment, on  receiving  the  impact  of  the  shot,  enables  the 
velocity  to  be  calculated,  the  weights  both  of  the  pendulum 
and  of  the  bullet  being  known.  This  instrument  in  its  old 
form  was  not  very  satisfactory,  the  relation  of  the  point  of 
impact  to  the  centre  of  gravity  having  to  be  taken  into 
account.  The  writer  has  One  similar  to  that  used  by  Mr. 
Metford  in  his  experiments,  which  is  hung  by  four  wires  in 
front  and  the  same  number  behind,  a  length  of  some  2  feet 


THE    BALLISTIC   PENDULUM  337 

6  inches  being  given  to  the  pendulum  bob,  and  the  wires 
spread  laterally  at  the  points  of  suspension,  so  that  it  can  only 
swing  in  one  direction.  The  attachment  of  the  wires  to  the 
pendulum  and  to  the  sockets  from  which  it  is  hung  is  by 
bearings  having  knife-edges.  This  reduces  friction  and 
makes  the  movement  of  the  pendulum  independent  of  the 
precise  point  at  which  the  face  of  it  is  struck.  To  get  true 
results  with  a  pendulum  it  is  necessary  that  the  whole  of  the 
fragments  of  the  shot  should  be  caught,  and  this  is  effected 
by  fitting  a  steel  shield  8  inches  in  diameter  in  the  head  of  the 
pendulum  and  placing  in  front  of  it  a  wooden  block  some 
2  inches  thick.  The  bullets  pass  through  this  and  break 
up  on  the  steel  shield,  and  their  fragments  cannot  escape* 
The  weight  of  the  wooden  block,  which  has  to  be  renewed 
after  a  few  score  of  shots,  is  taken  into  account,  and  the 
weight  of  the  pendulum  is  maintained  by  placing  upon  a  little 
shelf  attached  to  it  a  number  of  bullets  of  the  kind  about  to 
be  used,  and  removing  one  for  each  one  that  is  fired  into  the 
pendulum.  A  sliding  index  pushed  back  by  an  adjustable 
screw  at  the  tail  of  the  pendulum  gives  the  measurement  of 
the  horizontal  swing  from  which  the  velocity  is  calculated. 

It  is,  of  course,  really  the  height  to  which  the  pendulum 
is  raised  that  forms  the  basis  of  the  calculation.  The 
length  of  suspension,  ascertained  precisely  from  the  time 
of  swing,  is  about  100  inches,  and  the  pendulum  weighs 
when  ready  for  firing  about  140  lb.  Its  movement  is  easily 
read  to  -nmr  o'  ^^  inch,  which  with  the  -266  bullet  of 
166  grains  represents  about  1  foot  of  velocity.  The  dis- 
advantage of  the  pendulum  is  that  the  weight  of  the  bullet 
requires  to  be  known  with  considerable  accuracy.  Chrono- 
graphs are  therefore  more  commonly  used,  which  depend 
upon  breaking  and  making  an  electric  circuit.  In  the 
Boulenge  chronograph  used  by  Bashforth  in  his  experiments, 
and  improved  by  Major  Holden,  the  passage  of  the  bullet 
through  two  wire  screens  placed  at  some  little  distance  apart 
first  releases  a  steel  bar  suspended  by  one  end  by  magnetic 
attraction  ;  the  breakage  of  the  circuit  at  the  second  screen 
releases  another  bar,  which  falls  on  a  trigger,  causing  a  knife 
to  make  a  mark  on  the  falling  bar  first  released.     The  length 


338  THE    BOOK    OP   THE    RIFLE 

of  the  bar  representing  the  amount  of  its  fall  is  then 
measured  by  a  suitable  scale  giving  the  equivalent  in  velocity 
of  the  time  taken  in  the  passage  between  the  screens. 

Another  class  of  chronograph,  such  as  that  invented  by 
Professor  Jervis  Smith,  depends  upon  the  movement  of  a 
cylinder  or  a  piece  of  smoked  glass,  on  which  a  tuning-fork 
marks  a  scale  of  time,  the  instants  of  breakage  of  the  circuit 
at  the  screens  being  marked  against  the  scale.  Dr.  Crehore 
and  Dr.  Squier  seem  to  have  hit  on  a  new  and  successful 
method  of  obtaining  a  record  of  minute  intervals  of  time 
by  photography.  The  sensitive  plate  moving  at  a  known 
velocity,  a  ray  of  light  is  admitted  on  the  first  breakage  of 
the  current,  and  extinguished  on  the  second.  This  is  effected 
by  passing  the  ray  through  prisms,  and  then  through  a  liquid 
which,  under  the  influence  of  an  electric  current,  polarises  the 
field.  The  method  is  fully  described  in  *  Arms  and  Explosives/ 
September  1895. 

The  screens  used  with  the  Boulenge  chronograph  are 
commonly  placed  180  feet  apart.  Sometimes  a  wire  close  to 
the  muzzle  of  the  rifle  is  substituted  for  the  first  screen.  The 
mean  velocity  of  the  shot  between  the  screens  is  usually 
taken  as  being  equivalent  (as  it  very  nearly  is)  to  the  velocity 
at  a  point  midway  between  them. 

A  very  old  means  of  ascertaining  velocity  was  by  rotating 
two  discs  fixed  at  a  short  distance  apart  upon  a  rod,  and 
measuring  the  amount  of  the  rotation  during  its  passage 
between  the  first  disc  and  the  second.  This  was  unsatis- 
factory, as  it  postulated  a  very  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
direction  of  the  bullet's  flight,  and,  though  he  has  seen  it 
described  in  books,  the  writer  has  never  heard  of  it  being 
actually  used. 

The  advantage  which  electric  chronographs  have  over  the 
pendulum  is  that  the  weight  of  the  bullet  does  not  require  to 
be  accurately  known,  since  the  time  of  flight  over  a  given 
distance  is  measured.  They  are  equally  available  for  small 
arms  or  for  cannon.  They  are,  however,  more  costly  and 
less  simple,  and  perhaps  not  so  well  adapted  for  very  occasional 
use. 


339 


CHAPTER   XIII 

ACCESSORIES— SIGHT  PROTECTORS— PAINTS— VERNIERS  AND  THEIR  USE — 
VENTOMETERS — ORTHOPTICS — THE  BLOW-TUBE — GLASSES  AND  TELE- 
SCOPES— SCORE-BOOKS — THE  AIM  CORRECTOR — CARE  OF  RIFLE — 
CLEANING — RUST— ITS  CAUSES  AND  PREVENTION — CARE  OF  STOCK  AND 
LOCK — PULL-OFF — MISS -FIRES 

Th£  incambrances  of  the  careful  shooter  are  increased  by 
his  having  to  use  constantly  two  sight  protectors,  one  to  cover 
the  back  sight,  and  the  other  the  fore  sight.     The  latter  is 
UBoally  a  piece  of  tubing  which  fits  over  the  muzzle  of  the 
rifle,  and  has  a  high  recess  formed  in  it,  which  encases  the 
fore  sight.     Sometimes  it  is  secured  by  a  bayonet  catch,  and 
the  box  covering  the  sight  is  closed  by  a  little  lid.    Sight  pro- 
tectors of  this  kind  usually  have  the  end  completely  covered 
so  that  dirt  and  sand  are  prevented  from  entering  the  muzzle. 
It  is  not  many  years  ago  that  sight  protectors  were  occa- 
sionally made  with  a  piece  of  brass  tubing  to  fit  into  the  bore 
at  the  muzzle,  in  order,  presumably,  to  give  them  a  firmer 
hold,  but  this  abomination,  which  was  very  likely  to  injure 
the  internal  surface  of  the  barrel,  seems  now  to  have  been 
generally  discontinued.   The  fore  sight  protector  exists  mainly 
to  secure  the  sight  against  damage  from  a  fall  or  a  blow.   We 
have  already  spoken  of  other  methods  of  protecting  the  sights, 
and  it  may  be  hoped  that  before  long  the  detached  protector 
may  become,  so  far  as  the  English  military  weapon  is  con- 
cerned, a  thing  of  the  past.     The  function  of  the  back  sight 
protector,  as  used  by  the  marksman,  is  chiefly  to  prevent  any 
colouring  matter  put  on  the  sight  from  being  rubbed  off ;  it  is 
not  recognised  as  suitable  for  military  service.     The  arrange- 
ment should  be  such  that  the  back  sight  may  be  covered  when 
the  shde  is  set  at  any  desired  elevation,  without  being  neces- 
sarily lowered  to  the  bottom. 

There  are   several  accessories  which  the  target  shooter 

z  2 


340  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

commonly  uses,  and  which  undoubtedly  have  value  as  en- 
abling better  work  to  be  got  out  of  the  rifle  under  the  con- 
ditions of  target  practice.  We  have  spoken  of  the  painting 
of  the  sights.  A  little  box,  with  black  and  white  paint  and 
brushes,  or,  if  not  white  paint,  a  pencil  that  will  make  a 
fine  white  line,  are  an  indispensable  part  of  the  equipment 
of  the  man  who  goes  forth  to  make  bulFs-eyes  with  a  Service 
rifle.  We  have  mentioned  the  way  in  which  the  fore  sight 
may  be  painted,  and  the  method  of  putting  a  line  upon  the 
back  sight  to  give  allowance  for  the  wind.  It  is  well  not  to 
introduce  greater  complication  in  these  matters  than  can  be 
helped.  The  line  or  lines  on  the  back  sight  may  be  broad,  or 
they  may  be  narrow,  but  the  shooter  should  endeavour  so  to 
arrange  his  methods  that  he  does  not  have  to  delay  the 
firing  even  for  a  few  seconds,  to  put  on  fresh  lines  after  he 
has  begun  to  shoot. 

One  other  appliance  is  almost  indispensable  for  the  accurate 
adjustment  of  elevation,  and  that  is  the  vernier.    This  old  but 
simple  invention  owes  its  name  to  Peter  Vernier,  a  Frenchman, 
who  invented  it  800  years  ago.     It  is  most  commonly  seen 
attached  to  the  scale  of  barometers  to  give  accuracy  in  read- 
ing the  height  of  the  mercury  column.     It  is  very  generally 
used  in  all  instruments  in  which  it  is  desired  to  obtain  exact 
measurements,  and  •  is  at  the  present  day  very  well  known. 
It  consists  of  a  large  and  visible  scale  so  arranged  that  very 
fine  measurements  can  be  made  on  it  by  the  movement  of  a 
sliding  piece,  carried  usually  on  a  screw.    The  principle  of  the 
vernier  is  that  a  short  scale  is  cut  on  the  sliding  piece,  which 
is  spaced  at  wider  or  narrower  intervals  than  the  fixed  part,  a 
proportion  being  maintained  between  the  two  which  enables 
finer  divisions  than  the  spaces  marked  to  be  noted  by  ad- 
justment of  the  two  differing  scales.     Let  us,  for  example, 
take  (fig.  76)  some  part  of  the  scale  of  degrees  and  minutes 
running  up  to  1°.     Assuming  this  to  be  engraved  upon  the 
fixed  part  of  the  vernier,  the  radius  of  the  circle  on  which 
the  degrees  and  minutes   are  measured  will    be    so    small 
that  a  division  into  single  minutes  would  not  be  clear   to 
the  unassisted  eye.      The  sliding  part  may  have    engraved 
on  it,  for  instance,  a  short  scale,  of  which  the  total  length  is 


THE    VERNIER    SCALE 


341 


30 


equal  to  20'.  Whereas  the  fixed  scale  in  the  same  space  has 
divisions  at  5',  10',  16',  and  20',  on  the  sliding  scale  the  space 
of  20'  is  divided  into  five  smaller  spaces  of  4'  each,  and  has 
divisions  at  4',  8',  12',  16',  and  20'.  These  divisions  are 
numbered  1,  2,  3,  4,  6.  The  diagram  shows  the  proportion 
of  the  two  parts  of  the  scale  when  set  alongside  each  other. 
Now  let  us  place  the  zero  of  the  sliding  scale  against  the 
line  denoting  30'  on  the  vernier  (fig.  76).  If  we  wanted 
the  vernier  to  read  85'  we  should  obviously 
move  the  screw  until  the  zero  of  the  sliding 
part  came  opposite  to  the  line  representing 
85',  but  if  we  want  81',  we  have  only  to 
move  the  screw  one-fifth  of  that  distance, 
which  we  measure  by  noticing  that  the  line 
on  the  sliding  part,  which  has  the  figure  1 
against  it,  is  brought  into  coincidence  with 
the  first  line  above  the  30'  on  the  fixed 
part,  that  is,  35'.  When  this  has  been 
done  it  is  clear  that  the  sliding  part  has 
been  moved  one-fifth  of  the  distance  be- 
tween 80'  and  85',  and  accordingly  the 
vernier  is  correctly  set  for  31'.  If  we  want 
one  mmute  more  elevation,  82',  we  have 
only  to  move  the  sliding  part  until  the  figure  2  is  opposite 
the  next  line,  that  which  denotes  40'  on  the  fixed  scale, 
as  shown  in  the  figure.  We  thus  have  a  system  of  very 
fine  division  of  the  scale,  which  is  yet  quite  easily  read. 
This  system  is  applied  to  the  sights  of  the  Match  rifle 
(Plate  XXXVII,  fig.  1),  which  are  cut  in  degrees  and 
minutes  of  a  circle  whose  radius  is  the  distance  between 
the  fore  sight  and  the  back  sight.  On  the  ordinary  detach- 
able vernier,  for  use  with  the  Service  rifle,  the  divisions  are 
usually  numbered  in  a  consecutive  series  up  to  more  than 
100,  each  representing  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  part  of 
an  inch,  this  being  closely  equivalent  to  the  value  of  1'  on  a 
circle  whose  radius  corresponds  with  the  distance  between 
the  fore  sight  and  back  sight  of  the  Lee-Metford  rifle. 
Fig.  77  shows  the  usual  form  of  the  detachable  vernier ; 
another  variety  of  it  is  given  in  fig.  78.     In  the  latter,  that 


Jl. 

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J. 

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THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


FIG.  77 


part  of  the  sliding-piece  on  which  the  scale  is  engraved  is 
made  moveable,  and  can  be  adjusted  within  certain  limits,  and 
then  held  fast  by  a  binding  screw.  This  allows  the  reading 
to  be  made  to  correspond  with  that  of  another  vernier  used 

on  another  rifle,  and  so  the 
elevations  of  different  rifles 
fired  by  different  men  can, 
for  purposes  of  team  shoot- 
ing, be  brought  together. 
The  normal  reading  of  the 
vernier  for  the  -303  rifle 
should  properly  be  such  as 
will  give  30'  for  the  eleva- 
tion at  500  yards ;  the 
elevations  for  the  longer 
distances  will  then  •corre- 
spond with  those  given  in 
the  table  of  angles  for  the 
Service  charge. 
In  using  the  detached  vernier  with  the  back  sight  of  the 
military  rifle,  the  sliding  piece  is  lowered  rather  below  the 
required  elevation,  and  the  vernier  is  held  carefully  against 
the  sight  on  the  side  of  it  towards  the  muzzle,  the  horns  on 
each  side  of  the  vernier  projecting  on  each  side  of  the  up- 
rights of  the  sight,  and  so  coming  under  the  ends  of  the  bar. 
The  projecting  piece  at  the  top  of  the  vernier  is  in  contact  with 
the  top  of  the  back  sight  and  is  pressed  down  upon  it.  The 
sliding  bar  of  the  sight  is  then  pushed  down  until  it  rests 
upon  the  movable  part  of  the  vernier,  and  the  vernier  is  held 
in  this  position  against  the  sight  while  the  screw  is  turned  so 
far  as  will  bring  the  moving  part,  and  with  it  the  bar  of  the 
sight,  to  the  proper  elevation.  If  now  the  vernier  be  simply 
pulled  away  from  the  sight,  there  is  danger  that  the  bar  may 
be  shifted,  so  that  it  is  best  to  unscrew  the  vernier  a  turn  or 
so  in  order  to  loosen  its  grip  of  the  sight ;  it  can  then  be 
removed  without  difficulty.  It  is  quite  easy  thus  in  a  very 
few  seconds  to  make  with  certainty  an  alteration  in  the 
elevation  of  a  minute,  or  even  half  a  minute,  of  angle,  and 
this  is  a  great  advantage,  since  the  mere  moving  of  the  bar 


USE    OF    DETACHED    VERNIEE    •  343 

with  finger  and  thumb  is  necessarily  rather  a  rough-and-ready 
aflfair,  and  to  move  it  correctly  a  very  small  distance  a 
matter  of  great  diflSculty.  In  using  the  vernier  it  is  impor- 
tant to  be  very  careful  how  far  correction  is  applied  for  the 
defect  in  elevation  of  any  single  shot.  If  the  first  shot 
strikes,  say,  12  inches  too  low  at  600  yards,  and  there  is  no 
apparent  reason  why  the  elevation  should  be  2'  (=1  foot  at 
600  yards)  below  the  normal,  the  probability  is  that  the  shot 
is  one  of  those  which  would  be  in  the  bottom  of  a  group  of 
shots  fired  at  the  same  elevation,  and  it  will  be  as  well  not  to 
give  the  full  correction  at  once.  It  will  probably  be  fottnd 
that  raising  the  sight  1'  will  bring  the  next  shot  near  enough 
to  the  proper  elevation ;  and  if  ilifaat  should  still  tend  to  be 
low,  then  the  sight  can  be  raised  another  minute.  If  the 
bullet  could  be  depended  upon  to  fly  absolutely  true,  there 
would  Jbe  no  difficulty  iil  correcting  the  aim  after  any  shot, 
but  judgment  is  needed  to  know  how  far  to  argue  from  the 
particular  to  the  general — fronj  one  or  two  shots,  which  may 
be  slightly  abnormal,  to  the  rest  of  a  series.  It  thus  becomes 
important  to  note  the  J)recise  spot  struck  every  time,  with 
the  view  of  correcting  any  tendency  of  the  shots  to  group 
themselves  in  some  particular  direction  away  from  the  bull's- 
eye.  It  requires  a  good  deal  of  care  to  mkke  a  pencil  dot  on 
exactly  the  right  spot  on  the  diagram  in  the  score-book,  and 
there  are  many  men  who  do  not  know  how  incorrect  their 
spotting  is.  There  is  an  almost  inevitable  tendency,  if  one  is 
not  very  careful  to  check  it,  to  represent  shots  as  being  nearer 
the  centre  of  the  bull's-eye  than  they  really  are,  or  as  very 
nearly  touching  the  line  of  the  bull's-eye,  or  inner,  when  they 
are  really  well  outside  it.  The  tendency  to  mark  shots  as 
being  almost  exactly  on  the  horizontal  line  across  the  target 
is  very  distinct  in  many  score-books.  The  writer  remembers  on 
a  certain  iong  range  used  by  a  club,  a  little  wooden  target, 
which  used  to  be  stuck  up  at  the  firing  point,  and  on  which 
the  position  of  the  last  shot  used  to  be  marked  with  a  drawing 
pin  by  the  sergeant  in  charge  of  the  range,  to  show  the  firer 
exactly  where  the  shot  had  hit.  He  had  a  good  pair  ot 
glasses,  and  took  much  trouble,  and  he  was  an  experienced 
man ;  but  it  was  curious  to  see  how,  in  the  course  of  some 


344  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

years,  the  little  holes  made  by  the  drawing-pins  formed  a 
pattern  almost  like  a  cross  on  the  paint  of  the  wooden  dummy, 
because  somehow  the  shots  were  almost  always  on  the 
horizontal  line,  or  on  the  vertical  one,  which  meet  at  the 
centre  of  the  target,  and  had  an  invincible  aptitude,  as  it 
seemed,  to  crowd  close  into  the  centre  of  the  bull's-eye  or 
against  the  circles  surrounding  it.  Nobody  ever  made  a 
bull's-eye  close  to  the  edge,  a  very  bad  inner,  or  a  very  bad 
magpie  upon  that  target.  The  well-known  optical  illusion, 
which  makes  it  so  difficult  to  divide  off-hand  horizontally  a 
square  drawn  on  a  piece  of  paper,  is  answerable  for  a  good 
deal  of  the  error  in  spotting.  Sir  Henry  Halford,  who 
always  used  a  telescope  to  spot  his  shots,  used  to  consider 
that  he  could  record  the  position  of  the  shot  at  1,000  yards 
correctly  to  within  two  inches  upon  his  diagrams,  but  there 
are  very  few  men  who  would  not  constantly  make  a  larger 
error.  The  mere  writing  of  a  figure  on  the  approximate 
position  of  the  shot  on  the  diagram  gives  a  very  vague  and 
unsatisfactory  record  in  comparing  the  performances  of  two 
rifles,  or  of  different  charges  in  the  same  rifle,  or  of  the  vary- 
ing effects  of  wind,  &c.  It  is  not  possible  to  obtain  any 
correct  result  unless  a  very  accurate  diagram  is  kept,  and  it 
often  happens  that  too  large  or  too  small  a  correction  is  made 
for  wind  allowance  or  elevation  from  want  of  care  in  observing 
the  spot  struck  by  the  previous  shot. 

For  the  Match  rifle,  as  has  already  been  shown,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  use  a  detached  vernier,  since  a  vernier  scale 
forms  part  of  the  back  sight.  The  divisions  on  the  vernier  are 
very  easily  read,  because  the  sights  are  about  45  inches 
apart  owing  to  the  special  position  of  the  back  sight  on  the 
heel  of  the  butt,  and  consequently  the  scale  of  degrees  and 
minutes  is  proportionately  enlarged,  as  compared  with  that 
for  the  military  rifle.  The  principles  which  guide  the  correc- 
tion or  alteration  of  elevation  in  the  course  of  shooting  with 
the  Match  rifle  are  just  the  same  as  those  for  the  military 
rifle,  except  that  owing  to  the  longer  range  at  which  it  is 
generally  used,  even  more  experience  and  judgment  is  required 
in  applying  them. 

There  are  small  instruments  commonly  known  as  vento- 


THE    VENTOMETER 


345 


meters  (fig.  79)  (a  misleading  name,  as  they  do  not  in  any  sense 
measure  the  wind,  but  only  assist  in  applying  a  correction  for 
it),  which  are  used  to  mark  the  wind  line  accurately  on  the 
straight  bar.  These  are  of  various  patterns,  but  all  depend 
upon  the  same  principle.  They  are  placed  transversely  to 
the  back  sight,  and  bearing  upon  the  outside  of  the  uprights. 
By  moving  a  screw,  a  small,  sliding  square  is  brought  either 
to  the  centre  of  the  bar,  or  to  any  other  point,  and  enables  a 
line  to  be  marked  in  precisely  the  right  place,  the  distance 
being  measilred  by  a  little  scale,  similar  to  that  of  the  vernier, 
and  giving  similar  divisions  of  f^^r  of  an  inch.  These  are 
very   useful  little    instruments,   and   are  used   by   a    large 


FIG.  79 


FIG.  80 


number  of  shooting  men.     They  are  sometimes  fitted  to  the 
elevation  vernier  itself,  as  in  fig.  80. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  orthoptic  or  peephole  sight,  used 
with  the  Match  rifle,  and  have  described  the  advantages  it 
gives  as  compared  with  the  ordinary  back  sight.  These  ad- 
vantages can  in  a  measure  be  applied  to  the  ordinary  military 
or  sporting  sights  by  using  an  orthoptic  disc  as  a  kind 
of  spectacle,  in  substitution  for  a  lens.  Such  a  disc  is 
made  of  some  opaque  material,  with  a  hole  or  holes  of  a 
suitable  size  in  it,  and  is  arranged  in  a  spectacle  frame,  or 
otherwise,  so  that  it  can  be  adjusted  to  exactly  the  right 
position  in  front  of  the  eye,  for  aim  to  be  taken  through  it. 
It  will  be  found  that  in  aiming  with  the  ordinary  sights 
seen  through  such  an  aperture,  the  eye,  especially  if  it 
be  beginning  to  suflFer  a  little  from  long  sight,  or  presby- 


346  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

opy,  but  does  not  yet  require  glasses,  will  see  the  back 
sight  and  the  line  or  lines  upon  the  bar  almost  without  a 
blur,  and  will  aim,  or  appear  to  aim,  with  great  correctness. 
This  is  because  aim  is  taken  only  with  a  small  pencil  of 
rays  coming  through  the  centre  of  the  lens  of  the  eye.  The 
orthoptic  in  this  form  is  used  by  many  prominent  target  shots, 
and  is  considered  to  be  of  the  greatest  possible  assistance.  It 
certainly  does  help  in  definition.  It  has,  however,  one  dis- 
advantage, that  it  largely  reduces  the  amount  of  light  which 
comes  to  the  eye,  if  it  be  so  small  as  to  give  very  clear 
definition  of  the  back  sight.  There  is  a  further  objection  to 
it,  that  it  does  not  at  all  tend  to  quickness  of  aim.  It  is  con- 
sidered, and  with  much  apparent  reason,  that  the  orthoptic  is 
a  complication  which  could  but  very  exceptionally  be  used  in 
the  field  under  the  ordinary  conditions  of  war.  Certainly 
one  would  not  think  of  using  it  for  deer-stalking.  A  curious 
fact,  which  suggests  that  the  advantage  of  using  the  orthoptic 
spectacle  is  by  no  means  all  that  it  is  supposed  to  be  is  the 
following.  At  the  Bisley  meeting  of  1900,  the  regulations 
under  which  the  competition  for  the  St.  George's  prize  took 
place  were  modified  so  as  to  forbid  the  use  of  orthoptics. 
This  competition  is  in  two  stages,  and  was  shot  for  at  500  and 
600  yards,  the  one  hundred  highest  scorers  in  this  part  of  the 
competition  afterwards  firing  at  800  yards,  and  the  event 
being  decided  by  the  highest  aggregate  score  in  the  two  stages. 
The  first  prize  was  won  by  Armourer-Sergeant  Fulton,  an  old 
Queen's  Prize  winner,  with  the  very  fine  score  of  113  points, 
out  of  a  possible  120,  at  the  three  ranges.  Now  it  is  a 
curious  fact  that  Mr.  Fulton  is  one  of  those  who  habitually 
use  the  orthoptic,  and  might  be  expected  to  be  considerably 
handicapped  in  a  competition  in  which  it  was  not  allowed, yet 
he  shot  in  quite  as  good  form  without  it  as  with  it.  This 
does  not  look  as  if  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  advantage 
given  by  the  orthoptic  were  so  great  as  it  is  commonly 
supposed  to  be. 

A  great  practical  objection  to  the  use  of  the  orthoptic  is 
that  it  narrows  the  field  of  vision  of  the  aiming  eye  to  the 
small  view  which  can  be  obtained  through  the  aperture.  This 
matters   comparatively  little   in   target   shooting,  but  it  is 


THE    ORTHOPTIC    DISC 


347 


decidedly  a  drawback  where  it  is  necessary  to  be  keeping  a 
general  look-out  while  shooting.  With  the  left  eye  closed  in 
order  to  aim,  and  the  right  eye  almost  entirely  blocked  by  an 
opaqae  disc,  the  shooter  is  for  the  moment  at  a  disadvantage. 
The  writer  has  foond  that  an  orthoptic  disc  of  less  than 
^-inch  diameter  is  all  that  is  required  to  clear  the  view  of 
the  sights  in  aiming,  and  that  it  hardly  does  more  to  obscure 
the  view  than  does  the  ring  of  the  Lyman  sight  used  on  the 
sporting  rifle.     It  is  certainly  of  importance  that  one  should 


FIG.   81 


FIG.   P3 


not  accustom  the  eye  to  feel  in  a  difficulty  about  aiming 
unless  the  whole  field  of  vision  is  narrowed  down  to  quite 
unpractical  dimensions.  In  the  evening  light  at  the  Bisley 
ranges,  or  others  so  situated  that  late  in  the  day  the  sun 
shines  nearly  behind  the  target  and  makes  shooting  difficult, 
there  is  some  advantage  in  using  an  orthoptic,  since  it 
shuts  out  much  of  the  dazzling  light  from  the  eye.  Fig.  81 
shows  a  disc  with  three  apertures  of  different  sizes  in  it,  any 
of  which  can  be  brought  to  the  most  convenient  place  for 


548  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

aiming,  the  whole  disc  being  mounted  on  a  ball-and-socket  joint 
which  gives  the  most  complete  control  of  its  position.  We  also 
illustrate  (fig.  82)  a  similar  disc  fitted  to  a  pair  of  spectacles. 
A  point  which  should  be  noticed  in  using  the  orthoptic  is, 
that  it  is  well  not  to  use  a  smaller  aperture  than  will  serve 
the  purpose  of  clearing  the  view  of  the  back  sight  under  the 
particular  circumstances  of  light  at  the  moment.  An  ex- 
•cellent  form  of  orthoptic,  which  makies  it  easy  to  attain  this 
end,  is  that  known  as  the  iris  orthoptic,  the  aperture  of 
which  can  in  an  instant  be  altered  in  size.  This  is  illus- 
trated in  fig.  88.  The  aim  must  always  be  carefully  taken 
through  the  centre  of  the  aperture,  since  the  rays  of  light 
which  enter  the  eye  close  to  the  edges  of  it  seem  to  be  dis- 
torted, but  the  eye  quickly  acquires  the  habit  of  aiming 
through  the  centre.  On  the  whole  the  orthoptic  is  a  com-, 
plication  which  should  not  be  necessary  for  young  eyes,  and 
which  should  be  eschewed  unless  really  found  to  give  a 
distinct  advantage. 

One  complication  for  match  shooting  which  used  to  be 
nothing  less  than  a  nuisance  has  been  done  away  with  owing 
to  the  introduction  of  smokeless  powder.  It  was  found  that 
the  fouling  of  black  powder  in  the  barrel  was,  if  not  checked, 
liable  to.  be  fatal  to  accuracy,  especially  in  hot  and  dry 
weather.  The  invention  of  a  little  tube,  one  end  of  which 
was  fitted  to  the  cartridge  chamber,  and  the  other  breathed 
into  by  the  mouth,  largely  solved  this  difiiculty,  as  by  its 
means  the  fouling  could  be  suiBciently  moistened  to  offer  but 
Httle  obstruction,  and  that  very  uniform  in  degree.  It  led, 
however,  to  the  absurdity  that  a  great  .part  of  the  intervals 
between  the  shots  in  target  work  was  devoted  to  blowing 
and  blowing,  as  it  appeared,  into  the  breech  end  of  the 
barrel,  an  occupation  very  far  from  dignified.  It  looked, 
in  fact,  to  the  uninitiated  as  if  the  shooter  were  sucking  at 
his  rifle,  as  a  baby  sucks  a  bottle.  Smokeless  powder, 
although  its  fouling  undoubtedly  does  cause  difficulties,  yet 
•does  not  seem  to  leave  a  residue  which  can  be  usefully  dealt 
with  in  this  way.  There  is  a  tendency  to  retain  the  use 
of  the  breathing  tube,  but,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  it  is 
under  present  conditions  quite  useless.     There  was  similarly  a 


USE    OP    FIELD    GLASSES  349^ 

tendency,  which  long  survived  into  breech-loading  days,  ta 
suck  or  moisten  the  bullet  before  the  cartridge  was  placed 
in  the  chamber  to  be  fired.  This  likewise  seems  to  have 
been  a  vain  superstition,  and  probably  was  a  surviv^il  from 
the  biting  of  the  muzzle-loading  cartridge. 

Whether  in  the  field  or  at  the  target,  an  indispensable 
accessory  for  shooting  is  a  good  pair  of   glasses.     In  the 
former  case  they  may  often  help  to  distinguish  or  define  the^ 
object  to  be  shot  at,  and  in  the  latter  case  they  are  of  use  in 
exactly  observing  the  result  of  the  shot.     The  Bisley  system- 
of   marking  with   penetrable  targets    hung  upon   balanced 
'frames,  which  was  adopted  as  a  result  of  Swiss  experience, 
requires,  at  all  events  at  any  range  beyond  200  yards,  that 
glasses  should  be  used  to  see  exactly  the  spot  which  has  been 
struck  as   indicated  by  the  spotting    disc.     If   the  young 
shooter,  whether  soldier  or  civilian,  is  to  be  taught,  as  he 
should  be,  to  endeavour  to  hit,  not  merely  the  bull's-eye,  but 
the  centre  of  it,  he  should  also  be  taught  to  observe  for 
himself  the  position  of  his  shots,  and  not  to  depend  on  the 
inaccurate  description  of  some  supervising  sergeant,  that  the 
shot  is  *  high  right '  or  *  low  left,*  &c.     The  extreme  utility  of 
glasses  and  telescopes,  as  shown  in  the  South  African  war, 
no  doubt  extends  in  some  degree  beyond  what  is  practicable 
in  a  European  climate ;  but  with  modern  arms,  both  in  war 
and  sport,  the  difficulty  of  defining  the  object  is  often  quite 
as  great  as  that  of  hitting  it  when  it  has  been  defined.     There 
have  been  instances  in  South  Africa  in  which  the  range  has 
been   found   by  a   good   marksman   shooting   to   strike  dry 
patches  of  soil,  and  having  a  comrade  close  by  him  who  might 
also  have  been  shooting,  but  was  better  employed  watching 
the    bullets   strike,   and    so   enabling    the   elevation    to   be 
corrected  until  the  proper  allowance  was  known,  and  com- 
municated to  the  rest  of  the  men  firing.     The  observation  of 
the  effect  of  fire  is  a  most  important  military  accomplishment, 
and  one  for  which  good  glasses  are  indispensable. 

At  the  longer  ranges  at  Bisley  it  is  at  times  difficult  to  be 
sure  of  the  position  of  the  spotting  disc  with  a  field-glass,  and 
even  at  the  shorter  the  shooting  cannot  be  accurately  spotted 
without  one.     While  telescopes  and  binoculars  of  the  very  best 


350  THE    BOOK    OP   THE    BIFLE 

make  will  always  be  expensive  things,  a  few  shOlings  will  now 
buy  glasses  which  will  give  an  immense  amomit  of  assistance 
to  the  eye.  On  a  day  of  light  moving  air  currents,  when  the 
flags  are  contradictory  and  the  snn  is  shining,  the  best  guide 
to  the  wind  is  the  mirage ;  this  can  be  better  seen,  especially 
when  it  is  dying  out  as  clouds  come  over,  with  a  telescope  of 
high  power  than  with  an  ordinary  glass.  At  all  times  the 
mirage* is  best  seen  when  magnified.  For  watching  the 
precise  direction  and  movements  of  flags  at  some  distance 
away,  the  glass  comes  in  very  usefully. 

It  is  a  very  proper  rule  at  Bisley  which  forbids  the  firing 
point  being  cumbered  with  stands  for  holding  the  telescopes 
or  glasses  of  those  firing  in  individual  competitions.  When 
practising  at  a  target,  however,  it  is  a  great  convenience,  if 
using  a  telescope,  to  have  some  support  for  it,  as  a  couple  of 
iron  forks,  with  a  straight  stem,  some  15  or  18  inches  long, 
and  a  semi-circular  fork  at  the  top.  The  lower  end  of  the 
stem  being  pointed,  they  are  usually  pushed  into  the  ground, 
and  the  telescope,  lying  upon  them,  is  directed  at  the  target. 
Then  after  each  shot  in  the  lying  down  position  the  shooter 
has  merely  to  place  his  eye  to  the  telescope  to  see  the  position 
of  the  shot,  and  is  not  troubled  with  having  to  take  it  up  and 
hold  it  while  looking.  In  team  matches  under  Bisley  rules 
there  is  no  objection  to  the  use  of  telescopes  fixed  on  stands, 
and  during  such  matches  as  that  for  the  Elcho  Shield,  they 
may  be  seen  in  some  numbers  and  of  all  sizes  at  the  firing 
point,  with  a  careful  observer  in  charge  of  each,  not  only  to 
spot  the  position  of  the  hits,  but  to  watch  the  shots,  especially 
the  first  one  fired  by  each  man  at  each  distance,  in  hopes  of 
seeing,  if  it  should  miss  the  target,  where  it  strikes. 

Another  accessory  for  target  shooting,  which  is  quite  as 
important  as  any,  is  the  score  book.  It  has  already  been 
pointed  out  how  useful  it  is  in  keeping  records  for  any 
purpose,  to  make  a  correct  diagram  of  each  group  of  shots 
fired.  But  the  diagram  will  be  of  very  little  use  unless  it  be 
accompanied  by  such  particulars  as  will  enable  it  subsequently 
to  be  used  for  purposes  of  comparison.  It  is  important,  for 
instance,  to  note  the  name  of  the  competition,  if  it  be  a 
competition  that  is  fired  ;  and  the  score,  as  well  as  the  date 


THE    SCORE    BOOK  361 

and  the  range  on  which  the  shooting  takes  place.  If  the 
shooter  has  more  than  one  rifle,  it  is  advisable  to  give  the 
number  of  the  rifle,  or  some  description  which  will  show  what 
rifle  was  used  on  the  particular  occasion.  Careful  note 
should  be  made  of  the  direction  of  the  wind,  and  its 
approximate  force,  as  well  as  of  the  degree  of  allowance 
(preferably  in  minutes)  made  for  it  at  every  shot.  The  kind 
of  weather,  and  the  approximate  temperature  should  always 
be  noted  ;  and  the  elevation  used  on  the  vernier  for  each  shot 
should  also  be  recorded.  The  batch  of  ammunition  used 
should  be  noted.  It  will  then  be  seen,  by  comparison  of  the 
records  of  shooting  under  different  circumstances,  what  are  the 
variations  for  any  range  due  to  the  changes  of  conditions,  and 
this  will  give  confidence  in  firing  the  first  shots  on  subsequent 
occasions,  and  will  materially  assist  in  starting  the  scores 
with  the  necessary  bull's-eye.  Another  very  practical  advantage 
of  keeping  a  careful  record  of  the  shots  is  that  should  any 
question  arise  as  to  the  official  scoring  in  a  competition,  or 
the  total  of  the  score,  the  competitor  does  not  have  to  depend 
■  on  memory  alone  for  the  facts  of  his  shooting. 

In  Match  rifle  shooting  at  long  ranges  the  keeping  of 
complete  records  is  far  more  necessary  than  at  short.  When 
it  is  desired  to  compare  the  results  obtained  from  different 
rifles,  or  from  variations  in  loading,  or  to  make  any  kind  of 
experiment,  it  is  of  the  greatest  utility  not  only  to  keep  a 
record  of  them  at  the  time,  but  to  have  careful  records  of 
all  the  shooting  with  which  one  may  wish  to  make  com- 
parison for  these  experimental  purposes.  The  particulars 
should  always  be  noted  down  very  completely.  The  reading 
of  the  barometer  and  thermometer,  and  other  conditions  of 
weather,  should  be  accurately  observed.  It  is  very  unsatis- 
factory, for  instance,  in  looking  back  to  see  whether  one's 
diagram  of  to-day  at  1,000  yards  is  as  good  as  any  one  has 
ever  made  at  that  distance  under  the  same  conditions,  to 
find  a  better  diagram  recorded,  but  without  sufficient  detail 
added  to  show  whether  it  was  made  with  the  same  rifle,  or, 
it  may  be,  at  1,000  yards,  and  not  at  900.  Great  success 
may  be  attained  as  a  shot  by  a  careful  man  who  does 
not  keep  a  score-book,  but  he  deprives  himself  of   one  of 


352 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


the  elements  which  give  appreciable  assistance  in  the  long 
run. 

Fig.  84  shows  a  device  known  as  the  aim  corrector, 
which  is  ingenious  and  very  useful  in  checking  the  errors  of 
the  young  shot  during  instruction.  Its  chief  feature  is  a 
small  piece  of  darkened  glass  so  fitted  that  it  can  be  clipped 
on  to  the  barrel  behind  the  back  sight.  It  is  fixed  at  an 
angle  of  45",  so  that  the  instructor,  standing  at  the  side  of 
the  rijfle  and  looking  into  it  at  right  angles  to  the  line  of  fire, 
sees  a  dark  but  distinct  picture  of  the  alignment  of  the 
sights,  and  can  tell  with  the  greatest  nicety  whether  at  the 
moment  of   pulling   the  trigger  they   are  properly   directed 

upon  the  mark.  The  firer*s  aim 
is  but  little  interfered  with,  for  he 
sees  the  sights  and  the  target  per- 
fectly but  for  the  diminution  in 
the  amount  of  light  caused  by  the 
tinted  glass.  This  is  a  most  useful 
appliance,  and  it  can  be  strongly 
recommended  for  correcting  the' 
errors  of  an  unsuccessful  beginner, 
or  practically  teaching  the  align- 
ment of  the  sights,  whether  during 
instruction  in  aiming  or  during 
actual  firing.  It  is  habitually  used 
in  Switzerland  during  the  instruc- 
tion and  first  practices  of  recruits. 
We  have  left  to  the  last  a  chief 
accessory  used  by  almost  all  marksmen,  the  shooting-bag,, 
or  shooting-case,  which  holds  score-book,  glasses,  vernier,  &c., 
and  is  carried  in  the  hand  or  slung  over  the  shoulder.  Of 
this  little  need  be  said  ;  it  should  be  as  small  and  light 
as  possible,  and  it  should  be  such  as  will  fairly  protect  its 
contents  from  wet  when  in  use.  There  was  a  time  when 
the  Match  rifle  shot  carried  much  luggage — a  bag  full  of 
cartridges  and  sights,  as  well  as  a  tin  waterpot  and  cleaning- 
rods  ;  now  the  accessories  for  shooting  with  the  military  rifle 
are  usually  as  many  and  as  bulky  as  those  for  the  Match 
rifle. 


FIG.   84 


CASE    OF    THE    BIPLE  353 

Chapman,  in  speaking  in  1848  on  the  use  of  the  rifle 
from  the  American  point  of  view,  alludes  to  the  advantages 
which   American  troops   have  as  against  European  in  the 
habitual  use  of  the  rifle  in  civil   life,   and  says :  '  A  man 
accustomed  to  carry  a  rifle   with  as  much  care  as  an  Old 
Countryman   does  a  watch ;  educated,  perhaps  bom,  in  the 
woods,  accustomed  to  hang  his  life  upon  the  ''  certainty  of 
a  sure  shot,"  is  a  tremendous  overmatch  for  another,  who 
knows  his  weapon  only  on  drill,  never  saw  a  clump  of  trees 
larger  than  those  in  Hyde  Park,  and  who,  as  a  marksman, 
is  likely  to  hit  neither  the   tree  nor  the  man   behind  it.' 
Herein  is  much  food  for  reflection.    Who  can  imagine  the 
practical  backwoodsman  or  hunter  treating  his  beloved  rifle 
with  the  roughness  often  seen  at  drill,  the  butt  of  the  rifle 
brought  to  the  ground  heavily,  and  the  weapon  itself  treated 
as  if  the  highest  compliment  which  could  be  paid  to  it  were 
*  to  see  how  far  it  might  be  possible  to  carry  rough  usage  ? 
If  rifles  are   to  be  treated   merely  as  lumps  of  wood   and 
iron,   more  than  half  the  advantage  of  possessing  arms  of 
precision  is  gratuitously  given  away  by  those  who  use  them. 
The  endurance  of  our  military  rifle  is  very  great,  and  perhaps 
this  fact  has  tended   to  encourage  its  being  treated  with 
scant  consideration ;  yet,  if  we  are  to  regard  essentials  in 
the  first  place,  the  care  of  his  arms  should,  in  a  soldier's 
education,  rank  before  the  care  of  his  accoutrements  and  the 
precise  folding  of  his  great-coat. 

It  has  always  been  a  matter  as  important  as  it  is 
diflicult  to  prevent  guns  and  rifles  from  suffering  from  rust. 
In  muzzle-loading  days  much  trouble  used  to  be  expended, 
and  very  properly,  in  washing  out  the  barrels  after  firing. 
Since  breech-loaders  have  been  in  use,  the  diflSculty  of  in- 
specting the  bore  in  order  to  see  what  its  condition  may  be 
has  very  much  diminished.  Most  modern  breech  actions, 
although  that  of  the  Martini-Henry  was  an  unfortunate 
exception  to  the  rule,  allow  the  eye  to  be  brought  into  line 
with  the  centre  of  the  barrel  when  the  breech  is  open,  so 
that  the  interior  of  the  bore  can  be  seen  for  its  whole  length, 
and  a  cleaning-rod  passed  through  from  the  breech  end. 
This  renders  it  simple  enough  to  clean  the  barrel ;  and  any 

A  A 


354  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

wear  of  the  grooving  from  the  rubbing  of  the  cleaning-rod 
against  it  takes  place  at  the  breech  end  of  the  barrel,  and  not 
at  the  muzzle ;  for  if  there  is  one  part  of  the  barrel  more 
than  another  in  which  it  is  important  that  the  grooving 
should  not  be  worn,  and  that  there  should  be  no  irregularity 
of  shape,  it  is  the  last  few  inches  near  the  muzzle.  It  was  to 
guard  against  any  such  wear  that  the  '  false  muzzle '  was 
fitted  to  the  muzzle-loading  Match  rifle  in  old  days.  This  was 
a  metal  cap,  grooved  so  as  to  prolong  the  rifling  which,  when 
it  was  in  place,  was  continuous  with  that  of  the  barrel,  and 
its  mouth  was  tapered  so  as  to  make  a  guide  for  the  wadding 
and  bullet.  The  writer  believes  it  to  have  been  an  American 
invention.  It  was  very  easy  to  forget  to  remove  the  false 
muzzle  before  firing  ;  if  left  on,  it  was  carried  some  distance 
by  the  bullet  and  spoilt  the  shot.  It  was  therefore  usual 
to  attach  it  by  a  string  to  a  button  on  the  firer's  coat- 
On  the  surface  of  the  bore  of  a  new  rifle  it  may  perhaps  be 
possible  to  discern  the  marks  of  the  tool  with  which  the  rifling 
has  been  cut,  but  these  are  soon  obliterated  with  wear; 
but  it  used  to  be  considered  with  the  old  Metford  Match  rifle 
that  the  barrel  required  a  good  many  shots  through  it  before 
it  was  in  perfect  shooting  condition.  When  a  barrel  has  had 
the  grooving  properly  cut,  it  requires  no  polishing  with 
emery,  or  any  other  cutting  powder,  the  chief  eflfect  of  which 
is,  while  giving  a  superficial  polish,  to  tend  to  destroy  the 
accurate  surfacing  of  the  different  parts  of  the  bore,  upon 
which  the  excellence  of  the  shooting  most  depends.  The  old 
Match  rifle  bullet  of  lead,  which  bore  upon  the  rifling  only 
through  its  thin  petticoat  of  paper,  took  several  hundred 
shots  to  complete  the  polishing  of  the  surface  of  the  bore : 
but  it  performed  this  process  very  thoroughly,  and  in  the 
best  possible  way,  since  every  bullet  without  fail  rubbed  the 
surface  precisely  in  the  direction  of  the  spiral.  The  rifle 
with  which  Major  Gibbs  made  his  remarkable  score  of 
48  bull's-eyes  out  of  50  shots  at  1,000  yards  at  Wistow 
was  an  old  one  belonging  to  Major  Young,  and  had  had 
some  20,000  shots  fired  out  of  it.  When  the  barrel  is 
polished  by  hand,  or  even  by  machinery,  it  is  not  easy  to 
make  the  plug  carrying  the  polishing  powder  work  infaltibly 


DAMAGE    BY    RUST  365 

in  the  direction  of  the  grooving.  With  modern  bullets, 
covered  with  a  hard  metal  envelope,  the  polishing  of  the 
barrel  is  very  rapidly  effected.  Normally  speaking,  the 
better  polished  a  barrel  is,  the  easier  it  is  to  keep  it  from 
rusting.  When  once  even  the  most  delicate  cloud  of  rust  has 
settled  upon  it,  the  tendency  is  for  the  rust  to  recur,  and  it  is 
very  difficult  to  prevent  it  doing  so.  A  rifle  or  gun  used  with 
black  powder  was  very  liable  to  rust,  if  not  well  looked  after, 
but  it  could  be  very  effectually  cleaned  with  a  little  trouble. 
The  phenomenon  which  has  puzzled  so  many  people,  of  the 
pitting  with  rust  starting  near  the  breech  end,  in  front  of 
the  chamber,  and  being  far  greater  there  than  towards  the 
muzzle,  seems  to  be  connected  with  the  bad  effects  of  the 
combustion  of  the  fulminate  in  the  cap.  Some  of  the  smoke- 
less powders  used  in  shot  guns  seem  to  have  an  almost 
neutral  effect  as  regards  rust,  and  the  barrel  requires  much 
less  cleaning  to  keep  its  surface  perfect  than  it  did  with 
black  powder.  In  modern  rifles,  however,  and  especially  in 
the  military  rifles  of  small  bore,  the  tendency  to  rust  is  very 
deplorable,  and  almost  inevitable.  It  does  not  quickly  arrive 
at  the  stage  of  a  distinct  honeycomb,  since  the  scrubbing  of  the 
bullet  upon  the  bore  tends  to  keep  the  surface  even,  but  there 
are  very  few  barrels  which  have  been  in  use  for  any  length 
of  time  which  do  not  show  upon  close  inspection  a  loss  of 
polish,  if  not  an  actual  rusty  patch  at  some  point  or  another 
in  the  bore.  It  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  the  residuum  from 
some  of  the  smokeless  rifle  powders  has  a  most  marked 
rusting  effect  upon  the  steel.  There  are  others  which  seem 
to  tend  less  to  rust,  but  considering  the  small  amount  of 
fouling  actually  deposited  on  the  bore,  the  difficulty  of 
removing  it  is  really  extreme.  In  the  days  before  smokeless 
powders  it  would  have  been  considered  an  almost  fatally 
strong  measure  to  clean  the  bore  by  dragging  to  and  fro 
through  it  a  tightly  fitting  piece  of  wire  gauze,  which  scrubs 
the  surface  very  severely.  With  the  -803  this  is  one  of  the 
commonplaces  of  cleaning;  nay,  it  is  part  of  the  regulation 
method.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  deposit  from  the 
explosive  is  the  only  factor  in  the  case  which  demands  such 
strong  measures.     The  observant  man  will  have  noticed  that 

▲  A  2 


356  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

if  he  fires  with  copper-clad  bullets,  or  with  the  ordinary  ballet 
with  cupro-nickel  covering,  a  deposit  of  the  colour  of  the  par- 
ticular metal  is  often  left  in  the  bore  upon  the  lands,  and  can 
clearly  be  seen  on  them  at  the  muzzle.  This  means  nothing 
else  than  that  an  actual  deposit  of  metal  has  been  left 
from  the  coating  of  the  bullet  in  its  passage  up  the  bore. 
Occasionally,  even  with  the  '803,  small  chips  or  flakes  of 
the  metal  envelope  will  imbed  themselves  in  the  surface  of 
the  barrel,  and  cause  great  trouble.  They  are  very  diflScult  to 
remove ;  while  they  are  present  the  shooting  is  not  accurate, 
and  in  the  removal  of  thelkn  the  smoothness  of  the  bore  may 
easily  be  ruined.  But  whether  it  be  merely  a  film  of  mefal 
or  something  more  that  is  deposited,  it  undoubtedly  becomes 
a  potent  factor  in  the  creation  of  rust,  very  probably  in  part 
because  galvanic  action  is  set  up  between  the  deposit  and  the 
surface  of  the  steel.  It  is  almost  heartrending  to  find,  after 
great  pains  have  been  taken  to  clean  a  rifle  properly,  that  the 
next  morning  a  white  patch  of  calico  passed  through  the 
bore  comes  out  all  red  with  rust.  Unfortunately  this  is  no 
uncommon  experience.  Sometimes  the  red  colour  of  the  rust 
i^  not  apparent.  It  has  often  been  the  writer's  experience 
with  the  Mannlicher,  that  scrub  and  scrub  as  one  may,  there 
remains  a  black  deposit  which  refuses  to  be  removed  entirely 
from  the  barrel,  and  is  more  apparent  and  quite  as  persistent 
the  next  morning  as  it  was  during  the  cleaning  on  the  pre- 
vious day.  There  seems  to  be  no  sovereign  remedy  for  this 
state  of  things.  The  cordite  oil,  issued  to  the  Army,  and 
containing  a  proportion  of  caustic  potash  as  a  preventive  of 
rust,  is  probably  not  more  effective  in  preventing  it  or  in 
cleansing  the  barrel  than  an  ordinary  mineral  oil. 

The  restoration  of  polish  to  the  barrel  by  the  use  of  fine 
polishing  powder  is  a  process  which  becomes  impossible  after 
the  rust  has  really  established  a  hold,  and  even  when  it  is  not 
too  late  requires  the  greatest  possible  care.  The  writer 
remembers  years  ago  curing  a  Snider  rifle  of  incipient  rust, 
without  leaving  any  ill  effects,  by  firing  through  it  first 
bullets  coated  with  extremely  fine  emery  flour  made  into  a 
paste  with  vaseline,  and  afterwards  bullets  coated  with  a 
similar  paste,  very  fine  crocus  powder  being  substituted  for 


POLISHING    PROCESSES  367 

emery.  It  was  a  drastic  remedy,  and  one  suited  only  to  such 
a  rough-and-ready  weapon  as  the  Snider  was.  No  polishing 
powder  but  the  very  finest  should  ever  be  used  in  the  barrel 
of  a  modern  rifle.  Any  little  roughness  of  surface  left  by  the 
tool  in  the  barrels  of  Match  rifles  could  in  the  old  days  be 
polished  out  with  a  long  series  of  shots,  by  using  bullets  with 
a  paper  patch  rubbed  with  oil  and  crocus.  The  expansion  of 
the  bullet  brought  the  polishing  powder  into  close  contact 
with  the  surface,  and  the  line  of  the  polishing  was  bound  to 
follow  that  of  the  spiral  of  the  rifle.  The  method  of  forcing 
a  hard-coated  bullet  into  the  grooving  is  not  well  suited  to 
this  process.  If  polishing  has  to  be  done,  the  very  fine 
crocus  or  other  powder  employed  should  be  mixed  with  oil 
and  applied  upon  a  pad  of  tow  or  calico,  which  has  already 
been  passed  through  the  rifle,  and  fits  it  very  tightly.  The 
rifle  must  be  firmly  held  in  a  padded  vice,  and  the  greatest 
care  taken  that  the  spiral  of  the  rifle  is  accurately  followed  in 
pushing  the  rod  to  and  fro.  Nothing  but  damage  is  done  if 
the  rod  is  pushed  straight  up  and  down  the  barrel,  as  in  that 
case  it  is  only  the  tops  of  the  lands  which  are  polished,  while 
their  edges  are  irregularly  rounded  off.  The  amateur  is  not 
recommended  to  undertake  such  a  polishing  operation  unless 
he  has  already  a  good  deal  of  experience  of  workshop  pro- 
cesses of  a  similar  kind.  It  is  perhaps  not  superfluous  to 
add  that  the  cleaning-rod  used  for  such  operations  must  be  a 
very  strong  one,  and  that  it  must  have  such  a  handle  as  will 
allow  considerable  force  to  be  applied  to  it. 

As  with  many  other  processes,  *  elbow-grease '  is  probably 
the  chief  and  most  important  ingredient  in  any  recipe  for 
cleaning  and  preserving  tire-arms.  Pure  olive  oil,  if  it  were 
possible  to  get  it  in  this  country,  seems  to  be  the  least 
harmful  of  vegetable  oils,  but  there  is  nothing  better  than 
Bangoon  oil  or  vaseline.  The  vaseline  does  not  require  to 
"be  refined  to  any  great  extent.  That  of  the  ordinary  yellow 
colour  is  perfectly  good,  and  the  variety  known  as  veterinary 
vaseline,  which  can  be  bought  comparatively  cheaply  in  tins 
of  1  lb.  or  more,  seems  to  answer  every  purpose.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  writer  has  on  one  occasion  seen  trouble 
caused  by  the  use  of  a  variety  of  vaseline  which  had  been 


358  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 

specially  refined  bo  as  to  be  of  a  transparent  white  ooloar. 
Possibly  there  were  remains  of  some  acid  in  it. 

So  far  as  the  tendency  to  rast  depends  apon  the  acid 
condition  of  the  residue  of  the  foaling,  it  can  be  to  a  great 
extent  neutralised  by  the  use  of  some  such  alkaline  prepara- 
tion as  boiling  water  containing  caustic  soda.  Boiling  water 
alone  will  bring  a  surprising  amount  of  dirt  out  of  a  rifle 
barrel.  The  rifle  should  be  held  muzzle  downwards  over  a 
bucket,  and  a  small  bent  funnel  inserted  in  the  breech,  into 
which  the  boiling  water  is  poured  from  a  kettle.  Care  must 
be  taken  not  to  wet  any  of  the  breech  mechanism.  It  is 
surprising  how  much  dirt  may  still  remain  in  the  barrel  even 
after  a  large  kettleful  of  hot  water  has  been  passed  through  it,, 
carrying  with  it  a  very  noticeable  amount  of  fouling. 

A  counsel  of  perfection,  for  it  is  impossible  to  follow  it 
under  sporting  or  service  conditions,  is  to  clean  the  rifle 
immediately  after  firing,  if  possible  while  still  hot  from 
shooting.  The  difficulty  of  removing  the  fouling,  especially 
that  of  cordite,  from  the  surface  of  the  bore  after  the  lapse 
of  two  or  three  hours,  must  be  experienced  to  be  understood. 
The  double  pull-through  of  wire  gauze  is  a  very  severe 
remedy,  but  almost  indispensable  under  such  circumstances. 
Clean  and  dry  pieces  of  rag,  flannelette,  swansdown  calico,  or 
soft  tow  should  be  used  for  ordinary  cleaning,  and  should  be 
well  worked  up  and  down  the  barrel,  which  must  be  wiped  dry 
after  each  application  of  oil.  To  leave  foul  oil  in  a  barrel  is 
to  make  damage  a  certainty.  Bust  should  be  regarded  as  an 
infection  likely  to  be  conveyed  by  the  use  of  dirty  brushes, 
oil,  or  cleaning  material.  For  cleaning  at  home  there  is  no 
such  convenient  arrangement  as  to  have  a  bench,  fitted  with 
a  vice,  with  cork  jaws.  The  rifle  can  then  be  firmly  held, 
while  both  hands  are  free  to  use  the  cleaning-rod.  A  strong 
one  of  steel,  with  a  wooden  handle,  is  far  the  most  satis- 
factory implement.  A  cleaning-rod  covered  with  wood  is  not 
objectionable,  but  unless  kept  very  carefully  clean  is  liable  to 
pick  up  grit,  which,  becoming  imbedded  in  the  wood,  has  a 
more  destructive  effect  upon  the  bore  than  the  scrub  of  the 
steel  rod  against  it.  The  writer  does  not  recommend  a  bristle 
or  wire  brush  except  for  very  rough  temporary  cleaning,  when 


CLEANING    THE    RIFLE  B59 

it  is  sometimeB  convenient.  Mr.  Tippins  advises  the  use  of 
a  small  brush  on  the  end  of  the  cleaning-rod  as  a  good  means 
of  holding  the  rag  which  actually  does  the  work  of  cleaning 
the  barrel,  and  there  is  much  to  be  said  for  this  device. 
Whether  it  be  a  brush  or  anything  else  which  is  constantly 
passed  through  the  barrel,  it  is  inevitable  that  it  should 
become  a  dangerous  element  by  itself  depositing  impurities 
upon  the  bore.  A  brush  of  brass  wire,  for  instance,  will 
sometimes  be  a  useful  preparation  for  a  thorough  cleaning, 
bat  for  this  reason  must  not  be  depended  upon  except  as  a 
preliminary. 

In  the  days  of  black  powder  there  was  a  marked  diiSerence 
in  the  amount  of  cleaning  required  by  such  a  rifle  as  the 
Martini-Henry,  which  had  angles  in  which  the  fouling  was 
deposited,  and  the  Metford  rifling,  with  the  segmental 
grooving,  the  latter  having  no  corners  to  catch  the  dirt. 
Something  of^  the  same  distinction  remains  in  the  '308, 
between  the  Lee-Metford  and  the  Lee-Enfield.  It  is  un- 
questionable that  the  recesses  which  are  at  the  corners  of 
the  grooves  of  the  latter  are  far  more  difficult  to  clean 
thoroughly  than  any  part  of  the  Metford  grooving ;  and  that 
this  is  the  iact  is  clear,  not  only  from  the  greater  difficulty 
of  removing  the  fouling,  but  from  the  greater  tendency  which 
there  is  for  rust  to  form  in  the  angles  of  the  grooves.  There 
seems  also  to  be  a  much  greater  probability  of  flakes  of  the 
coating  of  the  bullet  being  caught  and  remaining  imbedded 
in  the  surface  of  the  bore  with  the  Enfield  cut  than  with 
the  Metford.  It  is  highly  probable  that  a  five-grooved 
rifling,  with  the  grooves  of  about  the  same  width  as  those 
of  the  Lee-Enfield,  but  cut  segmentally  bo  as  to  have  no 
internal  angles,  would  diminish  some  of  these  difficulties.  It 
may  almost  be  taken  as  an  axiom  that  the  smaller  the  bore 
the  harder  it  is  to  keep  in  order,  partly  because  of  the  dif- 
ficulty of  inspection  (its  surface  cannot  so  well  be  seen  from 
either  end),  and  partly  because  the  whole  bulk  of  the  pad,  or 
other  cleaning  appliance,  is  smaller,  and  has  less  elasticity. 
A  more  important  reason  is  that,  except  in  toy  or  gallery 
rifles,  the  pressures  and  other  effects  of  the  explosion,  as  well 
as  the  use  of  smokeless  powder,  very  much  complicate  the 


360  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

whole  problem  as  regards  rifles  of  small  calibre.  If  the 
surface  of  the  steel  has  been  thoroughly  cleaned,  and  then 
smeared  well  with  clean  grease  applied  with  a  clean  and  dry 
rag  or  piece  of  tow,  there  is  little  tendency  to  rust  unless  the 
fatal  mischief  has  previously  been  allowed  to  begin. 

The  superstition  which  some  people  have  held,  and  after- 
wards  repented  of,  that  a  barrel  can  be  kept  in  good  order  if 
it  is  conscientiously  wiped,  without  being  oiled,  is  altogether 
vanity.  Another  still  more  vain  notion  is  that  a  rifle  can  be 
shot  without  being  cleaned  for  weeks  at  a  time,  and  be  none 
the  worse.  The  fouling,  it  may  be,  does  not  accumulate,  and 
creates  little  obstruction,  but  it  only  serves  to  disguise  the 
mischief  to  the  surface  of  the  bore  which  is  inevitably  going 
on  all  the  time. 

There  is  no  advantage  in  this  climate,  if  the  rifle  is  kept 
in  a  dry  place,  in  attempting  to  stop  up  the  ends  of  the  bore. 
Indeed,  plugs  or  corks  are  in  this  respect  very  dangerous 
things  to  put  into  it.  They  are  often  accompanied  by  a  dis- 
position to  rust  just  where  they  are  seated.  Nor  is  the 
appliance  sometimes  used  with  shot  guns,  a  rod  covered  ' 
with  baize,  and  exactly  fitting  the  inside  of  the  barrel  for  its 
whole  length,  expedient  or  necessary  for  rifles.  The  rifle 
should  be  kept  in  a  cover,  a  box,  or  a  cupboard,  to  keep  it 
from  dust,  which  is  one  of  the  prime  factors  in  setting  up 
rust.  If  in  a  cupboard,  any  substance  which  will  absorb 
moisture,  such  as  calcium  chloride  or  sulphuric  acid,  may 
with  advantage  be  kept  with  the  rifles,  and  will  help  to 
preserve  them  from  rust. 

A  rifle  which  has  been  very  thoroughly  and  conscien- 
tiously cleaned  after  firing,  presumably  with  a  wipe  through 
as  soon  as  the  shooliing  is  done,  and  a  very  thorough  cleaning 
after  returning  home,  will  require  to  be  wiped  through  again 
in  the  morning,  and  if  it  show  no  sign  of  anything  wrong,  it 
can  then  be  left  for  two  or  three  days  without  cleaning.  But 
it  is  well  to  clean  it  again  within  a  week,  and  if  it  be  then 
put  away,  it  will  probably  give  no  trouble  if  looked  over 
about  once  a  month.  Almost  everyone  who  shoots  must  at 
some  time  or  another  have  experienced  a  feeling  of  deep 
disgust  at  finding  traces  of  rust  in  the  barrel  on  wiping  it 


PREVENTION    OF    RUST  861 

through  again  a  few  hours  after  a  first  careful  cleaning. 
This  is  especially  likely  to  happen  when  the  weather  has 
been  wet,  and  it  has  been  impossible  to  keep  the  rifle  dry,  as 
is  bound  sometimes  to  be  the  case.  It  is  well  in  such  a  case 
to  clean  the  oil  out  thoroughly  with  soda  or  soap,  and  then 
to  pour  a  large  kettleful  of  boiling  water  down  the  barrel, 
as  already  described.  This  is  more  likely  than  anything  to 
check  a  propensity  to  rust.  The  water  heats  the  barrel  so 
that  it  almost  dries  itself  at  once,  and  having  then  been  wiped 
through  with  great  care,  and  the  drying  completed,  it  may 
be  oiled  and  left  for  a  little  time.  Special  attention  should 
be  given  to  cleaning  the  chamber,  which  is  often  neglected 
because,  not  being  of  the  same  size  as  the  bore,  the  cleaning 
of  the  latter  hardly  touches  it.  A  rusty  chamber  may  lead 
to  difficulties  in  extraction  and  to  rust  in  the  breech  end  of 
the  rifling.  Barrels  which  show  any  tendency  to  rust  must 
have  no  peace  until  they  have  been  brought  to  a  better  frame 
of  mind.  The  slavery  of  constant  cleaning  and  watchfulness 
as  to  the  condition  of  the  bore  is,  perhaps,  the  chief  drawback 
to  the  pleasures  of  rifle- shooting. 

It  is  not  easy  for  the  eye  which  is  not  extremely  well 
trained  to  distinguish  between  the  surface  of  the  barrel  as 
it  should  be,  and  as  it  is  when  it  has  begun  to  lose  its  polish 
from  the  insidious  infection  of  rust.  The  very  small  calibres 
now  in  vogue  have,  as  already  mentioned,  much  added  to  the 
difficulty.  With  the  larger  bores,  and  black  powder,  the  red 
colour  which  a  white  patch  brings  out  would  always  show  at 
once  if  mischief  has  commenced.  Many  of  the  smokeless 
powders  leave  the  bore  in  a  state  in  which  almost  unlimited 
perseverance  fails  to  bring  it  into  so  clean  a  state  that  the 
patch  will  come  out  unstained^  and  the  bkck  which  does  come 
out  on  the  patch  sometimes  conceals  rust,  ^  although  the  red 
colour  cannot  be  seen.  It  has  been  the  writer's  painful 
experience  more  than  once,  in  wiping  through  a  rifle  barrel  of 
small  calibre,  which  he  had  every  reason  to  believe  was  in 
perfect  order,  to  hear  a  certain  scraping  sound  as  the  soft 
patch  was  pushed  through  it,  at  some  particular  part  of  the 
barrel.  This  was  caused  by  the  rough  and  rusty  condition  of 
the  surface  of  part  of  the  bore,  a  mischief  which  had  already 


362  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

gone  too  far  to  be  remedied,  although  previously  unnotioed, 
and  which  at  onoe  condemned  the  barrel. 

There  are  two  problems  of  which  the  solution  seems  a 
long  way  off,  the  production  of  a  smokeless  powder  which, 
while  it  meets  all  other  requirements,  leaves  a  neutral  or 
non-acid  residuum ;  and  some  means  of  removing,  if  not  of 
preventing,  the  deposit  of  metallic  fouling.  Whether  a  third 
condition  ever  will  be  fulfilled,  that  of  making  rifle  barrelB 
of  some  metal  which  is  not  liable  to  rust  to  the  same  extent 
as  steel,  may  be  doubted.  But  there  is  much  difference 
between  one  specimen  of  steel  and  another  in  its  tendency  to 
rust,  and  it  seems  not  impossible  that  if  the  attention  of 
steel-makers  were  directed  to  this  point  some  slight  improve- 
ment might  be  made.  Meanwhile  we  can  only  accept  the 
fact  of  the  too  easy  oxidization  of  polished  steel,  and  take  all 
possible  care  to  minimise  the  chance  of  its  occurring. 

Of  cleaning  the  outside  of  the  rifle  there  is  not  a  great 
deal  to  be  said.  The  wood  of  the  stock  should  be  kept  well 
oiled,  and  if  linseed  oil,  preferably  boiled,  is  worked  into  its 
surface  until  the  pores  are  filled,  and  it  becomes  perfectly 
water-resisting,  so  much  the  better.  The  inside  of  the  barrel 
and  the  chamber  require  far  more  attention,  especially  from 
the  marksman's  point  of  view,  than  any  other  part,  but  the 
breech  action  and  lockwork  must  not  be  neglected.  More 
than  once  the  writer  has  seen  a  competitor's  score  in  a 
rapid  firing  competition  spoilt  by  something  going  wrong  or 
jamming  in  the  mechanism,  when  a  little  care  would  have 
prevented  it. 

Sometimes  the  bolts  of  different  rifles  are  interchanged 
by  accident,  and  it  is  well  to  be  careful  that  this  does  not 
happen.  Only  witfiin  the  last  year  or  two  at  a  Bisley 
meeting  the  writer  was  appealed  to  as  to  the  unfairness  of  a 
man  losing  his  score  whose  rifle  had  jammed  hopelessly  in  a 
competition  with  a  time  limit.  A  little  investigation  showed 
the  cause  :  the  numbers  on  the  bolt  handle  and  on  the  action 
were  different,  proving  that  the  bolt  belonged  to  some  other 
rifle,  and  this  had  led  to  the  trouble.  The  competitor  may 
have  been  using  the  wrong  bolt  for  weeks,  for  in  deliberate 
firing  it  would  probably  give  little  or  no  trouble.   But  he  went 


CARE    OF    STOCK    AND    ACTION  363 

away  a  sadder  and  a  wiser  man,  feeling  that  no  one  else  but 
himself  could  be  blamed  for  the  hard  luck  which  had  over- 
taken   him.    He  had  evidently  neither  examined  his  rifle 
carefully  when  cleaning  it,  taking  the  bolt  out  habitually  in 
doing   so,  nor  rehearsed  the  very  deliberate  magazine  fire 
called  for  by  the  conditions  of  the  competition.     Although 
the  action  of  our  Service  rifle  gives  little  trouble  in  these 
respects,  it  is  well  to  see  that  all   the  working  parts,  and 
especially  the  spiral  spring  and  the  striker,  move  freely,  and 
are  not  hampered  by  dirt.     They  will  not  often  require  over- 
hauling.    The  pull-off  requires  occasional  attention.     It  is 
liable  to  alter,  even  from  the  small  amount  of  wear  which  it 
gets,   since  the  strains  on  it  are  considerable,  and  then  it 
may  become  so  heavy  as  to  be  difficult  to  discharge,  or  so 
light  as  to  be  a  source  of  danger.     It  should  be  kept  to  about 
6^    lb.,   6   lb.   being   the    official    minimum   limit   for   the 
Service  rifle,  and  unfortunately  also  the  lowest  weight  which 
seems  compatible  in  our  rifle^  as  at  present  made,  with  the 
absence  of  liability  to  be  jarred  off  by  the  rifle  falling  or 
being  knocked. 

The  method  of  adjusting  the  pull-off  is  by  making  some 
small  alteration  in  the  shape  of  the  sear  nose,  which  is  con- 
nected with  the  trigger,  or  of  the  bent  or  notch  on  the  under 
side  of  the  cocking-piece,  against  which  it  fits.     It  requires 
very  good  judgment  and  very  careful  handling  to  do  this  satis- 
factorily.    A  very  small   alteration  in   the   angle   at  which 
the  two   parts    are   in    contact  may  easily   make   a   large 
difference  in   the  pressure  on  the  trigger  necessary  to  dis- 
charge the  rifle.     The  parts  are  tempered  too  hard  to  be  filed 
into  shape,  but  a  small  piece  of  some  fine  oilstone  applied 
with  care  will,  as  a  rule,  do  all  that  is  required.     To  test  the 
weight  of  the  pull-off  an  arrangement  is  commonly  used  con- 
sisting of  a  hook  which  passes  over  the  trigger,  and  to  which 
is  attached  a  rod  carrying  weights  which  can  be  varied.     A 
very  portable  and  simple  means  of  trying  the  pull-off  is  by 
a  spring  balance,  which  will  clearly  show   difterences   of   a 
quarter  of  a  pound,  and  is  attached  to  a  strong  wire,  bent  so 
as  to  pass  across  the  trigger.     Whether  the  balance  or  weight 
be  used,  care  must  be  taken  that  the  stem  of  the  hook  clears 


364  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

the  woodwork  of  the  grip,  and  that  the  pull-  is  given  at  the 
same  angle  as  that  used  in  pulling  with  the  finger,  that  is, 
diagonally  upwards  across  the  stock.  If  the  barrel  of  the 
rifle  be  held  perpendicularly,  as  was  the  rule  in  old  days  in 
testing  with  a  weight,  it  rests  more  nearly  on  the  end  of  the 
trigger,  and  thus  obtains  an  unfair  leverage.  Where  sporting 
arms  are  concerned  it  is  only  necessary  to  have  the  pull-off 
from  8  to  5  lb.  in  weight,  according  to  taste,  the  limit  of 
reduction  being  that  at  which  there  arises  danger  of  accidental 
discharge  from  a  blow  on  the  rifle.  For  a  rifle  to  be  used  in 
competitions  we  no  longer  follow  the  rule  of  Ezekiel  Baker, 
who  says: — 'A  rifleman,  to  ascertain  when  his  trigger  pulls 
too.  hard,  is  to  suspend  the  trigger  of  the  rifle  on  the  fore- 
finger of  his  right  hand,  with  the  muzzle  downwards,  wdth  the 
lock  on  full  cock  (taking  care  the  piece  is  not  loaded,  as  that 
would  be  very  dangerous,)  which  should  just  bear  its  own 
weight ;  and  if  it  requires  considerably  more  than  the  weight 
of  the  piece  to  pull  off  the  trigger  it  is  too  hard,  and  will  take 
the  rifle  out  of  its  right  direction  when  fired.' 

It  is  well,  on  the  other  hand,  not  to  run  too  close  to  the 
limit  of  6  lb.  prescribed  both  by  regulation  and  by  the 
National  Bifle  Association  for  the  Service  arm.  A  little 
wear,  even  sometimes  the  heating  of  the  mechanism  from 
firing,  may  make  a  considerable  difference  to  the  pull-off,  and 
it  has  happened  more  than  once  to  a  competitor  who  thought 
he  had  a  margin  to  spare  that  he  has  found  himself,  after 
making  a  big  score,  hard  put  to  it  to  prove  to  the  range 
officer  that  his  trigger  would  lift  the  test  weight  without 
being  -  discharged.  There  have  been  rare  cases  in  which 
inattention  to  the  condition  of  the  pull-off  has  ended  in  the 
disqualification  of  an  individual,  or  of  a  whole  team,  in  some 
important  match,  and  the  fruits  of  a  little  laziness  and  care- 
lessness have  given  cause  for  lasting  regret. 

One  of  the  points  to  notice  is  that  the  pull-off  must  be 
clean  and  easy,  and  be  released  without  any  appreciable 
delay  when  the  trigger  begins  to  move.  It  is  very  unplea- 
sant, when  one  expects  the  slightest  movement  of  the  trigger 
to  release  the  striker,  to  feel  it  drag  a  little  before  it  actually 
does  so.     It  is  important  to  keep  the  sear  and  the  nose  of  the 


CARE    OF    PULL-OFF    AND    SIGHTS  365 

fall  bent  in  which  it  engages,  free  from  dirt,  and  slightly 
lubricated,  and  that  the  whole  width  of  both  should  be  in 
contact.  The  same  applies  to  all  the  moving  parts  of  the 
lockwork.  The  easy  and  regular  pull  of  the  trigger  is  a 
matter  worthy  of  serious  attention,  especially  for  shooting  at 
moving  objects,  and  it  should  be  adjusted  only  by  expert 
hands.  The  really  successful  shot  never  neglects  details  of 
this  kind. 

We  have  already  touched  upon  the  necessity  for  keeping 
the  butt  of  the  *303  screwed  up  tightly  to  the  strap  of  metal 
behind  the  action,  into  which  it  fits.     The  band  and  nose-cap 
which  bear  upon  the  barrel  should  not  .be  so  tight  as  to  pinch 
it  in  the  least,  else  the  shooting  is  affected ;  and  this  caution 
especially  applies  to  the  opening  in  the  nose-cap  for  the 
barrel,  which  gives  little  or  no  margin  if  it  is  not  quite  cor- 
rectly placed  for  the  barrel  to  pass  through  it.     The  back 
sight  should  be  kept  in  good  order ;  the  hinge  should  be  kept 
oiled  so  that  the  spring  has  no  difficulty  in  lifting  the  flap  to 
the  proper  position  when  it  has  been  raised  so  as  to  be  nearly 
upright ;  and  the  leaf  should  slide  easily,  but  not  too  easily, 
upon  it.     Sight  protectors,  both  for  fore  sight  and  back  sight, 
should  be  habitually  used.    The  magazine  should  be  occa- 
sionally taken  out  and  looked  to,  to  see  that  it  is  in  working 
order.     The  shooter,  in  fact,  should  conscientiously  do  his 
duty  in  every  way  by  the  rifle  if  he  wishes  it  not  to  fail  him 
in  any  point  at  some  critical  moment. 

In  the  case  of  the  Match  rifle  the-  sights  require  some 
extra  care,  and  the  screws  by  which  they  are  attached  to 
the  stock  and  the  barrel  need  occasional  testing  to  see  that 
they  are  tight.  All  screws  connected  with  the  sights  should 
occasionally  be  tightened  up,  since  it  is  almost  an  ineradicable 
habit  with  them  to  work  loose  from  the  jar  of  firing,  and 
the  writer  has  known  men  break  down  in  important  com- 
petitions from  this  easily  preventible  cause.  The  sliding 
parts  should  be  kept  clean  and  sufficiently  lubricated,  but 
should  be  watched  to  see  that  they  do  not  wear  so  loose  as  to 
be  capable  of  shaking  or  shifting.  The  aperture  of  the  back 
sight,  and  the  actual  bead  or  ring  of  the  fore  sight,  must 
occasionally  be  wii)ed  free  from  the  little  deposit  of  dust  which 


366  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

is  apt  to  settle  upon  them  because  of  the  slightly  oily  oon- 
dition  in  which  it  is  advisable  to  keep  all  the  steel  or  iron 
work  connected  with  the  rifle.  To  sum  up,  the  rifleman  who 
takes  the  trouble  to  keep  his  weapon  in  first-rate  order  will 
be  repaid  even  for  the  drudgery  of  having  to  dirty  his  hands 
and  scrub  at  his  rifle  when  he  comes  in  hungry,  tired,  and 
perhaps  wet,  at  the  end  of  a  day's  shooting.  It  is  not  easy 
to  be  properly  methodical  in  this  matter  ;  but  he  who  allows 
himself  to  acquire  careless  or  irregular  habits  will  regret 
it  too  late,  when  his  favourite  weapon  has  to  have  its  barrel 
condemned  as  old  iron,  or  when  some  preventible  failure  in 
the  weapon  deprives  him  of  success  in  a  competition.  If 
barrels  wear  out,  or  rust  out,  more  easily  at  the  present  day 
than  in  old  times,  those  of  military  arms  are,  at  all  events, 
not  very  expensive  to  renew,  but  this  is  small  consolation 
when  nothing  remains  but  to  throw  away  a  cherished  and 
trusted  barrel  with  which  high  scores  have  been  made. 

It  is  well  that  the  user  of  rifles  should  understand  how  to 
take  the  lockwork  to  pieces.     To  be  in  good  working  order  it 
should  be  very  clean,  and  the  moving  parts   slightly  oiled 
with  good  machine  oil  or  similar  lubricant.     It  is  probably 
unnecessary  to  give  the  caution  that  no  polishing  or  cutting 
substances  whatever  should  be  used  in  cleaning  any  part  of 
the  lock.   Sometimes,  as  after  exposure  to  rain,  a  few  minutes 
devoted  as  promptly  as  possible  to  cleaning  will  save  much 
subsequent    trouble.     The   lockwork   of    expensive   English 
guns  and  rifles  is  not  designed  with  any  notion  of  rendering 
it  easy  for  the  amateur  to  deal  with  it.     The  very  bruising  of 
the  Bcrew-heads  from  the  want  of  turnscrews  of  precisely  the 
right  size,  form,  and  temper,  and  of  suitable  means  for  hold- 
ing the  weapon  firmly  while  they  are  applied,  will  spoil  their 
highly  finished  appearance,  and,  perhaps,  make  work  for  the 
gunmaker.     With  cheap  and  machine-made  arms,  such  as 
magazine   rifles,   there   is  usually  little  difiiculty  in  taking 
apart  the  components  of  the  lock.     Most  of  the  Continental 
rifles  are   so   arranged  that  this  can  be  done  without  any 
special   tool,   although   it  is  well  rather   to   be   shown   the 
method  of  doing  so  by  some  one  who  understands  the  par- 
ticular mechanism  in   question,  than   to   depend   upon   the 


CARE    OF    THE    LOCK    MECHANISM  367 

light  of  nature  and  mere  guesswork.     Generally  speaking,  it 
is  far  easier  to  take  to  pieces  a  bolt  or  a  lock  that  one  does 
not  understand  than   to   put   it  together  again.     The  view 
taken  abroad  seems  to  be  that  every  part  of  the  mechanism 
of  the  military  rifle  should  be  easily  accessible  for  cleaning. 
In  the  case  of  our  own  rifle  it  was  deliberately  thought  better 
so    to   arrange  the  bolt  that   it  cannot  be  taken  to  pieces 
without  a  special  tool  issued  only  to  armourers.     The  soldier 
has  often  been  known  to  change  bolts  with  a  friend,  whether 
accidentally  or  as  a  token  of  amity  it  is  not  easy  to  say,  and  it 
is  considered  that  if  he  had  easy  access  to  all  the  smaller 
parts  of  the  mechanism,  some  essential  piece  would  often  be 
broken  or  missing.     The  writer  believes  rathefthat  the  desire 
to  take  the  mechanism  to  pieces  merely  for  the  sake  of  playing 
with  it  arises  almost  entirely  from  the  mystery  which  is  made 
about  it.     Now  that  the  components  of  a  lock  are  compara- 
tively few  and  simple,  and  spare  parts  can  always  be  substi- 
tuted  for  broken   ones,   and,   it   must   be  added,  now   that 
the  fighting  man  has  intelligence  which  must  be  cultivated, 
there   seems  no  reason  why  he  should  not  be  made  to  be 
his   own   armourer  when   necessary,  so  far  as  cleaning  the 
mechanism  of  the  bolt  is  concerned.     If  this  were  part  of 
his  duty,  he  would  not  be  found  playing  with  it  when   he 
once  understood  it.     There  cannot  always  be  an  armourer 
with  special  tools  at  hand  if  any  obstruction  arises  on  service 
from  dirt,  or   if  a   spare   part   has  to  be  substituted  for   a 
broken  one. 

Miss-fires  or  hang-fires  occasionally  happen,  and  are 
extremely  annoying.  Speaking  generally,  the  Service  am- 
munition is  extraordinarily  free  from  them,  although  a  few 
years  ago  there  was  an  epidemic  of  hang-fires  in  the  cordite 
cartridges  of  a  particular  period,  which  caused  many  searchings 
of  heart  at  the  Bisley  meeting.  In  that  case  the  fault 
undoubtedly  lay  in  the  cartridge,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in 
nineteen  cases  out  of  twenty  the  cartridge  is  not  to  blame 
for  hang-fires.  It  is  sometimes  a  short  striker  which  causes 
them;  sometimes  the  mainspring  gives  an  inadequate  blow 
because  it  has  grown  weak,  or  even  because  its  freedom  is 
hampered  by  dirt,  or  by  the  action  not  being  properly  closed. 


368  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

The  variooB  qualities  of  different  kinds  of  smokeless  powder 
lead  to  their  being   sometimes   loaded   in   eases  fitted  with 
a  cap  which  will  only  just  ignite  them  properly,  and  when 
this  is  the  case  hang-fires  and  miss-fires  are  likely  enough  to 
happen.     It  would  not  be  very  far  from  the  truth  to  say  that 
most  modern  smokeless  powders  require  each  a  special  cap  to 
give  the  best  results.     The  writer  has  tried  to  fire  a  charge  of 
cordite  in  cartridge  cases  made  for  black  powder  quite  without 
effect,  and  has  found  on  opening  the  cartridge  that  the  cordite 
had  been  blackened  by  the  flame  of  the  exploding  cap  without 
being  ignited.     Miss-fires  in  sporting  or  military  rifles  are  at 
the  best  annoying,  and  at  the  worst  fatal  if  they  occur  at 
some  critical  moment  with  dangerous  game,  and  it  is  doubly 
necessary  to  be  sure  that   every  possibility  of  them  is  so 
far  as   may  be  removed.      The  target  marksman   regards 
such   things   with    more    equanimity,   but    even    he    must 
remember  that  a   bad   hang-fire  may  delay  ignition   long 
enough  for  the  rifle  to  have  been  brought  down  from   the 
shoulder,   and   possibly   to   be   pointing   in   some   less    safe 
direction  than  that  of  the  target  before  the  charge  is  exploded. 
It  is  a  great  test  of  steadiness  when  a  miss-fire  or  a  hang-fire 
unexpectedly  occurs,  and  men  are  sometimes  surprised  to  find 
that  they  give  a  bob  forward  after  pulling  the  trigger.     This 
perhaps  represents  the  attempt  to  meet  the  recoil  of  the  rifle 
by  moving  the  body.     If  the  aim  has  been  held  steadily  a 
hang-fire  will  often  produce  no  appreciable  effect  upon  the 
flight  of  the  bullet,  although  its  tendency  is  to  make  it  strike 
somewhat  low.     It  is  a  fair  cause  for  complaint  if  a  hang- 
fire  occurs  in  a  rifle  competition  in  which  the  firer  does  not 
provide  his  own  ammunition,  and  where  the  rifle  cannot  be 
blamed.     Fortunately  such   unpleasant  events   are  of   rare 
occurrence  with  well-made  cartridges,  and  it  is  no  doubt  a 
source  of  just  pride   to   those   responsible   for   making   the 
Service  cartridge  as  well  as  to  the  makers  and  viewers  of  the 
Service   rifle,  that  out  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  rounds 
fired,  those  which  give  any  reasonable  cause  of  complaint  may 
be  counted  upon  the  fingers  of  one  or  two  hands. 


369 


CHAPTER   XIV 

IMPOBTANCE  OF  TARGET  SHOOTING — SKILL  BEGETS  CONFIDENCE — INDI- 
VIDUAL SKILL  THE  BASIS  OF  GOOD  COLLECTIVE  FIRE— RAPIDITY 
IMPORTANT — RIFLE  RANGES — SCREENED  RANGES — THE  SWISS  SYSTEM — 
SKILL  A3  AN  ELEMENT  OF  SAFETY — SPACE  NECESSARY  BEHIND  THE 
BUTT — OFFICIAL  REQUIREMENTS  AS  TO  RANGES— UNDERGROUND 
RANGES — IRON  TARGETS  AND  METHODS  OF  MARKING  WITH  THEM — 
THE   RINGING  BULL'S-EYB 

Although  the  ultimate  object  of  all  rifle  practice  is  to  be 
able  to  make  effective  shooting  either  at  game  or  at  an 
enemy,  the  only  way  really  to  learn  the  mastery  of  rifles  is  to 
practise  constantly  with  them  under  much  easier  conditions. 
There  is  very  great  value  to  the  beginner  in  practising  at 
the  very  shortest  distances  with  the  very  weakest  rifle,  so 
long  as  it  is  accurate  enough  to  respond  well  to  his  aim  ;  and 
when  he  has  in  this  way  learnt  the  rudiments,  he  can  at 
once  make  very  respectable  practice  at  longer  ranges,  unless 
the  weather  be  very  diflBcult,  with  a  full-sized  weapon.  Why 
is  this?  Surely  because  he  has  acquired  familiarity  with 
the  handling  of  his  arm,  and  the  proper  drill  and  method 
of  its  use,  things  which,  learnt  on  the  smaller  scale,  are 
entirely  applicable  to  what  is  done  on  the  larger.  Similarly, 
skill  at  the  target,  although  it  is  the  fashion  in  some  quarters 
to  sneer  at  it  as  not  practical,  yet  is  eminently  so,  for  it  is 
at  the  target  only — that  is,  under  circumstances  which  test 
skill  by  removing  so  far  as  is  possible  the  element  of  chance, 
and  by  enabling  faults  of  judgment  or  of  aim  to  be  corrected 
as  the  shooting  proceeds — that,  the  useful  lessons  can  be 
given  upon  which  all  effectiveness  of  fire  really  depends.  It 
is  quite  impossible  that  any  man  should  make  good  practice 
in  the  field  at  marks  which  are  not  easy  to  see,  and  the 
distance  of  which  he  does  not  know,  unless  he  can  at  all 
events  shoot  accurately  at  known  distances  and  visible  marks. 
It  is  of  immense  advantage  to  him  if,  when  he  has  acquired 

B  n 


370  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

proficiency  in  target-shooting,  and  a  proper  measure  of  the 
confidence  which  proficiency  begets,  he  can  obtain  practice  at 
something  more  like  the  practical  marks  of  sport  and  of  war 
than  a  measured  range  will  afford.  Yet  to  expect  men  to  do 
any  good  work  at  all  at  unknown  distances,  and  at  moving 
objects,  perhaps  not  very  easy  to  discern,  when  they  have 
not  been  grounded  in  the  rudiments,  and  are  incapable  of 
performing  reasonably  well  with  their  weapons  when  no  such 
difficulties  are  presented,  is  much  the  same  as  to  expect  a 
difficult  piece  of  music  to  be  played  upon  the  piano  by  a 
performer  who  has  hardly  learnt  the  scales,  or  a  long  break 
at  billiards  to  be  made  by  a  learner  who  cannot  be  depended 
upon  to  make  the  easiest  of  cannons.  This  applies  equally 
both  to  sporting  and  to  military  shooting.  The  target  shot 
is  not  necessarily  incompetent  in  the  field.  On  this  point  we 
may  cite  an  account  of  Mr.  Gould's  shooting  given  by  Mr. 
Salem  Wilder  as  follows  : — 

'  In  regard  to  the  marksmanship  of  the  cow  boys,  when 
dismounted,  a  simple  incident  will  illustrate : 

*  Perhaps  ten  years  ap[o  Editor  Gould  took  a  trip  along 
the  frontier,  and  carried  his  Sharps  rifle  with  him.  He 
stopped  at  what  was  called  an  hotel  in  Dakota.  It  was  in  the 
winter,  and  many  cow  boys  were  there  at  that  time.  They 
told  stories  of  their  great  marksmanship,  and  as  Mr.  Gould 
did  not  pretend  that  he  could  match  their  shooting,  he  became, 
in  their  opinions,  simply  a  fashionable  marksman.  It  so 
hapi)ened  that  a  severe  snowstorm  came  and  covered  the 
gromid  some  two  or  more  feet  deep.  Before  long  provisions 
began  to  run  short  in  that  place,  but,  as  luck  would  have  it, 
a  considerable  number  of  antelope  wandered  into  that  vicinity. 
All  the  riflemen  were  on  the  alert ;  and  among  them  our 
rifleman  from  Boston. 

*  He  outshot  every  one  of  them,  killing  two  antelope  to  any 
other  hunter's  one— dropping  one  antelope  468  paces  from 
where  he  stood  when  he  fired.  This  at  once  made  him  the 
hero  there,  and  those  cow  boys  were  thoroughly  laughed  at 
for  allowing  themselves  to  be  so  badly  beaten  by  the  Boston 
fellow  who  they  supposed  could  not  shoot.' 

The  man  who  has  stag  fever  badly  in  Scotland,  or  who 


TARGET    PRACTICE    OF    USE    IN    THE    FIELD  371 

misses  the  best  chance  of  his  season  at  antelope  or  mountain 
sheep  in  wilder  lands  than  these,  is  the  man  who  has  no  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  his  weapon,  and  no  confidence  in  his  own 
ability  to  use  it  with  effect.  His  mind  has  never  been  painfully 
convinced  by  experience  that  unless  the  aim  is  right,  and  the 
reckoning  of  the  distance  right,  and  the  shot  fired  with  care, 
and  with  due  regard  to  conditions  of  weather,  the  work  of 
hours,  if  not  of  days,  will  inevitably  be  wasted.  The  great 
danger  in  war,  as  in  deer-stalking,  a  danger  far  greater  for 
the  novice  than  for  the  old  hand,  is  that  excitement  and 
flurry  may  lead  to  absence  of  self-control.  Large  or 
dangerous  game  has  often  been  missed  at  almost  incredibly 
close  quarters  by  men  who  ordinarily  are  good  shots,  but 
have  had  no  experience  of  such  exciting  circumstances.  The 
whistling  gf  the  shell  overhead,  the  thud  of  the  bullet  near 
at  hand,  in  war,  are  most  demoralising  to  those  to  whom  they 
are  a  novelty,  and  there  is  every  excuse  for  men  to  be  over- 
powered by  excitement.  Yet  these  are  the  very  times  at 
which  coolness  and  presence  of  mind  are  the  most  valuable 
qualities  a  man  can  have.  One  who  had  seen  a  great  part 
of  the  fighting  in  Natal  in  1899-1900,  wrote  home  after  some 
months  of  work  that  the  British  soldier  had  now  learnt  the 
tactics  of  war  as  practised  by  the  Boers  so  well,  that  he  was 
their  equal  in  all  respects  but  one,  that  when  he  came  "within 
shooting  distance  of  his  enemy,  he  had  not  the  necessary 
confidence  that  he  could  hit  his  enemy  before  his  enemy 
could  hit  him.  In  such  circumstances,  confidence  is  born  of 
nothing  else  but  skill  and  the  consciousness  of  it.  The  secret 
of  skill  and  confidence  is  that  the  shooter  should  be  intimately 
familiar  with  the  handling  and  the  use  of  his  rifle,  and  this 
he  can  only  become  by  constant  practice  at  targets,  both  easy 
and  difficult.  The  old-fashioned  Boer  became  an  expert,  it 
is  said,  because  as  a  boy  he  used  to  be  given  one  cartridge 
and  sent  out  to  kill  a  buck,  with  the  penalty  hanging  over 
him  of  a  thrashing  if  he  returned  home  empty-handed  with- 
out the  cartridge.  He  learnt  in  a  hard,  but  a  very  practical 
school.  It  is  the  backwoodsman,  or  the  hunter  in  wild 
countries,  whose  rifle  is  never  out  of  his  hands,  who  becomes 
practically  the  most  expert  of  shots,  in  addition  to  acquiring 


372  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

all  the  lore  of  the  wood,  the  veldt,  and  the  prairie,  and  all 
the  quickness  of  eye  which  the  dwellers  in  towns,  and  those 
whose  occupations  keep  them  largely  indoors,  may  never 
hope  to  emulate. 

In  default  of  such  constant  practice,  much  can  be  done  to 
make  good  shots  of  men  who  only  practise  occasionally  ;  and 
with  regard  especially  to  military  efficiency,  whatever  can  be 
done  should  be  done.  Lord  Wolseley  has  said  that  all  the 
object  of  drill  and  manoeuvre  is  only  to  bring  the  soldier  into 
the  position  in  which  he  can  use  his  rifle  with  effect,  and  that 
if  when  he  gets  there  he  cannot  use  it,  he  is  an  encumbrance 
to  the  army.  Lord  Boberts's  belief  in  the  primary  importance 
of  good  shooting  may  be  judged  from  the  pains  he  took  by 
example  and  in  every  other  way  to  encourage  target  matches 
and  practice  while  in  India,  and  the  interest  he  still  shows  in 
the  subject.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  change  of  conditions 
from  the  old  days,  when  the  arm  of  the  British  soldier  was  a 
weapon  quite  unworthy  of  skill,  has  been  too  slowly  under- 
stood. Rifle-shooting  is  still  called  *  musketry ' — of  all 
inappropriate  terms — in  the  army ;  we  still  equip  men  with 
clumsy  pouches  such  as  were  suitable  to  carry  muzzle-loading 
ammunition  ;  we  are  still  slow  to  recognise  that  there  is  any 
merit  for  military  purposes  in  a  high  degree  of  individual 
skill.  Yet  this  is  a  lesson  which  we  might  have  learnt,  if 
not  from  the  American  riflemen  or  the  Continental  Jagers 
more  than  100  years  ago,  at  least  from  the  Boers  in  the  last 
25  years.  We  have  learnt  the  practical  importance  of  con- 
centrated collective  fire,  but  it  is  hardly  sufficiently  realised  that 
the  concentration  of  collective  fire  depends  on  the  individual 
skill  of  the  individual  man,  and  that  the  effect  of  the  fire  of  a 
given  number  of  men  is  only  the  aggregate  of  that  of  the 
individuals  added  together.  The  writer  had  an  instructive 
experience  on  this  point  when  attending  a  course  of  instruction 
at  the  School  of  Musketry  at  Hythe  some  years  ago.  The 
class,  which  consisted  of  a  little  more  than  seventy  officers, 
was  divided  into  small  sections  of  five  or  six  each,  imder  the 
charge  of  a  sergeant-instructor.  There  was  one  squad,  two 
members  of  which  were  experienced  shots,  and  in  the  first  part 
of   the   shooting   done  in  connection   with   the ,  course,   the 


IMPORTANCE    OF    INDIVIDUAL    SKILL  373 

individual  practices,  they  were  quite  at  the  top,  while  the 
other  members  of  the  squad,  as  the  result  mainly  of  the 
teaching  they  had  received,  also  did  well.  The  instructing 
officer  expressed  himself  to  the  following  effect :  *  This  is  all 
very  well,  but  you  ^ill  see  when  you  come  to  sectional 
practices  that  it  will  be  different.  Our  experience  is  that  the 
shooting  made  in  volleys,  &c.,  by  third-class  shots  is  better 
than  that  made  by  men  who  are  good  shots.  We  always  find 
it  so.'  Whatever  doubt  such  a  statement  might  provoke,  it 
emanated  from  so  authoritative  a  source  that  one  could  not 
but  expect  the  event  to  show  some  justification  for  the 
opinion.  But  it  showed  none.  The  squad  which  had  done 
so  much  better  than  the  others  in  individual  shooting  was 
even  further  ahead  of  them  in  the  collective  practices,  a  proof 
of  the  rather  patent  fact  that,  when  men  have  been  properly 
taught,  individual  skill  is  most  valuable  in  sectional  shooting. 
It  is  likely  enough  that  if  half  a  dozen  men  who  are  good 
shots  in  their  own  way,  and  quite  unaccustomed  to  sub- 
ordinate themselves  in  shooting  to  the  command  of  another, 
are  made  to  fire  volleys — or  to  fire  at  all — when  smartness 
and  rapidity  are  important,  they  will  not  do  so  well  as 
inferior  shots  who  are  accustomed  to  these  conditions  ;  but 
their  failure  is  due  obviously,  not  to  the  fact  that  collective 
firing  brings  the  inferior  shots  to  a  liigher  level  of  skill,  but 
that  it  tends  to  level  down  the  skilled  individual  shot  who 
has  not  been  adequately  drilled  to  a  point  far  below  his  real 
capacity.  It  was  shown  clearly  enough  on  the  occasion  that 
has  just  been  spoken  of  that  the  individual  skill  of  the 
accomplished  shot  still  maintained  its  superiority  when  he 
had  had  the  necessary  additional  drill  and  training.  Yet, 
curiously  enough,  this  fallacy  about  the  comparative,  or 
rather,  the  actual  superiority  of  the  bad  shot  dies  very  hard, 
and  is  at  the  present  time  not  altogether  extinct.  It  is,  in 
its  way,  as  ridiculous  as  the  theory  of  ancient  gunnery,  that, 
owing  to  some  peculiar  attraction  of  water  a  gun  would  not 
carry  so  far  across  a  river  or  over  the  sea  as  over  dry  land. 

The  essence  of  collective  firing  is  to  throw  a  thick  shower 
of  lead  upon  some  group  or  line  of  the  enemy,  or  upon  some 
piece  of  ground  which  is  known  to  be  held  by  them,  even 


374  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

though,  as  has  been  so  constantly  the  case  in  Soath  Africa, 
they  cannot  be  seen.  It  is  quite  obvious  that  when  a  section  or 
a  line  of  men  is  firing  in  real  earnest  at  such  a  mark  the 
man  who  discharges  his  rifle  carelessly  in  the  direction  of 
the  enemy,  so  that  the  bullet  strikes  (as  in  field-firing  it 
may  often  enough  be  seen  to  strike)  a  long  way  short  of  his 
companions*  shots,  and  perhaps  no  great  distance  in  front 
of  the  firer,  is  merely  wasting  ammunition,  is  *  an  encam- 
brance  to  the  army,'  and  is,  in  fact,  about  as  effective  for 
fighting  purposes  as  if  he  were  a  Chinese  soldier  carrying  a 
shield  with  a  hideous  face  painted  upon  it  to  frighten  the 
enemy.  Further — and  let  this  appeal  to  the  British  mind — 
he  is  an  utterly  bad  investment  of  the  money  that  has  been 
expended  on  his  keep  and  his  training.  The  increased  cost 
of  a  really  sufficient  provision  of  ranges  and  ammunition  for 
the  soldier's  constant  practice  should  be  more  than  well 
repaid  by  his  increased  efficiency  and  improved  morale. 

Familiarity  with  the  handling  of  loaded  arms  is  the  only 
way  to  produce  a  feeling  of  security  among  those  carrying 
them.  The  present  writer  ventures  to  think  the  training  of 
our  auxiliary  forces,  with  which  he  is  most  familiar,  very 
inadequate  in  this  respect.  It  is  not  right  that  the  training 
of  any  part  of  His  Majesty's  army  should  be  such  as  to  make 
the  fear  of  an  accident  ^rom  the  handling  of  loaded  arms 
a  prominent  feeling  of  those  going  out  to  practise  company 
or  battalion  field-firing.  Very  different  was  the  shooting,  at 
the  end  of  their  training,  of  a  company  of  Swiss  recruits, 
whom  the  writer  saw  do  field-firing  at  the  end  of  a  day's 
route-march  a  few  months  ago.  As  the  men  came  near 
the  ground,  and  before  they  had  extended  for  attack  upon 
a  row  of  head-and-shoulders  targets  some  hundreds  of 
yards  away,  the  magazines  were  charged  and  rifles  loaded, 
and  the  safety-bolts  applied ;  these  loaded  rifles  were  then 
handled  in  close  order  exactly  as  if  they  had  been  empty. 
The  men  extended,  and  as  they  came  within  sight  of 
tlieir  objective  over  the  brow  of  the  hill,  first  stopped,  and 
then  advanced  in  deer-stalking  fashion  on  hands  and  knees, 
there  being  no  cover.  In  the  firing  itself  there  were  two 
notable  features,  one  was  that  hardly  a  shot  struck  materially 


SWISS    FIELD-FIRING  375 

short  of  the  line  of  targets,  and  that  the  vertical  concentration 
of  the  fire  was  excellent ;  the  other,  that  the  left  half -company, 
which  was  at  an  interval  of  only  20  or  30  yards  from  the 
right,  at  a  certain  stage  in  the  fight  doubled  forward  from 
about  800  yards  to  a  second  rise  of  ground  some  400  yards 
from  the  objective  without  increasing  its  interval,  and  took 
up  the  fire,  while  the  right  half-company  continued  a  cool 
and  well-aimed  fire  close  past  its  flank,  every  man  being  in 
full  view,  without  its  occurring  to  anybody  that  there  could 
he  any  danger.  Nor,  indeed,  was  there  any.  In  field-firing 
in  this  country,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows  it,  such  a  move- 
ment, though  tactically  quite  correct  on  the  ground  in 
question,  would  have  been  thought  far  too  dangerous  to  be 
attempted.  This  Swiss  company  consisted  of  a  quite  normal 
batch  of  recruits,  who  were  within  two  or  three  days  of  com- 
pleting their  first  training  of  forty-five  days.  For  them  drill 
and  manoeuvre  are  reduced  to  their  simplest  elements,  and  while 
no  attempt  is  made  to  give  the  polish  of  the  barrack-square, 
much  care  is  given  to  the  shooting.  The  chief  secret  of  the 
success  of  this  part  of  their  training  remains  to  be  stated  ; 
it  is  this,  that  practically  every  man  has  become  a  safe  and 
proficient  shot  by  learning  to  shoot  on  the  club  range  of  his 
village  before  he  is  old  enough  to  be  called  out  for  training. 

The  importance  of  target  practice  hardly  needs  to  be 
further  insisted  on,  and  there  are  signs  at  the  present  time 
that  it  has  been  driven  home  to  the  minds  of  the  country, 
both  military  and  civilian.  Many  a  man  who  was  a  stranger 
to  the  rifle  has  in  the  last  twelve  months  familiarised  himself 
with  its  use,  and  under  conditions  far  easier  than  those  of 
old  days.  The  troublesome  business  of  loading  every  shot 
separately  from  the  flask  and  the  bullet  pouch,  and  the 
weariness  of  the  long  mterval  between  the  shots  which  used 
to  be  necessary  for  all  the  elaborate  operations  of  loading, 
have  long  been  eliminated.  The  marksman  practising  alone 
can  fire  as  quickly  as  his  shots  can  be  marked,  nor  is  he  liable 
to  be  troubled  with  a  bruised  shoulder  after  a  few  rounds. 

One  point  of  the  soldier's  training,  which  is  recognised  as 
indispensable  in  the  case  of  the  sportsman,  has  hitherto  been 
too  much  neglected.     At  the  target  and  in  early  instruction. 


376  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    EIFLE 

deliberate  firing  is  excellent,  and,  where  circumstances  allow, 
no  amount  of  care  is  too  great  to  be  expended  in  making  a 
sure  shot ;  but  it  is  on  the  occasions  when  the  mark  is 
perhaps  a  man  in  quick  motion,  and  only  exposed  to  fire  for  a 
few  seconds,  that  the  man  who  can  only  shoot  slowly  becomes 
comparatively  useless.  In  hurried  shooting  accuracy  must  to 
some  extent  be  sacrificed,  although  a  good  shot,  who  is  not 
used  to  firing  quickly,  will  be  surprised  to  find  how  successful 
he  can  be  in  doing  so,  after  a  few  attempts.  There  is  no 
practice  more  valuable  than  that  of  firing  at  a  target  shown 
only  for  three  or  four  seconds  at'a  time,  and  the  main  part  of 
the  necessary  quickness  of  manipulation  can  be  acquired  at 
home  by  practising  with  dummy  cartridges.  A  new  form  of 
rapid  shooting  has  been  introduced  by  Lord  Roberts  in  the 
Commander-in-Chief's  Competition  at  Bisley.  It  consists  in 
crouching  behind  real  or  artificial  cover,  suddenly  raising  the 
head  and  body  high  enough  to  fire  a  rapid  shot  over  it,  and 
then  at  once  dropping  again  out  of  sight.  This  is  a  sound 
form  of  practice  in  its  essence,  but  to  be  of  any  value  it 
requires  that  the  soldier  should  first  have  been  trained  to 
shoot  well  deliberately  and  then  rapidly  both  at  fixed  and 
disappearing  targets.  Banges  then,  so  far  as  circumstances 
allow,  should  be  such  as  to  give  accommodation  both  for 
practice  at  fixed  targets  at  all  distances,  and  at  moving  and 
disappearing  targets  at  short  distances. 

Under  the  heading  '  rifle  range  '  we  may  class  any  place 
arranged,  temporarily  or  otherwise,  so  that  a  rifle  may  be 
safely  fired  upon  it  at  a  mark.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  carry 
the  definition  further  than  this,  since  the  rifle  range  must  in- 
clude a  place  where  rifles  are  fired  at  12  or  20  yards,  for  the 
purpose  of  sighting  them,  as  much  as  one  for  testing  the 
accuracy  of  military  weapons  at  a  mile  or  more.  A  gun- 
maker's  range  may  be  under  cover  in  a  cellar,  or  it  may  be 
on  the  roof  of  his  factory.  Subterranean  ranges  of  short 
distance  have  been  made,  and  also  protected  short  ranges  in 
the  open  on  the  housetops — an  old  device  of  Birmingham 
gunmakers.  Where  shooting  is  required,  as  it  is  by  gun- 
makers,  in  the  midst  of  towns,  the  stop-butts  must  of  course 
be  of  artificial  construction ;  and,  unless  it  be  in  the  open  air, 


SAFETY    OF    RIFLE    RANGES  377 

various  diflScalties  of  lighting  the  range  and  of  covering  it  in 
at  the  sides  have  to  be  surmounted.  The  necessary  protection 
from  the  danger  of  a  wandering  bullet  must  be  proportionate  to 
the  power  of  the  rifle  employed.  Where  a  range  is  entirely 
enclosed,  so  that  no  bullet  can  possibly  get  out  of  it  by 
ricochet  or  otherwise,  it  need  be  no  longer  than  is  neces- 
sary to  give  the  distance  fired  at,  with  some  room  for  the 
targets  at  one  end,  and  for  the  firing  point  at  the  other.  In 
the  open  air  the  case  is  different.  The  very  long  distances 
covered  by  the  bullets  of  modem  rifles  when  fired  at  a  high 
elevation,  or  when  they  have  risen  after  grazing  tlje  ground, 
constitute  an  element  of  danger  which  requires  to  be  provided 
against  very  carefully.  Very  many  attempts  have  been 
made  to  meet  the  di£Sculty  by  interposing  a  screen,  or 
system  of  screens,  between  the  firing  point  and  the  target,  so 
that  the  mark  is  seen  from  the  firing  point  through  one  or 
more  openings  like  small  windows,  and  that  any  shot  fired  at 
all  wide  of  it  should  be  intercepted  by  a  screen  and  caught. 
Such  an  arrangement  sounds  as  if  it  were  extremely  easy  to 
make.  So  it  is,  in  a  great  degree,  if  planned  with  real  care 
and  full  knowledge.  Given  that  the  trajectory  of  the  rifle  is 
perfectly,  known,  that  the  firing  is  to  be  done  from  a  fixed 
distance,  that  only  a  single  person  is  to  fire  at  each  target  at 
a  time,  and  that  there  is  no  objection  to  the  view  of  the 
target  being  circumscribed  within  the  narrowest  possible 
limits,  it  is  not  diflScult  to  devise  an  arrangement  which  will 
prevent  any  direct  shot  from  reaching  as  far  as  the  target  unless 
it  strike  either  upon  it  or  close  to  it,  and  one  which  will 
provide  for  the  interception  of  shots  that  might  ricochet 
after  striking  the  ground  before  getting  to  the  target.  There 
is,  in  fact,  little  difliculty  in  stopping  ninety-nine  shots  out  of 
a  hundred,  but  it  is  at  this  point  that  the  real  crux  of  the 
problem  arises.  It  is  just  the  protection  against  those  few 
shots  that  may  graze  the  edge  of  an  opening  in  the  screen, 
and  so  take  an  erratic  course,  that  is  most  diflBcult  to  arrange. 
The  history  of  the  safety  range  at  Wormwood  Scrubbs  is  an 
interesting  example  of  this.  It  is  a  range  for  firing  at  a 
distance  of  200  yards.  It  was  planned  originally  before  the 
introduction  of  the  -303  by  skilful  engineer  oflBcers  upon  a 


378  THE   BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

scheme  similar  to  that  of  ranges  in  use  in  Belgium.  Screens 
intercepted  the  wider  shots,  and  banks  topped  with  a  soft 
substance  were  provided  for  the  ricochet.  The  difficulty  with 
a  ricochet  bank,  as  with  a  screen,  arises  from  the  few  shots 
that  may  graze  the  top  of  it  and  fly  off  at  an  angle.  It  had 
been  found  in  Belgium  that  if  some  easily  penetrable  material, 
such  as  spent  bark  from  a  tannery,  were  laid  on  the  top  of 
the  bank,  it  prevented  the  bullets  from  flying  off  at  an  angle. 
This  arrangement  was  adopted,  but  it  was  found  as  soon  as 
the  firing  began  that  the  Martini-Henry  bullet,  because  it 
had  a  higher  velocity  than  the  Belgian  bullet,  had  more 
determination  to  ricochet,  and  that  the  tops  of  the  banks 
became  a  source  of  danger.  The  openings  in  the  screens  were 
narrowed  and  sloped  like  a  funnel,  so  as  to  lead  the  bullets 
into  the  next  screen ;  and  by  such  modifications  the  range 
was  made  safe  for  the  Martini-Henry  rifle.  The  introduction 
of  the  -308,  with  its  flatter  trajectory,  higher  velocity,  and 
harder  bullet,  brought  conditions  more  difficult  to  meet,  but 
as  the  result  of  much  experience  the  range  at  Wormwood 
Scrubbs  now  seems  really  to  be  proof  against  the  escape  of 
bullets.  To  make  such  a  range  costs  much  money,  and  even 
then  its  utility  is  very  limited,  nor  can  there  ever  be  a  feeling 
of  perfect  certainty  that  it  is  impossible  for  a  bullet  to  escape. 
Mr.  Morris,  the  inventor  of  the  Morris  tube,  some  years  ago 
devoted  much  attention  to  designing  safety  ranges,  and  to  a 
large  extent  solved  the  prol)lem,  introducing  an  arrangement 
known  as  a  ricochet  chamber  to  catch  any  shots  which 
might  glance  off  the  edges  of  the  openings  in  the  screens. 
One  of  the  difficulties  about  the  screened  range  is  that  the 
safety  of  it  depends  upon  the  rifle  being  always  fired  from 
the  same  point.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  make  arrange- 
ments whereby,  whether  the  shooter  is  firing  standing, 
kneeling,  or  lying  down,  his  rifle  should  always  be  at  the 
same  height  from  the  ground,  so  that  the  course  of  the  shot 
bears  the  same  relation  to  the  intercepting  screens  and 
appliances.  At  Wormwood  Scrubbs  this  is  accomplished  by 
having  the  firing  point  arranged  in  stages,  one  behind  the 
other,  so  that  the  rifleman,  in  whatever  position,  can  find 
some  part  of  the  firing  point  which  will  bring  his  weapon  to 


SCREENED    RANGES  379 

the  proper  level.  Another  drawback  is  that  the  expense  of 
making  such  a  range,  fitted  with  screens  carrying  iron  or 
steel  plates,  raised  upon  timber  framing,  from  brick  founda* 
lions,  with  the  cost  of  making  the  firing  points  in  stages,  &c., 
amounts  to  a  large  sum.  Screened  rifie  ranges  in  the  midst 
of  populous  places  do  not  exist  in  Switzerland.  There  are 
aaid  to  be  some'  at  St.  Petersburg.  At  Liege  there  is  one, 
and  it  is  proposed  to  try  some  on  similar  principles  in  this 
country,  as  the  system  is  less  costly  than  that  of  Wormwood 
Scrubbs.  The  protection  is  given  by  a  succession  of  J -inch 
steel  plates,  2  or  3  feet  square,  on  each  side  of  the  line  of  tire 
just  in  front  of  the  firing  point.  These  are  set  to  slope 
inwards,  so  that  any  bullet  striking  on  one  side  is  deflected 
towards  the  other.  Beyond  them  is  a  continuous  tube  or 
chamber  of  steel  long  enough  to  account  for  any  bullet 
deflected  from  the  steel  plate.  Another  embrasured  passage 
on  similar  principles  leads  from  an  opening  in  a  screen  a 
short  distance  further  forward.  Shots  passing  through  this, 
if  they  do  not  hit  the  target  or  butt,  can  only  strike  so  close 
that  the  ricochet  is  caught.  Ricochet  banks  may  be  intro- 
duced. A  great  safeguard  against  ricochets  is  that  the  soil 
should  be  quite  loose  and  free  from  stones.  There  are  a  fair 
number  of  partially  screened  ranges  in  Switzerland,  but  the 
background  behind  the  target  is  almost  invariably  such  as 
to  solve  in  a  great  measure  the  question  of  safety.  Both 
mountains  and  tracts  of  forest  are  so  common  in  that  country 
that  the  ranges  do  not  depend  on  the  screens  for  safety ; 
nor  do  they,  even  where  the  background  is  less  favourable. 
There  is  a  range  at  Lucerne  which  has  existed  for  a  good 
many  years.  It  is  300  metres  long,  and  has  twenty-five 
targets  ranged  against  an  artificial  butt.  There  are  three 
screens  which  would  intercept  bullets  accidentally  discharged 
too  high ;  these  screens  consist  of  what  is  as  good  a 
material  as  any,  a  layer  of  shingle  between  two  sheets  of 
timber.  There  is  nothing  whatever  to  prevent  a  ricochet 
from  a  shot  accidentally  fired  low  passing  over  the  butt. 
The  firing  point,  as  in  so  many  of  the  Swiss  ranges,  is  a 
closed  gallery,  a  separate  stall  being  partitioned  off  opposite 
each  target.     Such  a  range  would  never  be  passed  as  safe  in 


380  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

this  country,  in  spite  of  its  screens,  unless  it  had  a  clear 
2,000  yards,  at  all  events,  behind  the  butt  in  the  line  of  fire. 
Yet,  since  the  range  was  set  up,  a  couple  of  houses  have  been 
built  on  slightly  rising  ground  in  the  direct  line  of  fire,  within 
about  half  a  mile  of  the  butt.  It  appears  that  no  complaint 
is  ever  received,  and  no  question  of  danger  arises  from  these. 
Nor  is  this  all,  for  a  footpath  crosses  the  line  of  the  range 
close  behind  the  butt,  and  is  a  good  deal  used.  In  this 
country  we  should  have  a  look-out  man  with  a  flag  at  one 
side,  if  not  both  sides,  of  the  range,  and  he  would  signal  when 
anyone  passed  on  the  footpath  so  that  the  firing  might  be 
stopped.'  No  such  provision  is  thought  necessary  at  Lucerne, 
and  the  wayfarers  stroll  across  past  the  rear  of  the  butt  with 
the  greatest  possible  indifference  to  the  firing.  Yet  it  seems 
that  there  has  never  been  an  accident  upon  this  range,  and 
no  one  thinks  of  suggesting  that  it  should  be  closed.  It  is 
likely,  however,  that  before  very  long  the.  people  of  Lucerne 
will  have  to  find  a  fresh  shooting  ground,  since  the  military 
authorities  do  not  care  to  run  even  such  risks  as  are  here 
apparent.  In  this  country  a  range  situated  like  that  at 
Lucerne,  with  the  line  of  fire  crossing  not  only  the  footpath 
and  houses,  but  woods,  which  in  spring  and  in  summer  are  the 
resort  of  many  of  the  inhabitants  on  a  Sunday  (and  Sunday 
afternoon  is  the  chief  time  for  shooting),  would  not  be 
tolerated  for  a  week.  What,  then,  are  the  elements  of  safety 
which  exist  in  Switzerland,  and  are  absent  in  England? 
There  is  at  all  events  one  very  positive  one.  In  this  country 
a  range  is  not  considered  to  be  safe  except  when  a  rifle 
discharged  anywhere  at  all  in  the  general  direction  of  the 
target  cannot  be  a  source  of  danger  to  anybody.  That  this 
is  really  the  kind  of  standard  of  safety  which  has  always 
prevailed  is  proved  by  the  singularly  unwise  custom  in  the 
training  of  the  soldier,  that  in  firing  a  course  at  different  dis- 
tances he  has  been  allowed  to  go  back  to  a  longer  range,  when 
he  has  perhaps  missed  almost  or  quite  every  shot  at  a  shorter 
one.  It  used  to  be  officially  considered  that  '  practice '  must 
be  valuable  to  him,  even  when  in  discharging  his  rifle  he 
produced  no  effect  at  all  beyond  endangering  the  life  of  some 
quadruped  or  biped  in  the  remote  distance.    Such  a  view  needs 


RIFLE    RANGES    IN    SWITZERLAND  381 

only  to  be  stated  to  stand  condemned.  How  can  any  range 
be  safe  when  used  in  such  a  way  ?  If  a  man  cannot  hit  the 
target  at  200  yards,  he  should  be  taken  to  100  yards  and  kept 
there  until  he  can  perform  respectably.  If  he  cannot  hit  it  at 
100  yards,  he  should  be  taken  to  50.  Nor  should  the  beginner 
shoot  except  under  good  conditions  of  weather.  In  Switzerland 
every  man  and  every  boy,  even  if  he  does  not  in  some  degree 
inherit  an  aptitude  for  the  rifle,  at  all  events  considers  it  a 
disgrace  not  to  be  able  to  use  it.  The  young  shot  does  not 
go  to  the  target  until  some  friend  has  carefully  instructed 
him  in  the  rudiments  of  shooting.  He  has  perhaps  learned 
the  elements  of  shooting  and  graduated  as  a  member  of  a 
cadet  corps,  or  has  been  carefully  taught  to  aim  and  shoot 
steadily  with  a  crossbow.  From  this  it  is  an  easy  step  to 
learn  how  to  hold  and  manipulate  his  rifle  safely.  If,  when 
he  gets  to  the  range,  his  shots  fly  at  all  wildly,  his  practice  is 
quickly  stopped,  and  he  must  master  his  weapon  better, 
whether  at  home,  or  at  some  shorter  distance,  before  he  again 
tries  his  fortune  with  other  competitors.  The  public  opinion 
of  men  and  women  alike  is  brought  to  bear  upon  him,  for 
the  man  who  cannot  shoot  is  thought  to  be  the  worst  kind  of 
duffer ;  it  is  constantly  directed,  as  we  wish  it  were  in  this 
country,  not  to  the  obstruction  of  shooting,  but  to  its  en- 
couragement. Every  town  or  parish  authority  has  the 
responsibility  of  providing  a  range  or  shooting  ground,  on 
which  targets  are  set  up  when  needed,  and  has  to  bear  the 
cost  of  any  damage  done  to  crops  or  timber  by  the  use  of  it. 
It  is  realised  there,  where  the  frontier  is  some  artificial  line 
offering  few  or  no  obstacles,  watched  by  military  forces  on  both 
sides,  and  whence  invasion  might  conceivably  come  at  any 
time,  with  or  without  twenty-four  hours*  notice,  that  to  serve, 
and  to  serve  efficiently,  in  the  ranks  of  national  defence  is  the 
first  duty  of  every  young  man.  The  shirkers,  if  there  be  any, 
do  not  carry  public  opinion  with  them.  It  is  understood,  too, 
that  rifle  practice  is  an  absolute  necessity,  and  the  man  who 
attempts  to  obstruct  it,  or  to  interfere  with  it  from  selfish 
motives,  declares  himself  a  public  enemy.  There  is  no 
closing  of  ranges  from  the  exaggerated  fears  of  some 
imaginative  landlord,  or  of  some  owner  or  occupier  who  puts 


3»2  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    RIFLE 

''tiin  tiret  and  coontrr  afterwards.  As  the  necessitv  of 
constant  and  universal  shooting  is  recognised,  there  is  no 
exaggeration  of  its  dangers,  which  are  indeed  small  enough. 
In  this  country  it  does  not  seem  as  if  the  range  difficulty,  so 
far  as  military  training  is  concerned,  could  ever  be  Imallv 
solved  until  some  sort  of  efficient  compulsory  procedure  can 
\)e  brought  to  bear  when  necessary  for  the  acquisition  of  land, 
and  of  the  right  to  fire  over  it. 

In  constructing  a  range  for  military  purposes  it  is  usually 
considered  necessary  to  have  a  clear  space  of  2,000  to 
8,000  yards  behind  the  target,  and  to  leave  a  margin  on  each 
side  of  the  direct  line  of  fire.  It  is  of  little  use,  however,  to  pro- 
vide against  accidents  which  may  hapi)en  from  the  rifle  being 
accidentally  discharged  when  pointed  at  an  angle  of  SO"*  or  40" 
upwards.  It  is  quite  as  likely  to  be  discharged  accidentally 
when  pointed  the  same  amount  to  one  side  or  the  other  of 
the  proi)er  line.  In*  this  resi)ect  no  range  can  be  made 
absolutely  safe.  All  that  can  fairly  be  asked  is  that  shots 
which  may  accidentally  pass  over  the  top  of  the  butt,  or 
which  may  strike  the  ground  short  of  the  target,  and  ricochet 
onwards,  should  be  provided  against.  It  is  probable  that  no 
ricochet  shot  will  travel  much  more  than  2,000  yards  in  all 
from  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle.  It  is  of  no  use  to  attempt  to  apply 
indiscriminately  any  rule  as  to  the  distance  necessary  behind 
the  butt.  A  range  situated  so  that  the  targets  are  backed 
by  a  steep  hill  of  chalk  or  other  formation  will  require 
very  little  distance  behind  the  targets  to  make  it  safe,  pro- 
vided always  that  the  shooting  is  reasonably  careful,  and  it 
should  never  be  otherwise.  The  writer  remembers  a  painful 
sight,  not  uncommon  in  his  early  volunteer  days,  at  the  prize 
meeting  of  an  isolated  company  in  the  country.  The  men  fired 
at  200,  500,  and  600  yards.  Practically  every  man  in  the 
company  fired  whether  he  was  a  good,  indifferent,  or  bad  shot. 
There  were  some  few  men  who  at  500  yards  did  not  hit  the 
target  at  all,  yet  these  men  solemnly  lay  down  and  fired 
seven  shots  at  600  yards,  with  an  equally  clean  result.  The 
proceeding  sounds  foolish  enough,  but  it  was  a  natural 
corollary  of  an  official  arrangement,  now  fortunately  long 
ceased,   and    lamented    by    nobody,   which    provided  that  a 


THE    BUTT  383 

Volunteer  who  in  the  course  of  the  year  discharged  upon  a 
rifle  range  sixty  rounds  of  ball  ammunition  in  any  direction, 
into  earth,  air,  or  water,  or  it  might  be  by  some  accident  the 
target,  was  thereby  constituted,  so  far  as  musketry  was  con- 
cerned, an  *  efficient  volunteer.'  It  cannot  be  too  clearly 
understood  that  the  safety  of  a  range  depends  mainly  on  the 
skill  of  the  firer.  On  Sir  Henry  Halford's  range  at  Wistow, 
which  dips  slightly  between  the  long  ranges  and  the  target, 
the  haymakers  have  been  known  to  continue  working  in  the 
direct  line  of  fire  while  he  was  shooting  at  1,000  yards,  and 
to  refuse  to  move  to  another  part  of  the  field.  Why  should 
they,  when  nearly  every  shot  roused  the  echoes  with  the 
clang  of  the  ringing  bull's-eye?  The  bullets  were  passing 
many  feet  above  their  heads,  and  there  was  no  real  danger. 

We  have  wandered  somewhat  from  the  actual  question  of 
the  construction  of  ranges.  It  is  well  that  so  far  as  possible 
the  ground  should  be  such  that  the  targets  can  be  seen 
from  any  point  in  it.  This  will  save  great  expense  in 
building  up  firing  points  at  certain  distance*  from  which  tv 
see  the  targets  over  intervening  ground ;  and  it  will  alno 
enable  the  range  to  be  effectively  used  at  all  distances,  known 
and  unknown,  for  field  practices.  The  butt  should  be  high 
enough  to  catch  all  shots  aimed  at  the  target  that  deviate 
from  it.  Even  where  there  is  a  hill-  close  in  rear  of  the 
butt,  it  is  often  necessary  to  scarp  it  away  or  to  make  some 
sort  of  erection  from  which  the  bullets  will  not  glance,  for 
unless  the  hillside  is  very  steep  a  shot  fired  from  below  it 
is  not  unlikely  to  glance  off  its  surface.  In  open  ground, 
where  the  butt  is  the  only  thing  that  will  intercept  the  bullet  for 
A  long  distance,  all  kinds  of  materials  have  been  used  to  make 
it.  Earth,  faggots,  sleepers,  brickwork,  a  double  screen  of 
timber  packed  with  shingle-one  or  other  of  these  is  usually 
the  chief  factor.  The  butt  should  be  as  high  as  it  can  con- 
veniently be  made,  and  give  a  fair  margin  on  each  side  of  the 
target ;  30  or  40  feet  is  not  too  high  for  a  butt  on  fiat  ground. 
The  danger  which  arises  from  ricochets  is  diminished  if  the 
butt  is  big  enough  to  stop  nearly  all  those  which  strike  near 
the  target.  We  are  here  speaking,  of  course,  of  a  butt  for 
ordinary  use  for  instruction  and  practice ;    a  target  used  only 


384  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

by  skilled  shots  does  not  require  nearly  so  large  a  butt  behind 
it.  One  great  element  of  safety  with  a  high  butt  should  never 
be  neglected.  The  deviation  of  shots  above  or  below  the 
target  is  on  the  whole  about  equal,  and  if  the  target  be  raised 
so  as  to  be  well  above  the  ground  level,  a  large  number  of 
shots  which  would  otherwise  strike  short  and  ricochet  will  find 
their  billet  in  the  upright  bank  below  the  target.  The  old 
iron  targets,  which  have  disappeared  so  much  in  late  years, 
themselves  stopped  the  bullets  which  struck  them,  and 
broke  them  up  into  fragments,  but  penetrable  targets  allow 
the  bullets  to  collect  in  the  bank,  if  there  be  a  bank  behind 
the  target.  On  the  Bisley  ranges  and  others  on  which  much 
shooting  is  done,  a  considerable  sum  is  obtained  every  year 
from  the  material  of  the  bullets  dug  out  from  behind  the 
targets ;  and  it  is  curious  to  see  how  the  surface  of  the  soil  is 
all  shot  away  behind  the  target,  and  especially  behind  the 
middle  of  it.  W)iere  a  wall  is  used  as  a  stop-butt  it  is  not 
uncommon  to  have  in  front  of  this  a  thickness  of  sand  packed 
behind  a  timber  framing,  in  which  the  shots  remain.  In 
Italy  we  have  seen  the  whole  surface  of  a  butt  packed  with  a 
layer  three  feet  deep  of  old  clothes  and  rags,  containing  one 
might  well  wonder  what  abominations  of  dirt  and  infection, 
which  served  to  protect  the  wall  and  to  catch  the  bullets.  The 
best  background  of  all  for  a  range,  if  a  steep  hill  is  not  to  be 
had,  is  water — water,  if  possible,  on  which  there  is  no  boat 
traflSc.  The  sea  is  an  excellent  background,  but  a  look-out 
requires  to  be  kept  for  boats.  Mr.  Metford  used  to  improvise 
a  range  for  shooting  rifles  at  2,000  yards,  and  even  3,000 
yards,  by  firing  in  calm  weather  at  some  rock  projecting  out 
of  the  water  on  a  rocky  unfrequented  coast,  in  Devonshire 
or  elsewhere,  and  watching  the  splash  of  the  bullet  in  the 
water  with  a  powerful  telescope.  It  is  not  suggested  that 
this  proceeding  is  suitable  for  general  adoption.  It  has  been 
maintained  with  much  reason  that  the  large  reservoirs  of 
water  companies  might  be  worked  in  this  way  into  a  scheme  of 
ranges,  being  utilised  to  afford  space  behind  the  target.  For 
short  distance  practice,  that  is,  for  sporting  rifles  or  miniature 
rifles,  there  is  nothing  better  than  a  disused  quarry  or  chalk- 
pit, such  as  may  be  found  in  many  parts  of  the  country. 


REQUIREMENTS    OF    RANGES  385 

The  following  extract  from  the  official  Musketry  Regula- 
tions of  1898  shows  the  various  requirements  which  have 
to  be  met  in  laying  out  a  military  range : 

'  In  selecting  a  site,  it  is  most  important  that  the  range 
be  as  near  barracks  as  possible,  and  that  the  ground  behind 
the  targets  should  be  thoroughly  commanded  from  certain 
points  sufficiently  clear  of  the  line  of  fire  to  ensure  safety  to 
the  look-out  men,  in  order  that  the  firing  may  be  easily 
stopped  when  necessary :  a  range  down-hill  is  generally  to 
be  preferred  to  one  up-hill,  as  being  more  easily  commanded. 
It  is  essential  to  secure  the  right  to  fire  over  the  ground 
beyond  the  targets  to  the  extent  required,  if  it  be  not  desirable 
to  purchase  it. 

*When  the  site  is  level,  the  length  of  ground  behind 
the  targets  should  be  not  less  than  2,000  yards  ;  less  distance, 
however,  will  be  sufficient  if  a  steep  hill  rises  in  rear  of  the 
targets  ;  no  hard  and  fast  rule  as  to  the  distance  required 
behind  the  targets  where  the  ground  is  not  level  can  be  laid 
down:  each  case  must  be  considered  on  its  merits.  The 
margin  on  either  flank  should  gradually  increase  from 
100  yards  at  the  stop-butts,  to  250  yards  at  1,000  yards  in 
rear,  when  the  ranges  are  parallel ;  but  when  the  ranges 
converge  towards  the  targets,  the  breadth  required  as  allow- 
ance for  the  divergence  of  shots  must  vary  according  to  the 
degree  to  which  the  ranges  are  made  to  converge. 

*  The  height  of  the  stop-butt  must  vary  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  background  :  under  ordinary  circumstances  it 
need  not  be  more  than  14  feet  high  ;  when  firing  seaward, 
2  feet  above  the  top  of  the  target  will  be  sufficient  so  as  to 
form  a  background  to  the  target.  If  on  a  plain,  and  the 
distance  behind  the  target  is  not  more  than  2,000  yards, 
40  feet  will  be  necessary.  Care  should  be  taken  that  the  butt 
projects  at  least  18  feet  beyond  the  outside  edges  of  the  flank 
targets.  The  distance  of  the  butt  from  the  canvas  targets 
depends  very  much  upon  the  nature  of  the  material  used  for 
the  butt ;  it  should  not  be  less  than  50  feet ;  and  100  feet  is 
much  better. 

'  In  some  cases  the  targets  can  be  so  placed  that  the  nature 
of  the  ground  immediately  in  rear  of  them  will  render  the 

c  c 


386  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

construction  of  a  stop-butt  unnecessary ;  in  which  case,  to  be 
of  use  in  stopping  bullets,  and  thereby  ensuring  the  safety 
of  the  public,  the  ground  immediately  in  rear  should  rise  at 
an  angle  of  at  least  45^ ;  if  at  a  smaller  angle  it  should  be 
scarped ;  if  this  is  not  done  it  would,  instead  of  acting  as  a 
stop-butt,  increase  the  chance  of  ricochets,  and  therefore  be 
unsafe.' 

The  following  is  extracted  from  the  Official  Manual  issued 
in  August  1901 :  '  For  penetrable  targets,  whatever  apparatus 
or  pattern  of  frame  for  holding  the  targets  is  to  be  adopted, 
the  requirements  of  the  gallery  for  markers'  butts  are 
practically  the  same,  the  conditions  to  be  fulfilled  being — 

'  (a)  Height  not  less  than  6  feet  6  inches  ; 

'  (b)  Ample  protection  to  secure  safety  to  markers ; 

'  (c)  To  facilitate  marking,  the  markers  should  be  able  to 
see  the  strike  of  the  bullets  on  the  stop-butt ; 

'  (d)  The  roof  of  the  gallery  should  slope  slightly  towards 
the  target  so  as  to  avoid,  so  far  as  possible,  ricochets  from 
the  roof  on  to  the  target.  A  layer  of  earth,  free  from  stones, 
sand,  or  tan,  lessens  the  chance  of  ricochets. 

*  (e)  .The  bottom  of  the  target  should  be  6  inches  clear 
above  the  roof  of  the  gallery,  so  that  it  may  be  clearly  seen 
from  all  firing  points.' 

The  protection  of  the  gallery  from  direct  fire  should  be 
arranged  with  reference  to  the  power  of  penetration  of  the 
bullets,  coupled  with  the  diminution  of  resistance  of  sods, 
earth,  sand,  «&c.,  when  their  thickness  has  been  diminished 
by  weathering,  and  with  the  increased  penetrative  effect  of 
fire  concentrated  on  a  particular  spot.  A  protected  store  or 
shed,  in  which  to  make  and  keep  targets,  should  be  provided 
on  every  full-sized  range  where  firing  is  constant ;  it  is  in 
some  eases  desirable  that  the  store  and  the  workshop  should 
be  separate  buildings.  WTiere,  as  at  Bisley,  the  butts  are 
on  a  large  scale,  it  is  worth  while  to  have  a  small  tram-line 
running  close  in  rear  of  the  target  frames.  By  this  means 
targets  can  be  conveyed  from  and  to  a  central  store  with  the 
minimum  of  labour. 

The  firing  points  at  Bisley  are  as  level  as  the  ground 
will  (lermit,  and  are  so  arranged  that  the  target  is  visiUe 


UNDERGROUND    RANGES  387 

from  them  when  the  competitor  is  lying  very  low  upon  the 
ground.  On  'this,  as  on  other  ranges,  it  requires  some 
vigilance  in  the  summer  to  see  that  long  grass  or  some 
growth  of  furze  or  ferns,  &c.,  does  pot  by  degrees  create  a 
diflSculty. 

Underground  ranges  of  different  lengths  and  kinds  have 
before  now  been  constructed  to  endeavour  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  range  accommodation  in  large  towns.  One 
was  made  for  a  London  corps  some  twelve  years  ago,  and 
has  no  doubt  been  useful  for  the  purpose  of  instruction. 
Underground  ranges  have  also  been  tried  in  America.  They 
are,  however,  very  expensive  to  make,  except  where  the 
excavation  already  exists.  An  important  matter  is  the 
ventilation  necessary  to  carry  off  the  smoke  and  gases  arising 
from  the  shooting.  If  a  proper  chamber  for  the  purpose, 
partly  shut  off,  be  made  close  in  front  of  the  firing-point,  an 
electric  fan  or  other  ventilating  contrivance  will  do  what  is 
required,  and  keep  up  a  supply  of  fresh  air.  The  illumina- 
tion is  also  a  difficulty.  It  is  well  known  that  the  iris  of  the 
eye  expands  with  a  decrease  of  light,  and  when  shooting  in 
artificial  light  the  sights  are  less  well  defined  than  by  dayr 
light ;  while  if  an  orthoptic  be  used  the  diminution  of  light 
becomes  almost  too  great.  The  ideal  underground  range 
would  be  such  as  might  be  afforded  by  tunnels  at  no  great 
depth  in  the  earth,  with  daylight  admitted  at  both  ends. 
There  are  sections  of  the  Underground  Railway  in  London 
which  may  be  taken  as  illustrating  these  conditions,  but  the 
expense  of  construction  would  be  quite  prohibitive. 

Every  possible  variety  of  system  has  been  made  use  of  as 
regards  target  arrangements.  Iron  targets  were  used  almost 
exclusively  after  the  revival  of  rifle  shooting  in  1859-60  in 
this  country.  But  they  have  gradually  been  superseded  by 
the  foreign  system  of  penetrable  targets.  This  process  has 
been  much  assisted  during  the  last  few  years,  because  the 
new  rifles  proved  too  much  for  the  old  targets.  At  anything 
like  short  distances,  the  high  penetrative  power  of  the  very 
hard  modern  bullets  punishes  iron,  and  even  steel,  targets 
most  severely.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  splash  back  of  the 
fragments  of  such  bullets  after  breaking  up  upon  the  target  is 

c  c  2 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

much  more  erratic,  and  is  found  to  be  much  more  dangerous 
than  with  the  old  bullets.  The  iron  or  steel  target  was 
usually  made  in  plates  6  feet  high  by  2  feet  wide,  which, 
resting  on  a  baulk  of  timber  as  a  foundation,  could  be  raised 
or  lowered  alongside  each  other  so  as  to  form  a  target  of  any 
desired  size,  from  6  feet  by  4  feet  to  6  feet  by  12  feet.  They 
were  usually  supported  by  heavy  bars  of  iron  hinged  upSn 
them  at  one  end,  and  at  the  other  end  thrust  into  the 
ground,  and  much  labour  was  necessary  in  increasing  or 
diminishing  the  size  of  the  targets  for  use  at  different 
distances.  Larger  targets,  such  as  exist  upon  a  few  private 
ranges,  12  feet  by  10  feet,  or  12  feet  by  12  feet,  are  supported 
either  in  the  same  way,  or  upon  a  wall  of  brick,  or  of  timber, 
to  which  the  plates  are  bolted.  With  iron  targets  the  mark- 
ing was  at  first  done  entirely  in  what  always  remained  the 
orthodox  military,  and,  it  may  be  added,  inevitably  inaccurate 
fashion,  by  means  of  a  dummy  target  of  canvas  or  wood, 
erected  upon  poles  above  the  marker's  shelter,  which  ivas 
usually  20  to  30  yards  from  the  real  target,  and  well  in  front 
of  it.  In  this  shelter  the  marker,  though  he  had  a  full  view 
of  the  target,  was  too  far  off  to  be  injured  by  the  splashes  of 
lead.  He  could  see  every  shot  as  it  struck  the  target, 
and  was  in  theory  able  to  mark  each  one  of  a  succession  of 
shots  by  means  of  discs  representing  different  values  upon 
the  dummy  target  above  his  head.  If  the  shot  struck  the 
buirs-eye,  he  would  show  a  white  disc  upon  that  part  of  the 
black  bull's-eye  of  the  dummy  which  corresponded  to  the 
part  actually  struck.  If  the  shot  was  a  centre,  he  would 
mark  it  with  a  black  disc ;  and  if  it  were  an  outer,  he  would 
mark  it  also  with  a  black  disc,  but  in  this  Cj^se  would  wave 
the  disc  wildly  to  one  side  before  placing  it  upon  the  dummy. 
A  red  disc  was  sometimes  used  to  signal  the  inner.  Such 
a  method  was  very  rough  and  ready,  but  it  was  very  easy 
to  make  mistakes,  especially  if  the  marker  was  trying  to 
be  smart,  and  the  indication  of  the  whereabouts  of  the  shot 
given  by  the  dummy  could  hardly  be  an  accurate  one. 
There  was  very  likely  to  be  confusion  when  two  or  three 
shots  struck,  as  sometimes  they  were  bound  to  do,  almost 
exactly  in  the  same  place.     After  twenty  or  thirty  shots  it 


MARKING    METHODS  389 

was  necessary  to  cease  firing,  in  order  that  the  target  might 
be  repainted,  and  many  accidents  have  happened  from  the 
marker  having  to  expose  himself  for  this  purpose.  The  pro- 
cess of  washing  out  produced  a  smudgy  appearance,  as  the 
shooting  had  to  be  continued  before  the  paint  was  dry ;  white- 
wash, when  still  wet,  has  a  very  dirty  appearance,  nor  is  it 
easy  to  discern  shots  on  it.  If  rain  came  on,  the  target  was 
apt  to  be  entirely  smudged,  and  the  black  of  the  bull's-eye  to 
trickle  across  the  white.  If  the  downfall  were  at  all  heavy, 
parts  of  the  iron  would  be  washed  almost  clean,  so  that  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  discern  the  shots.  The  system  of 
marking  on  an  overhead  dummy  at  a  distance  was  so  un- 
satisfactory that  other  means  were  soon  devised.  One  which 
worked  very  well,  but  had  a  slight  liability  to  danger,  was 
that  of  having  a  mantlet  quite  close  to  the  target  with  an 
iron  frame  to  it  to  protect  the  marker  from  splashes,  and  a 
small  window  of  very  thick  glass  through  which  he  could 
watch  the  target.  There  was  also  a  slit  cut  in  the  side  of 
the  mantlet,  which  enabled  him  to  thrust  out  a  pole  with 
the  marking-disc  on  the  end  of  it,  and  with  a  brush  attached 
to  the  .middle  of  the  disc  to  paint  out  each  shot  as  he  marked 
it.  The  disc,  being  black  on  one  side  and  white  on  the  other, 
had  a  socket  on  each  side  in  its  centre,  into  which  the 
brushes  were  fitted,  so  that  when  the  white  side  of  the  disc 
was  turned  towards  the  firing-point  to  mark  the  bull's-eye, 
the  brush  projecting  against  the  face  of  the  target  was  that 
filled  with  black  paint,  and  vice  versa.  A  small  hinged  flap 
or  shutter,  closed  by  a  spring  or  weight,  was  usually  the 
means  adopted  to  protect  the  marker  from  splashes  which 
might  enter  by  the  opening  in  the  side  of  the  mantlet. 
Splinters  of  lead  used  occasionally  to  find  their  way  into  the 
mantlet  under  such  arrangements,  and  a  shower  of  rain 
might  obscure  the  marker's  view  of  the  target  through  his 
little  window,  but,  on  the  whole,  the  system  worked  fairly 
well ;  and  it  had  this  immense  advantage,  as  compared  with 
the  marking  of  the  shots  upon  a  dummy,  that  each  shot  was 
painted  out  as  it  was  marked,  and  consequently  mistakes  in 
marking  were  likely  to  be  very  much  fewer.  An  arrange- 
ment  on   a   similar    principle,  in   which    the   marking  was 


390  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

done  from  a  trench  below  the  target,  with  windows  in  its 
roof,  was  adopted  on  some  ranges. 

One  favourite  device  apon  ranges  fitted  with  iron  targets 
is  that  of  having  a  ringing  ball's-eye.  This  is  a  separate 
plate,  usually  of  steel,  of  the  precise  size  of  the  bull's-eye  for 
the  distance  in  use,  which  is  hung  on  the  face  of  the  target, 
and  projects  from  it  a  little  way.  Sometimes  it  is  suspended 
from  a  strip  of  iron  that  is  hooked  on  to  the  top  of  the 
target,  and  hangs  down  upon  its  face,  and  has  a  projection 
which  engages  in  a  hole  near  the  edge  of  the  bull's-eye; 
sometimes  the  bull's-eye  has  a  hole  in  its  centre,  through  which 
passes  a  bolt  which  secures  it  to  the  target.  In  either  case 
it  is  essential  that  the  bull's-eye  plate  should  hang  clear  of 
the  target,  so  that  when  struck  by  a  shot  its  vibration  may 
not  be  interfered  with.  It  is  eminently  satisfying  when  the 
report  of  the  shot  is  answered  immediately  by  a  loud  clang — 
a  sound,  if  the  bulFs-eye  is  well  hung,  almost  like  that  of  a 
church  bell.  The  shot  which  misses  the  bull's-eye  is  known 
by  the  smack  with  which  it  strikes  upon  the  iron,  or  by  the 
dull  thud,  or,  at  long  ranges,  the  absence  of  sound,  which 
denotes  its  striking  earth.  The  ringing  bull's-eye  is  a  great 
help  to  the  marker,  but  it  will  sometimes  make  a  shot 
difficult  for  him  to  see,  if  it  strike  on  the  face  of  the  target 
close  to  the  edge  of  the  bull's-eye  on  the  side  furthest  from 
him,  or  just  over  the  top,  so  that  the  projecting  plate  intercepts 
his  view.  A  curious  effect,  which  comes  out  after  some 
years'  use  of  a  ringing  bull's-eye,  may  also  be  noticed  on  the 
larger  plates  of  metal  targets :  the  bull's-eye  gradually 
assumes  a  convex  form,  that  is,  its  surface  becomes  slightly 
curved,  and  its  edges  thrust  back  from  the  level  of  its  centre. 
This  is  the  effect  of  the  hammering  it  receives  from  many 
bullets,  each  one  slightly  stretching  what  may  be  considered 
as  the  skin  of  the  steel  plate  just  at  the  point  at  which  it 
liitB  it.  The  aggregate  effect  of  this  is  that  the  side  on 
which  the  bullets  fall  becomes  a  little  larger  than  the' other, 
and  consequently  the  plate  is  bowed  outwards. 


391 


CHAPTER   XV 

PENETRABLE  TARGETS  NOW  USED — THEIR  ENDURANCE — WINDMILL  AND 
JEFFRIES  TARGETS — METHOD  OF  MARKING — FOREIGN  RANGE  EQUIP- 
MENTS DESCRIBED — PRIMITIVE  SWISS  RANGES — SOME  TARGET  SYSTEMS 
— THE  TELEPHONE  AND  BELL— RANGES  FOR  PRIVATE  PRACTICE — 
MARKERS  AND  MARKING — FRAUDULENT  MARKING — CHINESE  MARKSMAN- 
SHIP 

With  the  bow  and  arrow,  penetrable  targets  were  naturally 
used,  and  in  the  early  days  of  rifle  practice  they  were  not 
uncommon.  They  were  free  from  the  danger  of  splashes  of 
lead  flying  off  them.  In  •  The  Rifle,  and  How  to  Use  it,'  1858, 
Hans  Busk  speaks  of  a  target  covered  with  white  cotton,  at 
that  time  issued  officially.  He  says  :  '  Nothing  can  be  much 
worse  than  those  issued  by  the  Ordnance  Department  for  the 
Army  ;  they  consist  of  an  iron  frame,  covered  with  white 
cotton.  .  .  .  Erected  generally  on  an  open  ground,  with  no 
object  behind  to  detach  them  from  the  surrounding  scenery, 
and  of  so  flimsy  a  texture  as  to  be  speedily  torn  to  rags,  it 
Boon  becomes  impossible  to  observe  where  they  have  been  hit. 
Were  they  made  of  stout  canvas,  with  cartridge  paper  pasted 
over  them,  and  that  renewed  as  required,  they  would  be  far 
better  in  all  respects,  and  would  then  last  for  a  long  time.' 

This  is  exactly  the  construction  of  the  modern  penetrable 
targets,  which  were  copied  from  foreign  ones  and  definitely 
adopted  by  the  National  Rifle  Association  in  1874,  in  spite  of 
much  heated  opposition  and  protest,  and  after  a  great  deal 
of  hesitation.  The  result  was  entirely  successful,  and  it  was 
found  that  in  rainy  weather,  in  which  the  marking  on  iron 
targets  would  become  almost  impossible,  canvas  targets 
offered  very  little  difficulty.  The  sine  qua  non  of  pene- 
trable targets  for  continuous  use  is  that  each  shot-hole 
should  be  patched  out  as  soon  as  another  one  is  made,  and 
thus  all  confusion  in  marking  is  obviated.  The  old  pattern 
of  canvas  target  used  at  Wimbledon  at  medium  and  long 


392  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

ranges  had  an  iron  frame,  the  bars  of  which  were  bevelled  to 
a  knife  edge  in  front,  so  that  the  bullet  striking  them 
glanced,  and  went  harmlessly  into  the  butt  in  rear.  Targets 
made  in  this  way  were  so  heavy  that  in  the  case  of  those  for 
long  ranges  it  was  necessary  to  wind  them  up  or  down  from 
the  trench  below  by  means  of  a  windlass  and  chain — a  very 
laborious  process.  Nowadays,  it  is  found  far  safer,  as  well 
as  more  convenient  in  manipulation,  to  have  the  target  made 
entirely  of  wood,  canvas,  or  Willesden  paper,  and  other  paper, 
and  to  fasten  it  by  feet  into  an  iron  frame,  which  is  sheltered 
by  a  butt  or  mantlet  from  the  shots. 

It  might  well  have  been  thought  that  where  the  amotmi 
of  shooting  is  considerable,  and  especially  when  it  is  of  a 
high  class  of  accuracy,  a  penetrable  target  would  be  so 
quickly  destroyed  as  to  be  of  very  little  use  after  a  few 
hundred  rounds.  This  is  by  no  means  the  case,  as  is  shown 
in  Plate  XLV,  which  gives  a  photograph  of  the  back  view  of 
three  targets  used  for  200  yards'  shooting  at  Wimbledon 
and  Bisley  for  more  than  twenty  years.  That  numbered  1 
shows  the  effect  of  a  very  large  number  of  shots  in  match 
shooting  and  practice.  The  bull's-eye  has  been  entirely  shot 
away,  and  almost  the  whole  bulk  of  the  hits  is  within  a  space 
of  two  feet  in  diameter  in  the  centre  of  the  target.  The  target 
has  been  re-faced  many  times  with  paper,  and  re-backed  at 
least  once  with  canvas,  but  the  number  of  shot-holes  towards 
its  outer  margin  is  small,  and  very  few  bullets  have  per- 
forated the  wooden  frame  on  which  the  canvas  is  stretched. 
No.  2  shows  a  similar  target  that  has  been  used  for  ordinary 
class-firing  and  practice.  In  this,  although  the  middle  of  the 
target  shows  most  hits,  the  shots  are  far  more  widely  dis- 
tributed, and  the  frame  has  received  so  many  of  them  as  to  be 
hardly  fit  for  further  service.  No.  3  shows  the  *  last  scene  of 
all  that  ends  this  strange  eventful  history,'  when  the  frame  is 
hardly  fit  even  for  firewood,  having  entirely  succumbed  to 
the  shooting. 

All  kinds  of  systems  have  been  devised  for  carrying  pene- 
trable targets:  Most  of  them  seem  to  have  been  invented 
more  than  once.  The  windmill  system  consists  of  a  pivot  set 
horizontally,  upon  which  is  arranged  a  frame  carrying  two 


I 
i 

'.  •  .  1,    .  ENOX  AW  J 


WINDMILL    AND    JEFFRIES    TARGETS  395 

targets,  or  a  target  and  dummy,  one  above  it  and  the  other 
below.  A  simple  form  of  it  is  shown  in  Plate  XLYI,  taken  from 
a  newly  issued  official  handbook.  A  catch  holds  the  target 
and  dummy  in  place,  so  that  one  of  them  is  upright  above  the 
mantlet,  or  trench,  in  which  the  apparatus  is  fitted.  When  a 
shot  has  been  fired  it  is  marked  on  the  dummy,  the  catch  is 
released,  and  the  target  swung  round  until  it  has  come  down 
into  the  trench,  and  the  dummy  has  taken  its  place.  The 
previous  shot-hole  can  then  be  patched  with  the  little  square 
or  round  paper  patch,  which  is  universally  used  with  pene- 
trable targets,  and  so  the  process  is  continued.  This  target 
system  has  the  disadvantage  that  it  requires  a  clear  space  for 
some  little  distance  on  each  side,  as  the  targets  swing  round  in 
a  vertical  plane  like  the  arms  of  a  windmill.  It  is  not  well 
adapted  to  targets  of  any  great  size,  as  they  are  heavy  to 
move,  and  require  more  space  as  they  are  turned  round. 
The  target  mechanism  used  at  Bisley  is  almost  exactly 
similar  to  that  made  by  Jeffries,  of  Carshalton  Road,  Sutton, 
Surrey  (Plate  XL VII),  Who  owns  certain  patents  connected 
with  it.  It  represents  the  gradual  improvement  effected  by 
the  experience  of  the  Natioi^al  Rifle  Association  on  the  Swiss 
balanced  target  as  originally  introdaced  into  this  country.  It 
has  been  adopted  of  late  years  for  many  of  the  modern 
ranges  in  use  for  the  military  rifle.  The  principle  is  very 
simple.  Two  iron  frames  are  hung  one  behind  the  other 
by  means  of  a  chain  at  each  end,  which  passes  over  a 
pulley,  so  that  when  one  frame  is  up  as  far  as  the  height 
of  the  pulleys  will  allow,  the  other  is  down.  The  frames 
are  fitted  with  sockets  to  carry  wooden  target  frames,  on 
which  canvas  is  stretched ;  these  being  of  equal  weight  the 
balance  is  not  disturbed,  and  it  requires  no  great  power 
to  bring  either  of  them  to  the  topmost  position  from 
which  they  are  visible  to  the  firer.  It  is  usual  to  have 
only  one  actual  target  to  be  shot  at,  and  to  balance  it  by  a 
dummy  target,  fitted  with  a  black  panel,  by  which  the  value 
of  the  shot  is  indicated.  On  the  Bisley  ranges  this  panel  con- 
sists of  a  square  frame  of  wood  covered  with  painted  canvas, 
and  it  can  be  hung  in  either  of  the  four  corners  of  the  dummy, 
which  is  otherwise  white,  according  to  the  value  of  the  shot 


396  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

which  it  is  desired  to  mark.  On  a  shot  striking  the  target,  the 
panel  is  hung  on  the  proper  part  of  the  dummy  to  indicate  its 
value.  The  target  is  then  pulled  down  into  the  trench,  or 
behind  the  mantlet,  which  shelters  the  marker.  As  it  comes 
down  the  dummy  goes  up.  The  marker  places  in  the  hole 
made  in  the  canvas  a  small  disc  or  square  of  tin,  which  he 
hooks  in  by  a  wire,  or  of  cardboard,  having  a  peg  fitting  the 
shot-hole.  This  disc,  known  as  the  spotting  disc,  or  in  earlier 
times  as  the  Bland  patch  (from  the  name  of  its  inventor), 
is  black  on  one  side  and  white  on  the  other.  If  the  shot  has 
struck  the  bull's-eye,  it  is  placed  in  the  hole  so  as  to  show  its 
white  side,  and  the  shooter,  with  or  without  a  glass,  can  see 
exactly  what  is  the  spot  that  his  shot  has  struck.  Then 
the  dummy  is  lowered,  and  the  target  is  sent  up  ;  when 
the  next  shot  strikes  the  target,  it  is  lowered  again,  the  value 
being  signalled  in  the  same  way.  The  spotting-disc  is  taken 
out  of  the  first  hole  and  placed  in  the  new  hole,  and  a  paper 
patch,  either  white  or  black  as  may  be  necessary,  is  pasted 
over  the  first  hole.  There  are  thfis  never  more  than  two 
holes  in  the  target  at  a  time,  and  no  confusion  can  arise  as 
to  which  is  the  last  shot.  Of  course,  markers  sometimes 
make  mistakes.  The  small  hole  made  by  modern  rifle  bullets 
is  easily  overlooked,  although  the  click  made  by  the  bullet 
punching  its  way  through  the  tightly  stretched  canvas  can 
be  plainly  heard.  If  the  butt  in  the  line  behind  the  target 
IS  watched,  the  arrival  of  a  shot  will  be  plainly  seen  owing  to 
the  commotion  which  it  makes  in  the  soil,  and  this  will  give 
a  general  indication  as  to  its  whereabouts  on  the  target. 
A  shot  may  be  hard  to  see  owing  to  the  dazzle  of  light  upon 
the  target  as  the  marker  looks  up  at  it  from  below.  A  Bisley 
long  range  target,  being  12  feet  in  width,  has  a  very  large 
surface  to  be  scrutinised.  A  shot  will  sometimes  strike  close 
against  the  spotting-disc  in  the  target,  or  even  upon  it,  so 
that  it  is  partly  concealed  by  it ;  or  it  may  be  that  the  paper 
patches  put  upon  previous  shots  have  partly  curled  up,  and 
make  little  projections  large  enough  to  conceal  a  new  hole. 
If  rain  should  come  on  heavily  enough  and  lasting  long 
enough  to  wash  off  some  of  the  old  patches,  confusion  is  very 
probable  ;  but  this  hardly  ever  happens.     On  the  whole,  the 


—  .9  ,9--- 


\l 


398  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

system  works  wonderfully  well,  and  is  especially  adapted  for 
ranges  requiring  a  good  deal  of  accommodation,  since  the 
targets  can  be  brought  more  closely  alongside  each  other 
than  iron  targets.  The  Ninety  Butt,  as  it  is  called,  at  Bisley, 
has  ninety  targets  in  a  row  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long, 
each  target  being  6  feet  square,  with  8-foot  intervals  and  a 
double  interval  at  every  tenth  target.  It  does  not  do  to  have 
targets  too  close  together,  for  fear  that  a  shot  intended  for 
one  should  hit  another  in  a  wind  in  which  miscalculation  had 
been  made.  The  long-range  butt  at  Bisley  has  the  targets 
set  with  a  clear  space  of  10  feet  between  each,  the  targets 
themselves  being  12  feet  in  width.  In  Switzerland  the 
targets,  about  6  feet  square,  used  up  to  800  or  400  metres, 
are  not  ordinarily  more  than  18  inches  apart. 

There  is  one  general  difference  between  the  best  equipped 
ranges  in  this  country  and  those  on  the  Continent,  that  with 
us  the  targets  always  stand  in  the  open  air,  and  are  not 
covered  in ;  and  the  marker's  shelter  is  usually  roofed  over,  but 
not  really  enclosed  from  the  weather.  On  the  best  equipped 
Continental  club  ranges  there  is  a  regular  building,  which 
covers  both  the  targets  and  the  markers'  trench  below,  from 
which  they  are  worked.  A  wall  rises  behind  the  targets  and 
forms  the  back  for  the  building,  and  there  is  a  pair  of  folding 
doors  in  front  of  each  target  so  that,  when  not  in  use,  it  can 
be  entirely  shut  in.  The  markers  have  a  roomy  space  below 
into  which  they  pull  down  the  targets,  which  are  of  canvas,  in 
very  light  wooden  frames,  the  working  parts  being  also  of 
wood— a  very  good  material  for  the  purpose,  when,  as  here, 
sheltered  from  the  eifects  of  weather.  There  are  usually 
two  targets  balanced  so  that  when  one  has  been  hit  it  can  be 
pulled  down  and  the  value  and  position  of  the  shot  indicated 
by  a  coloured  disc  upon  the  other,  which  is  at  once  ready  to 
be  shot  at.  The  shot-hole  in  the  first  is  meanwhile  patched 
over.  This  method  of  marking  is  quicker  than  signalling 
with  a  dummy.  It  is  less  visible  at  long  ranges,  and  does 
not  admit  of  the  firer  seeing  the  exact  position  of  his  shot. 
Each  marker  has  close  at  his  back  an  electric  bell  con- 
nected with  the  tiring-point,  and  on  a  shot  being  fired  at  the 
target  the  bell  is  rung  to  warn  the  marker  that  there  is  a 


PLATE   XLVII 


H 


JEFFRIES   TARGET,    «    FKET    BY   8   FKET,   WITH    DUMMY 


400  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

shot  to  be  signalled.  By  this  means  the  certainty  is  gained 
that  a  shot  is  not  overlooked  from  any  inattention  on  the  part 
of  the  marker.  The  effect  of  having  the  targets  set  back 
under  a  roof,  and  with  something  of  a  partition  between  them, 
is  to  diminish  very  much  the  amount  of  light  they  receive  ; 
and  they  become  liable  to  be  in  shadow  when  their  surround- 
ings are  in  full  sunshine,  or  to  be  partly  in  sunshine  and 
partly  in  shadow,  which  is  even  worse.  Under  a  clouded 
sky,  too,  they  are  badly  lit,  but  some  modification  of  these 
effects  is  produced  if  the  roof  above  the  targets  is  partly  filled 
with  glass.  Still,  the  illumination  is  never  so  perfect  or 
satisfactory  as  with  targets  exposed  under  the  open  sky. 
There  is  often  a  large  store-shed  for  the  targets  which  com- 
municates with  the  marker's  trench,  and  on  the  same  level 
with  it,  so  that  alterations  of  targets,  &c.,  can  be  made  without 
stopping  the  firing.  At  such  ranges  as  these  the  firing  points 
are  most  elaborately  equipped.  Not  only  are  the  actual 
stalls,  as  we  may  call  them,  from  which  the  firing  is  done, 
and  where  the  register  keepers  sit,  partitioned  off  and  roofed 
in,  but  they  are  often  only  the  front  line  of  a  large  building 
which  contains  plenty  of  space  behind  them,  as  well  as  the 
oflSces  of  the  club,  armouries,  refreshment  bars,  &c.,  &c.  The 
new  ranges  at  Albisgiitli  near  Zurich,  belonging  to  the 
Schiitzengesellschaf t  der  Stadt  Zurich,  have  a  fine,  permanent 
building,  with  ample  accommodation  of  this  kind,  in  which 
there  are  firing  points  for  68  targets,  that  is,  53  at  300 
metres,  and  15  at  400  metres,  as  well  as  a  dozen  revolver 
targets.  The  division  between  the  shooting  stalls  is  effected 
here,  and  in  some  other  ranges,  not  by  boarded  screens, 
which  increase  the  reverberation  of  the  report,  but  by  canvas 
hangings,  which  help  to  deaden  it.  An  underground  passage 
extends  from  the  building  to  the  targets  so  that  access  to 
them  is  possible  without  stopping  the  firing.  To  give  some 
idea  of  the  popularity  of  the  shooting  at  Ziirich,  and  in 
Switzerland  generally,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  these  ranges, 
which  are  situated  on  very  high  ground,  and  command  a 
magnificent  view  overlooking  the  Alps,  have  near  by  a  very 
large  and  handsome  refreshment  building,  where  the  wants  of 
several  thousand  persons  can  be  provided  for  at  once.    There 


CONTINENTAL    RANGE    EQUIPMENT  401 

is  not  only  one  very  large  dining  hall,  with  some  smaller 
roomsy  but  a  high  covered  place,  in  which  some  1,500  people 
can  be  accommodated  for  dinner.  There  are  large  cellars 
attached  to  the  building,  well  stocked  with  great  butts  of  wine 
belonging  to  the  club.  This  beautiful  and  convenient  place 
is  the  favourite  resort  of  the  population  of  Zurich  on  a 
Sunday  afternoon  in  the  spring  and  summer  months  when 
the  shooting  is  going  on.  The  range  of  the  principal  club  at 
Geneva  has  similar  accommodation  at  the  firing-points,  and 
the  same  is  the  case  on  a  less  ambitious  scale  in  many  other 
places  in  Switzerland  and  the  Tyrol. 

In  this  country  we  have  declined  to  confine  ourselves 
to  the  limitations  imposed  by  covered-in  firing-points.  The 
fact  that  they  are  not  considered  suited  for  military  practice 
is  attested  by  the  use  on  the  Continent  for  the  soldiers' 
instruction  and  training  of  open  firing-points.  In  the  most 
modem  and  best  equipped  of  these  the  marking  and  target 
arrangements  are  very  similar  to  those  which  obtain  at 
Bisley.  The  targets  are  fitted  to  iron  frames  which  are  hung 
so  as  to  balance  each  other,  while  a  series  of  firing-points 
allows  of  their  being  fired  at  at  different  distances,  or  by 
troops  advancing  in  skirmishing  order.  Where,  as  is  not 
infrequently  the  case  abroad,  a  background  of  mountain 
precludes  all  question  of  danger  to  the  public  from  the 
bullets,  it  is  sometimes  found  worth  while  to  have  a  series  of 
trenches  at  different  distances  one  behind  the  other,  so  that 
the  shooter,  without  changing  his  position,  can  fire  at  either 
of  two  or  three  distances. 

It  has  been  already  said  that  in  rifle  ranges  every  degree  of 
elaboration  or  simplicity  is  to  be  found.  We  have  mentioned 
one  or  two  of  the  large  ranges  belonging  to  wealthy  clubs 
in  Switzerland.  But  in  the  smallest  places  no  such  elabora- 
tions  are  to  be  found.  The  range  is  often  a  piece  of  ground 
regularly  used  for  the  purpose,  but  the  arrangements  both  at 
the  firing-point  and  the  targets  are  frequently  of  the  most 
temporary  character.  The  target  installation  may  consist 
of  a  few  rough  frames  of  larch  or  fir  poles,  composed  of  two 
uprights  and  two  cross-pieces  nailed  together,  which  are  fixed 
into  the  ground  at  the  beginning  of  the  shooting  season,  and 

D  D 


402  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

on  which  canvas  targets  are  hung  when  firing  is  to  take 
place.  Or,  perhaps,  a  still  lighter  framework,  snffidenilT 
strong  for  the  target  to  be  temporarily  stretched  upon  it,  is 
taken  down  to  the  range  and  set  up  at  the  time  of  firing. 
Figure  targets  of  canvas  and  cardboard  have  one  light  wooden 
cross-piece  at  the  shoulders,  and  another,  x>6rhap8,  below  the 
waist,  and  a  flat  upright  ending  in  a  point  which  is  stock 
into  the  ground.  The  marker  has,  it  may  be,  a  little  wooden 
hut  near  by,  in  which  he  keeps  his  gear,  and  against  which  a 
mound  or  a  big  stone  gives  him  a  safe  place  of  retirement 
while  firing  is  in  progress.  Or  he  may  merely  bring  all 
his  necessaries  with  him  for  the  shooting,  and  retire  behind 
the  natural  shoulder  of  some  hillock  during  the  firing.  In 
such  circumstances  it  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  mark  every 
shot  as  it  is  fired.  A  series  of  shots  is  fired  at  each  target 
by  a  corresponding  number  of  shooters,  and  when  firing  has 
ceased  a  horn  is  blown  to  call  the  marker,  who  signals  the 
number  of  the  hits  and  patches  the  targets.  In  Switzerland, 
where  every  village  is  bound  by  law  to  provide  a  range  of 
some  kind,  this  rather  primitive  method  is  not  uncommon. 
It  is  not  always,  apparently,  that  the  marker  finds  it  neces- 
sary to  retire  behind  shelter  at  all  during  the  firing.  There 
is  said  to  be  one  Swiss  village  where  he  sits  at  a  table  with 
his  wife,  some  twenty  or  thirty  yards  to  one  side  of  the  target, 
where  firing  is  going  on,  in  full  view  of  the  shooters,  and  eats 
his  dinner,  or  drinks  his  glass  of  wine,  very  happily,  in  the 
intervals  of  the  marking;  the  story  is  credible  enough  to 
those  who  have  seen  how  free  from  wild  shots  is  the  practice 
on  an  ordinary  Swiss  range. 

It  is  perfectly  clear  that  on  a  range  to  be  much  used  a 
complete  installation  of  targets  with  ample  sheltered  room 
for  the  markers  is  very  desirable  in  the  interests  of  safety. 
At  Wimbledon  in  old  days,  and  on  the  military  ranges  on 
which  iron  targets  were  used,  there  were  very  rarely  acci- 
dents ;  but  with  a  proper  system  (such  as  is  now  generally 
adopted)  of  marking  in  sheltered  trenches  upon  canvas 
targets,  accidents  to  markers  should  be  impossible.  On 
ground  on  which  it  is  not  convenient  to  form  a  deep  trench, 
the  same  purpose  of  sheltering  the  marker  may  be  obtained 


PENETRABLE    TARGET    SYSTEMS  403 

by  a  butt  or  mantlet  raised  above  the  level  of  the  ground. 
In  such  a  case  it  may  be  inconvenient  to  have  the  target 
above  this  shelter,  as  then  it  is  so  high  as  to  require,  possibly, 
a  higher  altitude  of  butt  behind  it  than  is  easily  provided. 
To  meet  this  difficulty  various  devices  have  been  arranged 
for  running  the  target  in  and  out  sideways  from  behind 
the  butt.  This,  though  it  entails  rather  more  labour  upon 
the  marker  than  the  use  of  balanced  targets,  answers  well 
enough.  The  detail  of  such  an  arrangement  is  easy  enough 
to  devise.  The  target  frame  is  usually  upon  a  little  low 
truck,  which  runs  to  and  fro  upon  rails,  and  is  sheltered 
by  a  very  low  bank  of  earth.  Some  arrangement  of  wind- 
lass or  wheel  draws  it  in  or  out  by  a  chain  or  wire  rope. 
There  was  shown  two  or  three  years  ago  at  Bisley  an  arrange- 
ment called  a  gate  target,  in  which  the  target  was  on  a  frame 
hinged  close  to  the  corner  of  the  mantlet,  as  a  gate  might  be, 
and  could  be  swung  out  so  as  to  come  into  position  across  the 
line  of  fire.  After  a  shot  had  been  fired,  the  gate  was  sw^ung 
back  a  little  more  than  a  quarter  circle,  so  that  it  was  almost 
parallel  with  the  range,  and  entirely  concealed  behind  the 
marker's  mantlet.  The  objection  (and  it  seems  a  real  one) 
to  this  arrangement  is  that  to  paste  up  a  shot-hole  on  the 
further  edge  of  the  target,  or  to  hang  a  patch  on  it,  the 
marker  has  to  be  so  far  behind  his  shelter  that  he  would  not 
be  covered  from  a  ricochet  fired  at  an  adjoining  target, 
and  taking  a  low  diagonal  course.  The  writer  thinks  the 
balanced  targets  certainly  preferable.  There  are  two  or 
three  systems,  such  as  Ralston's  and  Spencer's,  which  are 
ingenious,  and  have  very  good  points.  On  the  whole  the 
simpler  the  mechanism  is  the  better.  There  are  many 
different  mechanical  arrangements  for  balanced  targets  which 
work  excellently  for  demonstration,  but  are  less  suited 
for  continuous  work  and  the  inevitable  hard  treatment  of 
actual  use  than  simpler  and  less  attractive  devices.  The 
question  which  system  to  adopt  for  a  target  which  has  to  be 
much  used  is  one  to  be  decided  by  individual  choice  and  fancy, 
but  where  the  circumstances  allow  the  writer  does  not  think 
any  other  system  better  than  the  balanced  frame  on  the 
window-sash  principle,  in  use  at  Bisley  and  elsewhere. 

D  D  2 


404  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

An  ingenious  means,  invented  some  years  ago,  for  taking 
Mahomet  to  the  mountain,  instead  of  the  mountain  to  Ma- 
homet, that  is,  the  marker  and  his  shelter  to  the  target, 
instead  of  the  target  to  him,  had  some  success.  The  marker's 
mantlet  was  constructed  of  steel  as  thin  as  was  compatible 
with  its  being  bullet-proof,  and  was  set  on  small  flanged 
wheels,  so  that  it  could  move  upon  rails  to  or  from  the  target, 
the  marker  pushing  it  with  him  as  he  moved.  It  was  suit- 
able enough  for  use  with  the  canvas  target,  and  enabled  the 
marker  to  reach  the  actual  spot  struck  by  the  shot  without 
exposing  himself,  the  wheels  of  the  mantlet  and  his  own  feet 
being  protected  by  a  low  bank  of  earth.  Although  the  mantlet 
was  necessarily  of  considerable  weight,  it  was  not  very  hard 
to  push,  but  the  labour  involved  in  a  long  afternoon's  work 
was  no  doubt  considerable.  This  invention  came  rather  too 
late.  With  the  old  soft  lead  bullet  it  was  a  practical  thing, 
but  now  that  the  penetration  of  the  rifle  is  so  much  greater 
than  it  used  to  be,  it  is  difficult  to  reduce  the  weight  suffi- 
ciently for  it  to  be  really  mobile.  With  this  system  of 
marking,  the  shots  are  signalled  by  a  disc  at  the  back  of  the 
mantlet,  which  is  attached  to  a  pivot  in  its  centre,  and  can 
be  brought  into  either  corner  of  the  square  formed  by  the 
upper  part  of  the  mantlet  by  turning  a  handle  within.  This 
principle  of  signalling  is  sometimes  adopted  for  fixed  mantlets 
where  they  are  backed  with  steel  and  not  with  earth,  and  is 
expeditious ;  for  the  marker  moves  the  handle  to  the  proper 
point  when  he  has  seen  the  shot  strike,  and  the  disc  remains 
in  position  while  he  is  pasting  out  the  previous  shot.  This 
method  of  marking  is,  of  course,  only  applicable  to  above- 
ground  mantlets^,  of  which  the  back  is  plainly  visible. 

For  limited  use,  as  of  a  single  individual  practising 
privately,  much  simpler  arrangements  will  suffice.  Sir  Henry 
Halford  shot  for  thirty-five  years  on  his  range  at  Wistow 
at  an  iron  target  with  a  marker's  shelter  a  little  way  off. 
No  dummy  target  at  all  was  used,  but  after  each  shot  the 
marker  walked  out  from  his  shelter,  and  held  for  a  few 
seconds  a  wooden  disc  about  8  inches  in  diameter  attached 
to  a  handle  some  two  feet  long,  so  that  its  centre  was  on  the 
actual  point  struck  by  the  shot.     This  was  ensured  by  having 


ACCIDENTS    TO    MARKERS  405 

a  hole  in  the  middle  of  the  disc,  which  was  put  exactly  upon 
the  shot-mark.  The  shooter  looking  through  a  telescope 
could  thus  spot  the  shot  exactly,  and  the  marker  then  painted 
it  out  and  retired  again  to  his  shelter.  This  is  a  very 
simple  and  safe  arrangement  where  there  is  no  question  of 
hurrying  the  shooting,  or  of  more  than  one  target,  or  of  the 
atmosphere  being  thick.  In  clear  weather  a  flag  can  be 
shown  at  the  firing-point,  and  another  at  the  target,  if  it  is 
desired  to  cease  firing.  But  the  great  modern  safeguard  is 
the  telephone,  which  should  always  be  installed  if  possible  in 
any  range  exceeding  100  yards  in  length.  Even  the  telephone 
requires  care  in  use.  Sir  Henry  Halford  on  one  occasion — it 
was  not  a  very  clear  day — was  about  to  begin  shooting  at 
1,000  yards  on  his  range,  and  thinking  that  the  marker  must 
now  be  ready  for  him  to  begin,  asked  him  through  the  tele- 
phone, *  Are  you  all  right  ?  '  The  marker  replied,  *  All  right, 
sir,  in  a  minute,'  but  unluckily  Sir  Henry  took  *  All  right, 
sir,'  instead  of  the  whole  sentence,  and  removed  the  telephone 
from  his  ear.  He  lay  down  and  fired  his  shot,  and  on  looking 
through  the  telescope  to  see  where  it  had  hit  was  horrified 
to  see  the  marker  with  a  perfectly  white  face  staggering  away 
towards  his  shelter.  He  was  intensely  alarmed,  and  in  a 
moment  there  came  a  ring  at  the  telephone.  'What  has 
happened  ?  Are  you  badly  hurt  ?  '  *  No,  sir,  I  am  not  hurt, 
but  I  had  a  bucket  of  whitewash  between  my  legs  painting 
the  target,  and  you  put  a  bullet  into  it,  and  splashed  it  all 
up  in  my  face.'  That  was  a  narrow  escape,  and  it  shows 
how  easily  a  trifling  want  of  care  will  lead  to  danger.  It  is 
the  common  experience  with  markers  that  at  first  they  are  so 
nervous  that  they  hardly  dare  come  out  from  the  shelter,  even 
after  the  *  Cease  fire '  is  clearly  signalled ;  then  for  a  time 
they  are  properly  and  reasonably  cautious  ;  but  as  the  habit 
grows  upon  them,  and  they  find  they  are  not  in  danger  from 
the  firing,  they  are  apt  to  become  foolhardy.  It  is  then  that 
accidents  happen. 

But  there  is  no  reason  why  there  should  be  accidents  if 
proper  precautions  are  taken.  In  default  of  the  telephone,  a 
most  useful  thing  is  an  electric  bell,  by  which  signals  can 
be  exchanged,  a  single  ring  for  *  Cease  fire,'  two  rings  for 


406  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

*  All  clear '  or  *  Commence,'  three  rings  for  *  Be-signal  last 
shot/  &c.  For  ranges  on  which  the  marker  comes  out  to 
mark  on  the  target  a  very  good  appliance  is  sometimes  used 
to  obscure  the  bull's-eye  as  a  danger  signal.  From  the 
marker's  shelter  there  runs  a  long  pole  laid  upon  the  ground, 
iand  pivoted  at  each  end,  with  a  transverse  handle  sticking 
out  from  it  at  the  near  end,  so  that  the  marker  can  give 
it  a  quarter  of  a  turn  without  exposing  himself.  The  further 
end  of  it  is  in  a  line  with  the  middle  of  the  target,  and  to  this 
is  attached  a  square  shutter,  painted  white,  and  large  enough 
to  hide  the  bull's-eye  when  raised  erect.  This  ordinarily 
lies  flat  on  the  ground,  and  out  of  sight,  but  if  the  pole  be 
turned  the  quarter  turn  the  shutter  stands  up  and  the 
bull's-eye  is  obscured.  Devices  of  this  kind  may  easily  be 
adapted  to  circumstances.  There  is  much  to  be  said  for  the 
Swiss  custom,  several  centuries  old,  of  the  marker  wearing 
a  bright  red  blouse,  which  constitutes  him  in  himself  a 
danger  signal  when  in  view,  and  it  would  be  well  if  this 
were  made  a  part  of  the  ordinary  equipment  of  markers  in 
this  country.  For  special  circumstances  special  targets  may 
be  arranged.  In  practising  at  2,000  yards  with  a  heavy  rifle 
in^  1864-5,  Sir  Henry  Halford  and  Mr.  Metford  had  a  target 
12  feet  square  set  up,  made  of  poplar  planks,  and  painted 
white.  The  marker  had  a  little  ladder,  by  means  of  which  he 
could  reach  any  part  of  the  target,  and  with  a  supply  of  corks 
plug  up  each  shot-hole,  after  signalling  the  hit.  This  was 
a  target  only  needed  for  a  few  weeks  or  months.  It  is  no 
bad  arrangement  to  have  the  marker  in  a  pit  close  under  the 
target,  with  a  little  hut,  in  which  he  can  shut  himself,  having 
a  good  door  to  it.  He  can  then  come  out  and  signal  the  shots 
from  below  with  a  disc,  and  paint  them  out  with  a  brush 
attached  to  it.  This,  perhaps,  is  quicker  than  when  he  has  to 
walk  from  a  shelter  on  the  same  level  at  a  little  distance. 
An  iron  target  is  all  the  better  for  having  two  or  three  good 
coats  of  oil  paint  upon  it,  black  for  the  bull's-eye,  and  white 
for. the  rest  of  the  target,  and  for  having  divisions  marked  on 
it  in  the  same  way.  The  surface  of  the  iron  is  preserved,  as 
the  paint  remains  except  exactly  where  the  bullets  strike.  It 
is,  of  course,  painted  up  with  whitewash  and  lampblack  in 


MARKERS    AND    MARKING  407 

the  ordinary  way.    A  little  size  in  these  paints  is  an  important 
addition,  since  it  helps  them  to  stick  and  to  resist  wet. 

It  is  worth  mentioning  that  a  small  mirror,  put  up  to  one 
side  of  the  target,  in  such  a  position  that  the  marker  can  see 
the  firing-point  reflected  in  it,  is  a  great  convenience  if  there 
is  no  telephone.  But  it  is  as  well  not  to  allow  it  during 
prize  firing. 

'  Sometimes,  especially  at  the  beginning  of  a  rifle  meeting 
with  untrained  markers,  who  have  not  yet  become  accustomed 
to  the  work,  a  shot  is  erroneously  marked  or  a  hit  is  overlooked, 
but  in  the  large  majority  of  cases  when  there  is  any  doubt 
as  to  a  hit  or  the  value  of  a  shot,  the  competitor  sees  for  half 
a  minute  or  so  a  blank  dummy,  indicating  that  the  target  is 
being  examined.  The  holes  made  by  modem  bullets  are  so 
small  that  it  is  wonderful  that  mistakes  in  marking  are  not 
more  frequent  than  they  actually  are.  Before  the  introduction 
of  the  modem  rifles  the  bullet-hole  was  large  enough  to  be 
conspicuous  upon  the  canvas  target.  At  Bisley  the  actual 
butt  is  set  back  a  considerable  distance  behind  the  line 
of  the  targets,  in  order  that  no  discomfort  to  the  markers 
or  obscurity  of  the  target  to  the  firer  may  arise  from  the 
dust  caused  by  the  bullets,  and  there  is  not  only  a  tram  line, 
but  space  for  a  cart  track  between  the  targets  and  the  butt. 
It  is  a  favourite  dodge  with  the  markers  to  place  a  piece 
of  paper  or  some  other  object  on  the  spot  which  a  bullet 
would  hit  after  passing  through  the  middle  of  the  bulFs- 
eye :  it  can  then  be  seen  quickly  enough,  when  a  shot  strikes 
the  bank,  how  near  the  centre,  and  in  what  part  of  the 
target,  the  mark  of  it  should  be  looked  for.  The  dummy 
of  the  Wimbledon  and  Bisley  targets  used  to  be  covered 
with  a  sheet  of  canvas  painted  white,  but  the  markers  who 
watched  the  bank  began  by  cutting  holes  to  make  small 
windows  in  the  canvas  of  the  dummy,  and  it  seems  better  to 
abolish  the  canvas,  and  merely  to  cover  the  dummy  with 
wire-netting  painted  white,  which  offers  no  obstruction  to 
the  sight.  The  exertion  so  continually  undergone  in  former 
years  of  standing  for  hours  at  a  time  in  a  hot  trench,  with 
the  head  raised,  and  the  eyes  fixed  upon  a  dazzling  white 
target  almost  vertically  overhead,  must  have  been  a  great 


408  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

trial  to  the  markers,  and  it  is  satisfactory  that  moeh  of  this 
particular  discomfort  can  now  be  avoided.     Markers  require 
careful  supervision.     Like  all  other  human  beings,  they  are 
liable  to  err,   sometimes   through   carelessness,   sometimes 
knowingly,  out  of  kindliness,  or  a  desire  for  gain  or  advantage 
in  some  form.     The  writer  remembers  once  practising  on  a 
country  range  and  making  a  satisfactory  score  on  an  iron 
target;    on  going    up   to  the  butt   at  once    he   discovered 
that  several  shots  which  had  been  marked  bull's-eyes  were 
obviously  inners.     On  iron  targets  it  is  usually  possible  with 
a  good  glass  to  see  each  shot  before  it  is  marked,  and  in  this 
way  the  marking  can  be  closely  supervised.     With  canvas 
targets  the  bullet-holes  are  practically  not  visible  at  500  yards 
and  beyond,  except  under  good  conditions  and  with  a  powerful 
glass.     The  scandals  at  Wimbledon  in  1881  show  that  at  a 
large  open  meeting  there  are  always  a  certain  number  of  men 
who  are  ready  to  take  advantage  of  any  chance  of  a  profitable 
swindle.     It  was  not  so  very  difficult  when  a  man  knew  days 
beforehand  exactly  to  which  target  he  was  detailed  at  a  par- 
ticular hour,  and  could  come  across  and  make  friends  with  a 
venial   sergeant.      The   latter  could   almost  certainly  work 
matters  so  that  he  should  be  in  the  butt  himself  that  day,  and 
be  able  to  superintend  the  marking  of  that  particular  target. 
A  preconcerted  signal  could  even  be  arranged  to  guard  against 
mistakes,  such  as  standing  up   and  exhibiting  a  large  ex- 
panse of  white  waistcoat  just  before  the  firing,  if  the  marker 
had  the  means  of  seeing  the  firing-point  in  a  mirror,  or  when 
coming  out  to  clean  the  target ;  firing  the  first  shot  at  the 
number-board  above  the  target ;  or  even  with  coloured  paint 
on  the  bullet,  which  left  a  mark  as  it  penetrated  the  canvas. 
Such  devices  as  these  are  practicable  enough  if  opportunity  is 
given.     The  present  system  of  squadding  adopted  at  Bisley, 
by  which  a  man  does  not  know  beforehand  at  which  target 
he  is  to  shoot,  while  the  markers  cannot  see  the  firing-point, 
has  put,  it  is  believed,  an  effectual  stop  to  such  profitable  but 
iniquitous  conspiracies.     The  subject  is  unsavoury,  and  need 
only  be  touched  on  lightly,  but  it  shows  the  need  of   good 
management,  and  the  importance  of  never  givingian  opening 
for  sharp  practice.     Of   the  swindling  which  arises  from  a 


CHINESE    MARKSMANSHIP  409 

desire  to  please,  we  can  hardly  give  a  better  instance  than 
one  which  occurred  a  very  few  years  ago  in  China.  An 
English  admiral  landed  to  attend  an  inspection  of  the  training 
school  for  Chinese  officers  by  the  Viceroy,  Li  Hung  Chang, 
Part  of  the  inspection  consisted  of  a  visit  to  the  rifle  ranges 
at  which  the  young  officers  were  paraded  to  show  their  skill. 
The  admiral  observed  that  with  an  extraordinary  regularity, 
amounting,  in  fact,  to  monotony,  a  bull's-eye  was  marked  for 
every  shot  fired.  He  remarked  on  this  to  the  European 
instructor  with  whom  he  was  standing.  The  latter  admitted 
that  such  incorrect  marking  was  an  absurdity,  but  declared 
that  it  would  be  considered  an  insult  to  the  dignity  of  so 
great  a  man  as  the  Viceroy  if  any  shot  fired  on  the  occasion 
of  his  visit  were  not  a  bull's-eye. 


410  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


CHAPTER   XVI 

METHODS     OF    COMPARING    MERIT     OF    GROUPS    OF    SHOTS — TARGETS    WITH 

CIRCULAR     RINGS— THE     ELEMENT     OF     LUCK     IN      SHOOTING CARTON 

SHOOTING— POOL  SHOOTING— SIZE  OF  CENTRALS— OYAL  TARGET 
DiyiSIONS— BI8LET  SIGNALS  FOR  VALUES  OP  SHOTS— ELECTRIC 
TARGETS— RICOCHETS— PARTICULARS  OF  NATIONAL  RIFLE  ASSOCIATION 
AND   OTHER  TARGETS 

In  testing  the  accuracy  of  rifles  or  ammonition,  without 
respect  to  the  correctness  of  the  sighting,  the  method  is  to  fire 
a  series  of  shots  with  exactly  similar  aim.  Each  of  these  is 
then  measured  from  any  horizontal  line  drawn  above  or  below 
them.  The  average  distance  of  all  the  shots  from  this  line 
is  found,  and  a  horizontal  line  dra\^  to  represent  it.  Simi- 
larly, the  shots  are  measured  from  a  vertical  line  outside 
the  group,  and  a  vertical  line  drawn  which  represents  their 
average  distance  from  it.  The  intersection  of  this  line  and 
the  horizontal  line  marks  the  '  point  of  mean  impact.'  Each 
shot  is  measured  separately  from  it,  and  their  total  or  average 
deviation  represents  the  figure  of  merit  of  the  whole  group. 

The  method  of  marking  and  scoring  shots  varies  a  good 
deal  in  different  countries,  and  admits  of  many  modifications. 
It  is  commonly  accepted  that  the  most  satisfactory  system  of 
marking  is  to  measure  the  distance  of  each  shot  from  the 
absolute  centre  of  the  target,  and  by  adding  up  the  total 
of  the  deviations  of  every  shot  in  the  series  fired  to  arrive 
at  a  definite  figure  of  merit.  This  method,  however,  gives  no 
preference  to  a  close  group  not  actually  on  the  central  point 
aimed  at,  as  against  shots  scattered  round  it.  It  is  in  vogue 
in  America  in  reckoning  the  merit  of  very  fine  diagrams 
made  under  perfect  conditions  from  a  rest,  and  is  called 
string  measurement.  To  this  kind  of  leisurely  shooting 
it  is  suitable  enough.  In  Switzerland  and  elsewhere  upon 
the  Continent  a  near  approach  to  this  system  of  marking  is 
practised  in  some  classes  of  competitions.     One  target,  which 


TARGETS    DIVIDED    INTO    CIRCLES  411 

is  1  metre  in  diameter,  is  subdivided  into  very  narrow  rings 
a  centimetre  or  half  a  centimetre  wide,  and  numbered  from 
1  to  50  or  100,  from  the  outer  ring  to  the  centre  of  the 
target.  By  signalling  the  number  of  the  innermost  ring 
touched  by  the  shot,  which  can  be  done  at  300  or  400  metres 
by  exhibiting  large  figures  placed  in  a  -panel,  and  hoisted  up, 
the  score  is  made  to  correspond  closely  with  the  actual 
measurement  of  each  shot  from  the  centre.  The  same  result 
is  sometimes  arrived  at  by  measuring  the  distance  of  each 
shot  from  the  centre  of  the  target  with  a  tape,  or  with  a 
brass  rod  having  on  it  a  well-made  vernier  scale  which 
carries  a  point  that  can  be  adjusted  precisely  to  the  middle  of 
the  target,  a  fixed  peg  in  the  other  end  of  the  rod  being  fitted 
into  the  hole  made  by  the  bullet.  This  gives  a  reading  of 
any  required  degree  of  accuracy.  For  scoring  in  this  way 
circumstances  must  allow  of  the  marker  not  being  hurried, 
and  of  his  being  extremely  careful  and  trustworthy.  It  is,  in 
fact,  necessary  that  he  should  be  skilled  at  this  particular 
employment,  a  condition  which  at  large  rifle  meetings  in  this 
country  it  is  almost  impossible  for  markers  to  fulfil.  Shooting 
at  a  target  when  the  measurement  of  the  shot  is  so  very  exact 
demands  that  the  range  should  not  be  very  long,  and  that 
the  firer  and  the  rifle  should  have  every  advantage  of  pro- 
tection from  weather,  and  of  refinement  of  sights,  and  delicacy 
of  trigger.  When  we  remember  that  no  rifle  can  be  depended 
upon  to  shoot  within  2  or  3  inches  in  ordinary  weather  at 
200  yards,  it  is  evident  that  nothing  is  gained  by  multiplying 
the  number  of  circles  upon  a  target  so  that  they  become  quite 
disproportionate  to  the  size  of  the  group  that  the  rifle  will 
make.  Nothing  is  gained,  that  is,  as  regards  classifying  the 
skill  of  the  shooter,  and  almost  nothing  as  regards  gauging 
the  capacity  of  the  rifle,  while  the  process  of  marking  requires 
much  more  skill  than  it  would  with  fewer  rings  and  simpler 
values.  At  the  International  match  at  The  Hague  in  1899, 
the  target  used  was  one  divided  into  numerous  small  circles 
(see  p.  482),  and  at  a  meeting  of  the  delegates  representing  the 
countries  taking  part  in  the  match,  one  of  the  French  repre- 
sentatives proposed  that  in  future  matches  a  target  should  be 
used  having  much  wider  divisions,  on  the  ground  that  the  small 


412  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 

divisions  were  out  of  proportion  to  the  accuracy  of  the  rifle  at 
300  metres.  This  is  a  perfectly  sound  argument.  It  must  be 
remembered,  on  the  other  hand,  that  subdivision  into  smaller 
circles  accentuates  an  element,  never  absent  from  rifle-shoot- 
ing, and  depending  on  causes  beyond  the  capacity  of  either 
the  rifle  or  the  man,  ivhich  we  call  luck.  As  we  find  from  the 
earliest  days  of  Swiss  shooting  that  the  championship  was 
awarded  to  the  man  whose  shot  was  most  precisely  in  the  centre 
of  the  target,  and  as  in  Fenimore  Cooper's  novels,  to  drive  the 
nail  at  100  yards  is  represented  to  be  the  last  test  of  skill,  so 
has  there  always  been  a  happy  disposition  to  ascribe  successes 
of  this  kind  directly  to  the  skill  of  the  shooter.  This  very 
fortunate  element  is  not  one  to  be  ignored,  for  not  only  does 
it  appeal  strongly  to  the  imagination  to  think  that  a  man 
is  skilful  enough  to  perform  such  a  feat,  but  it  will  suddenly 
raise  to  the  pinnacle  of  success  and  satisfaction  some  marks- 
man of  no  special  merit  beyond  this,  that  the  gods  have 
favoured  him.  It  is  not  suggested,  of  course,  that  the  most 
skilful  shot,  armed  with  the  very  best  rifle,  will  not  have 
appreciably  more  chance  of  making  an  absolutely  central 
shot  than  one  less  skilful,  with  a  less  good  weapon  ;  but  he, 
too,  will  require  luck  if  he  is  to  stand  first  in  such  a  contest. 
It  is  well  frankly  to  acknowledge  the  interest  which  is  created 
when  skill  does  not  have  things  entirely  its  own  way.  A 
Swiss  marksman,  so  long  ago  as  1863,  said  to  a  member  of 
the  Council  of  the  National  Rifle  Association :  *  Your  English 
system  will  make  a  certain  number  of  first-rate  shots,  but  it 
will  never,  like  ours,  create  a  nation  of  riflemen ;  it  is  the 
element  of  chance  which  enters  so  largely  into  ours  that  takes 
men  to  the  targets.'  It  is  perfectly  true  that  if  skill  were  the 
only  thing  that  told,  it  would  be  possible  to  know  beforehand 
almost  exactly  the  relative  merits  of  different  competitors,  and 
the  young  shot  might  well  despair  of  ever  getting  a  place  in 
competition  with  them.  A  slight  tincture  of  chance,  even 
when  it  does  not  amount  to  gambling,  certainly  has  an 
immense  attraction  for  human  minds,  as  witness  the  popu- 
larity of  *  egg  pool  *  at  Bisley  in  1899,  when  a  prize  was  given 
for  hitting  at  500  yards  a  2-inch  circle  marked  on  a  piece 
of  cardboard  hung  in  the  middle  of  the  bull's-eye,  a  thing 


EFFECT    OF    LUCK    IN    COMPETITIONS         413 

which  Bkill  alone  could  not  certainly  accomplish.  It  may 
well  be. doubted  whether  the  Queen's  prize  was  not  more 
attractive  to  competitors  generally  in  the  days  when  any- 
one who  could  pass  through  the  ordeal  of  the  first  stage 
had  a  fair  start  with  his  neighbours  at  the  long  ranges  in 
shooting  for  the  much  coveted  distinction.  The  Queen's  60 
(originally  40)  was  expanded  to  the  Queen's  100,  and  the 
consequence  of  piling  up  the  totals  made  at  all  the  ranges, 
and  deciding  the  prize  by  the  aggregate,  has  been  that  the 
man  who  is  low  down  in  the  100  feels  that  he  has  almost  no 
chance  at  all  of  carrying  off  the  blue  ribbon  of  rifle  shooting. 
The  competition  is  much  more  of  a  real  championship  than  it 
used  to  be,  but  it  has  lost  something  in  attractiveness  for  the 
man  who  is  not  yet  certain  of  being  able  to  hold  his  own  in  a 
competition  extending  over  several  days  with  the  pick  of  our 
Volunteer  marksmen. 

At  Wimbledon  many  years  ago  great  interest  used  to  be 
excited  by  a  form  of  competition  imported  from  Switzerland, 
and  known  as  Carton  shooting.  A  circular  piece  of  thick 
cardboard  coloured  black  was  hung  in  the  middle  of  the 
bull's-eye.  It  varied  in  size  according  to  the  range.  Prizes 
were  given  for  the  shots  nearest  the  centre  of  the  carton  at 
each  distance  during  the  whole  meeting.  Each  carton  was 
numbered,  and  the  shooter's  name  was  entered  against  a 
corresponding  number  in  the  register.  After  the  meeting 
was  over  the  cartons  were  measured  up.  There  was  no 
difficulty  in  rejecting  a  very  large  number  in  which  the 
carton  had  been  pierced  by  a  shot  not  far  from  the  edge, 
but  among  the  central  shots  the  differences  were  usually 
very  fine,  and  required  an  extremely  accurate  machine  to 
measure  them.  It  would  happen  sometimes  that  some  school- 
boy, paying  his  6d.  for  a  single  shot  at  a  carton  target,  would 
carry  off  one  of  the  substantial  money  prizes,  running  up  to 
25Z.,  which  were  given  for  the  most  central  shots,  while  a 
man  who  had  invested  a  certain  sum  of  money  in  carton 
shooting,  and  persevered  at  it,  would  be  unlucky  enough  not 
to  have  a  single  shot  near  enough  to  the  centre  to  win  him 
a  prize.  To  meet  his  case  money  prizes  of  a  certain  value 
were  given  to  those  who  had  made  the  largest  number  of 


414  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

cartons  at  any  particular  distance.  The  competition  for  this 
used  to  be  very  keen.  Carton  shooting  was  decidedly  very 
fluky  work.  Mr.  Henry  Whitehead  recounts  that  on  one 
occasion  at  Wimbledon,  when  he  had' taken  some  friends 
to  the  600  yards  firing-point  to  show  them  what  carton 
shooting  was  like,  he  made  five-and-twenty  consecutive 
bull's-eyes  without  once  touching  the  actual  disc  of  the 
carton.  The  bulVs-eye  at  this  distance  was  2  feet  in  dia- 
meter, and  the  carton  about  1  foot.  To  give  an  opposite 
instance,  Mr.  Martin  Smith  many  years  ago  undertook  to 
break  a  dinner  plate  in  15  shots  at  1,000  yards,  and  succeeded 
in  doing  so. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  revive  carton  shooting  at  Bisley 
in  1890,  but  it  was  not  very  successful,  and  nothing  of  the 
kind  now  appears  in  the  National  Bifle  Association  programme 
book.  The  conditions  have  changed.  The  programme  of 
shooting  at  the  National  Bifle  Association  meetings  is  far 
more  crowded  than  it  used  to  be,  so  that  the  earnest  shooter 
has  little  leisure  to  spend  in  odd  competitions.  There  is  in 
the  present  days  of  the  Volunteer  movement  a  much  smaller 
proportion  of  men  who  can  afford  to  invest  a  few  pounds  on 
the  off-chance  of  getting  a  big  haul  than  there  used  to  be. 

Shooting  at  pool  still  survives,  and  is  very  popular.  The 
shooter  pays  a  shilling  or  thereabouts  for  each  shot.  The 
total  amount  of  the  entrance  fees,  minus  a  deduction  for 
expenses,  is  divided  among  the  successful  competitors  in 
shares  proportionate  to  the  number  of  successful  shots  which 
they  make.  Formerly  each  bull's-eye  made  entitled  the 
shooter  to  participate  in  the  division,  but  the  improvement 
in  rifles  has  made  it  necessary  to  introduce  a  central  bull's- 
eye,  defined  by  a  white  circle,  so  that  a  man  may  hit  the 
black  without  necessarily  obtaining  any  return.  Pool  shoot- 
ing is  fairly  safe. work  for  a  skilful  shot;  he  may  invest  as 
much  or  as  little  as  he  pleases,  and  in  any  case  his  return 
is  likely  to  be  proportionate  to  his  investment.  Large  profits 
are  not  to  be  expected,  but  steady  winnings  may  be  made 
by  the  careful  man.  The  value  of  pool  bull's-eye  tickets 
of  course  fluctuates  with  the  weather,  and  they  are  worth 
more  in  diflScult  times,  since  fewer  are  obtained  in  proportion 


POOL    AND    OTHER    TARGETS  416 

to  the  whole  number  of  shots  fired.  Of  the  whole  amount 
received  as  entrance  money  for  pool  25  per  cent,  is  usually 
deducted  for  expenses  before  division. 

The  pool  target  is  similar  to  the  ordinary  target  for  each 
distance,  and  shots  are  marked  in  the 'same  way,  except  that 
to  mark  the  inner  bull's-eye  within  the  central  circle  the  bull's- 
eye  panel  is  sent  up  with  a  white  ring,  visible  at  the  firing- 
point,  hung  upon  it. 

The  sizes  of  the  central  within  the  bull's-eye  at  the  several 
distances  were,  in  1901 :  — at  200  yards,  4  inches  diameter; 
at  500  and  600  yards,  12  inches  diameter ;  and  at  800  to 
1,100  yards,  21  inches  diameter.  The  principle  hitherto 
adopted  has  been  that  they  should  have  about  one-third  the 
area  of  the  whole  bull's-eye. 

In  1885  targets  with  elliptical  bull's-eyes  were  adopted  for 
the  military  practice  of  the  American  army,  the  bull's-eye 
being  greater  in  height  than  in  breadth,  and  the  circles  of 
the  inner  and  magpie  made  to  correspond.  These  were 
designed  by  Captain  Blunt,  Inspector  of  Rifle  Practice  at  the 
headquarters  of  the  American  army.  Diagrams  of  these 
targets,  reproduced  from  a  book  published  by  Captain  Blunt, 
may  be  found  in  Gould's  '  Modern  American  Rifles.'  For  the 
third-class  targets  the  bull's-eye  was  10  inches  high  by  8  inches 
wide ;  for  the  second-class  targets,  24  inches  high  by  18  inches 
wide  ;  and  for  the  long  ranges,  45  inches  high  by  32  inches 
wide.  These  elliptical  divisions  serve  the  purpose  of  making 
a  nearer  approximation  than  circles  to  the  shape  of  a  man's 
upright  figure,  at  which,  in  theory,  practice  in  the  field  will  be 
directed.  They  also  represent  better  than  circular  divisions 
the  normal  shape  of  the  group  made  by  a  rifle  with  in- 
different ammunition,  and  Captain  Blunt  considered  them  to 
represent  the  shooting  of  the  Springfield  rifle.  The  elliptical 
shape  has  the  great  disadvantage  of  being  much  more  difficult 
than  the  circular  for  the  marker  to  draw  accurately.  It  was 
never  popular,  the  mass  of  shooters  preferring  the  simpler 
form,  to  which  they  were  more  accustomed,  and  over  which 
the  elliptical  bull's-eye  offers  no  real  advantages. 

For  many  years  now  circular  bull's-eyes  and  circular 
target  divisions  have  been  the  rule  in  this  country.     They 


416 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


are  not  only  theoretically  fairer  than  square  ones»  but  they 
are  practically  easier  to  make.  The  National  Bifle  Associa- 
tion adopted  square  divisions  from  1862  to  1874,  but  since 
then  they  have  never  been  revived. 

It  is  puzzling  to  a  visitor  at  Bisley  to  see  the  target  go 
down,  and  a  curious  dummy  appear  in  place  of  it,  with  a 
black  square  in  one  of  its  comers ;  but  the  appearance  of  the 
^dummy  (fig.  85)  is  full  of  significance  to  the  initiated.  If  the 
black  square  is  in  the  top  corner  on  the  left-hand  side  as  you 
look  towards  it,  the  hit  is  an  outer,  value  2  points ;  if  it  is  in 


Outer 


Magpie 


Examine 


Inner 


Bull's-eye 

FIG.   M 


Ricochet 


the  top  right-hand  corner,  a  magpie,  value  3  points ;  if  in 
the  left  bottom  corner,  an  inner,  value  4  points  ;  if  in  the 
right  bottom  comer,  a  bull's-eye,  value  5  points.  If  a 
ricochet  has  to  be  signalled,  a  square  panel  is  hung  with  one 
corner  uppermost,  like  the  old-fashioned  hatchment,  a  little 
below  the  centre  of  the  target.  If  it  is  desired  to  lower  the 
target  for  the  purpose  of  examining  it,  the  black  panel  is  not 
hung  on  to  the  dummy,  which  appears  blank.  The  attach- 
ment of  the  panel  to  the  dummy  is  very  simple  :  it  has  light 
iron  hooks  in  convenient  places  which  fit  on  little  rails  pro- 
jecting an  inch  or  two   from   the   surface  of  the  dummy. 


AUTOMATIC    SIGNALLING  417 

The  old  mechanism  for  lowering  and  raising  the  heavier 
targets  by  means  of  a  winch  was  very  slow,  and,  like  the 
system  of  marking  the  value  and  position  of  the  shot  by  a 
large  coloured  disc  hung  upon  the  wire  netting  with  which 
tlie  face  of  the  dummy  was  covered,  has  long  been  superseded 
by  simpler  methods. 

There  is  nothing  new  in  the  notion  that  a  target  might 
be  constructed  which  should  signal  the  hits  automatically  at  • 
tbe  firing-point,  the  different  divisions  of   the  target  being 
represented  by  different  plates,  which  complete  an  electric 
circuit  when  moved  or  jarred  by  the  blow  of  the  bullet.     In 
1862  such  a  target,  on  a  miniature  scale,  invented  by  M. 
Bcivin,  was   shown   at  Wimbledon.     It   was   shot   at  only 
10  yards  away  with    saloon  rifles,  and,  on   the  whole,   did 
not  do  badly.     In  1884  a  third-class  target  on  similar  prin- 
ciples was  exhibited  at  Wimbledon,  and  was  fired  at  a  good 
deal.     This  target  was  divided  into  forty-eight  compartments, 
and,  on  one  of  these  being  hit,  a  number  corresponding  to  it 
was  automatically  shown  on  a  dummy  at  the  firing-point. 
The  chief  difficulty  with  such  targets  has  always  been  that 
the  fragments  of  lead  from  the  broken-up  bullets  accumulate 
and  tend  to  jam  the  plates  so  that  they  cannot  move  freely 
the  small  distance  required  to  make  the  contact  and  signal 
the  shot  when  struck.     A  minor  drawback  is  that  any  con- 
siderable number  of  shots  remove  the  colouring  and  obscure 
the  target,  so  that  it  has  to  be  occasionally  painted,  and  thus 
the  services  of  a  marker  cannot  be  altogether  dispensed  with. 
Nor  is  the  position  of   the  hit  usually  shown.      The  very 
great  penetration  of  modern  bullets  has,  since  1884,  made 
fresh  difficulties  in  the  application  of  this  principle. 

With  ordinary  targets  the  difference  in  appearance  be- 
tween a  ricochet  shot  and  a  direct  hit  is  not  always  obvious.  If 
the  bullet  happen  to  penetrate  the  target  point  foremost  after 
glancing  off  the  ground,  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  the 
hit  from  one  made  directly,  and  the  difficulty  is  all  the  greater 
because  the  holes  made  by  small,  elongated  bullets  are  by  no 
means  always  round  at  long  ranges,  so  that,  even  when  every 
care  is  taken,  mistakes  will  still  be  made.  The  writer  recol- 
lects, at  an  important  match  some  years  ago,  watching  with  a 

E  E 


418  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

powerful  tele8coi)e  the  first  shots  at  1,000  yards  fired  by  a 
well-known  marksman.  His  first  bullet  was  quite  clearly  seen 
to  raise  a  cloud  of  dust  close  under  the  target.  It  had 
evidently  struck  short,  but  a  benevolent  marker,  who  very 
possibly  had  no  means  of  knowing  that  the  target  had  been 
missed,  marked  a  bull's-eye.  No  doubt  the  shot  had  penetrated 
it  after  striking  the  ground.  The  rifleman,  not  unaware  of 
what  must  have  happened,  raised  his  sight,  and  fired  again. 
Again  a  cloud  of  dust  arose  in  front  of  the  target,  and  again 
the  marker,  all  unwitting,  marked  him  a  bull's-eye  under  pre- 
cisely the  same  circumstances.  His  third  shot  was  a  fair 
bull's-eye,  and  luckily  the  result  of  the  competition  was  in  no 
way  affected  by  the  mistake,  which  it  would  have  been  hard  to 
prove  officially,  since  the  marker  obviously  had  not  discovered 
it ;  while  the  register-keeper,  unless  he  chanced  to  be  keeping 
a  sharp  look-out  at  the  moment  through  his  telescope,  could 
have  no  means  of  knowing  what  had  happened.  The  writer 
has  seen,  in  counting  the  hits  on  a  canvas  target  after  field 
firing,  two  hits  given  as  the  result  of  one  shot.  A  bullet 
had  struck  the  ground  in  front  of  the  target;  the  leaden 
core  had  escaped  from  its  nickel  jacket,  and  had  penetrated 
the  target  in  one  place,  while  the  jacket  had  made  a  larger 
hole  four  or  five  inches  from  it.  On  the  general  question  of 
counting  ricochets  as  hits  the  writer  holds  a  strong  opinion 
that  it  should  not  be  done  in  any  circumstances.  The  value 
of  ricochet  fire  was  considerable  in  the  days  of  smooth  bores, 
firing  round  bullets,  for  the  shot  after  striking  went  on  more 
or  less  in  the  same  line,  and  did  not  rise  very  high.  At 
the  siege  of  Mafeking  we  are  told  that  the  round  shot 
of  Baden  Powell's  smooth-bore  gun  went  skipping  along  for 
all  the  world  like  a  cricket  1)all.  Even  with  such  a  rifle  as 
the  Snider,  ricochets  were  to  some  extent  effective ;  but  with 
modern  weapons  this  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  the  case.  The 
long  bullet  penetrates  where  a  bullet  of  larger  surfaice  might 
glance,  and  its  light  weight  immensely  decreases  its  effect 
when  it  has  lost  velocity  from  a  graze.  The  effect  of  ricochets 
is  absolutely  a  matter  of  chance,  and  depends  upon  the  acci- 
dent of  the  ground.  It  is  impossible  in  such  competitions  as 
those  of  the  Field  Firing  Association,  where  the  shooting  is 


KICOCHETS 


419 


done  onder  similar  conditions  by  teams  on  their  own  local 
ranges,  to  let  ricochets  comit,  if  only  for  the  reason  that  the 
probability  of  ricochets  will  be  .quite  different  on  different 
ranges.  Where,  as  at  Bisley,  targets  are  protected  by  a  high 
bank,  the  only  ricochets  which  can  strike  them  are  those 
which  graze  the  top  of  the  bank,  or  those  which  strike  the 
ground  a  long  way  in  front  of  the  bank,  and  ricochet  over  it. 
Much  the  larger  proportion  of  the  shots  that  strike  low  strike 
the  face  of  the  bank,  and  cannot  possibly  hit  the  target. 
The  softness  of  the  soil,  the  accident  of  there  being  stones, 
the  shape  of  the  ground,  all  will  affect  the  question ; 
and  if  the  aim  of  the  shooter  is,  as  it  should  be,  to  strike 
the  centre  of  his  object,  or,  at  all  events,  to  group  his  series 
of  shots  as  near  as  possible  to  that  centre,  it  is  quite  inad- 
missible to  teach  him  systematically  to  fire  low,  or  to  allow 
a  shot  that,  so  far  as  his  aim  goes,  has  fairly  missed  the 
object  to  count  as  a  hit. 

A  table  is  appended  of  the  targets  in  use  at  Bisley  for  the 
different  distances,  with  diagrams  of  those  used  for  the  Service 
and  Match  rifles : — 

Bisley  Targets.    For  Military  and  Match  Rifles. 


200  yards 


Divisions 


Bull's-eye . 
Inner 


Magpie 
Cater 


Value 


600  and  600  yards 


1900  nnd 


1900«  ,   1901    previous    1901 


I 


YCHrs  I 


Inches  Inches    I     Inches  -  Inches 

Counting      diameter  diameter     diameter  diameter 

6  points              8  '        12        I          7                24 

4      „                  20  24                 14                 36 


32  36  21 

remainder  of  a  taiiget  4  feet 

square 


Inches    I 

diameter  ' 

20        I 

30        ' 


I        4K       ;       40       ' 

remainder  of  a  target 

6  feet  square 


800  to 
1,100  yanls 


Inches 

diameter 

86 

M 

Inches 

square 

72 

remainder 

of  a  target 

12  feet  by 

6  feet 


*  This  target  was  adopted  for  the  standing  position,  and  is  stLll  used  in  the  competitions 
fired  in  that  position  at  200  yards. 


The  targets  used  in  1901  are  illustrated  in  figs.  86,  87,  88. 
The  alterations  made  to  the  targets  for  the  shorter  distances 
became  necessary  owing  to  the  very  long  strings  of  buU's- 


E  E  2 


420 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


eyes  which  could  be  made  with  the  'SOS  rifle  upon  the  targets 
previously  used,  especially  at  200  and  500  yards,  in  the 
lying-down  positions.  The  reduction  in  size  of  the  bull's- 
eye  and  other  divisions  has  done  little  to  reduce  the  scorra 
made.    In  1901  many  scores  within  two  or  three  points  of 


FIG.   86 


FIG.   87 


FIG.   88 


the  highest  possible  failed  to  take  prizes  in  competitions  at  a 
single  distance,  and  under  the  rather  arbitrary  rules  for 
deciding  ties,  a  large  number  of  good  scores  were  counted 
out. 

The    dimensions    of    the    targets    used    for    individoftl 
shooting  in  the  army  are  as  follows  : — 


DIMENSIONS    OF    TARGETS 


421 


BriHah  Military  TargeU  for  IndividtuU  Firing. 


Dirlskma 


BuU'8-eye 
Centre 
Outer  . 


Value 

Coanting 
4  points 
8      „ 
a     „ 


Third  claM 


Inches  diameter 
12 
24 


Seoondclaia 


Inobee  diameter  ' 

24 

48 


remainder  of  a    remainder  of  a 
target  4  feet  -     target  6  feet 
I      square  i      square 


First  clans 


*  Inches  diameter 
86  I 

60  j 

remainder  of  a 
target  6  feet  | 
by  8  feet 


For  sporting  rifles,  miniature  rifles,  and  gallery  shooting, 
the  targets  are  so  much  smaller  that  they  do  not  need  to  be 
on  balanced  frames.  It  is  advisable,  if  circumstances  allow, 
to  have  them  on  a  frame  attached  to  a  little  carriage  running 
upon  rails.  This  can  be  pulled  up  by  an  arrangement  of 
cord  or  wire  and  a  wheel  to  the  firing-point  after  each  series 
of  shots,  and  fresh  targets  inserted,  which  are  sent  down 
to  the  butt  again  in  the  same  way.  The  targets  on  the 
revolver  range  at  Bisley,  both  at  20  and  at  60  yards,  have 
for  some  time  been  fitted  thus,  and  on  the  range  for  the 
Martin  Smith  and  miniature  rifle  competitions  at  100  yards, 
a  similar  mechanism  has  been  introduced.  Such  a  means 
adds  greatly  to  the  safety  of  a  range,  but  it  is  not  available 
beyond  the  distance  at  which  the  shot-holes  can  be  seen  with  a 
good  glass  in  any  ordinary  weather,  otherwise  the  shooter 
has  no  idea  what  he  is  doing.  The  bullet  holes  are  often  any- 
thing but  easy  to  discern  in  the  black  bull's-eye  of  the  Martin 
Smith  target  at  100  yards,  especially  since  the  almost  universal 
reduction  of  bore  in  sporting  rifles. 

The  writer's  experimental  shooting  at  100  yards,  a  very 
good  distance  for  a  preliminary  testing  of  charges  and  of 
rifles,  is  done  at  the  Martin  Smith  target  12  inches  square, 
with  a  8-inch  bull's-eye,  dropped  into  a  frame  in  the  front 
end  of  a  wooden  box,  8  feet  long,  and  about  18  in.  square  at  the 
further  end,  packed  with  damp  sawdust.  From  this  the  bullets 
are  recovered  uninjured,  except  in  the  case  of  those  which  are 
specially  arranged  to  break  up  in  soft-skinned  animals.  The 
lid  of  the  box  can  be  removed,  and  the  sawdust  sifted  out,  to 
recover  the  bullets.  Perhaps  this  arrangement  does  not  fairly 
come  under  the  heading  of  target  equipment,  as  it  has  its  own 
special  use,  but  it  is  worth  describing  for  the  benefit  of  those 


422 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


who  like  to  examine  the  fired  bullet,  from  which  much  of 
interest  may  often  be  learnt.  The  use  of  a  water  tank  with 
a  hole  in  the  side  covered  with  a  piece  of  rubber  through 
which  the  shots  are  fired,  is  too  troublesome  and  expensive 
for  most  private  ranges.  With  this,  the  bullets  fall  to  the 
bottom  of  the  tank  and  are  caught  on  perforated  trays,  which 
can  be  lifted  out.  The  strain  on  the  joints  of  the  tank 
from  the  hydraulic  pressure  set  up  by  the  bullets,  is  con- 
siderable, and  tends  to  leakage. 

It  is  well  to  be  able  to  shoot  on  occasion  at  very 
much  shorter  distances  than  100  yards.  With  an  unknown 
rifle  or  charge  there  is  a  very  great  probability  of  missing  too 
small  a  mark  for  the  first  few  shots.  Targets  should  always 
cover  a  wide  enough  angle  to  provide  against  such  con- 
tingencies, and  for  general  use,  as  for  club  shooting  at 
100  yards,  the  Martin  Smith  target  is  a  good  deal  too  small. 
The  targets  used  at  Bisley  for  revolver  shooting  are  excellent 
for  their  purpose,  and  the  50  yards  revolver  target  is  by  no 
means  a  bad  pattern  for  general  rifle  work  at  100  yards. 

For  Spobtino  Rifles. 


Martin  Smith  Target ;  distance^  100  yards. 

Central  bull,  2    inches  diameter  ....     counting  7  marks. 

Bull's-eye,      3 

»i            »»••••            »» 

6      „ 

Third  ring,     4^ 

II                 »*.••••                 n 

5      „ 

Fourth  ring,   6^ 

•  I                 »»••••                 »» 

4      „ 

Fifth  ring,       9 

»»                 „            .            .            .            .                 „ 

3      „ 

Sixth  ring,    12 

li                   >»••••                   II 

2      „ 

Target, 

1  foot  square ;  the  comers  do  not  count. 

Revolver  Target ;  distance^  20  yards. 
Similai'  to  above,  but  only  the  2 -inch  bull^s-eye  is  blackened. 


Revolver  Target ;  dist€mcet  60  yards. 

Target,  circular,  on  a  square  card,  subdivided  as  follows : — 

Bull's-eye,  4  inches  diameter        ....  counting  7  marks. 

6  inches  diameter,  ring  1    inch  wide    ...  m       6      „ 

9      It            II            II     IJ     i»      II       •        •        •  II       6      „ 

13      „            „            „    2    inches  wide        .        .  „       4      „ 

18       „             „             „     2j       II         II            •         •  II       8       It 

24       „             ,,             I)     3         „         „             .         .  „        ^       „ 
The  comers  do  not  count. 


GALLEKY    TAEGETS 


423 


The  size  of  the  miniature  standard  targets  recommended 
by  the  National  Rifle  Association  for  club  use  up  to  100  yards 
will  be  found  on  p.  587. 

Gallery  ranges  of  from  25  to  85  yards  were  formerly  a  good 
deal  in  fashion  in  New  York,  and  the  writer  remembers  seeing 
one  some  years  ago  on  Messrs.  Rigby*s  premises  in  Dublin. 
The  weapon  most  commonly  used,  as  has  been  before  said,  in 
such  indoor  ranges,  is  the  American  rifle  of  '220  calibre  or 
thereabouts.     In  this  case  no  very  elaborate  arrangement  is 


FIG.  89 


FIG.   00 


necessary  to  stop  the  bullet,  but  it  is  as  well  to  catch  the 
bullets,  and  not  to  let  them  break  up  on  an  iron  plate  for 
fear  of  splinters.  A  favourite  American  target  for  gallery 
shooting  (usually  done  off-hand)  at  25  yards  used  to  be  as 
shown  in  fig.  89.  This  target  measures  8*25  inches  in 
height  by  6-8  inches  in  width.  The  bull's-eye  is  1-2  inch  in 
diameter,  having  an  inner  carton  of  one-half  that  diameter . 
The  inner  circle  is  3*25  inches  across,  and  the  next  circle 


424  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

5-4  inches.  The  Standard  Amwican  target  for  use  at 
200  yards  shown  in  fig.  90  was  adopted  in  January  1886,  by 
a  majority  of  the  American  rifle  clubs  voting  upon  various 
proposals  for  targets.  It  is  practically  the  same  as  the 
target  designed  by  Major  Charles  W.  Hinman,  and  known  as 
the  Massachusetts  Decimal  Target.  The  Standard  Target 
has  the  following  dimensions  : 


DUmeter  of  Circle?. 

Width  of  Rinfs. 

10  circle,  3*36  inohea. 

9      „ 

5-54 

„ 

9,  109  inches. 

8      „ 

8 

»> 

8,  1-23      „ 

7      „ 

11 

ti 

7. 1-50      ., 

6      „ 

14-80 

tt 

6,  1-90      „ 

6      „ 

19-68 

»i 

5. 2-44      „ 

4      „ 

26 

„ 

4. 316      „ 

3      „ 

34-22 

It 

3, 4-11       „ 

2      „ 

46 

1* 

2, 5-89       „ 

1  Balance  of  target,  4x6  feet. 

For  rest  shooting  two  circles  within  the  central  10  were 
afterwards  added,  counting  11  and  12.  They  are  2-33  and 
1-41  inches  in  diameter.  This  is  a  good  target,  as  giving  a 
high  value  to  close  shots,  but  for  military  rifles  and  prize 
meetings  on  a  large  scale  it  is  hardly  suitable. 

The  small  targets  used  for  pistol  shooting  or  gallery  prac- 
tice are  very  convenient,  inasmuch  as  the  firer  can  take  away 
with  him  his  own  targets  if  he  pleases,  and  this  is  always  a 
source  of  interest.  The  writer  knows  one  house  in  Sussex 
where  several  Martin  Smith  targets,  with  groups  of  shots  on 
them  of  exceptional  merit,  are  framed  and  hung  as  a  record 
of  the  joint  capacity  of  the  owner  and  his  Mannlicher  rifle. 
To  those  who  have  not  at  hand  the  means  of  firing  on  a 
long  range,  a  short  range  of  from  50  to  100  yards,  on  which 
military  rifles  can  safely  be  used,  is  of  great  value,  although  it 
does  not  constitute  a  supreme  test.  The  writer  has  frequently 
made  preliminary  trials  of  the  merits  of  different  charges  at 
50  yards,  and  has  been  able  to  discard  on  this  test  those  which 
showed  any  considerable  want  of  accuracy. 


425 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  HTTHE  RANGES— FIOURB  TARGETS — FALLING  TARGETS — BALLOON 
TARGETS — TORPEDO  TARGET — OWL  TARGET — THE  POPINJAY — TEAM 
MATCH  AT  BREAKABLE  TARGETS — THE  RUNNING  DEER — MOVING 
TARGETS— ALLOWANCE  FOR  MOTION  OF  OBJECT 

The  School  of  Mosketry  at  Hythe  has  a  good  asBortment  of 
ranges,  some  fitted  with  iron  targets,  and  others  with  canvas 
targets  on  a  similar  system  to  that  used  at  Bisley.  It  has 
also  arrangements  for  targets  which  move  across  the  line  of 
fire,  or  diagonally  to  it.  A  very  pretty  target  is  one  repre- 
senting a  section  of  advancing  cavalry.  There  are  half  a 
dozen  figures  of  horsemen  alongside  each  other,  which  come 
on  at  a  rapid  pace.  Firing  begins  as  soon  as  they  appear 
at  about  800  yards  from  the  firing-point,  and  as  they  advance 
gradually  one  and  another  falls  until  they  have  all  tumbled 
over  and  disappeared  from  view  before  the  end  of  the  run, 
about  200  yards  from  the  firing  party.  The  effect  is  excel- 
lent, but  it  is  not  really  the  bullets  which  knock  them  over. 
They  are  fastened  on  a  frame  carried  upon  wheels  which  run 
upon  rails.  The  figures  are  hinged,  and  at  certain  places  in 
the  course  projections  are  arranged  which  trip  over  one  or 
another  of  the  figures  as  they  pass.  This  is  perhaps  as 
realistic  a  target  as  it  is  possible  to  make.  Within  the  last 
two  or  three  years  an  interesting  developement  in  targets, 
imported  apparently  from  abroad,  has  been  tried  at  Hythe. 
A  wooden  framework  of  some  size  has  been  erected,  upon 
which  boards  and  screens  fitted  to  it  can  be  fastened.  These 
are  shaped  and  painted  to  represent  a  house,  a  church  tower, 
&c.,  so  that  an  attack  on  an  outlying  portion  of  a  village 
can  be  simulated.  There  is  also  mechanism  worked  from 
sheltered  trenches  by  which  figures  of  men  are  made  to  cross 
in  front  of  the  building,   to  enter  a  door,  to  appear  at  a 


426  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

window,  See.,  while  a  sentry  is  suddenly  seen  moving  to  and 
fro  in  front  of  bis  box,  and  anotber  figure  appears  for  a  few 
moments  at  tbe  top  of  tbe  cburch  tower  and  begins  to  wave  a 
flag.     Wbere  targets  arranged  on  sucb  a  principle  as  tbis 
can  be  safely  sbot  at,  no  better  practice  can  be  imagined. 
Tbe  firing  party  bas  to  advance  witb  caution,  and  be  pre- 
pared to  open  fire  on  tbe  appearance  of  any  of  tbe  enemy  ;  and 
fire  must  be  opened  smartly  or  probably  tbe  figure  will  have 
disappeared.     Another  distinctive  feature  at  Hythe  is  a  large 
target  some  80  feet  square,  made  of  iron  plates   fastened 
upon   a   brick   butt,  which  can  be  used  for  shooting  ap  to 
2,000  yards.     Hythe  has  the  immense  advantage  of  having  the 
sea  behind  the  targets,  so  that  the  shooting  is  very  safe,  but 
its  flat  shingles  lend  an  air  of  unreality  to  attack  practices, 
while  the  going  is  (speaking  generally)  as  heavy  as  in  any 
ploughed  field.     It  seems  a  pity  that  the  School  of  Shooting 
in  this  country  should  be  divorced  from  our  chief  military 
centres  of  Aldershot  and   Salisbury  Plain,  and  should   not 
even  be  upon  ground  of  fairly  normal  features.    An  immense 
amount  of  instruction  may  be  gained  on  a  small  piece  of 
country  of  varied  contour,  with  rows  of  targets  which   can 
be  made  to   appear   and   disappear  quickly,    concealed    in 
trenches  in  many  parts  of  it.     Not  only  good  shooting,  but 
the  proper  tactical  handling  of  fire,  can  under  such  circum- 
stances  be   taught.     A   new  enemy,  for  instance,  suddenly 
appearing  towards  a  flank,  will  necessitate  a  rapid  change 
of  dispositions,  and  the  opening  of  fire  in  a  new  direction, 
while  a   really    sharp    look-out    has    to    be  kept.       Such 
features  as   these  are  usually  absent  from  field  firing   as 
hitherto  carried  out.     To  obtain  them  to  the  best  advantage 
it  is  essential  that  there  should  be  a  sufficiently  large  number 
of  installations  of  targets  for  the  instructor  conducting  the 
practice  to  be  able  to  make  his  choice  at  any  moment  among 
several   that  he   could   cause   to   be   shown.     This   enables 
surprises  to  be  made  even  where  the  firing  squad  and  its 
officers  already  have  some  knowledge  of  the  ground  and  the 
general  position  of  the  targets. 

For   purposes   of    practice  in   the   field   special    targets 
are  desirable.     The  idea  of  shooting  at  targets  representing 


FIGUKE    TARGETS  427 

figures  of  men  is  a  very  natural  one,  and  has  at  times  been 
carried  to  extremes  in  the  desire  to  make  military  shooting 
practical.    The  roughly -blocked-out  row  of  black  figures  upon 
a  white  ground  which  was  so  much  in  vogue  some  years  ago 
for  military  practice,  is,  in  fact,  hardly  more  practical,  if  at 
all,  than  the  target  with  the  bull's-eye  upon  it.     The  black 
figures  produced  an  effect  quite  different  from  that  of  real 
figures  of  men,  and  there  being  no  obvious  central  point  of 
the  target  at  which  aim  could  be  directed,  the  shooter  had 
no  assistance  in  learning  to  shoot  accurately.     There  is  this 
much  to  be  said  for  the  bull's-eye,  that  though  it  is  a  well- 
defined  mark,  quite  unlike  anything  that  will  be  shot  at  in 
sport  or  war,  it  teaches  the  shooter  to  be  extremely  careful  of 
his  aim  both  in  elevation  and  in  direction.     The  assumption, 
which  is  only  now  being  abandoned,  that  the  mark  to  be  shot 
at  in  war  will  be  a  row  of  full-length  figures  close  together 
even  within  the  distance  at  which  the  trajectory  of  the  bullet 
is  within  a  man's  height,  is  one  which  has  long  been  un- 
warrantable except  under  conditions  of  savage  warfare.     The 
mark  in  war  may  be,  as  in  South  Africa,  almost  invisible.     It 
may  be  that  some  portion  of  an  enemy's  figure  will  be  seen ; 
but  it  can  only  be  exceptionally,  and  then  not  under  conditions 
suitable  for  deliberate  firing,  that  the  whole  of  it  will  be  ex- 
posed.   Nor  will  the  colour  of  the  foe  in  future  be  much  nearer 
to  that  of  lamp-black  than  is  a  stag's  coat.     Figure  targets, 
for  field  firing,  at  all  events,  should  never  be  black,  and 
especially  not  black  on  a  white  ground,  although  for  teaching 
accuracy,  and  testing  accuracy,  the  first  condition  of  all  is« 
that  the  mark  should  be  absolutely  distinct.     This  is  why 
for   ordinary  range  practice  khaki   targets   are  unsuitable. 
Their  distinctness  varies  with  the  changes  of  light,  even  sup- 
posing their  colour  not  to  be  changed  by  wet.     The  Swiss  in 
their  military  target  endeavour  to  combine  the  figure  target 
and  the  bull's-eye  target   by  placing  a  head  and  shoulders 
figure,  such  as  conventionally  represents  a  man  lying  down, 
within  the  central  circle   of   the  target.     This   is   probably 
useful  to  indicate  to  the  firer  the  degree  of  accuracy  required 
to  hit  an  enemy  lying  down  in  open  ground  at   any  given 
distance,  but  for  instructional  purposes  it  is  less  good  than 


428 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


the  circular  black  buirs-eye.  In  the  Swiss  course  of  instruc- 
tion the  recruit  proceeds  to  shoot,  from  behind  cover  and 
with  a  rest  for  his  rifle,  at  targets  divided  into  bands,  with 
rows  of  figures  represented  upon  them.  These  Swiss  military 
targets  are  shown  in  fig.  91. 


FIG,  01 


We  borrow  from  Mr.  Gould's  admirable  book  a  sketch 
of  some  very  good  silhouette  figure  targets,  designed  for 
American  army  practice  by  Captain  Blunt«  (figs.  92,  98,  94). 
It  is  better  to  make  such  figures  of  mill-board,  and  to  support 


FIG.  94 


FIG.  9ft 


them  on  a  light  wooden  upright,  than  to  have  the  figures 
made  in  iron  wire  and  covered  with  canvas.  The  appearance 
of  the  same  figures  at  a  distance  is  shown  in  fig.  95. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  try   to   subdivide   figure  targels  for 


FALLING    TABGETS  429 

Bcoring  parposes,  unleBS,  as  with  the  running  deer  or  man 
at  Bisley,  the  distance  is  short  enough  to  allow  of  a  wide 
distinction  being  fairly  made  between  the  right  and  the 
wrong  partr  of  the  figure.  In  shooting,  for  instance,  at  the 
figure  of  a  rabbit  at  100  yards,  a  bull's-eye  to  represent  the 
immediately  vital  parts  would  have  to  include  the  brain,  the 
neck,  the  heart,  and  the  spine,  and  very  little  else,  but  at 
such  a  distance  it  is  almost  an  absolute  fluke  as  to  whether  a 
well-directed  shot  does  or  does  not  touch  a  vital  spot. 

Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  devise  a  penetrable 
target  which  would  fall  on  being  struck  by  a  bullet.  The 
problem  is  by  no  means  an  easy  one.  The  target  must 
be  80  arranged  that  it  will  stand  firm  in  a  strong  wind, 
and  yet  infallibly  be  knocked  over  by  the  slight  jar  made 
by  the  bullet  passing  through  it.  The  most  successful 
target  of  this  kind  that  the  writer  has  seen  is  one  on 
a  principle  invented  by  Captain  Otter,  of  the  Swiss  army. 
It  is  a  head  and  shoulders  target  made  of  wood  from 
half  to  three-quarters  of  an  inch  thick  (fig.  96).  This  is 
placed  nearly  upright  on  the  ground,  and  is  supported  by 
a  light  bar  of  wood  about  2  feet  long,  one  end  of  which, 
being  pointed,  bears  upon  the  ground,  while  about  8  inches 
from  the  other  end  a  slight  notch  is  cut,  which  fits  against  the 
shoulder  or  some  projecting  nail  or  hook  on  the  target.  A 
lever  9  or  10  inches  long,  made  of  iron,  turns  freely  on  a 
pivot  fixed  at  about  3  inches  from  one  end  just  below  the 
point  against  which  the  support  rests.  This  lever  tends  to 
hang  from  its  pivot  with  the  long  end  downwards,  but  a  small 
rounded  peg,  projecting  not  more  than  about  jVr  inch  from 
the  surface  of  the  target,  is  so  fixed  that  it  will  support  the 
long  end  and  keep  the  lever  horizontal  when  the  target  is . 
sloped  slightly  backward.  In  setting  the  target  the  lever  is 
placed  horizontally,  and  held  fast  while  the  support  is 
arranged  so  as  to  keep  the  target  nearly  upright.  On  a  shot 
striking  the  target  jar  enough  is  given  to  it  to  release  the 
lever  from  off  the  peg  ;  the  long  end  of  it  falls,  and  the  short 
end,  rising  against  the  projecting  end  of  the  supporting 
wooden  bar,  lifts  it  so  that  its  notch  no  longer  supports 
the  target,  which  therefore  falls  over. 


430 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    KIFLE 


Such  a  target  when  made  of  wood  answers  its  purpose 
more  satisfactorily  than  others  on  a  similar  principle  made 
of  millboard  or  papier-mache.  A  certain  thickness  of  wood 
is  required  to  develope  the  jar  caused  by  the  bullet. 

A  few  targets  on  this  principle  set  among  screens, 
on   which   head   and   shoulders   targets  are  painted,  are  of 


FIG.  96 


immense  assistance  in  field  firing,  and  show  when  the 
sighting  is  correct,  and  the  fire  effective,  much  as  a  living 
mark  would  show  it.  It  is  a  great  disadvantage  of  fixed 
targets  that  there  is  so  little  to  indicate  when  the  range 
has  been  found  and  the  bullets  are  striking  in  the  proper 
place.  These  falling  targets  have  two  disadvantages.  First, 
they  require  some  little  care   in   setting,  and  each  has  to 


FANCY    TARGETS  431 

be  separately  put  up  in  readiness  for  the  shooting,  a  matter 
of  some  labour  if  a  large  position  is  to  be  represented  as 
being  held.  Secondly,  when,  as  happens  sometimes,  a 
bullet  strikes  the  iron  lever,  it  usually  smashes  the  whole 
target. 

To  vary  rifle  practice  and  to  make  it  interesting,  balloon 
targets  have  sometimes  been  used.  These  are  merely  inflated 
bladders  such  as  children  use  for  toys,  of  about  the  size  of  a 
man's  head.  It  is  an  excellent  test  of  marksmanship  for  the 
individual  to  see  whether  he  can  break  six  of  these  in  six 
shots  at  150  or  200  yards  in  a  limited  time.  The  only 
objection  to  them  is  that  they  require  some  preparation,  that 
they  are  not  very  steady  in  a  wind  (although  this  is  not 
necessarily  a  disadvantage),  that  sometimes  they  are  liable 
to  deflate  themselves  without  being  punctured  by  a  bullet,  and 
that  if  not  absolutely  spoiled  by  the  shot  they  require  patching 
before  being  used  again.  When  these  fragile  targets  are  used 
they  should  be  placed  so  that  they  cannot  easily  be  broken 
by  stones  or  bits  of  earth  thrown  up  by  the  bullets  striking 
short. 

In  1863  at  Wimbledon  there  was  pool  shooting  at  plates 
of  common  crockery,  but  the  broken  fragments  of  such  targets 
are  apt  to  lie  about  and  become  a  nuisance. 

Fancy  targets  are  sometimes  useful  and  interesting,  since 
they  make  variety  for  competitors,  but  they  are  as  a  rule 
unsuited  to  ordinary  competitions,  or  to  the  conditions  of  a 
large  meeting.  Much  interest  was  taken  at  the  Wimbledon 
meeting  of  1877  in  what  was  called  a  torpedo  target.  It 
had  been  arranged  by  Mr.  Martin  Smith  and  Mr.  Metford, 
and  consisted  of  an  ordinary  third-class  canvas  target  with 
a  6-inch  bull's-eye  for  shooting  at  200  yards.  In  front  of 
the  bull's-eye  was  an  invisible  disc  of  wood,  4  inches  in 
diameter.  If  this  disc  were  hit  its  movement  discharged  a 
Snider  rifle  loaded  with  a  blank  cartridge,  concealed  behind 
the  target.  Some  such  device,  giving  as  it  does  a  very  con- 
spicuous result  to  a  successful  shot,  is  worth  adopting  at 
times  for  novelty's  sake. 

At  Wimbledon  at  a  much  earlier  period  (1864)  an  endea- 
vour was  made  to  establish  a  competition  for  firing  at  night, 


432  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

and  the  following  is  the  advertisement  which  notified  it  to  the 
competitors : 

Owl  Shooting  Extraordinary. 
Oh  yes  I  Oh  yes ! 
Take  Notice  AIL 

A  prize  of  £50  has  been  given  by  the  Venerable  the  Owls,  of  the  Owl 
newspaper,  to  be  competed  for  on  such  terms  as  the  Council  may  hx. 

Out  of  consideration  for  the  generous  but  benighted  donors,  the 
Council  have  determined  that  the  competition  shall  take  place  in  the 
dark,  at  the  200  [yards]  Pool  Targets. 

Lights,  called  Owl's-eyes,  will  be  substituted  for  the  plates  now  used 
as  bull's-eyes  at  these  pools. 

Conditions : — 

Each  competitor  shall  pay  1«.  per  shot  as  at  pool,  and  if  the  com- 
petitors do  not  appear  in  great  numbers, 

*  The  moping  owl  will  to  the  moon  complain/ 

The  prize,  which  will  be  in  the  form  of  a  beautiful  silver  owl,  shall  be 
adjudged  to  the  competitor  who  shall,  by  the  end  of  the  meeting,  have 
made  the  greatest  number  of  owPs-eyes ;  that  is,  who  shaU  have  oftcnest 
knocked  out  the  owl's-eye,  or  broken  the  glasses  by  which  it  will  be 
shaded. 

Every  precaution  has  been  taken  to  guard  against  accident. 

The  shooting  will  commence  at  dusk. 

The  shooting  at  this  target  was  decidedly  difficult,  the 
small  disc  of  light  being  a  very  unsatisfactory  object  against 
which  to  define  the  sights.  Many  competitors  entered  and 
fired  a  series  of  five  shots,  the  signals  from  the  target  being 
made  by  means  of  coloured  lanterns.  Mr.  Martin  Smith 
won  the  first  prize,  hitting  the  *  owl's-eye '  four  times  in  ten 
shots.  One  competitor  burnt  his  hand  badly  in  preparing 
phosphorus  to  make  his  sight  luminous.  The  competition 
was  never  repeated ;  it  was  not  practical,  and  it  involved 
considerable  elements  of  danger. 

Mr.  Gould  describes  a  fancy  target,  borrowed  probably 
from  Germany,  made  to  be  set  up  on  a  pole  some  40  feet 
high.  The  various  parts  of  a  double  spread  eagle>  holding  a 
ball,  sceptre,  &c.,  and  decorated  with  flags  and  a  crown,  which 
are  pegged  into  a  thick  wooden  shield,  have  to  be  succes- 
sively knocked  away  by  well-placed  shots.  In  the  centre  of 
the  body  is  a  circular  iron  plate,   with  a   }-inch   hole   in 


OWL    AND    POPINJAY    SHOOTING  433 

the  centre,  and  a  bullet  penetrating  this  explodes  finally  a 
dynamite  cartridge,  which  destroys  the  remains  of  the  bird's 
body,  after  its  limbs,  and  appendages  have  all  been  shot 
away.  The  custom  of  shooting  at  such  a  bird-target  is  no 
doubt  the  lineal  successor  of  the  ancient  fashion  of  shoot- 
ing at  a  popinjay,  or  other  bird,  fastened  to  the  top  of  a 
pole,  which  has  existed  from  time  immemorial  in  this  and 
other  countries.  Indeed,  it  is  described  in  Virgil's  account 
of  the  sports  in  the  fifth  book  of  the  *  xEneid.'  The  bow  and 
arrow  were  the  weapons  used  ;  the  first  shooter  struck  the  top 
of  the  mast,  the  second  cut  the  cord  by  which  the  pigeon  was 
tied  to  it ;  the  third  pierced  the  l)ird  as  it  flew  away  and 
brought  it  to  the  ground.     In  the  last  couplet : 

*  Decidit  exanimis,  vitamqiie  reliquit  in  astris 
Aeriis,  fixamciue  lefert  delapsa  safjittain,' 

we  seem  to  hear  the  rustling  fall  of  the  bird,  more  and  more 
rapid  until  at  last  it  strikes  the  earth. 

The  mythical  feat  of  pigeon  shooting  here  described  is 
worthy  of  the  traditions  of  Eobin  Hood  and  Little  John,  and, 
it  must  be  feared,  as  a  matter  of  skill,  as  impossible  as  any 
of  their  performances. 

An  interesting  match  between  two  small  teams  may  be 
made  as  follows.  The  distance  being  200  to  BOO  yards,  the 
teams  are  drawn  up  alongside  each  other,  with  a  small  in- 
terval, and  numbered  from  right  to  left.  At  the  butt  oj^posite 
each  team  is  a  row  of  small  targets,  similarly  numbered,  and 
each  representing  one  man  of  the  opposing  team.  The  targets 
may  l>e  of  some  fragile  material ;  cheap  white  dinner  plates 
answer  very  well,  or  they  may  be  bladders,  such  as  have  just 
l>een  described,  or  any  sort  of  targets  which  fall  when  hit. 
Small  iron  or  steel  plates  can  be  made  to  answer  the  purpose. 
In  fact,  the  only  essentials  are  that  they  should  be  quite  in- 
dependent of  each  other,  and  should  disappear  when  struck 
by  a  bullet.  The  teams  begin  firing  at  the  same  moment. 
Let  us  call  them  Team  A  and  Team  B.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  rounds  Team  B,  which  is  firing  at  the  row  of  targets 
representing  the  members  of  Team  A,  hits  No.  1  target  of  that 
row.     The  umpire  with  Team  A   (there  being  an  umpire  for 

F  F 


434  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

each  team)  at  once  puts  out  of  action  No.  1,  the  right-hand 
man  of  the  team.  He  is  treated  as  a  dead  man,  and  his 
ammunition  may  be  used  by  the  survivors.  Similarly,  Team 
A  may  quickly  put  one  of  the  members  of  Team  B  out  of 
action.  It  may  be  good  tactics  to  concentrate  fire  upon  the 
targets  representing  the  best  shots  of  the  opposite  team. 
The  match  is  won  by  the  team  which  has  the  greater  number 
of  survivors  —  targets  and  men— when  the  stated  number  of 
rounds  have  been  expended,  or  when  the  firing  has  continued 
for  the  time  agreed  upon ;  or  the  event  may  be  fought  out  to 
a  quasi-bloody  finish,  and  decided  by  the  complete  extermina- 
tion of  one  side  or  the  other.  Such  a  match,  though  unsuited 
to  a  large  gathering  at  which  competitors  are  many,  accom- 
modation limited,  and  time  short,  has  very  practical  features. 
There  is  something  in  it  of  that  element  of  excitement  which 
is  prominent  in  sport  and  in  war,  and  very  apt  to  be  de- 
moralising to  the  inexperienced.  Such  a  match,  too,  gives 
something  of  the  spectacular  interest  in  which  rifle  practice 
is  usually  so  deficient,  for  the  effect  of  the  shooting  is  plainly 
visible  and  immediate. 

Practice  at  moving  targets  is  by  no  means  so  easy  to 
arrange  as  at  fixed  ones,  but  it  is  of  great  value  in  giving 
command  of  the  trigger  and  cultivating  that  decision  of  mind 
which  is  necessary  to  make  a  successful  shot  in  the  field.  The 
best  known  moving  target  is  undoubtedly  the  running  deer,  as 
used  at  Wimbledon  and  Bisley  for  many  years  past.  We  are 
permitted  to  give  (Plate  XLVIII)  a  copy  of  the  life-size  drawing 
which  Sir  Edwin  Landseer  made  at  Lord  Wemyss'  request  in 
1864  as  a  model  for  the  running  deer  target  then  set  up  at 
Wimbledon.  The  drawing  has  been  ever  since  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  National  Bifle  Association.  The  Wimbledon  deer 
was  very  heavy,  being  made  of  a  thick  iron  plate,  and  was 
mounted  upon  a  heavy  little  truck,  and  so  pivoted  that  it 
could  be  turned  round  on  arrival  at  one  end  or  other  of  its 
run  so  as  always  to  travel  head  foremost.  The  deer  thus 
mounted  runs  upon  rails  of  a  narrow  gauge,  and  being  pushed 
off  at  the  top  of  an  incline,  runs  down  it  and  maintains 
sufficient  impetus  to  mount  up  the  opposite  inclination  and 
to  reach  the  other  marker's  butt.     At  Bisley  the  whole  length 


o 

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A 


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9 

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r  F  2 


THE  RUNNING    DEER  437 

of  the  rim  is  about  55  yards,  and  the  amount  of  the  dip 
4  feet  (5  inches.  Two  white  posts  are  placed  upright  in  front 
of  the  range  25  yards  apart  and  at  a  few  yards'  distance 
from  the  markers'  butts  ;  these  limit  the  part  of  the  run 
available  for  firing,  so  that  the  men  may  not  be  endangered 
by  the  discharge  of  a  shot  at  the  deer  just  as  it  is  entering 
the  butt.  With  the  deer  made  of  iron  there  was  always  some 
clanger  from  the  fragments  of  the  bullets,  and  the  markers 
were  occasionally  cut  by  splashes  of  lead.  The  introduction 
of  high-velocity  rifles  with  compound  bullets  increased  this 
danger  considerably,  and  in  consequence  the  running  deer, 
like  the  other  targets,  has  now  been  made  penetrable,  and  is 
merely  composed  of  thin  planking  covered  with  paper,  and 
held  in  place  by  two  uprights.  Unfortunately  the  antlers, 
which  were  a  feature  of  the  iron  deer,  have  had  to  be  dis- 
carded in  the  case  of  the  wooden  one.  The  deer  is  painted 
a  yellowish  brown  colour,  and  although  a  six-inch  bull's-eye 
(representing  the  heart)  and  an  inner  ring  are  outlined  upon 
it,  these  are  not  coloured  differently  from  other  parts  of  the 
animal,  and  are  not  visible  from  the  tiring-point.  Another 
division  marks  the  haunch,  which  is  very  easy  to  be  hit  by 
the  inexperienced,  and  by  the  old  Wimbledon  rules  involved, 
when  hit,  a  substantial  fine.  A  low  bank  in  front  of  the 
track  hides  not  only  the  rails,  but  the  carriage  on  which  the 
deer  is  fitted,  so  as  to  save  it  from  damage,  and  makes  it 
appear  as  if  the  deer  were  moving  along  the  ground.  The 
figure  of  a  running  man,  arranged  on  exactly  the  same  prin- 
ciples, is  fitted  to  the  same  track. 

We  give  (Plate  XLIX)  an  illustration  of  the  runnmg 
deer  range  at  Bisley,  with  Mr.  Ranken  in  the  foreground  in 
the  act  of  firing,  and  the  deer  in  the  middle  of  its  course. 
The  dummies,  painted  white,  on  which  the  hits  are  marked 
are  also  visible.  The  distance  for  shooting  at  the  running 
deer  is  100  yards,  and  Mr.  Ranken's  record  score  of  22  out  of 
a  possible  24  points,  five  bull's-eyes  and  one  outer  in  six 
shots,  is  well  worthy  of  mention. 

The  iron  deer  was  equally  good  on  either  side,  and  could 
he  reversed,  but  with  the  wooden  deer  this  is  not  possible, 
chiefly  on   account  of  the  splintering  on  the  far  side  by  the 


488  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

penetration  of  the  bullets.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  have 
two  deer  facing  opposite  ways,  the  one  facing  to  the  right 
being  carried  flat  upon  the  truck  so  as  to  be  out  of  sight 
while  the  run  is  made  to  the  left,  and  vice  versa.  It  is  con- 
venient to  tix  the  two  deer  nearly  at  right  angles  to  each 
other  on  a  horizontal  pivot  in  the  middle  of  the  truck,  so 
that  raising  one  lowers  the  other.  Sir  Edmund  Loder's 
running-deer  range  at  Leonardslee  has  the  deer  fitted  in 
this  way.  A  great  advantage  of  the  reduced  weight  of  the 
penetrable  target  is  that  the  carriage  can  be  made  much 
lighter,  and  with  well-made  wheels  and  rails  the  labour  of 
starting  it  is  by  no  means  the  severe  task  which  it  used  to  be 
when  the  deer  was  made  of  solid  steel  or  iron. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  make  simple  arrangements  to  show 
moving  targets  on  an  ordinary  range.  A  figure  target  may 
be  carried  above  his  head  by  a  man  walking  in  the  markers* 
gallecy  of  a  range,  or  it  may  be  carried  upon  a  small  truck  or 
sledge  worked  by  a  windlass  ;  or  it  may  be  hung  upon  wires. 

Moving  targets  for  gallery  shooting  and  shooting  at  short 
distances  are  made  on  various  principles.  One  modern  idea 
is  to  set  up  an  oscillating  incline  upon  which  rolls  a  hoop 
2  or  8  feet  in  diameter  fitted  in  or  near  the  centre  with  a 
small  circular  target.  Or  the  track  may  be  straight  and  may 
have  a  hinged  piece  at  either  end,  which  can  be  raised  high 
enough  to  give  the  necessary  impetus.  In  either  case  the 
mechanism  can  be  arranged  for  short  distances  to  be  worked 
from  the  firing-point.  Such  principles  as  these  admit  of  a 
variety  of  modifications.  In  one  system  hoop  targets  run 
between  wire  guides  which  prevent  their  leaving  the  track  or 
falling  sideways.  It  is  both  interesting  work  and  useful 
practice  to  shoot  with  a  small  rifle  at  a  block  of  wood  hanging 
by  a  long  cord  or  chain  so  as  to  swing  slowly  across  an  open- 
ing. To  make  good  shooting  at  a  moving  target  it  is  necessary 
to  be  able  to  fire  correctly,  not  only  for  line  and  for  elevation, 
but  for  time,  that  is,  to  discharge  the 'shot  at  the  precise 
instant  when  the  aim  is  right.  It  is  truly  said  in  *  The  Per- 
fection of  Military  Discipline  after  the  Newest  Method '  (1690) 
that  *  in  firing  at  a  thing  in  motion  you  must  consider  the 
swiftness  of  it  and  fire  in  your  aim  a  distance  before,  and  so 


SHOOTING    AT    MOVING    OBJECTS  ^41 

the  bullet  by  that  it  moves  that  space  will  be  there,  for 
although  a  bullet  is  carried  with  impetuosity,  yet  all  motions 
require  time.' 

Shooting  at  the  running  deer  at  Bisley  is  decidedly 
less  diflScult  with  modern  rifles,  with  which,  owing  to  the 
greater  speed  of  the  bullet,  the  aim  is  little  more  than  a  foot 
in  front  of  the  point  to  be  hit,  than  it  was  with  the  old 
Express  rifles,  or  with  the  rook  rifles  so  often  used  at 
Wimbledon,  which  required  two  or  three  times  this  amount 
of  allowance.  One  very  old  shot.  Lord  Wemyss,  considers 
that  the  best  way  to  maintain  the  elevation  and  to  get  the 
allowance  on  any  running  animal  is  to  aim  first  of  all  behind 
him,  and  then,  swinging  the  rifle  so  that  the  sights  pass  over 
his  body  at  the  right  height,  to  fire  when  what  is  judged  to 
be  a  proper  distance  in  front  has  been  gained.  Of  these  things 
the  writer  does  not  speak  as  an  expert,  but,  as  in  shooting  with 
the  gun,  the  secret  of  success  certainly  lies  in  forming  the 
habit  of  not  checking  the  motion  of  the  weapon  at  the  instant 
at  which  it  is  fired.  A  very  experienced  shot  with  the  rifle 
at  moving  objects  once  expressed  strongly  his  conviction  that 
it  is  all-important  to  move  the  whole  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
body  with  the  rifle,  turning  it  upon  the  hips,  and  not  to 
attempt  to  let  the  arms  do  the  work. 

The  allowance  in  front  of  the  object  aimed  at  consists, 
ii»  the  rifle  be  kept  moving  until  the  bullet  leaves  it,  in  the 
tmvel  of  the  object  during  the  flight  of  the  bullet ;  but  if  the 
rifle  is  pitched  up  and  fired  at  a  point  ahead  of  the  object, 
additional  allowance  will  be  required  on  account  of  the  time 
which  the  impulse  from  the  brain  takes  to  set  the  trigger 
in  motion,  and  also  for  the  time  taken  by  the  lockwork  in 
moving,  by  the  charge  in  igniting,  and  by  the  bullet  in 
travelling  to  the  muzzle.  Thus,  if,  as  must  often  happen  in 
military  shooting,  those  firing  have  not  very  great  experience 
at  moving  objects,  the  allowance  should  be  more  than  enough 
merely  to  compensate  for  the  movement  of  the  target  while 
the  bullet  is  in  the  air.  The  deductions  arrived  at  by  Lieut. - 
General  Rohne,  based  upon  the  time  of  flight  of  the  bullet, 
are  that  against  targets  moving  at  a  trot  the  aim  should  be 
one  j^ard  in  front   for  every  100  yards  range,  and  against 


442 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


targets  galloping  two  yards.  It  is  necessary  at  anything  but 
the  shortest  ranges  to  take  into  account  the  direction  of  the 
wind,  which  may  either  increase  or  materially  reduce  such 
allowances  as  this.  Generally  speaking,  it  would  be  enough 
to  aim  at  the  head  of  a  moving  column  at  almost  any 
distance,  since  a  small  column  would  not  be  fired  at  at  any 
ver\'  long  range.  The  safest  place  in  the  column  would  un- 
doubtedly be  at  its  head,  just  as  it  may  be  noticed  that  ivhen 
men  fire  at  a  row  of  figure  targets  hardly  a  single  shot  will 
strike  the  flank  figures,  while  the  centre  ones  are  riddled. 
We  append  a  table  showing  the  time  of  flight  of  the  -dOS 
bullet  up  to  2,000  yards,  and  the  amount  of  space  which  wUl 
be  covered  by  a  man  at  a  slow  walk  or  double,  and  by  a  horse 
at  a  trot  or  gallop,  moving  across  the  line  of  fire  during  the 
time  of  flight.  The  times  of  flight  are  calculated  by  the 
method  laid  down  in  the  Text  Book  for  Small  Arms,  1894. 


Remain- 

Time of 

K«te  of  Motion  of  Object  ncroi>»  Line  of  Fin? : 

Kaiige 

ing 

Flight  of 

Miles  per  Hour : 

Velocity, 

Bnllct, 

f.H. 

ill  Seconds 

8 

feet 

6 

feet 

9 

12 

feet 

feet 

100 

1    1,831 

•157 

•691 

1382 

2078 

2-764 

200 

!    1,673 

•328 

1443 

2^887 

4330 

5-774 

300 

1,525 

•516 

2271 

4542 

6813 

9-084 

400 

1,387 

•723 

3182 

6-364 

9546 

12-728 

500 

1,265 

•950 

4181 

8362 

12548 

16-724 

600 

1,162 

1197 

5^268 

10536 

15-804 

21-071 

700 

1,086 

1428 

6-285 

12-569 

18-864 

25138 

800 

1,016 

1-754 

7-719 

15*439 

23-158 

30-877 

900 

978 

1-992 

8-767 

17-533 

26300 

85067 

1,000 

925 

2-375 

10462 

20-906 

31-367 

41^810 

1,100 

886 

2-703 

11-896 

23-792 

35688 

47-584 

1,200 

849 

3056 

13-450 

26-899 

40-348 

53-798 

1.300 

816 

3411 

15-012 

30024 

46-035 

60-047 

1.400 

784 

3-794 

16-697 

33-395 

50-092 

66-790 

1,600 

765 

4174 

18-370 

36740 

55-110 

73-480 

1,600 

726 

4-588 

20192 

40-383 

60-575 

80-767 

1,700 

699 

5005 

22-027 

44054 

66081 

88-108 

1,800 

673 

5-438 

23-932 

47-865 

71798 

95-730 

1,900 

647 

5-904 

25983 

51-967 

77950 

103-934 

2,000 

623 

6367 

28021 

56042 

84063 

112-085 

N.B.- 

-  1  mile  pel 

•  hour  - 

1-467  feet  pei 

'  second. 

8  miles  „ 

»i     — 

4-401    „     „ 

f) 

6      „      „ 

»»     ~" 

8802     „    ., 

t« 

9      „      „ 

M            = 

13-203     „     „ 

»» 

12      „      „ 

L7-604     „     „ 

It 

A  rough  rule  easy  to  remei^^ber  is  that  \  of  feet  per  second  =  miles  per  hour. 


TABLE    OF    ALLOWANCES  443 

The  study  of  such  a  table  as  this  will  be  of  practical  use 
in  giving,  at  all  events,  some  basis  on  which  to  work,  instead 
of  leaving  the  amount  of  allowance  merely  to  be  guessed. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  trouble  much  about  the  allowance  for 
objects  moving  diagonally  to  the  line  of  fire,  for  it  is  near 
enough  to  say  that  if  the  allowance  be  10  or  20  feet  ahead 
of  a  mark  crossing  the  line  of  fire,  it  will  be  equally  10  or 
20  feet  ahead  of  the  same  mark  moving  diagonally,  only 
that  the  allowance  must  be  made  in  the  direction  in  which 
the  target  is  moving.  It  is  clear  enough  that  at  a  retiring  or 
advancing  enemy  the  elevation  used  should  be  a  little  higher 
or  a  little  lower  than  is  required  for  the  actual  distance,  so 
that  the  full  eflFect  of  the  fire  may  at  some  moment  be 
brought  to  bear  by  the  enemy  moving  into  the  bullet-swept 
zone. 


444  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    HIFLE 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

THK  BISLEY  MKETIXO—  ITS  MAN.V'EMENT — SiiUADDING— REGISTER  TICKKTS 
—  PROCEDURE  IN  SHOOTING  — SCORE  REGISTER  TICKETS  OF  A  KING's 
I'KIZE  WINNER-  TIME  ALLOWED  FOR  SHOOTING — SIGHTING  SHOTS — 
CHALLENGES  NATIONAL  RIFLE  ASSOCIATION'S  REGULATIONS  FOR  RIFLES 
AND  AMMUNITION — UNAUTHORISED  ASSISTANCE — TEAM  SHOOTING — THE 
CAPTAIN    AND   THE    TEAM 

The  Bisley  meeting  is  to  many  rillemen  the  central  event 
of  the  year,  and  if  a  few  notes  are  here  put  down  on  the 
organisation  and  method  of  that  meeting,  it  is  largely  because 
the  experience  of  Wimbledon  and  Bisley  is  valuable  in  arrang- 
ing for  rifle  meetings,  even  on  a  much  smaller  scale.  The  com- 
petitions of  the  National  Rifle  Association  are  fenced  about 
with  very  elaborate  rules  and  regulations  relating  to  all  the 
conditions  of  shooting,  and  to  every  detail  connected  with  the 
marking  and  the  procedure  under  all  circumstances  which  may 
arise.  This  is^the  inevitable  consequence  of  a  real  attempt  to 
provide  equitable  conditions  as  between  dififerent  competitors. 
Rules  must  be  clear,  and  they  must  be  complete,  or  some  one 
or  another  in  a  fashion  entirely  within  his  literal  right  will 
stretch  a  point  to  place  himself  at  an  advantage.  This  is 
a  very  natural  result  of  ingenuity,  which  within  reasonable 
limits  no  one  could  wish  to  discourage.  The  regulations  of 
the  National  Rifle  Association  have  been  built  up,  not  by  an 
endeavour  to  create  restrictions,  but  bj^  the  necessity  of  pro- 
viding for  cases  which  have  actually  occurred. 

In  a  small  association  among  friends,  where  all  shoot  under 
equal  conditions  and  are  well  known  to  each  other,  there  is 
usually  not  the  same  need  for  a  complete  code  of  rules,  since 
the  game  is  played  in  the  right  spirit,  and  all  those  who  play 
it  know  each  other.  But  this  is  not  the  case  at  a  large 
public  gathering  at  which  men  meet  who  live  at  long  distances 
apart.      Another  difficulty  at   a   large  meeting  is  that  the 


BISLF.Y    ORGANISATION  445 

luurkers  and  those  superhitending  the  shoothig  are  doing 
work  to  which  many  of  them  are  unaccustomed,  and,  there- 
fore, to  ensure  uniformity  of  administration,  the  various 
questions  which  may  arise  must  be  very  completely  provided 
for  beforehand. 

At  Bisley  the  management  of  the  meeting  and  the  hearing 
of  any  disi)uted  cases  or  claims  connected  with  the  competi- 
tions are  in  the  hands  of  a  small  committee,  which  sits 
daily  during  the  midday  interval,  and  again  when  shooting 
ceases  for  the  night.  The  cases  which  come  before  it  are, 
considering  the  scale  of  the  meeting,  very  few,  and  in  almost 
all  of  these  an  admirable  spirit  is  shown  by  those  who  have 
a  complaint  to  make,  or  a  claim  to  bring  forward.  The 
cases  are  very  exceptional  in  which  any  attempt  is  made  to 
set  up  a  claim  to  a  score  or  a  prize  on  anything  but  the 
most  reasonable  ground.  Hard  cases,  of  course,  sometimes 
arise,  and  are  treated  with  all  consideration.  At  the  same 
time,  in  fairness  to  those  who  are  careful,  as  well  as  to  give 
a  strong  inducement  to  the  correct  observance  of  rules,  it 
would  be  an  administrative  mistake  to  allow  leniency  to 
degenerate  into  laxity. 

In  conducting  a  rifle  meeting  on  a  large  scale  some  form 
of  squadding  or  telling  off  competitors  to  a  particular  target 
at  a  particular  time  is  necessary.  At  Bisley,  where  the  large 
number  of  shooters  and  of  targets  necessarily  demands  very 
complete  arrangements,  many  hundreds  of  entries  are  made 
for  the  more  popular  competitions.  These  are,  speaking 
broadly,  divided  into  two  categories  ;  competitions  for  which 
only  a  single  entry  is  allowed,  and  for  which  the  squadding 
or  detailing  to  time  and  target  is  done  beforehand  ;  and  those 
which  are  not  restricted  to  a  single  entry,  but  may  be  shot 
for  by  a  competitor  presenting  himself  at  any  time,  so  far  as 
target  room  allows. 

It  would  be  hard  to  conceive  how  the  organisation  of  a 
ritle  meeting  on  such  a  scale  could  be  carried  out  without  the 
device  of  making  the  entry  ticket  carry  the  actual  register 
form  on  which  the  score  is  entered  shot  by  shot  as  it  is  made. 
Any  form  of  register  sheets  would  be  troublesome  and  con- 
fusing, and,  above  all,  difficult  to  deal  with  in  the  Statistical 


446  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

Department,  which  has  not  only  to  sort  out  the  high  scores 
from  the  low  ones,  but  to  arrange  scores  of  similar  totals  ac- 
cording to  the  order  of  their  merit  under  the  rules  laid  down 
for  the  decision  of  ties  without  shooting  off.  The  system  which 
has  been  in  force  at  Wimbledon  and  Bisley  since  1866  is  as 
follows.  Each  register  card  has  a  square  hole  perforated  in  it 
near  the  centre,  to  enable  it  to  be  filed  upon  an  upright  wire 
or  peg  or  to  be  tied  with  others  for  safe  conveyance  to  the 
Statistics  Office  by  passing  a  string  through  the  hole.  Con- 
sequently, taking  for  example  a  competition  of  seven  shots, 
in  which  85  points  is  the  highest  possible  score,  the  tickets 
when  they  arrive  at  the  Statistical  Department  are  proinpth' 
sorted  out,  all  the  B5*s  b^ing  tiled  upon  the  same  peg,  and 
on  the  next  pegs  all  the  84's,  then  all  the  38's,  and  so 
on,  according  to  the  rules  for  *  counting-out  *  ties.  The  cards 
containing  scores  so  low  as  not  to  need  consideration  for  the 
prize  list  are  put  aside,  but  still  preserved  for  reference.  On 
each  peg  the  cards  are  arranged  in  their  order  of  merit,  and 
when  the  competition  is  closed  and  all  the  cards  have  been 
received  it  is  quite  a  simple  matter,  though  sometimes  a  very 
laborious  one,  to  check  them  over  and  to  copy  the  names  and 
totals  in  their  order  in  the  form  of  a  list  on  a  single  sheet  of 
paper. 

A  competitor  on  paying  his  entrance  fee  for  one  of  the 
squadded  or  single  entry  prizes  receives  a  ticket  on  which  is 
entered  the  day  and  hour  at  which  he  will  shoot,  the  butt, 
and  a  letter  denoting  the  target.  This  does  not  correspond 
to  any  particular  target  in  the  butt.  The  targets  are 
permanently  numbered,  but  the  range  officer  tells  off  a 
particular  letter  to  each  at  the  firing-point,  varying  the 
lettering  in  the  morning  and  afternoon  of  each  day.  Thus,  if 
the  targets  on  his  butt  are  numbered  from  31  to  40,  he  will 
letter  these  with  the  first  10  letters  of  the  alphabet,  so  thut  a 
ticket  squadded  to  *  G '  target  will  have  to  be  shot  at  which- 
ever of  them  bears  for  the  moment  the  letter  *G,'  and 
no  competitor  can  tell  beforehand  at  which  target  he  will 
shoot  at  any  particular  time.  It  was  this  previous  knowledge 
which  rendered  possible  the  marking  frauds  at  Wimbledon 
twenty  years  ago. 


REGISTRATION    OF    SCORES  447 

The  theory  at  Bisley,  and  it  is  a  very  sound  one,  is  that 
the  scoring  of  each  man's  shots  should  be  witnessed  by  those 
shooting  with  him,  and  by  any  casual  spectator^.  If  he  is 
shooting  alone,  the  range  officer  or  some  spectator  undertakes 
to  act  as  a  witness  of  the  scoring.  By  such  means  fraudulent 
collusion  between  competitor  and  register  keeper  at  a  time 
when  there  are  few  people  shooting  is  guarded  against.  The 
register  ticket  has  conspicuously  printed  upon  it  the  title  of 
the  competition  for  which  it  is  used,  and  while  the  tickets  for 
no  two  prizes  are  quite  alike  in  colour,  the  colouring  of  them 
is  80  arranged  as  to  denote  the  class  of  competition  to  which 
they  belong.  Spaces  are  left  upon  the  ticket  for  the  name, 
rank,  and  corps  of  the  competitor,  and,  where  the  conditions 
demand  it,  for  the  type  of  rifle  and  ammunition  used  by  him. 
Below  this  is  a  row  of  spaces  in  which  the  value  of  each  shot, 
including  the  sighting  shot,  is  recorded  by  the  register  keeper 
as  it  is  marked ;  when  the  score  is  complete,  he  fills  in  the 
total  and  signs  his  name  on  a  space  provided  for  the  purpose. 
The  register  keeper  has  alongside  him  a  blackboard  with  spaces 
for  the  names  and  for  each  shot  fired,  and  as  each  competitor 
in  a  squad  fires  his  name  is  called  out,  and,  when  the  shot  is 
marked,  its  value,  thus :  '  Private  Smith,  bull's-eye,  5.'  At 
the  same  time  the  value  of  the  shot  is  wTitten  on  the  black- 
board and  the  total  score  is  afterwards  written  there.  The 
object  of  this  is  to  ensure  publicity,  both  for  the  benefit  of  the 
competitor,  who  hears  the  shot  called  out  and  can  himself  see 
that  it  is  written  down  correctly,  and  also  for  the  protection 
of  the  public,  because  it  is  obvious  to  the  ofKeer  in  charge  of 
the  range  or  to  any  casual  spectator  whether  or  not  the  value 
scored  for  any  shot  on  the  blackboard  corresponds  to  the 
value  actually  marked  upon  the  dummy.  Sometimes  by  a 
slip  of  the  tongue  a  register  keeper,  unused  to  Bisley  scoring, 
will  call  out  *  Bull's-eye  4  ' — instead  of  5,  and  unless  corrected 
make  a  mistake  in  writing  it  down.  Such  errors  are  not 
very  common,  but  unless  a  competitor  is  vigilant  he  may  be 
disagreeably  surprised  at  finding  some  mistake  made.  Shots 
fired  by  one  man  have  sometimes  been  attributed  in  the 
scoring  to  another  man  firing  alternate  shots  with  him.  Any 
question  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  scoring  must  be  raised 


44S  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

on  the  spot  and  at  the  time.  The  shooting  of  the  squad 
being  complete,  and  the  score  entered  and  added  up  on 
the  card  as  well  as  on  the  blackboard,  the  range  officer  is 
called  to  check  the  scores  as  entered  on  the  tickets  by  those 
on  the  blackboard,  and  having  done  this  stamps  the  tickets 
with  his  own  check  mark.  If  a  score  large  enough  to  be 
likely  to  come  into  the  prize  list  has  been  made  by  one  of  the 
men  who  have  just  completed  firing,  it  is  likely  that  he  will 
be  called  upon  to  have  the  trigger  of  his  rifle  tested  to  see 
that  it  is  not  lighter  than  the  limit  of  6  lb.  While  the 
checking  is  being  done,  the  squad  who  are  detailed  to  fire 
next  take  their  places  and  prepare  to  l)egin.  The  whole  pro- 
cess, when  oflicers,  register  keei)ers,  and  competitors  under- 
stand it,  works  with  great  smoothness. 

We  are  able  by  the  courtesy  of  Lieut.-Colonel  Crosse, 
Secretary  of  the  National  Rifle  Association,  to  give  a  repro- 
duction on  a  reduced  scale  of  the  register  tickets  (Plate  L) 
on  which  the  score  of  Lance-Corporal  Ommundsen,  the 
winner  of  the  King's  Prize  of  1901,  was  recorded.  The  full 
size  of  the  larger  tickets  is  4  inches  by  2jf  inches-  The 
particulars  of  the  squadding  may  be  noticed,  and  also  the 
signature  of  the  non-commissioned  oflicer  acting  as  register 
keeper  at  each  distance,  and  the  mark  of  the  range-officer's 
number-punch,  showing  that  he  has  verified  the  score 
on  the  ticket  as  tallying  with  that  written  up  on  the  black- 
board, and  has  checked  the  addition  of  the  total  for  the 
distance.  The  shooting  shown  on  the  tickets  was  not  sufficient 
to  win  the  prize  for  Ommundsen,  as  Sergeant  Burr,  ft 
Hampshire  volunteer,  completed  his  shooting  with  exactly 
the  same  aggregate  score.  The  other  competitors  having 
finished,  these  two  laid  down  to  fire  three  shots  each  at  the 
same  target  at  1,000  yards.  Burr  began  with  a  magpie,  but 
Ommundsen  found  the  bull's-eye  with  his  first  shot.  The 
Englishman  firing  with  evident  anxiety,  and  dwelling  far  loo 
long  upon  his  aim,  made  another  magpie.  With  the  next 
shot  Ommundsen,  who  shot  with  great  coolness,  and  fired 
carefully  but  not  slowly,  made  another  bull's-eye.  He  had 
thus  ten  points  to  the  other's  six.  Burr's  third  shot  wat^ 
again  a  magj^ie,  and  his  total  for  the  three  stood  only  at  nine. 


PLATE  L 


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■.ft.     BOO. 


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BISLEY   REGISTER  TICKETS,   SHOWING   LANCE-CORPORAL  OMMUNDSEN'ft 
SCORE  FOR  THE   KI^G*S   PRIZE,    1901 

G  G 


450  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

leaving  Ommundsen  one  point  ahead  with  a  shot  to  spare— a 
most  creditable  victory. 

In  the  early  Wimbledon  days  of  -muzzle-loaders,  and  of 
more  insistence  upon  military  forms  than  at  present,  the 
squad  of  competitors  used  to  be  drawn  up  behind  the  firing- 
point,  and  step  forward  in  rotation  one  at  a  time  to  fire.  This 
made  a  very  long  process,  and  the  introduction  of  breech- 
loaders enabled  two  or  three  men  to  take  their  positions 
alongside  each  other  at  the  firing-point,  and  to  shoot  alternate 
shots.  For  many  years  the  normal  method  of  squadding 
was  to  tell  off  two  men  to  fire  together,  and  to  allow  them 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  to  fire  their  seven  rounds.  Thus  eight 
competitors  could  fire  at  the  same  target  within  an  hour. 
A  saving  of  time  was  afterwards  effected  by  squadding 
three  men  at  a  target  and  allowing  them  twenty  minutes 
for  each  seven  shots,  and  by  this  means  nine  instead  of  eight 
men  could  fire  in  an  hour.  This  was  found  to  work  well,  and 
when  sighting  shots  (which  had  existed  in  early  Wimbledon 
days  and  been  abandoned)  were  re-introduced,  the  twenty 
minutes  were'  found  to  give  time  enough  for  three  m«i 
to  fire  eight  shots  each,  instead  of  seven,  that  is,  twentj 
minutes  for  the  firing  and  marking  of  twenty-four  shots.  It 
must  be  allowed  that  unless  all  goes  smoothly,  the  time  is 
not  more  than  enough.  Some  elasticity  has  to  be  given  by 
leaving  occasional  blank  times  during  which  no  squad  is  told 
off  to  the  target,  so  as  to  allow  for  any  small  accumulation  of 
lateness.  The  maximum  time  for  each  shot  which  the 
regulations  recognise  in  deliberate  firing  is  one  minute  for 
each  shot  from  the  time  when  the  target  is  clear  and  ready 
to  be  fired  at.  At  the  long  ranges  half  an  hour  for  three 
competitors  firing  ten  shots  and  a  sighting  shot  each  is  none 
too  much,  since  the  larger  target  surface  which  the  markers 
have  to  look  over  before  the  shot  is  found,  and  also  the 
greater  weight  of  the  targets,  tend  to  make  the  marking 
slower  than  at  short  distances.  Sometimes,  though  rarelji 
the  squad  will  be  delayed  by  some  defect  in  the  target 
mechanism,  or  by  slowness  or  carelessness  on  the  part  of  the 
markers.  Lateness  caused  by  delays  of  this  kind  is,  of 
course,  not  imputed  to  the  competitors. 


SIGHTING    SHOTS;    FINES  461 

We  have  spoken  only  of  the  *  squadded '  competitions  for 
which  all  arrangements  are  made  beforehand,  bat  there  are 
others,  chiefly  those  in  which  an  unlimited  number  of  entries 
are  allowed,  tickets  for  which  can  be  bought  at  a  Box  Office 
near  the  firing-point,  or  at  the  central  Entries'  Office  in  the 
camp.  In  these  the  same  principles,  and,  indeed,  the  same 
details,  mostly  apply.  A  competitor  having  paid  the  entrance 
fee  receives  a  ticket  in  exchange,  fills  in  his  name,  and  takes 
it  to  the  firing-point,  where  the  range  officer  details  him  at 
once  to  a  target  if  there  is  room.  The  sighting  shot  is  com- 
pulsory in  practically  all  the  competitions  at  Bisley.  It  was 
found  impossible  to  make  it  optional,  as  otherwise  an  un- 
scrupulous competitor,  dealing  with  a  weak  or  a  muddle- 
headed  register  keeper,  would  be  able,  if  his  first  shot  were  a 
bull's-eye,  to  claim  that  it  was  not  a  sighting  shot,  and  if  it 
were  a  bad  shot  to  claim  that  it  should  be  scored  as  a  sighting 
shot.  On  such  points  misunderstanding  easily  arises,  even 
when  there  is  no  desire  to  take  an  undue  advantage.  One 
reason  why  sighting  shots  are  not  likely  to  be  done  away 
with  at  Bisley  is  because  the  ranges  are  constantly  used  by 
some  Volunteer  corps  and  rifle  clubs  at  other  times  than 
during  the  meeting,  and  a  stranger  coming  from  a  distance 
for  the  meeting  only  might  think  himself  at  a  disadvantage 
as  compared  with  those  who  habitually  use  the  range,  if  he 
were  not  allowed  a  preliminary  shot. 

Firing  at  the  wrong  target  makes  the  competitor  liable  to 
a  fine  of  2s.  6d.  The  penalty  used  formerly  to  be  5s.,  but 
such  a  sum,  though  it  may  have  been  suited  to  the  purses  of 
the  class  of  men  who  formed  the  bulk  of  the  competitors  at 
"Wimbledon  thirty  years  ago,  would  press  hardly  on  the  means 
of  many  of  the  keenest  and  best  of  the  shooting  men  of  later 
days.  It  is  necessary  to  have  some  penalty,  both  to  check 
carelessness  and  to  guard  against  the  possibility  of  a  man 
who  has  himself  no  prospect  of  winning  a  prize,  firing  pur- 
posely at  his  neighbour's  target  in  hopes  of  improving  his 
neighbour's  score.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  a  considerable 
number  of  cases  the  self-inflicted  penalty  of  losing  the  shot, 
which  of  course  is  scored  as  a  miss,  and  so  spoils  all  pro- 
spect of  a  really  good  score,  and  very  possibly  of  a  prize  in  an 

u  n  2 


462  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

'  aggregate '  competition,  is  a  far  heavier  ponishment  than  the 
pecuniary  fine. 

It  is  a  common  provision  at  rifle  meetings  that  a  small 
sum  should  be  deposited  if  it  is  desired  to  dispute  the 
marking  of  a  shot,  or  to  claim  a  hit  when  nothing  has  he&n 
signalled  in  response  to  the  shot.  If  the  marking  is,  on 
examination  of  the  target  by  the  officer  in  the  butt,  found  to 
have  been  incorrect,  the  money  is  returned,  otherwise  it  is 
forfeited.  In  old  days  the  marker  had  to  come  into  the 
open  to  examine  the  iron  target,  and  thus  delay  was  caused 
in  the  firing  at  neighbouring  targets,  and  much  time  was 
wasted.  The  National  Rifle  Association,  not  long  ago,  very 
properly  reduced  the  payment  for  such  a  challenge  from 
6s.  to  25.  6d.  The  poorer  class  of  competitor  finds  the  smaUer 
sum  quite  large  enough  to  pay,  and  with  proper  telephone 
arrangements  there  is  very  little  trouble  in  communicating 
¥dth  the  butt,  while  the  target  concerned  has  only  to  be 
pulled  down  into  the  trench  to  be  examined,  and  not  a 
second's  delay  is  caused  in  the  firing  at  the  adjoining  targets. 
It  is  not  wise  at  Bisley  to  challenge  the  marking  on  the 
supposition  that  because  the  patch  showing  the  position  of  a 
shot  appears  to  be  over  the  dividing  line,  it  has  perhaps 
touched  the  line.  Nor  is  it  worth  while  to  invest  half  a  crown, 
as  the  writer  has  sometimes  seen  done,  if  the  marker  has 
already  pulled  the  target  down  and  examined  it  on  his  own 
account,  being  in  doubt  as  to  whether  or  no  it  had  been  hit. 

We  give  the  conditions  for  the  various  classes  of  rifles 
extracted  from  the  rules  of  the  National  Rifle  Association  for 
1901.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  work  of  the  Association  is 
twofold:  it  both  tests  the  comparative  skill  of  marksmen 
with  the  Service  rifle  and  ammunition,  and  in  the  Match 
rifle  class  gives  an  opening  for  the  experimental  use  within 
practical  limits  of  various  calibres  and  loads.  Perhaps  the 
most  useful  work  of  the  Association  has  been  that  it  has  thus 
for  forty  years  given  an  opportunity  to  all  the  world  to  test 
publicly  improvements  in  explosives,  projectiles,  and  arms, 
and  has  set  up  a  high  standard  of  accuracy  in  military 
shooting.  The  shooting  with  the  Service  rifle  has  from  time 
to  time  brought  out,  both  in  arms  and  ammunition,  points 
requiring  attention. 


RIFLES    UNDER    N.  R.  A.  RULES  453 

RIFLES  AND  CARBINES. 
The  rifles  and  carbines  allowed  shall  be  classed  as  follows : — 

Class  I. 

SEBYICB   BIFLB 

*808  rifles  as  issued  by  the  Government  or  of  private  manufacture,  of 
bona  fide  Government  pattern  and  bearing  the  Government  Viewer's 
mark. 

N.B. — "808  Carhinet  may  he  tcsed  in  8,B,  Competitions  i/nstead  of 
the  rifle,  as  follows : — 

(a)  In  single  dista/nce  competitions  in  which  the  prone  position 
is  allowed, 

(b)  In  competitions  the  aggregate  of  two  or  more  distances  in 
both  or  aU  of  which  the  prone  position  is  allowed,  or  in  which  one 
of  such  distances  is  600  yards  or  over,  provided  the  carbine  is  used 
at  all  the  distances  included  in  the  Competition, 

All  Service  rifles  must  comply  with  the  following  conditions : — 

1.  Weight, — Including  cleaning-rod,  oil-bottle,  pull  through,  and 
magazine — not  to  exceed  the  greatest  weight  of  the  regulation  rifle  of  the 
corresponding  pattern  and  mark. 

2.  Length. — Maximum,  measured  from  the  muzzle  to  the  butt,  when 
placed  vertically  on  the  ground,  49^  inches. 

8.  Stocks, — Must  not  be  checkered.  No  pad  or  shoe  for  the  heel-plate 
of  the  butt  is  allowed,  nor  may  the  butt-plate  be  checkered. 

A  metal  fitting  for  the  sole  purpose  of  the  attachment  of  a  match  back 
sight  is  permitted. 

4.  Pull  of  Trigger. — Minimum,  6  lb. 

5.  Sights, — Strictly  in  accordance  with  those  on  any  pattern  of 
Government  Service  rifle. 

The  only  colours  allowed  on  the  sights  are  black  or  white  or 
black  and  white,  but  not  mixed  so  as  to  produce  grey.    No  appliance 
may  be  afiixed  for  the  purpose  of  shading  the  sights. 
Back  sight : 

(a)  Must  not  be  supported  by  any  means  extraneous  to  the 
rifle. 

(b)  The  bar  must  not  be  capable  of  sliding  laterally  as  a  wind 
gauge. 

(c)  The  bar  may  be  reversed,  and  may  be  used  on  either  side 
of  the  uprights ;  the  *  small  slide '  authorised  by  Sec.  169  of  the 
Musketry  Regulations,  1898,  may  be  used  in  all  competitions  not 
restricted  to  Service  sights.  Marks  or  lines  of  any  kind,  removable 
at  pleasure,  but  not  consisting  of  slips  of  paper  or  other  substance 
capable  of  being  shifted,  may  be  used.  Detached  *  Verniers '  or 
*  sight  elevators  '  may  be  used. 

6.  Handguard, — The  handguard  may  be  removed  at  the  option  of 
the  firer. 

7.  Safety  Catch, — The  safety  catch  may  not  be  used  for  firing  the 
rifle. 


454  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 

Glass  II. 
match  bifle8 

Any  breeoh-loading  rifle  complying  with  the  following  conditions : — 

1.  When  of  British  make  to  bear  proof  marks  both  on  barrel  and 
breech. 

2.  Weight, — Maximum,  10  lb.  In  Magazine  rifles  the  magazine, 
whether  detachable  or  not,  is  to  be  included. 

2.  JD^n^t^.— Maximum,  52  inches. 

4.  Calibre, — Maximimi,  *815  inch. 

5.  8tocJc.—Fvl\  stocked  and  sufficiently  strong  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Bisley  Conunittee  for  8er\'ice  purpoees,  and  fitted  with  swivels  for  a  sling. 
No  pad  or  shoe  for  the  heel-plate  of  the  butt  is  allowed* 

6.  Pull  of  Trigger, — Minimum,  6  lb. 

7.  Sights, — Of  any  description,  except  telescopic  or  magnifying. 

Class  III. 

SPORTING   BIFLBS 

Calibre, — Any. 

Pull  of  Trigger, — Minimum,  8  lb. 

8ight8, — Open  sights,  or  such  as  haye  received  the  sanction  of  the 
Council  or  of  the  Committee.  The  Lyman  back  sight  and  the  Beaeh 
combination  fore  sight  have  been  sanctioned. 

No  lateral  adjustment  of  fore  or  back  sight  will  be  permitted.  The 
centres  of  both  sights  must  be  fixed  over  the  centre  of  the  barrel.  If  a 
platinum  or  other  line  is  used  on  the  back  sight,  only  one  such  line  will 
be  permitted. 

Spirit-levels  are  allowed. 

N.B. — Any  single,  double^  or  repeating  rifle  (whether  of  GovemTneni 
pattern  or  not)  coming  unthin  the  above  conditions  may  be  used  in 
*  Sporting  Rifle  *  Competitions, 

Class  IV. 

CARBINES 

Any  bona  fide  Government  pattern  of  carbine  of  '808  calibre,  as  issued 
by  the  Qovernment,  or  of  private  manufacture  and  bearing  the  Govern- 
ment viewer's  mark. 

Pull  of  Trigger, — Minimum,  6  lb. 

AMMUNITION 

1.  Service  Rifles  and  Carbines, — Only  Service  ammunition  issued  by 
the  N.R.A.  at  the  firing-point  shall  be  used,  and  no  competitor  may  in 
any  competition  use  any  ammunition  but  that  issued  to  him  at  the  firing- 
point  for  that  particular  competition. 

2.  Match  Rifles, — Any  ammunition  complying  with  the  following 
conditions : — 

(a)  The  bullet  must  be  inserted  in  the  cartridge  case  not  less 
than  two-tenths  of  an  inch.     Maximum  weight  of  bullet,  217  grains. 


MUTUAL    ASSISTANCE    BY    COMPETITOES       465 

(6)  Maximum  length  of  cartridge,  8*15  inches.     Mazimmn  dia- 
meter of  cartridge  at  base,  excluding  rim,  *49  inch. 

(c)  When  foreign  Regulation  rifles  are  used,  the  cartridge,  if  not 
within  Regulations  (a)  and  (6),  must  be,  in  every  respect,  of  the 
dimensions  of  the  Service  cartridge  proper  for  that  description  of 
rifle,  and  a  sample  cartridge  must  be  previously  submitted  to  and 
approved  by  the  Bisley  Committee. 
8.  Sporting  Bifles. — Any  ammunition.  ,^ 

In  individual  competitions  it  is  well  to  remember  that  a 
prize  won  by  the  help  of  another,  and  not  by  a  man's  own 
skill  and  judgment,  has  not  been  fairly  gained.  However 
great  may  be  the  advantage  of  having  a  '  coach  '  or  a  friend 
to  consult  about  the  weather,  someone  who  will  say  '  stop  a 
bit/  or  '  bide  a  wee,'  if  the  flags  begin  to  show  a  change  of 
windy  it  is  not  fair  to  the  competitor  (and  there  are  many 
Buch)  who  fires  alone,  or  to  those  who  conscientiously  respect 
the  rule  of  no  coaching  which  obtains  at  Bisley,  to  take 
advantage  of  such  assistance.  It  is,  of  course,  not  always  easy 
to  draw  the  line.  Someone  firing  close  by  makes  a  wide  shot. 
One  may  speculate  on  the  probability  of  its  being  the  result 
of  an  unlucky  change  of  aim,  or  of  a  sudden  change  of  wind. 
It  may  possibly  be  the  result  of  a  careless  aim.  But  the 
temptation  to  ask  whether  a  change  of  aim  was  made,  or  how 
it  was  the  shot  went  wide,  should  be  resisted.  Even  the 
man  who  exclaims  after  making  a  '  magpie '  that  he  put  on 
2  feet  additional  wind  allowance,  and  that  still  it  was  not 
enough,  is  unduly  helping  the  man  who  is  to  fire  next.  It  is 
a  nature^l  tendency,  arising  far  more  from  kind-heartedness 
than  from  a  desire  for  reciprocity,  which  prompts  many  men 
to  volunteer  information  or  advice  to  those  shooting  with 
them.  But  this  does  not  bring  out  the  real  merits  of  the 
shooters.  When  all  the  wits  of  a  team  are  used  to  produce 
the  best  possible  scoring  for  the  team,  co-operation  is  as 
important  and  as  valuable  as  it  is  in  cricket  and  in  football, 
but  when  men  are  pitted  one  against  another  to  decide  who 
can  do  the  best,  their  relative  form  must  be  obscured  if  they 
do  not  shoot  with  real  independence.  The  object  is  to  deter- 
mine whether  A.  or  B.,  as  an  individual,  can  make  the 
biggest  score,  not  whether  A.,  with  the  assistance  of  C.'s 
advice,  can  make  a  better  score  than  B.  can,  with  the  assist- 


456  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

ance  of  D.,  G.  and  D.  being  for  the  most  part  casual  com- 
petitors who  happen  to  be  told  off  to  shoot  at  the  same  target 
as  A.  and  B.,  but  whose  judgment  and  skill  may  be  quite 
miequal.  This  is  the  case  in  the  competitions  where 
squadding  is  arranged  beforehand.  But  if  we  come  to  the 
shooting  in  unlimited  entry  competitions,  there  is  still  more 
inequality. .  It  is  pleasant  and  legitimate  to  shoot  alongside 
a  friend,  and  to  exchange  chaff  over  bad  shots,  or  to  speak  on 
indifferent  topics,  only  comparing  notes  when  the  shoot  is 
over,  and  taking  care  neither  to  give  nor  to  receive  help 
while  it  is  in  progress.  But  sometimes  friends  will  shoot 
together  and  systematically  advise  each  other,  who  know 
each  other's  shooting,  and  who  are  accustomed  to  work  to- 
gether. This  is  fair  enough  if  the  rules  of  the  competition 
expressly  allow  it,  as  in  the  prize  for  teams  of  two  annually 
given  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Doyle  at  Bisley.  Otherwise  it  is  extremely 
hard  on  the  young  or  the  solitary  shot,  who  finds  that  he  is 
within  a  point  or  two  of  the  highest  possible  score,  and  has 
missed  it  only  because  he  had  not  somebody  at  his  elbow  to 
see  that  he  did  not  pull  the  trigger  just  as  the  wind  changed. 
The  writer  himself  feels  strongly  that  a  score  made  in  an 
individual  competition  with  assistance  is  neither  fair  nor 
creditable ;  but  he  has  often  found  others  expecting  as  a 
matter  of  course  to  give  or  receive  assistance.  The  Con- 
tinental system  of  squadding,  in  which  not  more  than  one 
competitor  shoots  at  a  target  at  the  same  time,  has  one 
advantage,  that  the  shooter  is  isolated  during  the  series  of 
shots. 

There  are  other  matters  in  which  it  is  less  easy  to  draw 
the  line  between  absolute  fairness  and  the  taking  of  small 
advantages.  The  theory  at  Bisley  at  all  events  is  that  the 
firing-points  are  flat,  and  that  they  are  the  same  for  every- 
body. The  man  who  manages  to  work  a  deep  hole  for  the 
toe  of  his  right  foot,  for  use  in  the  kneeling  position,  cer- 
tainly has  some  advantage  over  the  man  by  his  side  firing 
off  a  smooth  and  flat  piece  of  ground.  The  objection  is  not 
so  much  that  the  one  competitor  does  something  which  is 
unfair  in  itself,  as  that  he  introduces  a  condition  which 
cannot  be  equally  applied  to  every  man  firing.     Even  in  such 


UNFAIR    PRACTICES  457 

matters  as  patting  a  thick  handkerchief,  or  pad,  under  the 
coat,  to  help  support  the  left  arm  in  shooting  standing  with 
the  arm  leaning  against  the  chest,  questions  of  strict  fairness 
begin  to  arise.  There  is  only  one  safe  rule — to  abstain  from 
everything  that  borders  upon  the  line  of  questionable  dealing, 
and  to  be  restrained  by  proper  pride  from  '  sailing  near  the 
wind.' 

The  rather  elaborate  code  of  regulations  under  which  the- 
National  Rifle  Association's  and  other  public  competitions  are 
conducted  is  directed  to  no  other  end  than  to  secure,  so  far 
as  possible,  a  complete  equality  of  treatment  between  all 
competitors,  and  to  eliminate  opportunities  for  fraud.  The 
more  delicate  questions,  on  one  or  two  of  which  we  have 
touched,  depend  rather  upon  the  individual  good  feeling  and 
good  sense  of  the  competitors.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
where  some  unfair  practice  is  noticed,  it  does  no  good  to 
grumble  because  so-and-so  is  breaking  the  rule,  or  taking 
a  mean  advantage.  The  Executive  has  little  opportunity  of 
detecting  and  dealing  with  such  cases  unless  those  who 
happen  to  see  them  have  the  moral  courage  to  come  forward, 
and  to  bring  the  offenders  to  notice.  The  exposure  of  the 
marking  swindle  at  Wimbledon  in  1880  was  due  to  Private 
Runtz,  of  the  London  Rifle  Brigade,  who  boldly  undertook 
the  unpleasant  task  of  showing  it  up  in  public,  and  who 
deserved,  and  has  received,  the  appreciation  of  a  long  succes- 
sion of  shooting  men. 

If  team  shooting  lead,  as  it  does,  to  the  highest  and  most 
interesting  results,  owing  to  the  co-operation  of  skilled  shots, 
the  responsibility  which  rests  upon  the  captain  of  a  team  is 
all  the  greater  for  it.  He  cannot  expect  to  obtain  satisfactory 
results  if  he  have  not  a  free  hand  in  selecting  his  men.  The 
system  of  filling  the  places  in  a  team  absolutely  by  the 
scoring  made  at  certain  previous  individual  competitions 
is  generally  recognised  to  be  unsatisfactory.  It  does  not 
follow  that  a  man  will  have  maintained  up  to  the  day  of  the 
match  the  form  on  which  he  gained  his  place,  and  yet  it 
may  be  diflScult  for  any  candid  friend  to  persuade  him  that 
he  ought  not  to  shoot.  The  captain  himself  must  command 
the  entire  confidence  of  the  members  of  the  team,  and  his 


468  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

authority  be  quite  unquestioned.  He  should  not  himself  be 
a  shooting  member  of  the  team,  for  if  this  is  the  case 
(although  exceptionally  the  arrangement  works  unobjection- 
ably)  there  is  always  a  tendency  for  it  to  be  thought  by  those 
to  whom  he  has  not  given  places  in  the  team,  that  his 
judgment  may  have  been  biassed  by  an  undue  belief  in  his 
own  powers  of  shooting.  It  is  only  if  the  captain  himself  is 
fortunate  enough  to  be  generally  recognised  as  among  the 
few  foremost  shots,  and  to  maintain  this  reputation  in  the 
match,  that  he  is  beyond  criticism  in  the  matter.  The 
captain  who  has  put  himself  into  a  team  and  then  makes 
the  bottom  score,  is  in  a  position  not  to  be  envied.  No  wise 
captain  will  himself  shoot  in  a  team  unless  previous  form 
makes  it  quite  clear  that  he  would  otherwise  have  to  put  in  a 
man  obviously  his  inferior.  In  matches  of  the  first  class, 
whether  with  the  military  rifle  or  the  match  rifle,  most  men 
find  their  nerves,  especially  when  shooting  the  first  time, 
much  more  tried  than  when  shooting  individually  for  prizes, 
for  each  man  is  not  only  a  representative  of  his  club  or  of  his 
nation,  but  he  knows  that  if  he  should  do  badly  and  lose  the 
match  for  his  side,  there  will  be  a  black  mark  against  him 
which  it  will  be  almost  impossible  to  efface.  It  has  often 
happened  that  a  man  who  as  an  individual  shot  has  been 
doing  brilliantly,  has  failed  to  his  own  disappointment,  if  not 
to  the  disaster  of  his  side.  Many  a  man  has  had  the  edge 
taken  off  his  usual  night^s  rest  by  the  consciousness  that  he 
was  to  be  included  in  one  of  the  International  matches  next 
morning,  and  has  shot  none  the  better  for  it.  For  this  and 
other  reasons  the  writer  holds  that  a  *  benevolent  despotism,' 
exercised  with  judgment  and  fearlessness,  as  well  as  with  tact, 
is  the  best  form  of  government  for  teams.  The  man  who  turns 
nasty  because  he  thinks  on  the  form  which  he  has  shown 
that  he  ought  to  have  been  put  into  a  team  is  exactly  the  man 
who,  if  he  should  win  his  place  in  the  team  by  competition, 
would  decline  to  give  way  even  when  told  by  those  competent 
to  judge  that  he  was  now  shooting  in  much  worse  form,  and 
ought  to  make  room  for  another.  The  difference  between  a 
good  team  shot  and  a  bad  one  is  very  marked ;  fussiness, 
nervousness,  noisiness,  these  are  all  grave  disadvantages  to 


QUALIFICATIONS    OF    A    TEAM    SHOT  459 

the  other  members  of  the  team  daring  the  progress  of  a 
match.  The  ideal  team  shot  is  the  man,  not  of  no  nerves, 
for  the  man  of  no  nerves  rarely  does  anything  brilliant ;  but 
he  whose  self-control  is  complete.  He  is  ready  at  the  last 
moment  to  go  out  of  the  team  cheerfully  if  he  finds  reason 
to  think  that  he  will  not  do  himself  and  his  team  credit, 
either  from  want  of  form  in  himself,  or  from  such  want  of 
confidence  in  his  rifle  as  the  vagaries  of  the  weapon  will 
sometimes  induce.  Whether  in  or  out  of  the  team,  he 
will  be  ready  to  give  any  help  in  his  power  to  others  to 
make  a  success  of  the  match.  No  wonder  that  such  men  are 
again  and  again  selected  to  shoot  in  teams  in  prefereiice, 
cateris  paribus,  to  young  shots  whose  nerves  and  dispositions 
are  to  a  large  extent  an  unknown  quantity.  The  organisation 
of  coaching,  too,  is  the  captain's  business.  This,  with  short- 
range  teams,  is  not  very  serious.  The  rather  casual  team, 
which  in  many  matches  is  the  only  kind  which  can  be  got 
together,  of  men  of  high  skill  individually,  but  unaccustomed 
to  work  together,  though  each  capable  of  doing  well  in  his 
own  way,  admits  of  little  assistance  beyond  careful  watching 
to  warn  the  firer  against  any  change  of  wind,  and  the 
formation  of  pairs  by  telling  off  to  shoot  together  the  men 
who  will  work  well  together.  When  all  is  said  and  done, 
however,  there  remains  much  of  uncertainty  in  a  team  match. 
Sometimes  almost  inexplicably  the  rifles  go  wrong,  or  the 
form  of  the  men  is  disappointing,  and  it  may  happen  that  an 
unorganised  concourse  of  individuals  will  beat  an  organised 
team,  even  when  man  for  man  they  are  in  no  way  superior. 
The  result  of  team  matches  under  field-firing  conditions  at 
unknown  distances  is  even  more  uncertain.  Teams  often 
find  it  difficult  to  practise  for  them  at  home,  and  the  trouble 
and  expense  of  specially  coming  a  long  distance  often  restrict 
competition  to  those  living  near  at  hand.  All  the  teams 
cannot  shoot  at  once,  and  the  distances  for  firing,  which  are 
unknown  to  the  first  team,  are  apt  to  become  known  to  those 
who  fire  later.  This  cannot  be  avoided  without  otherwise  inter- 
fering with  the  equality  of  conditions.  Such  difficulties  as 
these  account  for  the  great  preponderance  at  Bisley  and  else- 
where of  competitions  at  fixed  distances  and  for  individuals. 


460  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


CHAPTER  XIX 

DB.  CABVEB's  feats— TBICK  SHOOTING — BAPID  FIBINQ  AT  WIXBLSDOy 
AND  ABBOAJ>—HEBBM ANN'S  PEBFOBMANGE — CAPTAIN  OTTBB*S  8KILI. — 
NATIONAL  BIFLE  ASSOCIATION  BAPID  COMPETITIONS — SKILL  IN  THE 
BIFLS  BBIOADE— A  FEAT  OF  MB.  LANCASTEB— BESTS  AND  BEST 
SHOOTING  —  DIAGBAMS  OF  ABNOBMAL  MEBIT — BEST  SHOOTING  IN 
AMEBIGA — UNCEBTAINTY  OF  BE8ULTS — SAMPLE  DIAGBAMS  MADE  AT 
BO  YABD8 — AND  AT  100  YABDS—WALLINGFOBD*S  SHOOTING  AT  30i.> 
METBES — BECOBDS  OF  THE  QUEEN*S  PBIZE — MATCH  BETWEEN  E.  BOSS 
AND  FENTON — THE  ANT  BIFLE  ASSOCIATION  CUP— THE  WDfBLBDOK 
CUP — TABGET8  BT  BIGBT,  MELLISH,  AND  HALFOBD — GIBB8*S  BBCOBD 
SHOOTING— PUBUC  SCHOOL  AND  UNIVEBSITT  SHOOTING — THE  NATIONAL 
CHALLENGE  TBOPHT->TBE  ELCHO  SHIELD— MATCHES  WITH  AMEBICAK 
TEAMS,    1874-1883 — MATCH  AT  THE  HAGUE,  1899 

Probably  the  rifle-shot  whose  name  was  best  known  to  the 
English  public  in  the  latter  years  of  the  nineteenth  centniy 
was  Dr.  Carver,  the  American.  Immense  skill  of  manipula- 
tion of  the  Winchester  rifle,  very  great  rapidity  of  aiming, 
and  an  extraordinary  knack  of  hitting  moving  objects,  were 
the  great  features  of  his  exhibition  performances  twenty  years 
ago  when  he  visited  this  country.  He  would  break  a  glass 
ball  thrown  into  the  air  by  his  black  servant  with  consider- 
able certainty,  and  he  would  hit  small  coins  similarly  thrown 
up.  So  dexterous  was  he  in  the  use  of  the  Winchester  rifle 
that  he  could  fire  two  shots  at  a  glass  ball  while  in  the  air, 
missiQg  it  purposely,  and  break  it  with  the  third  before  it 
touched  the  ground.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  physique,  and 
his  powers  of  endurance  were  remarkable,  as  was  shown  in 
July  1878,  when  he  broke  5,500  glass  balls  in  600  minutes  at 
the  Brooklyn  Driving  Park.  His  feats  of  fancy  shooting 
were  unmistakably  the  result  of  great  natural  powers,  well 
developed  by  constant  practice.  But  it  does  not  appear 
that  Dr.  Carver  showed  any  very  unique  skill  under  the 
ordiaary  conditions  of  rifle  shooting  at  ordinary  distances. 
Other  trick  shooters  have  from  time  to  time  appeared,  usually 
on  the  stage  of  the  music-hall.    It  must  not  be  supposed  that 


DR.  CARVER'S    PERFORMANCES  461 

these  performances  are  either  as  marvellous  or  as  practical 
as  they  at  first  sight  appear  to  be.  Dr.  Carver  used  the  rifle 
exactly  as  the  shot-gun  is  commonly  used,  with  both  eyes 
open,  and  shooting  more  by  the  sense  of  direction  than 
by  alignment  of  the  sight.  A  ball  thrown  up  is  practically 
stationary  for  an  instant  before  it  begins  to  fall,  and  when 
the  knack  of  firing  quickly  has  been  thoroughly  acquired,  it 
is  by  no  means  so  difficult  to  hit  as  might  be  supposed, 
while  a  graze  will  break  it.  If  the  diameter  of  a  glass  ball 
is  3  inches,  and  that  of  the  bullet  *5  inch,  the  mark  pre- 
sented at  a  distance  of  ten  yards  by  the  glass  ball  will 
cover  an  angle  of  fully  38'.  That  is  to  say,  it  would  be 
equivalent  in  area  to  a  circular  target  6  feet  in  diameter 
at  200  yards  distance,  whereas  the  ordinary  Bisley  target 
is  a  square  one  measuring  4  feet  each  way.  That  we 
may  not  be  supposed  to  be  unfairly  depreciating  this  class 
of  shooting,  Mr.  Theodore  Van  Dyke  may  be  quoted,  who, 
in  his  excellent  book  on  American  hunting,  '  The  Still 
Hunter,'  devotes  a  short  chapter  to  *The  Rifle  on  Moving 
Game.'  He  speaks  of  having  foretold  in  1878,  when  Carver's 
shooting  fame  first  astonished  America,  that  he  would  in  a 
few  months  have  plenty  of  successful  imitators.  His  pre- 
diction was  fulfilled.  He  says  :  *  Imitators  by  the  score 
arose,  most  of  whom  have  excelled  the  best  records  made  by 
Carver  during  his  first  six  months  of  glory.  And  before  long 
we  began  to  hear  of  wonderful  boys,  and  even  wonderful  girls, 
that  hit  glass  balls  and  pennies  in  the  air  with  a  rifle.  These 
prodigies  are  on' the  increase.  The  other  day  I  read  of  two 
new  cases  in  one  paper,  neither  over  ten  years  of  age.'  The 
fact  was  that  instead  of  being  marvellous  the  performance 
was  simply  new.  He  disposes  of  the  fallacious  talk  about 
wing-shooting  with  the  rifle  by  pointing  out  that  Dr.  Carver 
and  all  his  imitators  '  have  in  all  their  public  exhibitions  been 
careful  to  shoot  at  no  pigeons  or  other  birds  on  the  wing,  to 
Bhoot  at  no  balls  tossed  across  the  line  of  fire  or  a^  any  angle 
to  it,  and  to  shoot  at  nothing  in  motion  when  at  any  distance 
where  it  would  require  the  most  ordinary  amount  of  skill  to 
hit  the  same  object  if  at  rest.'  The  degree  of  skill,  he  points 
out,  necessary  to  hit  a  3-inch  ball  at  ten  paces  is  absolutely 
useless  in  the  field.     He  mentions  that  Mr.  Maurice  Thompson 


462  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

at  the  first  trial  broke  with  a  bow  and  arrow  thirty-five  balls 
out  of  fifty  tossed  into  the  air  at  ten  paces,  shooting  as  fast 
as  he  could,  the  feat  being  mnch  more  difficult  with  the  bow 
and  arrow  than  with  the  rifle.  As  regards  th^  throwing  up 
of  pennies  instead  of  glass  balls,  he  points  out  that  it  is  much 
easier  to  hit  a  l.-inch  mark  at  ten  yards  than  a  8-inch  mark 
at  thirty  yards,  and  that  the  champion  rifle  wing  shots  always 
prefer  balls  to  pennies,  although  they  are  more  than  twice  as 
expensive  and  more  troublesome  to  handle.  Dr.  Carver  was  . 
certainly  one  of  the  best  rifle-shots  in  the  field  before  he 
began  to  give  exhibition  performances,  but  the  account  given 
by  himself  in  the  Chicago  *  Field  '  of  November  20, 1880,  and 
quoted  by  Mr.  Van  Dyke,  of  his  shooting  chamois  and  deer, 
does  not  suggest  exceptional  skill.  Shooting  at  moving 
objects  with  the  rifle,  always  provided  that  circumstances 
allow  it  to  be  done  with  safety,  is  excellent  practice  for 
giving  quickness  and  handiness ;  but  it  is  important  to 
take  shots  moving  in  all  directions,  and  not  only  those  going 
straight  away,  or  straight  across  at  a  fixed  distance.  The 
exhibition  shooting  of  which  we  have  been  speaking  is  always 
done  at  such  distances  that  neither  the  fall  of  the  bullet  nor 
the  time  which  it  takes  in  flight  amount  to  anything  material, 
but  this  is  not  at  all  the  case  in  the  field. 

In  the  first  twelve  years  of  the  Wimbledon  meetings  prizes 
were  often  given  for  rapidity  of  firing  under  varying  con- 
ditions with  the  object  of  developing  the  invention  of  practical 
breech-loaders,  or  of  cultivating  rapid  loading,  and  loading 
when  on  the  move  with  the  Service  rifle.  A  favourite  form  of 
competition  in  vogue  thirty  years  ago  was  a  combination  of 
shooting  and  running  on  the  following  principles  :  The  com- 
petitor came  to  the  firing-point  with  a  loaded  rifle,  and  when 
all  was  ready  the  word  '  Commence  '  was  given,  at  which  he 
capped,  fired,  loaded,  and  fired  again,  and  then  had  to  carry 
his  rifle,  ammunition,  loading-rod,  &c.,  round  a  post  50  yards 
away,  loading,  if  he  chose,  while  running.  Returning  to  the 
firing-point,  he  fired  two  more  shots,  ran  round  the  post 
again,  and  so  on,  for  the  three,  four,  or  five  minutes  laid 
down  as  the  limit  of  time.  Such  a  competition  excites  a  good 
deal  of  interest,  and  is  of  a  practical  nature.  At  the  same 
time  success  depends  so  much  upon  specialisation  and  prac- 


RAPID    FIRING    RECORDS  463 

tice  that  it  is  apt  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  small  circle  who 
specially  cultivate  the  particular  drill  necessary,  and  so  to 
lose  in  popularity  and  general  utility.     Rapid-firing  compe- 
titions for  breech-loaders  were  also  held,  and  elicited  much 
interest.    In  these  the  firing  was  generally  of  an  unlimited 
number  of  rounds  in  a  limited  time,  where  any  position  was 
allowed.     Some  wonderful  results  were  arrived  at  by  constant 
practice  and  the  use  of  the  sling  to  steady  the  rifle.     Such 
prizes  were  a  great  feature  of  the  Wimbledon  meeting  of 
1870,  and  some  remarkable  shooting  was  registered.    With 
the  Henry  rifle  (not  the  Martini-Henry)  Mr.  Farquharson,  in 
firing  at  200  yards  for  two  minutes,  made  fifty-two  hits  and 
no  misses.     In  a  'similar  competition  for  squads  of  four  men, 
firing  independently  for  three  minutes  at  200  yards,  a  Scotch 
squad,  using  the  Henry,  fired  192  shots  and  made  163  hits ; 
and  an  English  squad,  using  the  Martini-Henry,  195  shots 
with  155  hits.     This  is  a  very  good  average  of  rapidity.     In 
1871  the  number  of  shots  was  limited,  but  in  1872,  in  a 
competition  for  a  rapid-firing  prize  similar  to  that  already 
described,  squads  of  four  men   firing  for   three  minutes  at 
200  yards,  some  remarkable   shooting  was  made  with   the 
Soper  rifle.     Four  men  of  the  1st  Berks,  Sergt.  Soper  being 
one  of  them,  fired  338  shots,  of  which  306  were  hits,  the  best 
individual  performance  being  that  of   Private  Gilkes,  who 
fired  97  shots  and  made  95  hits.     No  other  squad  entered 
against  this  one.     The  average  of  twenty -eight  shots  per  man 
per  minute,  and  of  twenty-five  hits,  shows  an  extraordinary 
quickness   of  manipulation,  and  a  well-made  breech   action 
working  without  any  sort  of  hitch.    The  firing  must  have  been 
almost  without  aim,  and  have  depended  upon  the  rifle  keeping 
its  general  direction  when  used  in  the  back  position.   Presum- 
ably after  this  time  it  was  thought  that  the  greatest  possible 
speed  of  single-loading  rifles  had  been  reached,  and  that  there 
was  nothing  to  be  gained  by  continuing  such  competitions. 

Rapid-firing  competitions  on  the  Continent  have  usually 
followed  somewhat  different  lines.  Dr.  W.  H.  Doer,  of 
Zurich,  kindly  supplies  the  following  particulars  of  a  match 
which  was  shot  there  under  his  personal  supervision  in  1888. 
The  object  was  to  have  a  long  competition  which  should 
combine  rapidity  with  accuracy.     The  rifle  used   was  the 


464  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

single-loading  Martini,  the  distance  800  metres  (328  yards), 
and  the  object  to  make  in  as  short  a  time  as  possible  200  hits 
on  the  carton  of  38  centimetres  (14*96  inches).  The  award 
of  merit  was  determined  by  the  average  number  of  cartons 
made  per  minute.  There  were  thirteen  competitors,  and 
much  the  most  remarkable  performance  was  that  of  Emil 
Herrmann,  who  fired  kneeling,  and  used  two  rifles  with  the 
Martini  breech  action,  having  hair  triggers,  which  were  then 
fitted  to  the  Swiss  regulation  arm.  He  succeeded  in  making 
the  200  hits  in  36  minutes  57  seconds,  firing  in  all  430  shots, 
his  percentage  of  cartons  to  shots  being  46*5,  the  average 
number  of  shots  per  minute  11*09,  and  the  average  number 
of  cartons  per  minute  5*4.  But  although  *i;his  performance 
was  approached  by  no  other  competitor,  he  improved  upon 
it  considerably  in  a  second  attempt,  making  the  200  cartons 
in  less  than  half  an  hour  (29  minutes  45  seconds)  out  of 
only  888  shots,  the  percentage  of  cartons  being  51*55,  the 
shots  per  minute  18*04,  and  the  number  of  cartons  per  minute 
6-69.  So  good  was  his  shooting  that  he  hardly  ever  missed 
the  bull's-eye  of  60  centimetres  (28*6  inches). 

Rapid  shooting  of  this  kind  is  an  art  in  which  practice 
is  of  great  value.  The  power  of  manipulating  the  rifle,  of 
loading  and  firing  without  fumbling,  is  by  no  means  a  gift  of 
Nature.  In  a  long  series  of  shots  with  a  single-loading  rifle 
giving  a  heavy  kick,  the  exertion  of  taking  the  recoil  is  great, 
and  the  labour  of  loading  and  extracting  is  also  exhausting. 
The  heating  of  the  barrel  in  rapid  firing  makes  a  mirage 
which  adds  immensely  to  the  difficulty  of  accurate  aiming. 
One  of  the  great  drawbacks  of  competitive  firing  under  such 
conditions  with  black  powder  was  the  interference  of  smoke 
from  the  firer's  rifle,  or  that  of  someone  shooting  close  by. 
This  trouble  no  longer  exists.  There  are  two  other  difficulties 
which  prevent  practice  of  this  kind  from  becoming  popular. 
The  first  is  the  great  expenditure  of  ammunition,  which  entails 
considerable  expense,  and  for  most  men  limits  the  possible 
amount  of  practice ;  and  the  second,  that  if  a  large  number 
of  shooters  compete  alongside  each  other,  at  targets  placed  in 
a  row,  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  certainty  that  someone  or 
another  will  trespass  accidentally  upon  his  neighbour's  target, 
and  thereby  interfere  with  the  proper  record  of  the  scores. 


EAPID    MAGAZINE    FIRE  465 

It  is  doabtfnl  if  Herrmann's  performance  has  ever  been 
surpassed  under  like  conditions.  The  additional  speed 
of  shooting  given  by  the  use  of  the  magazine  and  loading 
from  a  charger  may  be  illustrated  from  the  best  performances 
of  Captain  Otter,  one  of  the  shooting  instructors  of  the  Swiss 
army,  who  has  made  a  special  study  of  rapid  firing.  Starting 
with  a  loaded  Swiss  Service  rifle,  with  its  straight-pull  action 
and  full  magazine  of  thirteen  cartridges,  he  can  make  at 
800  metres  (828  yards),  on  the  regulation  target,  1*8  metre 
square  (5  feet  11  inches),  from  36  to  89  hits  in  as  many  shots 
during  the  space  of  one  minute,  whether  from  the  knee  or 
lying  down.  His  average  score  will  be  just  about  three  points 
a  shot,  the  target  being  divided  as  follows  ; 


Carton,        40      centimetres  (15'7  inohee) 
Boirs-eye,  60  ,,  (23*6  inches) 

Centre,  1      metre  (3  feet  3*4  inches) 

Cater  ring,    1*50      „      (4  feet  11  inches) 
Remainder  of  the  target 


counting  5  points. 
..        4      „ 
»»        3       >» 
>>         2       „ 
„         1       ,. 


This  shooting  may  be  considered  to  correspond  closely  with 
firing  at  the  same  rate  of  speed  at  200  yards  and  putting  half 
the  shots  in  and  half  out  of  a  2-foot  circle,  and  all  within  the 
limits  of  a  4-foot  target. 

At  200  metres  (218  yards)  Captain  Otter  can  in  twenty 
seconds  fire  ten  to  thirteen  shots,  and  make  80  per  cent,  of 
hits  upon  a  row  of  five  figure-targets  representing  kneeling 
men,  often  hitting  each  one  two  or  three  times.  At  the  same 
distance,  from  the  knee,  in  one  minute,  shooting  at  a  row  of 
thirty  similar  targets,  he  can  fire  thirty  shots  and  make  twenty 
to  twenty-five  hits  on  the  same  number  of  different  figures. 
Or,  shooting  kneeling  at  a  row  of  expanded  bladders  to 
represent  heads,  he  has  in  two  minutes  fired  fifty  shots,  and 
with  thirty  of  them  broken  thirty  of  the  bladders.  Firing 
for  the  quick-firing  prize  at  the  International  Meeting  at 
Albisgiitli  in  1899,  he  fired  100  shots  in  5  minutes  59  seconds 
at  800  metres  (828  yards),  and  made  eighty  hits  in  the  black 
bull's-eye,  60  centimetres  (28*6  inches),  taking  the  first  prize. 

One  of  the  most  practical  competitions  at  Bisley  is  that 
now  known  as  the  *  Pixley,'  which  has  existed  for  more  than 
ten  years.    Prior  to  1897  it  was  fired  with  the  Martini-Henry 

H  H 


466  THE    BOOK    OP   THE    RIFLE 

rifle,  the  time  allowed  being  one  minute,  during  which 
ten  shots  were  to  be  fired  at  500  yards  at  the  ordinary  Bisley 
second-class  target  with  2-foot  bull's-eye.  In  four  of  the 
seven  years  (1890-96)  it  took  a  score  of  46  out  of  a  possible 
50  points  to  win  the  first  prize,  and  in  1893  and  1896  the 
winning  scores  were  47  points.  In  1897  the  conditions  were 
altered  to  suit  the  *808  rifle,  eight  shots  being  allowed  from 
the  magazine,  and  the  time  limit  being  reduced  to  thirty 
seconds.  Out  of  the  possible  40  points  which  could  be  made 
if  all  eight  shots  were  bull's-eyes,  two  competitors,  Lieutenant 
Etches  and  Sergeant-Instructor  Wallingford^  made  89  in 
1899,  and  the  winning  scores  in  the  other  three  years  were 
88,  87,  and  86.  In  1901  no  higher  score  than  88  was  made, 
owing  to  the  reduction  in  the  divisions  of  the  target.  It  is 
noticeable  that  in  this  competition  the  same  names  tend  to 
recur  in  the  prize  list,  and  it  seems  to  become  the  special 
province  of  certain  shooters.  The  same  is  the  case  at  the 
running  deer,  where  De  Grey,  Loder,  Cairns,  Ranken  are 
names  which  have  at  different  times  stood  almost  alone,  as 
that  of  Winans  has  with  the  revolver. 

The  same  may  be  said  to  some  extent  of  the  prize  now 
called  the  *  Wantage.'  This  is  a  competition  of  a  most 
practical  kind.  It  is  fired  at  200  yards,  and  the  target  is 
represented  by  a  disc  18  inches  in  diameter,  painted  a  light 
blue  up  to  1900,  when  the  colour  was  changed  to  khaki.  In 
the  centre  of  the  target  is  a  circle  8  inches  in  diameter,  which 
counts  3  points,  the  rest  of  the  disc  counting  2.  Any  position 
is  allowed.  While  the  Martini-Henry  was  used  (1898-^)  the 
target  was  shown  for  five  seconds,  and  disappeared  for  the 
same  time,  to  give  an  interval  for  loading ;  seven  shots  were 
allowed,  and  the  winning  scores  varied  from  19  to  21  out  of  a 
possible  21  points.  With  the  introduction  of  the  -808  rifle  in 
1897,  the  number  of  shots  was  increased  to  eight,  and  the 
time  of  appearance  and  disappearance  decreased  to  three 
seconds.  In  each  of  the  two  years,  1897  and  1898,  one  scorv 
was  made  of  28  points  out  of  a  possible  24;  in  1899  five 
scores  of  28  were  made ;  in  1900  three  such  scores ;  and 
in  1901  one  full  score  of  24  points  and  four  of  28.  Major 
Cowan,R.E.,  Lieutenant  Etches,  Mr.  E.  J.  Rigby,and  Sei^eant- 


SKILL    IN    THE   RIFLE    BRIGADE  467 

Instaiictor  Wallingford  are  amongst  those  whose  names 
occur  most  conspicaously  in  the  rapid-firing  competitions  we 
have  been  describing.  It  mast  not  be  forgotten  that  in  this 
competition,  and  the  rapid-firing  competition  at  500  yards 
just  described,  the  shooter  is  at  considerable  disadvantage  as 
compared  with  deliberate  firing,  because  he  may  be  making 
an  extremely  close  group  of  shots  to  one  side  or  other  of  the 
bull's-eye,  but  has  no  opportunity  of  correcting  his  aim, 
because  the  shots  are  not  marked.  But  it'  is  quite  evident, 
not  only  to  those  who  watch  the  scoring  of  other  people,  but 
to  those  who  by  way  of  experiment  enter  a  few  times  in  these 
competitions,  without  having  given  much  attention  to  practising 
them,  that  the  scoring  made  when  firing  at  a  reasonably  rapid 
rate  is  surprisingly  better  in  proportion  than  that  made  in 
deliberate  shooting.  The  fact  is  quite  indisputable,  and  the 
moral  to  be  drawn  from  it  seems  to  be  that  habitual  quickness 
in  aiming  is  really  no  disadvantage  even  in  shooting  when 
deliberation  is  allowed. 

Before  dealing  with  the  records  of  a  few  of  the  principal 
deliberate  competitions,  both  for  individuals  and  teams, 
which  have  taken  place  since  the  revival  of  the  Volunteer 
movement,  one  or  two  instances  of  feats  with  the  rifle  before 
that  time  may  be  given. 

The  following  anecdote  of  Lieut.-Colonel  Wade,  command- 
ing .the  2nd  Battalion  Rifle  Brigade,  formed  May  6,  1805,  is 
told  by  Sir  William  Cope  in  his  *  History  of  the  Rifle  Brigade.' 
*  Lieut.-Colonel  Wade,'  he  says,  *  was  an  admirable  shot  with 
the  rifle  himself.  He  and  a  private  of  the  name  of  Smeaton 
used  to  hold  a  target  for  each  other  at  150  yards  ;  and  it  is 
said  that  he  and  John  Spurry,  a  private  in  the  regiment, 
held  the  target  for  each  other  at  200  yards  :  a  wonderful  feat, 
while  the  Baker  rifle  was  still  in  use.  There  used  to  be  a 
story  of  him  at  an  inspection  by  the  old  Earl  of  Chatham, 
•who  expressed  a  wish  to  see  some  practice  with  the  rifle  ; 
and  having  made  some  remark  on  the  danger  of  the  markers, 
Wade  said  :  **  There  is  no  danger  "  ;  and  calling  one  of  the  men 
(no  doubt  Smeaton  or  Spurry),  bade  him  hold  a  target,  and 
he  himself  taking  a  rifle  fired  and  hit  it.  Lord  Chatham's 
horror  at  this  was  extreme,  on  which  Wade  said :    "  Oh,  we 

11    H    2 


468  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

all  do  it."  And  bidding  the  other  to  take  a  loaded  rifle,  he 
ran  oat  himself  and  held  the  target  for  the  soldier's  fire. 
Probably  no  other  men  in  the  regiment  bat  themselves  could 
have  done  this.  Colonel  Wade,  C.B.,  died  Febraary  18, 1821, 
having  retired  from  the  army.' 

To  show  how  good  the  best  rifles  of  1840-50  were,  as  well 
as  the  skill  of  the  expert  shots  who  ased  them,  we  cannot  do 
better  than  refer  to  Mr.  Scrope's  well-known  book  on  deer- 
stalking. He  qaotes  a  letter  from  Mr.  Lancaster,  the  gun- 
maker,  who  says :  '  I  shot  a  match  last  year  (1845)  for 
Mr.  Graham  at  800  yards,  firing  from  the  shoalder  without 
a  rest,  he  backing  me  to  hit  a  bull's-eye  8  inches  diameter 
six  times  out  of  nine.  I  hit  it  six  times  following,  and 
averaged  three  bull's-eyes  in  five  shots  during  the  last  forty- 
five  roimds.  In  fact,  I  have  done  more  at  800  yards  with 
the  cone  than  I  ever  did  or  saw  done  at  200  yards  with  the 
spherical  ball.'  This  rifle  fired  a  short  conical  ball,  and 
was  a  16-bore ;  the  grooving  was  presumably  the  2-groove 
oval,  which  is  still  the  speciality  of  this  firm,  and  had  a 
spiral  of  one  turn  in  11  feet.  The  performance  is  a  re- 
markable one,  especially  from  the  position  used,  and  most 
have  been  made  under  the  best  of  conditions.  Yet  it  cannot 
have  been  abnormally  good,  since  the  match  was  undertaken 
on  a  knowledge  of  what  could  be  done  by  Mr.  Lancaster. 

Making  fine  targets  from  a  rest  is  an  amusement  popular  in 
certain  circles  in  America,  but  it  has  never  had  any  vogue  in 
this  country,  although  gunmakers  usually  find  it  convenient 
to  have  some  kind  of  rest  on  their  ranges  to  use  in  sighting 
rifles.  The  most  satisfactory  form  of  rest,  perhaps,  is  of 
table  height,  with  a  raised  part  at  one  end  high  enough  to 
support  the  barrel  of  the  rifle,  while  the  shooter's  elbows  and 
body  rest  on  and  against  a  lower  part  as  on  a  table.  The  rest 
may  be  something  of  a  fixture  if  it  is  only  to  be  used  on  one 
range  and  at  one  distance.  Its  feet  may  be  posts  driven  into 
the  ground,  with  cross  pieces  and  a  heavy  plank  between 
them.  A  four-legged  rest  is  very  steady,  if  the  feet  are  well 
spread  and  one  pair  of  the  legs  can  be  adjusted  independently 
of  each  other.  The  height  of  the  rest  can  to  some  extent  be 
regulated  if  all  the  legs  are  hinged  so  as  to  be  arranged  more 


FIRING    WITH    RESTS  469 

or  less  upright.  Such  a  rest  can  be  made  to  fold  into  quite  a 
small  compass,  as  the  legs  fit  alongside  the  body  of  it  when 
folded  up.  Three-legged  folding  rests  have  also  been  made  in 
America,  and  are  convenient  enough.  Shooting  with  a  rest 
demands  great  care.  The  barrel  of  the  rifle  must  always  be 
supported  evenly,  and  with  equal  pressure,  in  the  same  place. 
The  pressure  against  the  shoulder  must  also  be  regulated  so 
as  not  to  vary.  The  shooter's  body  should  be  well  supported 
while  he  is  firing,  so  that  there  may  be  no  question  of  move- 
ment of  the  muscles  which  balance  it.  Similarly,  in  firing 
from  a  rest  arranged  for  the  standing  position,  the  weight 
of  the  body  should  be  leaned  forward  against  the  edge  of  the 
table.  It  is  well  to  have  some  arrangement  by  which  the 
elbows  may  be  supported  at  the  proper  height  in  relation  to 
the  rest ;  either  the  rest  for  the  barrel  should  be  adjustable  in 
height,  or  else  there  should  be  some  means  of  packing  up 
that  part  of  the  table  on  which  the  elbows  bear.  If  the  table 
is  the  right  height  for  the  elbows  without  packing,  it  will  be 
worth  while  to  make  little  hollows  in  it,  in  which  the  elbows 
may  be  supported  without  slipping.  Plate  LI  shows  the  kind 
of  positions  used  in  firing  with  rests,  standing  and  sitting, 
and  has  been  taken  from  Ackermann's  little  book  already 
referred  to.  The  probability  is  that  it  is  better  to  rest  the 
rifle  rather  further  from  the  muzzle  than  is  here  shown. 
The  table  giving  the  rest  for  the  elbows  and  the  rifle  should 
at  all  events  be  detached  from  the  seat  upon  which  the  firer 
sits. 

Such  rests  as  these  differ  entirely  from  the  mechanical 
rest,  in  which  the  rifle  is  held  so  that  it  slides  back  with  the 
recoil,  the  object  here  being  to  fire  a  series  of  shots  without 
having  to  readjust  the  aim.  This  is  the  best  means  of 
testing  ammunition  or  rifle  barrels  where,  as  in  factories, 
it  is  necessary  to  do  so  in  quantity,  but  the  shooting  is  quite 
independent  of  any  alignment  of  the  sights.  The  different 
way  in  which  the  rifle  is  gripped  in  a  mechanical  rest  destroys 
the  normal  vibration  of  the  barrel  produced  in  firing  from 
the  shoulder.  It  has  been  found  at  Enfield  that  rather 
closer  shooting  can  be  obtained  from  the  mechanical  rest 
vnth   the  -SOS  carbine   than  with   the  rifle:    this    fact  is 


470  THE    BOOK    OP   THE    BEFLE 

apparently  referable  to  there  being  less  variation  in  the 
vibration  ot  the  shorter  barrel,  when  clamped  in  the  rest,  than 
of  the  longer,  and  doee  not  indicate  any  snperiority  when  fired 
in  the  ordinary  way.  Colonel  Watkin,  the  able  head  of  the 
Enfield  Small  Arme  Factory,  has  devised  a  mechanical  rest 
which  supports  the  rifle  in  such  a  way  that  it  shoots 
accurately  to  the  same  sighting  as  when  held  by  a  man  of 
average  physique.  This  should  prove  very  useful  in  testing 
and  adjusting  the  sighting  of  rifles.  It  has  the  great 
advantage  over  shooting  with  direct  aim  from  the  shoulder 
that  when  once  sighted  a  series  of  shots  can  be  fired  very 
rapidly  and  with  perfect  accuracy  without  relaying  the  rifle, 
thus  saving  both  time  and  trouble. 

The  very  fine  diagrams  which  have  been  produced  at 
different  times  in  America  in  rest  shooting  have  usually  been 
made  from  table  rests  at  a  short  range,  generally  at  200  or 
220  yards,  well  flagged,  the  shooter  allowing  ample  time  for 
his  rifle  to  cool  between  the  shots,  and,  if  necessary,  waiting 
patiently  until  the  wind  should  come  again  exactly  as  it  was 
for  the  previous  shots.  The  virtue  of  patience  is  very 
necessary,  and  it  will  be  found  that  time  after  time  a  good 
series  of  shots  is  spoilt  by  one  or  two  which  diverge  from 
the  close  group  in  the  centre,  while  it  is  only  at  rare  intervals 
that  such  a  target  can  be  obtained  as  is  fit  to  be  framed  and 
glazed.  It  is  this  class  of  shooting,  in  which  there  is  no 
objection  to  hair  triggers,  barrels  of  unpractical  weight,  and 
telescopic  sights  affixed  to  the  rifle,  in  which,  in  fact,  any 
and  every  appliance  that  may  possibly  improve  the  shooting 
is  allowable,  that  proves  most  clearly  of  what  the  rifle  is, 
and  of  what  it  is  not,  capable ;  and  the  man  who  has  some 
experience  of  it  will  have  learnt,  among  other  useful  lessons, 
that  there  are  certain  occasions  on  which  the  marksman 
shooting  under  ordinary  conditions  is  not  to  blame  for  a  shot 
which  goes  wide.  It  will  be  found,  too,  that  some  rifles, 
from  causes  quite  difficult  to  explain,  will  as  a  rule  make 
much  closer  groups  than  others,  and  that  variations  in  the 
load  sometimes  affect  accuracy  very  much. 

In  speaking  of  rest  shooting  we  have  said  that  there  is 
no  certainty  of  obtaining  a  very  good  result  from  any  given 


.J 


u 

H 

S 

o 


DIAGRAMS    OP    ABNORMAL    MERIT  473 

group  of  shots  ¥^hich  may  be  fired.  There  seems  always  to  be 
a  large  element  involved  of  what  may  be  called  luck,  if  for  the 
whole  series  of  shots  things  should  go  perfectly  right,  without 
anything  abnormal  happening.  Nevertheless  it  is  undeni- 
able that  the  longer  the  series  of  shots,  the  truer  is  the  test 
of  the  capacity  of  the  rifle  and  of  the  man.  Shooting  with 
the  rifle  supported  by  a  rest  has  never  been  systematically 
practised  in  this  country,  but  in  America  it  has  been  suffi- 
ciently cultivated  to  ajSbrd  a  very  good  measure  of  what  work 
is  possible.  The  standard  number  of  shots  recognised  there 
is  ten.  For  five  or  even  seven  shots  the  chance  of  all  going 
without  a  hitch  is,  of  course,  much  greater.  The  writer  recol- 
lects once  in  firing  with  a  Mannlicher  rifle  and  match  sights 
at  200  yards,  in  a  fresh  cross  wind,  putting  four  consecutive 
shots  into  a  space  of  less  than  1  inch  by  f  inch.,  on  the  little 
cardboard  target  which  was  used.  This  was  in  the  course  of 
some  experiments  to  ascertain  the  angles  of  elevation  at 
short,  mid,  and  long  ranges.  This  little  group  was  perfectly 
abnormal.  The  conditions  of  weather  were  such  as  to 
render  it  an  absolute  fluke,  but  although  it  was  not  in 
the  bulFs-eye  of  the  little  target,  it  would  have  looked 
very  striking  if  presented  as  a  performance  at  200  yards, 
for,  as  it  happened,  a  few  other  shots  fired  at  the  same  time 
were  not  so  close  to  the  little  group  as  to  spoil  it.  The 
writer  does  not  care  about  taking  a  less  series  than  ten  shots 
as  any  test  of  a  rifle,  and,  indeed,  this  number  by  no  means 
forms  a  conclusive  test.  Sir  Henry  Halford  used  to  tell  of  a 
Metford  Match  rifle  which  was  supplied  to  a  friend  of  his 
many  years  ago,  and  which  was  delivered  by  the  maker  in 
much  doubt  as  to  its  success,  since  by  accident  one  groove 
had  been  rifled  rather  deeper  than  the  others.  The  first 
series  of  shots  fired  with  this  rifle,  15  shots  at  900  yards, 
made  a  quite  unusually  good  group.  The  owner  was  de- 
lighted with  it,  and  the  question  began  to  arise  whether 
there  might  not  be  some  hidden  virtue  in  haviag  an  odd 
groove  of  extra  depth  in  the  barrel.  The  same  rifle  was  shot 
many  times  afterwards  without  making  a  respectable  group 
or  score,  and  before  long  had  to  be  discarded.  The  writer 
recollects  when  at  Oxford  watching  the  shooting  of  a  young 


474  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    RIFLE 

shot  who  had  recently  left  school,  and  who  was  using  a  Snider 
taken  from  the  rack  in  the  armoury,  the  interior  surface  of 
its  barrel  being  much  damaged  by  rust.  It  was  a  weapon 
which  no  careful  marksman  would  have  taken  to  the  range 
to  make  a  score  with,  but  after  beginning  with  a  score  of  28 
out  of  86  at  200  yards,  he  made  the  full  score  of  seven 
bull's-eyes,  85  points,  at  500  yards;  and  at  600  yards, 
84  points,  scores  which  with  a  Snider  rifle  were  entirely 
exceptional,  and  in  fact,  quite  beyond  the  normal  power  of 
the  weapon;  nor  was  the  shooter's  subsequent  record  apon 
the  rifle  range  at  all  distinguished. 

This  fact  of  the  somewhat  accidental  character  of  the 
best  performances  which  can  be  got  from  the  rifle  is  verr 
noticeable  in  trying  to  make  close  diagrams.  Mr.  Gould, 
who  wrote  upon  modern  American  rifles  before  smokeless 
powder  was  in  general  use  in  rifles,  states  his  belief  that 
*  there  are  but  few,  if  any,  rifles  which,  combined  with 
factory  ammunition  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  shooter  and 
weather  conditions,  that  will  shoot  fifty  consecutive  shots 
into  an  8-inch  bull's-eye  at  200  yards,  shooting  with  rest  and 
telescope,  or  any  sfyle  of  sights/  The  details  given  by  Mr. 
Gould  of  the  best  performances  within  the  range  of  his 
experience  are  very  interesting.  The  usual  distance  for  rest 
shooting  is  200  yards,  and  the  American  Standard  target  (see 
p.  428)  is  subdivided,  as  before  stated,  within  the  8-inch 
buirs-eye  into  circles  as  follows:— The  innermost  circle, 
counting  12  points,  is  1-41  inch  in  diameter,  the  next  circle 
measures  2*38  inches,  counting  11 ;  the  next  8*86  inches, 
counting  10 ;  the  next  5*54  inches,  counting  9 ;  while  the 
remainder  of  the  8-inch  bull's-eye  counts  8  points.  In  a  very 
wide  experience  of  rest  shooting,  extending  over  twenty  years, 
and  comprising  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  performances  of 
the  most  expert  rifle-testers  among  amateur  and  professional 
shots  in  America,  Mr.  Gould  says  that  he  has  never  yet  seen 
fifteen  shots  placed  consecutively  in  the  12  circle,  twenty  shots 
in  the  11,  forty  shots  in  the  10,  sixty  shots  in  the  9,  or  one 
hundred  shots  in  the  8-inch  bull's-eye ;  while  he  mentions  that 
at  the  time  when  his  book  was  written  nearly  one  hundred  clean 
scores  of  ten  bull's-eyes  had  been  made  at  200  yards  in  off- 


A    FINE    AMERICAN    DIAGRAM  475 

hand  shooting,  that  is,  in  shooting  standing  without  a  rest. 
He  adds  that  no  one  has  shooting  standing  been  able  to  place 
ten  shots  on  or  within  the  10  circle  ;  nor,  in  shooting  from  a 
rest,  has  the  feat  ever  been  accomplished  of  putting  all  ten 
shots  within  the  12  circle.  He  says:— 'It  is  considered 
brilliant  shooting  to  place  ten  shots  in  the  11  circle  at  rest, 
and  the  same  number  in  the  10  circle  is  very  fine  work.  .  .  . 
Five  shots  in  the  12  circle  have  no  special  value  ;  seven  shots 


are  more  difficult  and  wonderful ;  ten  shots  never  yet  attained, 
and  beyond  that  the  difficulties  of  the  task  are  rapidly 
multiplied,  and  seem  at  the  present  time  almost  among  the 
impossibilities.'  Mr.  Gould's  book  is  admirable  in  its  full 
knowledge  and  sensible  treatment  of  rifle  matters;  and  it  is,  so 
far  as  we  know,  the  only  book  dealing  at  all  adequately  with  this 
particular  phase  of  the  subject.  We  venture,  therefore,  to 
borrow  from  it  an  illustration  (fig.  97)  showing  a  target  of 


476  THE    BOOK    OP   THE    RIFLE 

exceptional  merit  made  in  rest  shooting  at  200  yards,  re« 
produced  fall  size,  and  consisting  of  a  series  of  ten  shots. 
It  coonts  118  out  of  a  possible  120  points,  there  being  only 
two  shots  which  do  not  touch  the  border  of  the  12  circle.  One 
of  the  shots  is  certainly  a  lucky  one,  as  it  does  not  completely 
break  through  the  white  line.  This,  of  course,  represents 
quite  exceptional  work  at  200  yards.  The  uncertainty  d 
the  results  is  described  by  Mr.  Gould  as  follows :— '  I  have 
seen  targets  of  ten  shots  which  could  be  touched  or  covered 
with  a  silver  dollar,  which  were  shot  at  a  distance  of  200 
yards,  and  later  the  same  rifle,  ammunition,  and  man, 
shooting  at  the  same  distance  and  place,  would  not  be  able  to 
shoot  into  an  8-inch  bull's-eye  ;  and  mark  you  well,  brother 
riflemen,  I  have  seen  this  with  breech  and  muzzle-loading 
rifles;  rifles  weighing  twenty  pounds,  fitted  with  telescopic 
sights  and  shot  from  machine-rest,  as  well  as  the  ten-pound 
breech-loading  rifle  fitted  with  the  usual  target  sights.  Later 
these  same  rifles  would  shoot  with  astonishing  fineness  but 
intermittingly,  that  is,  unless  the  rifleman  had  concluded  the 
rifle  had  shot  out  and  disposed  of  it.  I  have  seen  targets 
shot  by  experts  of  the  rifle  factories  which  would  take  a  circle 
10  or  12  inches  in  diameter  to  enclose  the  shots,  and  the  next 
group  be  in  a  3-inch  circle ;  the  latter  would  perhaps  be  sent 
to  a  customer  with  the  rifle,  and  the  value  of  the  arm  based 
on  the  best  target.  Ten  shots  usually  constitute  a  score,  and 
the  fine  work  done  indicates  the  excellent  shooting  qualitieB 
of  American  rifles,  perfection  of  ammunition,  and  skill  of  the 
marksmen.  Several  times  this  niunber  of  shots  have  been 
placed  on  or  in  the  11  circle  of  the  Standard  American  target 
when  shooting  from  a  rest,  but  this  is  no  evidence  that  a  rifle 
is  capable  of  shooting  continuously  into  so  small  a  space.' 

As  Mr.  Gould  says,  the  exceptionally  good  targets  which 
are  often  paraded  to  give  the  public  the  idea  that  they  re- 
present normal  performances  are  frequently  those  picked 
from  dozens,  if  not  hundreds,  of  targets  made,  and  the 
public  accepts  the  abnormal  for  the  usual.  There  is  no 
interest  in  looking  at  a  large  number  of  rather  inferior 
records,  but  if  an  extraordinarily  fine  score  can  be  shown  as 
having  been  made  with  a  particular  rifle,  that  score  is  quite 


UNCERTAINTY    OF    THE    BEST    RESULTS      477 


sure  to  be  assamed  by  the  average  man  as  representing  a 
typical  performance  with  it.  Mr.  Salem  Wilder  speaks  of  the 
necessity  for  caution  in  accepting  records  without  some  good 
evidence,  and  of  unscrupulous  folk  who  are  capable  of  re- 
presenting a  diagram  as  having  been  made  at  200  yards, 
when  it  really  was  made  at  100. 

Even  where  the  score  or  diagram  has  been  genuinely 
made,  the  tendency  to  argue  from  the  particular  to  the 
general  is,  as  always,  very  dangerous.  Those  who  used  the 
Snider  rifle  were  only  too  familiar  with  the  feeling  of  help- 
less bewilderment  which  would  come  now  and  again  when, 
as  Major  Young  puts  it,  the  rifle  would  *  utterly  refuse  to 
obey  the  helm,'  when  a  sudden  string  of  misses  would  begin, 
or  wild  shots  occur,  with  no  reason  whatever  so  far  as  the 
shooter  could  tell  either  in  his  own  manipulation  or  in  the 
circumstances  of  weather  and  light.  We  have  better  military 
rifles  now,  and  are  comparatively  free  from  such  complete 
breakdowns;  but  there  remain  variations  of  circumstances 
which  we  cannot  as  yet  altogether  fathom,  and  which,  quite 
independently  of  the  skill  of  the  man,  will  sometimes  bring 
an  unaccountable  miss,  or, 
what  we  never  hear  of, 
though  it  happens  some- 
times, an  unaccountable 
bull's-eye.  These  causes 
will  produce  now  a  group  of 
shots  of  exceptional  merit, 
now  one  scattered  much 
more  widely,  and  perhaps 
spoiling  a  score  even  more 
because  each  shot  misleads 
the  shooter  into  correcting 
his  aim,  on  the  assumption 
that  it  was  a  normal  one, 
than  because  of  the  actual 

divergence  of  the  group  made.  It  is  worth  while  to  give  a  few 
examples  of  groups  of  shots  made  at  short  ranges  without  the 
help  of  a  rest,  to  show  the  standard  of  accuracy  that  may  be 
expected  when  all  goes  well.   An  example  of  shooting  with  the 


FIO.   08 


478  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

*803  Service  rifle  and  ammunition  is  fig.  98,  which  shows  ten 
shots,  at  50  yards,  fired  in  August  1892,  with  cordite  cartridges. 
This  was  the  best  of  three  or  four  targets  fired  consecutively 
by  the  writer.  With  the  present  ammunition  there  should 
be  little  difficulty  in  producing  a  better  diagram  than  this 
at  the  same  distance.     Fig.  99  shows  ten  shots  at  the  same 


FIG.    100 


distance  (January  18,  1894),  with  an  experimental  load  of 
cordite  made  up  in  a  rather  different  form.  Fig.  100  shows 
another  diagram  of  ten  shots  at  50  yards  with  the  '303 
(May  15,  1894) ;  in  this  case  cannonite  powder  was  used. 
This  is  a  very  good  diagram,  and  on  the  strength  of  it  the 
load  was  taken  to  the  1,000  yards  range,  where  it  at  once 
gave  excellent  shooting.     These  diagrams  were  made  in  the 

back  position,  the  rifles  being 
fitted  with  Match  sights.  A 
very  good  diagram  of  twenty 
shots  at  50  yards  made  in  the 
'  Field '  trials  of  1883  by  Messrs. 
Holland's  rook  rifle  of  -295 
bore,  fired  from  a  rest,  is 
shown  in  fig.  101.  The  per- 
formance came  at  the  time 
almost  as  a  revelation  of  the 
shooting  which  such  a  rifle 
**^"  '"*  would  give   if   carefully  made 

and  sighted,  and  fired  with  the  best  ammunition.  Diagrams 
as  good,  and  better,  have  since  been  made  with  rook  rifles,  but 
we  believe  that  a  result  of  the  performance  of  this  and  other 
rifles  of  Messrs.  Holland  in  the  *  Field '  trials  was  that  the 
general  standard  of  accuracy  in  this  and  other  classes  of 
sporting  rifles  was  materially  raised. 


SOME    TYPICAL    DIAGBAMS 


479 


re- 

by 


Attention  has  already  been  drawn   (p.   148)  to  the 

markable  diagram  of  five  shots  made  at    100    yards 

Mr.  Littledale  with  a  Mann- 

licher,  and  to  the  '  record  * 
score  for  the  Martin  Smith 
prize  for  seven  shots  at  the 
same  distance.  We  now  give 
(fig.  102)  a  diagram  from  the 
pages  of  the  'Field'  of  ten 
shots  at  100  yards  made  in 
October  1899,  with   an  oval- 

*  bore  '256  rifle  made  by 
Charles  Lancaster.  This  is  a 
performance  above  the  aver- 
age, and  another  of  about  the 
same  standard  is  shown  in 
fig.  108.  This  was  made  with 
a  foreign  '256  rifle  without  a 
rest  by  the  writer,  shooting 
for  'group,'  and  not  for  the 
centre  of  the  bull's-eye.  It 
was  made  with  a  sporting  bullet,  with  the  lead  exposed 
at  the  point,  and  was  the  best  of  several  shoots  fired  in 
trying  two  or  three  patterns  of  bullets  against  each  other 
in  August  1898.  Shooting  of  this  order  of  merit  does  not 
compare  with  the  highest  accuracy  which  has  been  obtained 
from  rifles  at  100  yards,  but  it  is  very  easy  to  make  worse 
shooting  with  rifles  and  ammunition  of  this  class.  These 
groups  look  large  on  a  page :  at  100  yards  they  look  very 
small.  Fig.  104  is  a  diagram  at  100  yards  made  at  High- 
land by  Colonel  Bodine,  the  well-known  American  shot,  on 
November  7, 1878,  with  a  Borchardt  rifle,  cleaned  out  between 
the  shots  and  firing  a  bullet  of  550  grains.  It  was  made 
from  the  back  position,  and  is  exceptionally  close.  Figs.  105 
and  106  appeared  in  *  Forest  and  Stream,'  March  27,  1884, 
being  sent  by  a  correspondent  *  E.  A.  L.'  They  were  made 
in  March  1883,  also  from  the  back  position,  and  without  clean- 
ing the  rifle,  the  fouling  being  moistened  by  breathing  into 
the  barrel.     The  rifle  used  was  a  -4  Maynard  rifle.     Fig.  105 


FIO.    102 


480 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


consists  of  ten  and  fig.  106  of  forty  consecutive  shots,  the 
intersection  of  the  crossed  lines  marking  the  centre  of  the 
btdl's-eye.     This  is,  under  the  circumstances,  excellent  work. 


FIG.   lOS 


FIO.    104 


FIG.    105 


The  next  diagram  (fig.  107)  represents  the  target  made 
in  the  prone  position  by  Sergt. -Instructor  Wallingford,  of  the 


WALLINGFORD'S    DIAGRAM    AT    THE    HAGUE        481 

Hythe  School  of  Musketry,  in  the  International  Match  at 
The  Hague  in  June  1899.  His  score  in  40  shots  was  884 
points  out  of  a  possible  400,  the  10  ring  measuring  10  cm., 
the  9  ring  20  cm.,  and  so  on. 

The  group  is  on  the  whole  a  little  too  high,  and  a  little 
too  much  to  the  left.  It  measures  88  centimetres  (18  inches) 
by  29  centimetres  (11*4  inches),  which  at  a  distance  of  828 
jards  and  for  so  long  a  series  as  40  shots  may  be  considered 
remarkably  close  shooting.     Wallingford,  like  the  rest  of  the 


FIG.    IU6 


British  team,  was  using  the  -808  rifle  and  Service  ammuni- 
tion, the  deduction  from  which  is  that  there  can  be  little 
-wanting  in  the  quality  of  our  Service  arm  or  its  cartridges, 
as  compared  with  those  of  other  nations.  The  care  taken  in 
the  manufacture  of  small-arm  ammunition  at  the  Boyal 
Laboratory  at  the  present  time  would  fairly  astonish  anyone 
who  can  remember  seeing  small  boys  putting  into  the 
<5artridges  the  charges  of  black  powder  in  happy-go-lucky 
Jashion  from  flasks,  in  the  good  old  days. 

It  is  not  easy  to  compare  the  shooting  for  the  King's 

1 1 


482 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


{olim  the  Queen's)  Prize  in  different  years,  because  not  only 
has  there  several  times  been  a  change  of  rifles,  but  the 
conditions  of  shooting  have  varied,  and  also  the  size  of  the 
targets.  The  long-range  target,  however,  has  not  varied  in 
its  dimensions  since  1874,  and  it  will  be  worth  while  to 
compare  the  best  scores  made  with  the  Martini-Henry  (which 
was  first  used  for  the  Queen's  Prize  in  1871)  and  those  made 
with  the  -303  magazine  rifle. 


FIG.  107 


In  1860  Mr.  Ross  won  the  Queen's  Prize  with  the  Whit- 
worth  rifle,  with  eight  hits  out  of  ten  shots  at  800  yards, 
seven  at  900  yards,  and  six  at  1,000  yards,  the  target  being 
6  feet  by  10  feefc,  and  having  on  it  a  circular  centre  2  feet  in 
diameter,  which  he  was  fortunate  enough  to  hit  with  three  of 
his  shots  at  1,000  yards,  though  he  did  not  hit  it  at  either 
800  or  900  yards. 

In  1871  Mr.  A.  P.  Humphry,  then  an  undergraduate  at 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  and,  like  Mr.  Ross,  destined 
to  rise  to  an  exceptional  position  as  a  rifleman,  won  the 
Queen's   Prize   with   68   points   out   of    a    possible    84,  in 


RECORDS    OF    THE    QUEEN'S    PRIZE  483 

seven  shots  at  800,  900,  and  1,000  yards.  The  target  was 
6  feet  by  12  feet,  with  a  centre  6  feet  square,  and  a  8  feet 
square  bull's-eye.  His  range  scores  were,  out  of  a  possible 
28  points  at  each  distance,  24  at  800  yards,  21  at  900  yards, 
and  23  at  1,000  yards.     The  Martini-Henry  rifle  was  used. 

The  highest  score  subsequently  made  with  the  Martini- 
Henry  at  the  long  ranges  by  a  Queen's  Prize  winner  was  that 
of  Private  Beck,  of  the  Brd  Devon,  in  1881,  86  points  out 
of  a  possible  105  points,  in  seven  shots  at  800,  900,  and  1,000 
yards.  The  target  was  as  before,  but  the  8  feet  bull's-eye  was 
circular,  and  counted  5  points,  and  the  inner  was  a  4  feet  6  inch 
circle,  counting  4  points.  Beck's  range  scores  were  27  at 
800  yards,  29  at  900  yards,  and  80  at  1,000  yards. 

In  1883  the  final  stage  of  the  Queen's  Prize  was  shot  at 
only  800  and  900  yards,  the  inaccuracy  of  the  rifle  at  1,000 
yards  being  thought  to  be  an  ample  reason  for  discontinuing 
the  shooting  at  that  distance.  In  1885  and  subsequent  years 
the  prize  has  been  decided  no  longer  upon  the  long-range 
shooting  alone,  but  upon  the  aggregate  scores  from  the 
commencement  at  200  yards.  From  1886  to  1897  inclusive, 
sixty-six  shots  were  fired  in  all,  seven  at  200  yards,  seventeen 
at  500,  twenty-two  at  600,  ten  at  800,  and  ten  at  900  yards, 
and  the  highest  possible  score  was  330  points.  The  winning 
scores  varied  from  265  in  1886  to  283  in  1894,  and  this  was 
the  best  score  made  with  the  Martini-Henry  rifle.  In 
1897,  under  the  same  conditions.  Private  Ward,  1st  V.B. 
Devon,  made  304  out  of  330  points,  with  the  '303  magazine 
rifle.  In  1898  ten  shots  at  1,000  yards  were  added  to  the 
competition,  and  the  highest  score  made  so  far  under  these 
conditions  was  again  that  of  Private  Ward,  341  out  of  a 
possible  380  points,  in  1900.  The  effect  of  the  changes  made 
in  1901  in  the  targets  and  in  the  positions  at  the  short  ranges, 
and  of  the  substitution  of  800  for  500  yards  in  the  second 
stage  of  the  King's  Prize,  has  now  made  comparison  with  the 
scores  of  past  years  more  difficult.  The  score  of  the  winner 
of  1901  has  already  been  given  (p.  449). 

We  may  note  the  difference  in  scoring  between  the 
Martini-Henry  and  the  -303  rifle.  In  the  eleven  years  from 
1886   to  1896   inclusive,   the   scores   of   the   Queen's   Prize 

I  I  2 


484  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

winners,  in  ten  shots  at  800  yards,  with  the  Martini-Henry, 
averaged  40  points,  and  at  900  yards,  38-5.  In  the  five  years 
1897  to  1901  with  the  -803  rifle,  the  winners  show  at  800  yards 
an  average  of  43*2,  and  at  900  yards  an  average  of  48,  oat  of 
a  possible  50  at  each  distance.  Although  the  number  of 
instances  here  taken  is  not  large  enough  to  establish  a  general 
rule,  they  indicate  a  superiority  in  the  '808  rifle  over  the 
Martini-Henry  of  about  7  per  cent,  at  800  yards,  and  about 
12  per  cent,  at  900  yards.  At  1,000  yards,  at  which  the 
latter  rifle  was  quite  untrustworthy,  the  discrepancy  would 
be  much  larger.  The  following  are  the  most  prominent 
names  in  the  records  of  this  prize :  Private  Cameron,  6th 
Inverness,  won  it  twice,  1866  and  1869 ;  Private  Ward,  1st 
Devon,  has  done  the  same,  in  1897  and  1900.  Colour- 
Sergeant  Lawrance,  of  Dumbarton,  Armourer-Sergeant  Parry, 
of  Cheshire,  and  Sergeant  Proctor,  8rd  V.B.  Seaforths,  have 
all  been  ten  times  in  the  Sixty  or  the  Hundred ;  and  Private 
M.  Caldwell,  1st  V.B.  Argyll  and  Sutherland  Highlanders, 
Captain  Poster,  4th  V.B.  West  Surrey,  Private  Gilbert,  H.A.C., 
Sergeant  F.  Jones,  1st  V.B.  Welsh  Fusiliers,  and  Lance- 
Sergeant  Beid,  1st  Lanark,  nine  times  each. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  individual  match  recorded  in 
the  history  of  target-shooting  in  this  country,  arose  under  the 
following  circumstances  in  1870.  Lieut.-Colonel  Fenton  tied 
at  the  Wimbledon  meeting  with  two  others  for  the  '  Any  Rifle ' 
Association  Cup,  seven  shots  each  at  200  and  600  yards,  any 
rifle,  any  position.  The  tie  was  to  be  shot  off  on  the  last 
evening  of  the  meeting,  each  firing  seven  shots.  Mr.  Evans 
and  Mr.  M*Vittie  were  beaten  by  Mr.  E.  Ross  on  the  seven 
shots  fired  to  decide  the  tie.  Lieut.-Colonel  Fenton  had  not 
fired  his  last  shot  when  the  evening  gun,  which  concluded 
the  shooting  of  the  whole  meeting,  was  fired,  leaving  the 
event  undecided  between  him  and  Mr.  Ross.  They  arranged 
to  decide  the  tie  on  some  future  occasion  convenient  to  both 
of  them,  but  they  did  not  succeed  in  meeting  for  the  purpose 
until  April  23  and  24,  1872,  when  they  met  by  invitation  of 
Sir  Henry  Halford  to  shoot  together  on  his  range  at  Wistow. 
It  was  agreed  not  to  let  the  event  be  decided,  as  it  commonly 
is  in  tie-shooting,  by  the  accident  of  a  single  shot,  but  to 


MATCH    BETWEEN    E.  ROSS    AND    FENTON       486 

fire  a  match  at  200  and  600  yards,  fifty  shots  at  each 
distance,  under  the  same  conditions  as  before.  At  this  time 
the  National  Bifie  Association  targets  had  8-inch  square 
bulFs-eyes  for  200  yards,  and  2  feet  square  for  600  yards, 
the  centres,  which  measured  2  feet  and  4  feet,  being  also 
square,  the  bull's-eye  scoring  four  points,  and  the  centre 
three.  On  the  first  day,  in  his  twenty-five  shots  at  200  yards. 
Boss,  using  a  Metford  rifle,  made  94  points  out  of  100,  and 
Fenton,  who  was  using  a  Bigby,  made  95  points.  At  600  yards, 
the  weather  no  doubt  being  unfavourable,  Boss  made  only  82 
points,  and  Fenton  86,  out  of  100,  and  each  missed  a  shot. 
Fenton  was  thus  left  5  points  to  the  good,  with  a  total  of  181 
against  176.  On  the  second  day  the  scoring  was  worthier  of 
the  two  champions.  Boss  led  off  with  twenty-three  bull's-eyes 
at  200  yards,  and  his  total  was  99  out  of  100  points,  while 
Fenton  made  95.  Fenton  began  badly  at  600  yards,  and 
made  90  points  only,  but  Boss,  in  spite  of  a  shot  wasted  from 
firing  (as  it  was  easy  to  do  in  the  days  of  muzzle-loading) 
without  having  loaded  with  a  bullet,  made  94,  his  total 
for  the  day  being  198  out  of  a  possible  200  points,  and  that 
of  Fenton  185.  The  grand  totals  were  therefore.  Boss  869, 
Fenton  866,  and  the  former  won  the  Cup. 

The  *  Any  Bifle '  Association  Cup,  shot  for  at  a  later 
period  at  600  yards  only,  produced  an  interesting  tie  in  1881. 
Major  (then  Lieutenant)  Edge,  of  the  2nd  Notts,  and  Major 
Young,  of  the  21st  Middlesex,  and  five  other  competitors, 
among  whom  were  Mr.  Metford,  Mr.  Frank  Hyde  (the  great 
American  shot),  Mr.  Whitehead,  and  Mr.  Humphry,  all  made 
the  full  score  of  ten  bull's-eyes  at  600  yards.  They  met 
afterwards  to  shoot  the  tie,  beginning  with  three  shots  each. 
Young,  Edge,  and  Humphry  all  made  two  bull's-eyes  and  an 
inner,  the  others  doing  less  well.  The  shooting  then  went 
on  shot  for  shot,  the  rule  being  that  each  round  in  itself 
might  decide  the  event ;  but  each  competitor  began  with  a 
string  of  six  bull's-eyes.  Edge  and  Young  each  added  a 
seventh,  but  Humphry  made  an  unlucky  inner,  and  was 
beaten.  Edge  and  Young  went  on,  and  each  made  six  more 
bull's-eyes  ;  the  former,  who  was  using  a  Sharps  rifle,  made 
another,  but  Young's  shot  wandered  into  the  inner.     Edge 


486  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

was  thus  left  the  winner,  having  made  a  string  of  ten  bull's- 
eyes  in  the  original  competition,  then  an  inner,  and  then 
fifteen  bull's-eyes ;  a  remarkable  performance,  which  those 
who  witnessed  it  are  not  likely  to  forget. 

In  1890  the  distance  for  this  Association  Gup  was  changed 
to  900  yards,  the  number  of  shots  still  being  ten ;  and  the 
record  of  it  shows  that  in  every  year  since  1879,  when  the 
number  of  shots  was  raised  from  seven,  that  is,  for  twenty- 
two  years,  it  has  always  taken  a  score  of  ten  bull's-eyes,  or 
50  points,  to  win  the  Gup,  there  being  usually  a  tie  between 
at  least  two  or  three  competitors  with  thirteen  bull's-eyes  {i.e, 
three  for  the  first  tie  shots  in  addition  to  the  original  ten). 

The  '  Any  Eifle  '  or  Match  Rifle  Wimbledon  Gup,  which, 
with  the  Albert  prize,  may  perhaps  be  taken  to  represent 
the  highest  test  of  individual  skill  with  the  Match  rifle  at 
Wimbledon  and  Bisley,  has  had  its  conditions  several  times 
varied.     In  old  days   it  was  a  competition  including  more 
than  one  range,  and  the  most  prominent  score  in  its  earlier 
records  is  that  of  Mr.  E.  Ross,  who  won  it  in  1872,  with  a 
full    score  of  seven   bull's-eyes   at  600   and   the    same   at 
1,000  yards.     From  1880  to  1889  the  conditions  were  fifteen 
shots   at   1,000    yards,    the    highest    possible    score   being 
75  points.     The  scoring  naturally  varied  with  the  weather 
in  different  years,  but  only  twice  in  the  nine  years  mentioned 
was   the  winning  score  below   68   points.      In  1881   Major 
Godsal,  and  in  1886  Mr.  Galdwell,  each  won  it  with  70  points, 
while  in  1888  Mr.  Henry  Whitehead  was  the  winner  with 
71  points,  with  the  Metford  rifle.     The  removal  to  Bisley  in 
1890  allowed  the  competition  to  be  fired  at  1,100  yards,  the 
rifle  remaining  the  same  up  to  1897.     During  these  seven 
years  the  Gup  was  only  won  once,  and  that  in  exceptionally 
diflBcult  weather,  with  a  score  of  less  than  65  points ;  in  1898 
Mr.  Bagshawe  won  it  with  70  points,  and  in  1894  Major 
Gibbs  with  71  points.      Since  1896  only  rifles  of  reduced 
calibre  have  been  allowed,  but  in  1897  Mr.  John  Rigby,  with 
a   Mannlicher,   won   the   Gup,   still   at    1,100  yards,    with 
71  points — a  somewhat  exceptionally  good  performance  of  the 
Mannlicher  rifle.     The  diagram  of  his  shooting  is  given  in 
Plate  LII,  fig.  1.     Such  shooting  cannot  be  made  with  these 


SOME  PERFORMANCES  AT  LONG  RANGES   487 

rifles  except  under  easy  conditions,  and  this  score  is  not  likely 
to  be  soon  exceeded  for  the  same  prize. 

A  couple  of  other  diagrams,  illustrative  of  fine  perform- 
ances with  the  '  Match  rifle '  of  later  days,  i.e.  modern 
military  rifles  fitted  with  aperture  sights,  may  be  given. 
Plate  LII,  fig.  2,  represents  the  last  fourteen  shots  of  the 
fifteen  fired  at  1,000  yards  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mellish  in 
the  competition  for  the  Cambridge  Cup  on  June  27,  1900, 
with  the  Mannlicher  rifle.  Unfortunately,  he  was  using  an 
experimental  bullet,  which  proved  to  require  an  unusual  in- 
crease of  elevation  in  going  back  from  one  range  to  another, 
and  his'  first  shot,  for  no  sighting-shots  are  allowed,  was  a 
miss.  But  the  score,  of  fourteen  consecutive  bull's-eyes,  is  a 
very  fine  one. 

Lest  it  should  be  thought  that  foreign  rifles  alone  are 
capable  of  yielding  such  fine  results,  we  give  (Plate  LII, 
fig.  3)  the  copy  of  a  target  made  at  1,000  yards  with  the 
•303  Lee-Metford  rifle  by  Sir  Henry  Halford  on  June  29, 1895, 
on  his  range  at  Wistow.  This  is  a  very  compact  diagram  of 
fifteen  shots,  the  first  of  which  was  an  inner  and  the  rest 
buirs-eyes,  scoring  74  points.  The  same  score-book  of  Sir 
Henry's  contains  two  consecutive  scores  of  73  out  of  75  points 
at  1,000  yards,  also  made  with  the  '303  and  cannonite  powder, 
and  the  writer  has  seen,  and  made,  proportionately  good 
diagrams  at  1,100  yards  with  the  -303  rifle. 

The  difficulty  in  obtaining  accurate  shooting  with  modern 
military  rifles  and  smokeless  powder  appears  to  lie  much 
more  in  the  production  of  the  ammunition  than  in  the 
weapon  itself.  The  writer  is  entirely  satisfied,  after  con- 
siderable experience,  that  the  British  Service  rifle  is  capable 
of  the  very  highest  accuracy  with  suitable  ammunition,  and 
he  has  never  yet  had  such  good  shooting  from  the  '256 
Mannlicher  as  from  the  "303  when  at  its  best.  The  records 
of  the  scores  made  with  the  two  rifles,  when  they  have  been 
shot  by  men  of  about  equal  skill,  does  not,  on  the  whole, 
show  any  material  difference  one  way  or  the  other  ;  but 
owing  to  the  difficulty  of  producing  -303  ammunition  which 
will  give  really  first-rate  results,  a  problem  on  which  an 
immense  amount  of  patience  and  time  has  been  expended. 


488  THE    BOOK    OP    THE    RIFLE 

the  Mannlicher  rifle,  for  which  foreign  factory *made  am- 
munitipn  of  a  very  good  standard  can  easily  be  obtained,  is 
used  by  the  bulk  of  long-range  shots  in  this  country. 

Service  ammunition  in  the  '803  rifle  has  more  than  once 
been  used  in  the  Elcho  Shield  match,  but  it  is  inferior  in 
accuracy  to  the  best  ammunition  of  private  make  by  a  small 
percentage,  quite  enough  to  make  a  difference  to  the  scoring. 
The  records  of  the  Hounslow  Long  Range  Club,  as  analysed 
by  Mr.  Chadwick,  the  Secretary,  show  practically  no  difference 
between  the  two  rifles.  The  highest  individual  score  in  the 
Elcho  Shield  match,  1901,  was  made  by  Mr.  Ranken  with 
a  *808  rifle  and  cannonite  powder.  He  made  215  points  out 
of  225,  a  score  4  points  higher  than  that  made  by  any  other 
of  the  twenty-four  men  shooting.  The  writer  has  up  to  the 
current  year  managed  to  hold  his  own  very  well  with  the 
'808  at  Bisley,  and  has  found  the  *308  wear  much  longer  than 
the  -256  barrel. 

The  regularity  of  the  shooting  with  the  Metford  Match 
rifle  and  black  powder  was  extremely  good,  and,  if  only 
for  the  sake  of  comparison,  the  present  book  would  be 
incomplete  without  giving  the  details  of  the  well-known  fine 
performance  of  Major  Gibbs,  of  Bristol,  whose  name  is  a 
household  word  among  riflemen,  on  Sir  Henry  Halford's 
range  at  Wistow  on  October  11,  1886.  He  shot  at  1,000 
yards,  using  a  Metford  match  rifle  of  -461  bore,  firing  a  bullet 
of  540  grains,  and  loaded  with  Curtis  and  Harvey's  No.  6 
powder.  The  rifle,  as  it  happened,  was  an  old  one  which  in 
the  hands  of  Major  Young  had  often  made  large  scores,  and 
had  had  some  twenty  thousand  shots  fired  out  of  it,  an  amount 
too  small  to  have  caused  any  material  amount  of  wear  and 
tear  upon  its  surface,  though  far  greater  than  the  life  of  a 
modern  small-calibre  barrel  fired  with  smokeless  powder.  It 
WBLQ  a  very  calm  day,  and  rather  foggy,  the  very  best  condi- 
tion, in  fact,  of  atmosphere  and  light  for  high  scoring.  Major 
Gibbs  fired  50  shots,  all  but  two  of  which  struck  the  ringing 
8-foot  bull's-eye  hung  upon  the  target.  Some  of  the  shots 
were  not  far  within  the  bull's-eye,  but  the  bulk  of  the  group 
was  very  central.  Of  his  48  bull's-eyes  no  less  than  37 
were  consecutive,  being  the  last  87  shots  fired.    This  shooting 


PLATE   LII 


FIG.   1. 


FIFTEEN   SHOTS   AT    1,100  YARDS,  JULY   16,    1897,   SHOT  AT 
MB.   JOHN   BIOBY.      SCORE  :    3656554«556I54«  »  71 


BISLEY   BY 


FIG. 


2.      FIFTEEN   SHOTS  AT    1,000  YARDS,   JUNE   27,    1900,  SHOT  AT   CAMBRIDGE 
BY   LIEVTENANT-COLONEL  H.   MELLISH.      SCORE  :  O6M65650665665  =  7U 


FIFTEEN    SHOTS   AT    l,WH)   YARDS,   JUNE    29,    1896,   SHOT   AT   WI8T0W 
SIR   HENRY    HALFORD.      SCORE  :   456666656656560  =  74 


490 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


surpasses,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  any  shooting  at  1,000 
yards  which  has  been  recorded,  and  the  string  of  87  bull's-eyes 
at  that  distance  is  one  not  likely  to  be  equalled  with  rifles  of 
the  modern  military  type.  The  shooter  had  the  advantage 
of  the  assistance  and  advice  of  Sir  Henry  Halford,  whose 
letter  to  '  The  Times,'  enclosing  the  diagram  of  the  shooting, 
is  appended. 

Sib, — As  the  question  of  new  rifles  for  the  army  is  now  before  the 
public,  I  think  it  would  be  interesting  if  you  could  find  space  to  publish 
the  inclosed  diagram  of  shooting,  made  in  my  presence  at  Wistow  on  the 
Xlth  ult.,  and  for  the  accuracy  of  which  I  can  vouch.  I  have  no 
pecuniary  interest  whatever  in  the  Metford  or  any  other  rifle. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Yours  faithfully, 

H.  St.  John  Halfobd. 
11  Hobart  Place,  Eaton  Square,  S.W. 
November  4. 


."^core:— 55J>5545565554555655556S556655&R955556f  556665566655 =248  pointo. 


Fifty  consecutive  shots ;  distance,  1,000  yards ;  from  a  Metford  rifle 
by  Gibbs,  of  Bristol,  and  a  ringing  bull's-eye.  Shot  by  Mr.  G.  C.  Gibbs, 
and  without  cleaning  bore.     Shot  on  October  11,  1886,  at  Wistow. 

Ringing  bull's-eye,  diameler  3  feet ;  shots  witnessed  by  me  and  seen 
to  be  correct.  H.  St.  John  Halford. 

Major  Gibbs  has  for  some  years  been  almost  in  a  class  by 
himself  as  a  Match  rifle  shot,  and  at  the  same  time  has 
performed  brilliantly  with  the  military  weapon. 


PUBLIC    SCHOOL    SHOOTING  491 

The  scores  made  in  team  matches  are  not  without  interest 
in  considering  the  standard  of  accuracy  in  rifles,  and  of  skill 
in  those  who  use  them.  In  matches  fired  with  the  military 
rifle,  as  in  individual  competitions,  the  scoring  made  since 
the  introduction  of  the  -303  has  eclipsed  that  of  all  previous 
years. 

The  most  juvenile  team  match  at  Bisley,  if  we  except  the 
Cadets'  Challenge  Trophy,  is  the  Ashburton  Challenge  Shield. 
This  has  been  competed  for  at  200  and  500  yards  by  teams 
from  public  schools  having  Volunteer  Corps  ever  since  1861. 
There  were  eleven  in  each  team  up  to  1877,  but  in  that  year 
the  number  was  reduced  to  eight,  at  which  it  has  remained 
ever  since.  In  1861  three  schools — Eugby,  Harrow,  and 
Eton— competed ;  Marlborough  joined  them  in  1862,  and 
Winchester  and  Cheltenham  in  1863.  Since  then  the 
number  has  been  largely  increased,  and  26  competed  in  1901. 
Ten  of  the  various  schools  have  at  some  time  or  another  won 
the  shield.  Harrow  has  won  it  nine  times  (four  times  con- 
secutively, 1864-7),  and  had  the  advantage  of  doing  so 
several  times  in  the  first  years  of  the  match,  when  the 
number  of  competing  schools  was  very  small.  It  is  far 
more  difficult  to  win  it  now.  Charterhouse,  which  did  not 
compete  in  •  the  early  years,  has  also  won  it  nine  times, 
beginning  in  the  year  1882.  This  school  won  it  in  four  con- 
secutive years,  1889-92.  Eton  has  won  it  six  times  at 
intervals ;  and  Winchester  four  times,  three  of  which  were 
in  consecutive  years,  1871-3. 

Lord  Spencer  first  gave  his  cup,  an  individual  prize  for 
the  champions  of  the  different  schools,  in  1861,  and  has 
continued  to  do  so  ever  since.  The  scgres  made  for  it  in 
seven  shots  at  500  yards  are  always  within  a  point  or  two 
of  the  highest  possible.  In  the  course  of  forty-one  years 
representatives  of  no  less  than  seventeen  schools  have  won 
the  cup. 

The  standard  of  shooting  in  the  school  teams  is  very 
much  higher  than  it  was  twenty  years  ago.  The  success  of  a 
school  depends  largely  upon  the  instruction  available,  as  well 
as  upon  the  range  accommodation  and  the  competing  influ- 
ence of  other  sports.     The  real  importance  of  public  school 


492  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

shooting  lies  in  its  after-effects,  and  many  a  man,  whether  or 
not  he  has  sabsequently  joined  some  branch  of  his  Majesty's 
forces,  owes  to  his  school  or  college  days  a  taste  for  the  rifle 
and  an  interest  in  it  which  have  in  some  fashion  proved 
useful  to  him  in  later  life.  Not  a  few  of  the  prominent  Bifiley 
shots  have  begun  their  career  as  representatives  of  a  pnblic 
school.  There  is  no  time  when  the  use  of  the  rifle  can  be 
so  easily  taught,  or  when  the  learning  of  it  gives  so  much 
pleasure,  as  in  boyhood.  There  is  a  good  deal  to  be  said 
for  the  view  that  some  instruction  in  the  use  of  the  rifle> 
perhaps  on  a  miniature  range,  should  be  given  as  a  matter  of 
course  to  all  public  school  boys  above  a  certain  age,  whether 
they  be  Volunteers  or  not. 

A  certain  number  of  those  who  have  shot  in  the  PubUc 
Schools  match  shoot  afterwards  in  the  matches  between  the 
Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  These  are  two. 
That  for  the  Chancellors*  Challenge  Plate,  given  in  1862  by 
the  Chancellors  of  the  two  Universities,  is  shot  with  the 
military  rifle  at  200,  500,  and  600  yards  by  teams  of  eight. 
It  has  been  won  by  Cambridge  twenty-six  times,  and  by 
Oxford  only  fourteen.  The  former  University,  which  was 
successful  in  the  first  four  years  of  the  match,  1862-5,  had 
also  a  series  of  eight  victories,  from  1891  to  1898.  The  com- 
peting claims  of  other  occupations  and  amusements  at  the 
Universities,  and  the  fact  that  the  National  Eifle  Association 
prize  meeting  is  held  during  the  vacation,  will  account  for  the 
rather  small  degree  of  general  interest  shown  in  this  contest. 
But  there  are  many  Volunteer  officers  whose  interest  in  the 
force  dates  from  their  first  shooting  at  Oxford  or  Cambridge. 

The  same  causes  have  influenced  the  Inter-University 
Long  Range  Match.  This  is  competed  for  by  teams  of  four, 
under  Elcho  Shield  conditions,  15  shots  at  800,  900,  and 
1,000  yards,  with  Match  rifles.  It  took  place  occasionally  in 
the  earlier  days  of  the  National  Eifle  Association,  but  did 
not  appear  permanently  in  the  programme  until  1880,  when 
Mr.  A.  P.  Humphry  gave  a  challenge  cup  as  a  trophy  for  the 
match.  Since  that  time  Oxford  has  won  it  fourteen  times 
(ten  times  consecutively,  1881-90),  and  Cambridge  eight 
times.     In  1901  the  match  was  very  exciting.     Each  team 


THE    NATIONAL    CHALLENGE    TROPHY         493 

finished  with  a  total  of  790,  only  5  lower  than  the  record 
score  of  the  match.  This  left  the  match  a  tie,  and  it  had 
therefore  to  be  decided  by  the  range  totals  of  the  teams.  At 
1,000  yards  Oxford  had  made  249  and  Cambridge  248 ;  this 
difference  of  a  single  point  turned  the  scale  in  favour  of 
Oxford. 

Many  of  those  whose  names  have  afterwards  figured  in 
the  Bisley  records  have  shot  in  the  University  contests,  the 
most  prominent  perhaps  being  Edward  Boss,  Earslake,  and 
Humphry,  winners  of  the  Queen's  Prize,  as  well  as  many 
others  who  have  been  prominently  identified  with  the 
shooting  and  with  the  management  of  the  Association,  such 
as  Earl  Waldegrave,  the  Vice-Chairman. 

The  largest  score  on  record  in  matches  between  home 
teams  with  the  military  rifle  was  that  made  in  1898,  in  the 
match  for  the  National  Challenge  Trophy,  fired  under  Bisley 
Volunteer  conditions,  by  the  Scotch  team.  The  shooting  was 
from  the  knee  at  200  yards,  prone  at  600  yards,  and  in  any 
position  at  600  yards,  each  competitor  firing  seven  shots  at 
each  distance,  as  for  the  first  part  of  the  Queen's  Prize.  The 
highest  possible  score  was  105,  and  no  less  than  three  of  .the 
team  made  102  points  ;  one  made  101,  one  100,  one  99,  and 
three  98  points.  The  total  made  by  the  team  was  1,942,  or 
an  average  of  97*1  per  man.  This  is  the  more  remarkable, 
because  with  twenty  men  shooting,  the  average  was  likely  to 
be  lower  than  if  the  team  had  been  smaller.  The  Scotch  won 
this  match  by  26  points  over  the  English  team,  who  made  an 
average  of  96-8  points,  which  in  most  years  would  have  been 
good  enough  to  win  the  match  easily.  In  this  match  the 
Scotch  had  a  lead  of  5  points  at  200  yards,  but  lost  it  again 
at  500  yards,  so  that  on  going  back  to  600  yards,  the  two 
teams  stood  exactly  even,  and  it  was  the  magnificent  shooting 
of  the  Scotch  at  this  range  that  pulled  off  the  match.  One 
remarkable  thing  is  the  excellence  of  the  shooting  from  the 
knee  in  this  match.  The  whole  of  the  forty  competitors  in 
the  Scotch  and  English  teams  averaged  81*5  out  of  85  points 
at  the  8-inch  bull's-eye  at  200  yards  ;  at  500  yards,  shooting 
prone,  they  averaged  32*7  points;  while  at  600  yards  the 
Scotch  team  averaged  82-8,  and  the  two  teams  82-2  points. 


494 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


Of  the  420  shots  fired  in  this  match  by  the  Scotch  team,  not 
one  missed  the  target,  only  one  was  an  outer,  15  were 
magpies,  and  there  were  126  inners  and  279  buirs-eyes.  There 
were,  in  fact,  twice  as  many  bull's-eyes  as  shots  of  any 
other  denomination.  The  score  of  the  winning  team  was  as 
follows : 

Scotland 


Name 

1 

200  Yards 

1 

500  Yards 

600  Yards 

Total 

1    PiUaDB,  Sgt.      . 

34 

33 

35 

102 

Proctor,  Sgt.     . 

33 

35 

34 

103 

Danlop,  Lieut. .' 

do 

35 

32 

102 

j     McFadyen,  Corp. 

1         34 

33 

34 

101 

1     Rodger.  Sgt.      . 

35 

32 

33 

100 

Martin,  A.- Sgt.. 

33 

34 

32 

99 

McHaffie,  Pte.  . 

30 

33 

35 

98 

1     MaccalIam,Sgt. 

1         33 

31 

34 

98 

'     Morrison,  Sgt.  . 

31 

35 

32 

98 

'     Lawranoe,  Sgt. . 

30 

35 

32 

97 

Mair,  Sgt. . 

32 

30         1 

34 

96 

Reid,  Sgt. . 

'    31 

32         i 

33 

96 

Scott,  Sgt. 

33 

32         j 

31 

96 

Muirhead,  Pte.  . 

32 

28         1 

35 

95 

Gray,  Sgt.          .        . 

30 

33 

32 

95 

Black,  Sgt. 

29 

S3 

32 

IH 

McKay,  C.-Sgt. . 

30 

33 

31 

94 

Graham,  Pte.    . 

30 

33 

31 

94 

Vates,  Lieut.     . 

29 

32 

32 

93 

Urquhart,  Pte.  . 

1 

29 

30 

33 

92 

633 


652 


657 


1,942 


In  the  match  between  the  teams  from  the  Mother  Country 
and  the  Colonies  for  the  Rajah  of  Kolapore's  Cup,  the  highest 
score  hitherto  recorded  is  that  of  768  points,  made  by  the 
Mother  Country  in  1899,  an  average  of  just  96  points,  while 
the  best  record  for  the  United  Service  Challenge  Cup  was 
764,  an  average  of  95*5,  by  the  Army  team  in  1898,  followed 
by  the  same  team  with  762  in  1899.  The  weather  conditions 
require  to  be  very  favourable  if  such  scores  as  these  are  to  be 
equalled.  The  match  for  the  National  Challenge  Trophy  in 
1898  is  a  proof  of  this,  since  both  the  English  and  the  Welsh 
teams,  although  beaten,  made  on  that  occasion  scores  which 
surpassed  all  previous  records.  The  basis  of  comparison  in 
these  matches  has  now  been  affected  by  the  change  of  posi- 
tions, and  of  the  200  yards  target,  which  took  place  in  1900, 


THE    ELCHO    SHIELD  495 

and  by  the  further  change  both  of  targets  and  of  positions 
made  by  the  National  Bifle  Association  in  1901. 

The  chief  long-range  team  match  fired  at  the  National 
Bifle  Association's  meeting  at  Bisley  is  that  for  the  Elcho 
Shield,    between    teams    of    eight    representing    England, 
Scotland,   and   Ireland.     A   Welsh  team   has  several  times 
been   talked  of,   but  has  never  appeared.     The  trophy  was 
given   by  Lord  Wemyss  in  1862,   and  its  records   form  a 
good  test  of  the  progress  of  rifles,  and  of.  the  developement  of 
marksmanship  at  long  ranges,  since  the  conditions  have  been 
unaltered  since  1874,  when  the  3-feet  square  bull's-eye  was 
replaced  by  a  3-feet  circular  bull's-eye,  and  an  *  inner  '  circle 
of  4  feet  6  inches  was  added  to  the  target.     The  Elcho  Shield 
is  shot  under  special  rules,  and  in  this  competition,  sighting- 
shots,  which  are  permitted  in  other  competitions  at  Bisley, 
are  not  allowed.     The  most  remarkable  scoring  ever  made  in 
this  match  was  in  1892  with  the  old  Match  rifle.     Curiously 
enough,  the  scores  made  when  the  shots  were  fired  under 
apparently   perfect  conditions,   that    is   to    say,   before   the 
prohibition  of  cleaning  out  the  breech-loader  after  every  shot, 
were  not  equal  to  those  afterwards  made,  in  spite  of   the 
fouling  caused  by  the  black  powder.     In  1892  the  weather 
was  good,  and  the  rifles  and  men  both  did  their  duty  excep- 
tionally well.     The  scores  made  by  the  Scotch,  English,  and 
Irish  teams  are  appended.     The  English  distinctly  lost  the 
match  at  1,000  yards,  having  made  remarkable  shooting  at 
800  yards,  at  which  distance  no  less  than  half  their  team 
made  the  full  score  of  fifteen  bull's-eyes.    Their  lead  of  13 
points  from  the  Irish,  and  16  from  the  Scotch,  was  main- 
tained so  far  as  the  latter  were  concerned,  at  900  yards,  each 
team  making  664  points,  and  at  this  range  the  Irish  were 
3  points  behind   the   Scotch.     At   1,000  yards   the   Scotch 
shooting  was  exceptional.     The  team  averaged  71  points  out 
of  a  possible  76,  while  the  English  average  was  only  68-6. 
On  the  total  result  the  Scotch  were  4  points  ahead  of  the 
English,  making    1,696  against   their  1,692;    and  had  not 
Ferguson  most  unfortunately  fired  his  last  sliot  at  800  yards, 
an  inner,  upon  the  wrong  target,  so  that  it  had  to  be  counted 
as  a  miss,  the  Scotch  score  would  have  been  1,700.     Never- 


496 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


theless  the  Scotch  averaged  exactly  212  points  out  of  225, 
and  the  English  team  211*5,  both  these  scores  being  better 
thai!  any  made  in  the  match  under  similar  conditions.  All 
but  two  of  those  shooting  used  Metford  rifles.  The  scores 
were  as  follows : 

Scotland 


Colonel  Wilson,  Captain 
Boyd,  Pte. 
Cowan,  Capt.     . 
Caldwell,  Mr.    . 
Patterson,  Pte. . 
Thorbarn,  Major 
Gibson,  Mr. 
Love,  Pte. 
Ferguson,  Major 


800  Yards 


73 
71 
72 
71 
72 
72 
68 
66 

564 


900Tanls 

1.000  Yards 

70 

70 

72 

69 

68 

71 

72 

69 

72 

71 

564 

568 

217 
215 
215 
•ill 
211 
210 
209 
208 


1,696 


Name 


B..G.  Sir  H.  Wilmot,  Bart., 

V.C,  C.B..  Captain 
Lamb,  Capt.  T. 
Gibbs,  Capt.  . 
Datton-Hont,  Capt. 
Worth,  St.-Sgt. 
Bulpett,  Capt.  . 
Mellish,  Major  . 
Oxley,  Lieut.  . 
Davis,  Capt. 


England 

800  Yards        900  Yards      1,000  Yards 


76 
76 
73 
75 
75 
70 
73 
63 


Total 


71 

73 

?19 

73 

69 

217 

73 

70 

216 

68 

72 

215 

69 

71 

215 

73 

63 

206 

67 

65 

205 

70 

66 

199 

579 


I 


564 


549 


Ireland 


Name 


!    800  Yards    '    900  Yards 


Duke  of  Abercom,  Captain 

Millner,  Capt.   . 

72 

75 

Fenton,  Major  . 

72 

70 

Braithwaite,  Mr. 

74 

69 

Cooper,  Mr. 

1        74 

70 

Joynt,  Mr. 

65 

73 

Wilson,  Mr.       . 

66 

70 

Smith,  Mr. 

71 

67 

Ganly,  Mr. 

.         72 

67 

1,000  Yards 


68 
72 
67 
65 
69 
69 
66 
62 


1,692     I 


Total 


215 
234 
210 
209 
207 
205 
204 
201 


566 


561 


538 


1,665 


INDIVIDUAL  SCORES  UNDER  ELCHO  CONDITIONS  497 

The  next  best  scores  in  the  records  of  the  match  are  those 
of  Ireland,  winning  in  1889  with  1,689  points,  and  of  England 
in  1893  with  1,688  points.  In  the  1899  match,  as  in  1892, 
England  made  a  close  finish,  being  5  points  behind  with  1,684 
points.  It  was  in  1889  that  Major  Lamb,  shooting  under 
Elcho  Shield  conditions  for  the  officers  of  the  Regulars  against 
those  of  the  Auxiliary  forces,  made  his  remarkable  score 
of  220  points :  75  at  800,  73  at  900,  and  72  at  1,000  yards. 
This  is  the  largest  individual  score  at  long  ranges  ever  made 
in  a  team  match  at  Wimbledon  or  Bisley.  The  match  of 
1892  was  remarkable  for  the  largest  individual  score  ever 
made  in  the  Elcho  Shield  match,  again  that  of  Major  Lamb, 
219  points.  The  highest  individual  score  ever  made  with 
the  Match  rifle  in  fifteen  shots  at  800,  900,  and  1,000  yards, 
comes  from  across  the  Atlantic.  Mr.  William  Gerrish  and 
Major  Charles  Hinman  are  credited  with  224  out  of  225 
points  in  the  days  of  cleaning-out  between  shots,  and  the  use 
of  a  very  slow-burning  powder. 

The  change  in  1897  from  the  '  any '  rifle  and  black  pow- 
der to  the  Match  rifle  of  limited- bore,  not  exceeding  *315,  has 
somewhat  reduced  the  scoring,  but  the  winning  scores, 
although  so  far  usually  less  than  1,600  points,  have  been 
higher  than  the  worst  of  the  scores  made  in  the  days  of  the 
Hatch  rifle.  If  the  time  should  come,  as  it  may  be  hoped 
it  will,  when  a  proper  regularity  of  shooting  is  obtained  from 
the  small-bore  military  rifle,  the  scoring  should  in  easy 
weather  be  qaite  equal  to  what  it  was  with  the  black  powder 
rifle.  In  high  winds  and  rough  weather  it  will  always  be 
lower,  because  the  allowances  to  be  made  for  the  wind 
are  at  long  ranges  30  to  40  per  cent,  greater  with  the 
light  bullet  than  they  were  with  the  heavy  one,  and  conse- 
quently the  effect  of  an  error  in  judgment  is  greater  by  so 
much.  The  match  for  the  Elcho  Shield  will  not  finally  have 
•served  its  purpose  until  the  scoring  in  it  again  shows  that  the 
rifles  and  ammunition  have  under  the  new  conditions  been 
brought  much  nearer  perfection  than  at  present.  Even  then 
it  is  likely  enough  that  further  inventions  or  the  modification 
of  the  requirements  of  war  may  give  experimental  shooting 
fresh  scope  for  utility. 

K  K 


498  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    EEFLE 

The  Elcho  Shield  match  is  one  in  which  it  is  a  distinction 
to  have  taken  part,  and  it  is  difScoIt  to  continue  year  after 
year  in  good  enough  form  to  deserve  a  place  in  the  teams. 
It  is  remarkable  that  Mr.  John  Bigby  only  three  times  failed 
to  shoot  for  Ireland  in  the  course  of  thirty-three  years,  from 
1865,  when  the  Irish  team  first  shot  in  the  match,  until  1897^ 
the  years  that  he  missed  being  consecutive,  1890  to  1892. 
We  believe  that  among  the  records  of  the  match  there  can 
be  found  no  other  instance  of  a  man  who  has  shot  for  twenty- 
five  consecutive  years,  though  there  are  three  marksmen  who 
have  all  shot  for  twenty  years  or  more  for  Scotland.  Major 
Thorbum  has  shot  twenty-three  years,  of  which  twenty-one 
were  consecutive  up  to  1897 ;  the  Scotch  veteran,  Ferguson, 
twenty  times,  and  Mr.  Caldwell  twenty-one  times,  having 
missed  no  year  in  the  last  twenty.  Major  Gibbs  has  shot 
for  England  twenty  times  consecutively  up  to  the  present 
time,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  he  has  no  less  than  three 
times  made  217  out  of  225  in  the  match— in  1889,  1892,  and 
1894,  while  in  1896  he  made  215.  His  average  score  in  these 
twenty  years  has  been  202'6,  while  his  average  for  the  six 
consecutive  years,  1889  to  1894,  is  212*8,  in  one  of  which 
years,  curiously  enough,  he  made  for  the  only  time  the  lowest 
score  in  the  English  team,  204.  He  has  made  the  top  score 
for  the  English  team  five  times  out  of  the  twenty  matches  in 
which  he  has  taken  part.  Sir  Henry  Halford  shot  twenly 
times  between  1861  and  1894  in  the  Elcho  match.  In  the 
Irish  team  the  late  Major  Young,  who  was  always  prominent, 
made  the  top  score  five  times  out  of  twelve  matches,  and 
Major  J.  E.  Milhier  has  done  the  same  six  times  out  of  his 
sixteen  matches.  In  one  year,  1889,  he  made  217  points^ 
and  in  1892  scored  215  points. 

The  rifle  makers  who  devote  special  attention  to  the  pro- 
duction of  Match  rifles,  sights,  and  ammunition  for  this  dass 
of  shooting  are  George  Gibbs,  of  Bristol,  John  Bigby  &  Son» 
of  London  (formerly  of  Dublin),  Daniel  Fraser,  of  Edin- 
burgh, and  Alexander  Martin,  of  Glasgow. 

Great  interest  always  attaches  to  international  straggles 
in  sport  of  every  kind.  The  reasons  which  have  limited  the 
frequency  of  rifle  matches  between  Great  Britain  and  other 


MATCH    AT    CRBEDMOOR,    1874  499 

countries  are  not  far  to  seek.  Canada  annually  sends  a  con- 
tingent of  riflemen  to  compete  at  Bisley,  and  in  exceptional 
years  Australian  and  other  teams  visit  us.  The  splendid 
shooting  of  the  Victorian  and  the  New  Zealand  teams  in  the 
match  for  the  Eolapore  Cup  in  1897  will  not  soon  be  forgotten. 
But  whether  the  match  rifle  or  the  military  rifle  is  in  question^ 
it  is  difScult  to  meet  the  expense  of  sending  a  team  a  long 
distance  over  the  sea,  nor  can  any  but  a  very  small  proper* 
tion  of  our  prominent  shots  afford  the  time  required  to  allow 
not  only  of  previous  practice,  but  of  absence  from  home  for 
several  weeks  or  months.  On  the  Continent  rifle  competitions 
have  developed  on  lines  so  different  from  those  which  have 
followed  in  this  country  as  not  to  offer  much  attraction  to 
British  marksmen  to  cross  the  sea,  or  to  practise  a  style  of 
shooting  so  different  from  that  to  which  they  are  accustomed. 
It  will  be  worth  while  to  mention  shortly  the  matches  in 
which  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  riflemen  have  met  their 
American  cousins.  The  first  match,  that  of  1874,  was  fired 
at  Creedmoor.  It  originated  in  the  success  in  1878  of  the 
Irish,  who  had  then  for  the  first  time  won  the  Elcho  Shield, 
and  that  with  a  very  good  score.  The  Irish  Bifle  Association 
sent  a  challenge  for  a  long-range  match,  which  was  taken 
up  by  the  Amateur  Rifle  Club  of  New  York.  The  rifles, 
ranges,  targets,  and  number  of  shots  were  the  same  as  those 
for  the  Elcho  Shield  at  that  time,  but  the  Americans  were 
in  some  degree  at  a  disadvantage,  because  long-range  shooting 
had  not  at  all  been  cultivated  among  them,  and  as  the  little 
book  describing  the  match,  written  by  Major  Leech,  who 
acted  as  captain  of  the  Irish  team,  shows,  both  the  rifle 
makers  and  the  shots  of  America  had  at  rather  short  notice 
to  rival  the  Bigby  rifle  and  its  users.  The  Irish  representa- 
tives included  Mr,  John  Rigby  and  Mr.  J.  K.  Millner,  who 
are  still  prominent  in  the  shooting  world.  The  American  team 
finishing  last  finally  won  by  three  points  ;  Colonel  Bodine  in 
his  last  shot  at  1,000  yards  required  to  make  a  hit  to  win. 
He  made  a  bull's-eye.  The  Irish  team  was  unfortunate,  in  that 
Milhier's  first  shot  at  900  yards  was  a  bull's-eye  on  the  wrong 
target ;  this  shot,  had  it  not  been  wasted,  would  have  turned 
the  scale  in  favour  of  the  visitors.   The  scores  were  as  follows : 

K    K    2 


500 


THE    BOOK    OF   THE    RIFLE 


America 


Name 


SOOYanls        90«)  Yaxtls       1,000  Yanlg   I        Total 


1     Henry  Falton  . 

.     1         58 

67 

56         1 

171         1 

1     G.W.Yale 

55 

66 

61 

162 

Ck>l.Bodine       . 

54 

51 

53 

158 

L.  L.  Hepburn  . 

53 

50 

46 

149 

Col.  Gildersleeve       . 

63 

51 

51 

156 

'    General  Dakin . 

53 
826 

45 
310 

I 

41 

139 

298 

934         i 

[relaTW 

Name 
John  Bigby 

800  Yards 

52 

900  Yards 

56 

1.000  Yards 
55 

Total 

168          i 

Dr.  J.  B.  Hamilton  . 

58 

52 

60 

160 

James  Wilson  . 

54 

51 

66 

160      ; 

J.  K.  MiUner     . 

67 

49 

48 

164         1 

Edmund  Johnson 

60 

49 

61 

160 

Capt.  Walker    . 

46 

55 

43 

144         , 

817    ' 

812 

"302         ; 

931 

One  or  two  smaller  events  were  decided  on  this  same 
occasion.  In  a  subsequent  competition  for  the  Bennett  long- 
range  championship,  an  individual  match  under  the  same 
conditions  as  the  team  match,  the  six  highest  Irish  scorers  were 
a  long  way  ahead  of  their  American  competitors  in  the  match. 

A  challenge  by  Mr.  Bigby  for  a  match  between  muzzle- 
loading  rifles  of  his  own  make  and  American  breech-loading 
rifles,  for  competitors  firing  twenty -five  rounds  each  without 
cleaning,  ended  in  a  very  easy  win  for  the  muzzle-loaders, 
for  great  as  was  the  reputation  which  the  Sharps  breech-loader 
obtained  for  itself  a  few  years  later,  it  was  at  this  time  quite 
unfitted  to  make  fine  scoring  when  not  cleaned  between  the 
shots.  The  lowest  score  made  by  the  Bigby  rifle  was  higher 
than  the  highest  made  by  the  Sharps  rifle.  The  scores  were 
as  follows : 


Bigby  Rifles,  Muzzle-IiOadbbs 
Irish  Team 


Sharps  Bifles,  Bbebch-loaders 
American  Team 


D. Johnson 

84 

J.  Collins   . 

.      76 

J.  Bigby     . 

84 

General  Dakin    . 

64 

J.  B.  Hamilton  . 

77 

H.  Gildersleeve  . 

.      49 

J.  Wilson  . 

.        .      76 

G.Yale      . 

13 

321 


201 


MATCH    AT    DUBLIN,    1875 


601 


A  curious  little  match  was  fired,  too,  between  Mr.  John 
Bigby  and  General  Dakin,  five  Bhots  each  standing,  at  1,000 
yards.     The  result  was  as  follows : 

Rigby,  40840  ^  11  Dakin,  08400  =  7. 

The  value  of  a  bull's-eye  at  that  time  was  four  points.  The 
writer  knows  of  no  other  instance  when,  in  public,  at  all 
events,  a  match  has  been  shot  standing  at  so  long  a  distance. 
In  1875  a  return  team  match  was  shot  at  Dublin,  in 
which  the  American  riflemen  were  again  successful.  This 
match  was  shot  upon  the  well-known  DoUymount  range, 
which  is  practically  on  a  sandbank  in  Dublin  Bay.  The 
Americans  used  Bemington  rifles.  The  weather  was  overcast, 
but  not  difficult  for  shooting,  and  the  visitors  won  the  match 
very  easily  with  what  was  then  the  very  wonderful  score  of 
967  points  out  of  a  possible  1,080.  The  scoring  was  as 
follows : 

America 

I 


Name 

800  Yards 
56 

900  Yards 

1,000  Yards 
52 

Total 
164 

Col.  Oildersleeve 

56 

Mr.  Yale  .... 

67 

52 

51 

160 

Major  Fulton    . 

58 

67 

46 

161 

Mr.  Ooleman 

56 

48 

52 

156 

Col.  Bodine 

52 

59 

51 

162 

Oen.  Dakin 

58 

55 

51 

164 

337 
Ireland 

327 

«03 

967 

Name 

800  Yards 
58 

900  Yards 

1,000  Yards 
55 

Total 

Mr.  Wilson 

50 

163 

Dr.  Hamilton    . 

56 

54 

50 

160 

Mr.  McKenna    . 

52 

44 

53 

149 

Mr.  Millner 

1         56 

37 

41 

133 

Mr.  Johnson 

'         58 

54 

51 

163 

Mr.PoUock 

!         59 
'       338 

53 
292 

49 

161 
929 

299 

The  American  riflemen  afterwards  attended  the  Wimbledon 
meeting,  but  declined  an  invitation  to  shoot  a  match  there 
against  a  team  from  the  United  Kingdom.     A  challenge  cup 


503  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    EIFLB 

was  given  by  the  National  Bifle  Association  for  competition 
among  the  Americans  at  Wimbledon,  the  conditions  being 
thirty  shots  at  1,000  yards,  and  Major  Pulton  won  it  with 
188  points  out  of  150,  with  the  Bemington  rifle. 

In  1875  the  National  Bifle  Association  had  been  invited 
to  send  a  British  team  to  contend  in  America  against  an 
American  team  in  a  great  International  Match  to  be  organised 
in  connection  with  the  Centennial  Celebration.  In  the  autumn 
of  that  year  the  Council  of  the  National  Bifle  Association 
decided  to  accept  the  invitation,  and  Sir  Henry  Halford  was 
appointed  to  be  the  captain  of  the  team.  It  had  been 
arranged  to  hold  competitions  among  those  available,  and 
to  take  the  best  team  that  could  be  made  up  from  the  pick 
of  the  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  shots.  In  December,  1875, 
however,  when  the  formal  challenge  arrived,  it  was  found 
to  have  been  sent,  not  only  to  the  National  Bifle  Association, 
but  to  the  Irish  Bifle  Association  and  the  Scottish  National 
Bifle  Club.  The  Council  were  not  prepared  to  send  an 
English  team,  as  they  considered  themselves  to  represent 
the  whole  United  Kingdom,  The  Scotch  Association  deter- 
mined to  send  a  Scotch  team,  and  the  National  Rifle 
Association  withdrew  their  acceptance  of  the  challenge.  The 
Irish,  too,  got  together  a  team,  and  so  did  the  Canadians  and 
Australians.  The  conditions  were  as  for  the  Elcho  Shield, 
but  repeated  op  two  consecutive  days,  the  new  Wimbledon 
scoring  being  adopted,  which  increased  the  number  of  points 
made.  The  Americans  again  proved  themselves  the  better 
men,  although  their  win  was  not  at  all  an  easy  one.  The 
Irish  team  were  second,  22  points  behind,  having  had  a 
lead  on  the  first  day  and  lost  it  on  the  second.  The 
Scotch  also  made  a  larger  score  than  the  Americans  on 
the  first  day.  The  highest  score  made  up  to  that  time 
in  the  Elcho  Shield  match  at  Wimbledon  was  1,506,  a 
score  very  easily  beaten  on  both  days  by  the  American, 
Irish,  and  Australian  teams,  and  on  the  first  day  by  the 
Scotch.  The  conditions  of  light  and  weather  in  this  eonntry, 
as  is  well  known  to  those  who  have  shot  in  India  or  in  South 
Africa,  are  less  favourable  to  high  scoring.  The  following 
were  the  scores : 


MATCH    AT    CREEDMOOR,    1876 
American  Team 


503 


800  Yards 

550 
525 

900  Yards 

518 
515 

1,000  Yards 

509 
609 

Total 

!     Rrst  day  . 
,     Second  day 

1,577 
1,549 

1,075       !      1,038 

1,018 

8,126 

Irish  Team 

800  Yards 

535 
502 

900  Yards 

524 
485 

1,000  Yards 
523 

Total 

First  day  . 
Second  day 

1.582 
1,522 

j 

1,037            1,009 

1,058 

8,104 

Australian  Team 

1          — 

800  Yards 

900  Yards 

524 
494 

1,000  Yards 

Total 

;     First  day  . 
1     Second  day 

531 
522 

490 
585 

1,545 
1,551 

1,058 

1,018 

1,025 

8,096 

Scotch  Te 

<am 

1 

800  Yards 

900  Yards 

1,000  Yards 

Total        ! 

1     First  day  . 
Second  day 

535               528 
525               462 

528 

488 

1,586 
1,475 

1 

1,060      j        990 

1,011 

8,061 

C 

Canadian  Team 

1                   — 

800  Yards 

900  Yards 

1.000  Yards 

Total 

First  day  . 
Seoondday 

521 
492 

476 
465 

941 

493 
476 

1,490 
1.438 

2,928 

1.013 

969 

In  the  spring  of  1877  a  renewed  invitaticm  was  received 
for  a  British  team  to  be  sent  to  compete  for  the  American 
Centennial  Trophy,   and   the  championship  of  the  world, 


5M  THE    BOOK    OP   THE    RIFLE 

onder  the  same  conditions  as  had  been  proposed  in  the 
previoos  year,  the  match  to  be  shot  in  the  following  Septem- 
ber. It  was  decided  to  accept  the  invitation,  if  neither 
Scotland  nor  Ireland  intended  to  send  teams.  Sir  Henry 
Halford  acted  as  organiser  and  captain  of  the  British  team, 
and  after  the  Wimbledon  meeting  held  a  three  days'  competi- 
tion at  Cambridge  among  the  long-range  shots  willing  to  go 
to  America.  The  ten  who  took  the  highest  places  were 
Humphry,  Colonel  Fenton,  Evans,  Piggott,  Halford,  and 
Gilder,  Englishmen ;  Ferguson  and  Dmilop,  Scotchmen ; 
Bigby  and  Yonng,  Irishmen ;  and  they  were  declared  to 
form  the  team  and  reserve.  At  the  last  moment,  however. 
Major  Young  and  Mr.  Dunlop  were  prevented  from  leaving 
England,  and  were  replaced  by  Lieutenant  Fenton  and  Mr. 
Millner,  who  had  shot  in  the  Irish  team  against  the  Americans 
in  1876.  The  match  at  Creedmoor  again  lasted  two  days, 
the  Elcho  Shield  course  of  fifteen  shots  at  800,  900,  and 
1,000  yards  being  fired  on  each  day.  The  teams  were  eight 
a  side.  Both  Lieutenant  Fenton  and  Mr.  Millner  shot.  Gilder 
and  Piggott  having  been  placed  in  the  reserve.  It  was 
almost  as  much  a  match  between  the  rifles  of  the  two  nations 
as  between  their  representatives.  The  Americans,  who  used 
Sharps  and  Remington's  rifles,  were  26  points  ahead  on  the 
first  day,  and  on  the  second  day  added  as  much  as  66  points 
to  their  lead.  By  dividing  the  target  into  a  large  number 
of  very  small  divisions,  each  of  which  was  distinguished  by  a 
particular  word,  the  place  hit  by  each  shot  fired  could  at 
once  be  cabled  across  the  Atlantic.  The  scores  are  given  on 
the  next  page. 

Colonel  Peel,  who  accompanied  the  team,  wrote  a  report 
upon  this  match,  in  which  he  attributed  the  American  success 
to  their  vastly  superior  team  organisation,  to  the  use  by 
some  of  the  English  shots  of  the  prone  position,  while  all 
the  Americans  shot  upon  the  back,  and  to  the  use  by  the 
Americans  of  a  breech-loader,  which  they  cleaned  out  after 
every  shot,  instead  of  a  muzzle-loader.  This  report,  which 
is  reprinted  in  the  National  Rifle  Association's  Report  for 
1877,  contains  valuable  remarks  upon  the  organisation  of 


MATCH    AT    CREEDMOOB,    1877 


565 


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THE    B(X)K   OP   THE    RIFLE 


teams,  as  well  as  upon  the  comparative  merits  of  the  rifles 
and  other  questions  raised  by  the  match. 

In  1878  a  team  was  again  invited  to  visit  Greedmoor, 
but  the  Association  could  not  send  one,  the  time  invplved 
and  the  expense  of  the  journey  being  the  chief  obstacles. 
Similarly,  in  1879,  the  Association  did  not  see  its  way  to 
accept  a  like  invitation  and  to  send  a  team  to  America  to 
compete  with  the  military  rifle. 

In  1880  Mr.  P.  Hyde  brought  a  team  to  Wimbledon. 
The  Association  of  the  United  States  would  not  officially 
sanction  a  match  between  the  American  team  and  a  team 
representing  the  National  Rifle  Association,  so  that  the 
match  was  unofficial  as  between  Mr.  Hyde's  team  and  Sir 
Henry  Halford*s.  The  conditions  of  the  match  were  similar 
to  those  for  the  Elcho  Shield,  and  it  was  won  by  the  British 
team  with  1,647  points  against  1,568.  The  scores  were  as 
follows  : 

Sir  Hen/ry  HcUford's  Team 


1                           Name                           ;    800  Yards 

900  Yards 

1,000  YaidA 

Total 

Millner     ....             74 

71 

67 

212 

Fenton 

78 

71 

65 

,        209 

Humphry 

78 

70 

64 

,        207 

Young 

70 

67 

69 

206 

Baker 

73 

71 

61 

205 

Joynt 

71 

72 

61 

204 

Evans 

!     '        74 

69 

59 

202 

Godsal 

• 

72 

68 
559 

62 

202 

.         _ 

580 

508 

1,647 

Mr.  Hyde's 

Team 

Name 

1 

_ 

800  Yards 

900  Yards 
69 

1,000  Yaida 

Tyytal 

Jackson    . 

72 

68 

209 

Laird 

67 

71 

67 

205 

Scott 

73 

67 

63 

20S 

Brown 

71 

71 

60 

202 

Hyde 

69 

63 

66 

198 

Dudley 
Gerrisii 

66 

64 

67 

197 

i         72 

60 

58 

190 

Rockwell 

54 

50 
515 

60 

164 

544 

509 

1^     • 

MATCH    AT    CREEDMOOR,    1882  507 

The  Americans  had  thus  won  one  and  lost  one  match 
(the  latter,  however,  an  unofficial  one)  with  the  *  Any  Rifle ' 
against  teams  representing  the  United  Kingdom. 

In  November,  1880,  a  challenge  was  sent  to  the  National 
Bifle  Association  of  America  to  shoot  a  match  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  bat  it  was  refused.  Early  in  1881  the  American 
Association  sent  a  challenge,  and  it  was  practically  arranged 
that  a  match  should  take  place  the  next  season,  but  upon 
conditions  as  to  distances  and  rifles  different  from  those  of 
previous  contests.  Consequently  in  1882  a  team  of  Volunteers 
went  to  America  to  compete  both  at  short  and  at  long  ranges 
against  a  team  of  the  National  Guard  of  the  United  States. 
Sir  Henry  Halford  was  captain  of  the  British  team,  and  took 
over  with  him  a  party  of  picked  marksmen  armed  with  the 
military  breech-loader,  which  had  for  some  years  been  so 
familiar  a  weapon  at  Wimbledon.  The  match  was  to  last  two 
days,  the  shooting  on  the  first  day  being  at  200,  500,  and 
600  yards,  and  on  the  second  day  at  800,  900,  and  1,000 
yards,  seven  shots  at  each  distance.  Twelve  men  fired  in 
each  team.  The  shooting  at  200  yards  was  in  the  standing 
position,  in  which  it  was  generally  thought  that  the  American 
team  would  have  the  advantage,  since  off-hand  shooting  was 
normally  practised  at  that  distance  in  America,  but  not  in 
this  country  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  thought  that 
the  long  ranges  might  tell  on  the  yhole  in  favour  of  the 
British  team. 

The  match  proved  an  unexpected  success  for  the  British 
team,  who  beat  the  American  team  at  200  yards  in  the  stand- 
ing position  by  9  points,  gained  9  more  points  at  500  yards, 
and  1  more  at  600  yards,  the  two  latter  ranges  being  shot 
in  the  prone  position.  The  second  day  increased  their  lead 
enormously.  The  long  ranges  were  shot  in  any  position,  and 
at  800  yards  they  gained  88  points,  at  900  yards  42  points, 
at  1,000  yards  71  points.  They  were  thus  winners  by  170 
points.  Ten  out  of  the  twelve  in  the  British  team  shot  with 
the  Metford  rifle,  and  Bates  and  Godsal  with  the  Webley- 
Wyley,  a  rifle  which  shot  well,  but  had  the  disadvantage  of 
needing  heavily  lubricated  ammunition.     Of  the  American 


506 


THE    BOOK    OF   THE    RIFLE 


team,  nine  lued  the  Bemington,  two  the  ShArpB,  and  one  the 
Hotchkifls  rifle.  The  Americans  natorally  sappoeed  that  the 
British  had  produced  a  long-range  rifle  specially  for  this 
match,  but  nothing  of  the  sort  had  been  done,  for  none  of  the 
rifles  used  in  the  match  had  been  made  specially  for  it,  and 
some  had  been  in  use  for  five  or  six  years  in  competitions  at 
Wimbledon.  They  also  supposed  that  the  users  of  the  rifles 
were  expert  long-range  Match  rifle  shots,  but  in  fact  the 
majority  of  the  team  were  essentially  military  shots,  and  not 
experienced  with  the  Match  rifle.  The  scores  in  the  match 
were  as  follows : 


British 

Team 

- 

$%BcoND  Day 

Fuurr  Day 

Kame                      »0       WO       600 
Yards  Tarda  Yards 

Total 

800    1    900     1,000 
Yard8|YardB  Yanls! 

Total   1 

Grand 
Total 

Vearw    .                        .     "    » 

88 

29 

89 

29 

88 

87 

88 

177 

MrVlitle 

81 

84 

80 

96 

86 

SO 

8» 

81 

176 

Phitv 

2H 

88 

29 

90 

8ft 

84 

81 

80 

170 

W«»ult«r  . 

86 

88 

88 

90 

31 

8ft 

84 

80 

170 

CHldwell 

S6 

88 

81 

90 

8ft 

86 

8ft 

76 

16« 

I>od«       . 

81 

81 

38 

94 

86 

86 

80 

78 

16< 

Oliver    . 

87 

80 

29     < 

86 

81 

81 

87 

79 

left 

Bates      . 

28 

81 

88    ' 

87 

84 

8X 

8ft 

77 

164 

(kxlial    . 

89 

27 

SO  ; 

M 

89 

84 

88 

76 

lei 

Humphxy 

27 

82 

84 

83 

81 

38 

38 

76 

159 

Ofwdear 

88 

29 

84 

81 

86 

86 

8ft 

77 

1&8 

Heap      . 

81 

.     " 

26 

91 

10 

18 

84 

58 

143 

840     i  378       844     ,  1,068 


898   313  .  807 


913 


Am 

FIBJ 

erican 

Team 

Skcund  Day 

8T  Day 

- 

- 

- 

—   - 

-     - 

Grand 

Name 

"*""*                         200 

ftCK) 

I    600 

Total 

800 

900 

1,000 

Total 

Total 

Yards  Yanla  lYards 

i Yards  Yanls  (Yards 

Hmith     ....         80 

34 

i     31 

9ft 

26 

26 

81 

73 

;     168 

Pollard  . 

29 

31 

33 

93 

23 

28 

18 

69 

1       163 

Hinman 

30 

32 

1     28 

90 

19 

26 

88 

68 

168 

Atkinson 

29 

32 

27 

88 

26 

23 

19 

68 

166 

0(f<len     . 

27 

31 

31 

89 

27 

17 

80 

64 

158 

Dolan     . 

1'5 

28 

34 

87 

16 

27 

21 

64 

'       151 

McNevin 

22 

33 

30 

8ft 

17 

33 

28 

63 

148 

Howard. 

25 

2M 

29 

83 

19 

16 

29 

64 

147 

Shak»peare 

31 

29 

26 

85 

16 

34 

21 

61 

146 

Paulding 

27 

31 

24 

82 

20 

20 

80 

60 

142 

Alder      . 

27 

,     30 

23 

80 

27 

22 

11 

60 

140 

lUndH     . 

29 

29 

28 

86 

19 

19 

10 

48 

134 

331   369  I  343   1,043    25ft   271 


1,805 


MATCH    AT    WIMBLEDON,    1883 


509 


In  the  following  year,  1888,  a  return  match  was  shot  at 
Wimbledon  mider  the  same  conditions,  between  teams  of 
twelve.  The  organisation  of  the  British  team  on  that 
occasion  was  only  taken  in  hand  at  the  last  moment 
and  left  much  to  be  desired.  At  200  yards  the  American 
team  obtained  a  lead  of  12  points ;  at  500  yards  the 
British  recovered  10  points,  but  at  600  yards  lost  6  points, 
and  so  were  8  points  to  the  bad  on  the  first  day.  On  the 
second  day,  at  the  long  ranges,  the  weather  was  difficult. 
The  Americans  did  well  at  800  yards,  and  gained  16  points 
more.  This  rather  formidable  lead  of  24  points  was  more 
tban  wiped  off  at  the  900  yards  range,  where  the  British 
score  was  297,  as  against  the  American  268,  and  at  the  1,000 
yards  the  British  increased  their  lead  by  85  points  more, 
winning  the  match  by  45  points.  Whatever  the  respective 
capacities  of  the  marksmen  may  have  been,  it  is  quite  clear 
that  in  this  match,  as  in  the  first,  the  rifles  of  the  British 
were  better  than  those  of  their  opponents,  although  eight  of 
the  latter  used  a  new  rifle,  the  Brown  rifle,  and  the  remainder 
Remingtons,  while  eleven  of  the  British  used  the  Metford 
as  before.  It  is  probable,  too,  that  the  difficult  winds  of 
Wimbledon  placed  the  visitors  at  a  disadvantage.  The 
winning  score  in  this  match  was  rather  lower  than  that 
of  the  previous  year,  but  the  American  team  improved  by 
101  points  on  their  previous  performance.  The  scoring  was 
as  follows : 


• 

...       _  _ 

B7:iiish  Team 

PIR8T  Day 

Skcond  Day 

Name                 r^ 

600 

600  : 

Total 
94 

800 

900 

1,000 

Total 
86 

Grand 
Total 

lYaids 

Yards  i  Yards! 

Yards 
38 

Yards 
37 

Yards 

180 

Wattleworth                          33 

27 

Oibbfl     . 

K 

33 

34 

93 

37 

39 

28 

U 

176 

Parry     . 

38 

33 

39 

89 

36 

36 

39 

81 

170 

Bates     . 

39 

34 

30     1 

93 

29 

28 

80 

77 

170 

Gooldsmlth 

81 

31 

87  ; 

89 

31 

27 

23 

80 

169 

McVittle 

1     29 

81 

39 

89 

24 

30 

20 

74 

163 

Oodsal   . 

37 

33 

33     I 

91 

28 

38 

16 

72 

163 

Pcanje    . 

27 

33 

39     1 

89 

22 

36 

21 

69 

168 

Dods 

i     38 

33 

30 

81 

33 

31 

31 

74 

166 

Lowe 

38 

36 

36 

89 

34 

32 

16 

62 

161 

Humphry 

36 

3« 

80 

86 

37 

13 

24 

64 

149 

Young  . 

.     30 

31 

38 

89 

A" 

30 

10 

*8_ 

147 

340 

376 

364 

1,070 

330 

297 

264 

881 

1,961 

610 


THE    BOOK    OP    THE    BIFLE 


American  Team 

1 

First  Day 

1 

SiBCOKD  Day 

Giand 

1   Total 

Name                     jqq      mo      600 
Yards  Yards  Yards 

ToUl 

;   800    '    900     1,000 
[Yards  Yards  Yards 

Total 

Boott^Pte.     .       .       .    1    S9 

30 

81 

90 

1    88 

98 

99 

83 

178 

Hinman 

S9 

SA 

33 

96 

27 

96 

19 

72 

168 

Vail  Heusen 

2fl 

3S 

99 

90 

SO 

94 

90 

74 

164 

ScoU,  Lieut. 

S» 

27 

39 

88 

33 

90 

92 

74 

162 

Paulding 

31 

99 

SO 

90 

31 

98 

17 

71 

161 

SO 

S9 

31 

90 

96 

19 

97 

71 

161 

Dolan 

81 

90 

93 

84 

98 

96 

19 

78 

167 

Bull 

S8 

80 

S3 

90 

39 

90 

16 

67 

U7 

Joiner 

99 

88 

34 

96 

98 

90 

10 

ft** 

164 

Pollard 

SO 

81 

1     96 

87 

99 

18 

19 

66 

163 

ftmith 

'    » 

84 

1     89     > 

96 

1    97 

17 

10 

M 

149 

Cash 

1     X8 

96 

98 

89 

24 

99 

19 

66 

147 

SftS 

866 

860 

1.078 

I  846 

|968~ 

,919 

898 

1,906 

In  1886  a  challenge  was  sent  by  the  Americans  for  a 
match  in  the  autumn,  but  was  regretfully  declined.  After 
that  time  target-shooting,  and  especially  Match-rifle  shooting 
at  long  ranges,  nearly  died  out  in  the  United  States,  but 
military  shooting  shows  signs  of  revival  there  since  the 
Spanish  war«  A  team  of  the  Ulster  Rifle  Association  crossed 
the  Atlantic  to  shoot  against  the  New  Jersey  Rifle  Associa- 
tion with  the  Match  rifle  at  Seagirt  in  the  present  autumn  of 
1901.  They  won  the  mjitch,  which  was  under  Elcho  Shield 
conditions,  with  a  score  of  1,620  points,  the  home  team 
making  only  1,558  points.  The  Ulster  team  used  the 
Mannlicher,  and  the  Americans  a  Remington  rifle.  Major 
Richardson  made  the  fine  score  of  217  points  for  Ulster.  At 
the  same  meeting  the  match  for  the  Palma  Centennial 
Trophy,  to  which  Great  Britain  was  unable  to  send  a  team, 
was  won  by  Canada.  Each  team  used  the  military  rifle  of 
its  country,  with  orthoptic  sights  attached.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  other  friendly  matches  between  this  country  and  other 
nations  may  be  arranged  in  coming  years.  Shooting  at  dis- 
tances beyond  600  yards  is  a  distinctive  feature  of  the  sport 
among  English-speaking  nations.  The  military  importance 
of  long-range  practice  has  increased,  and  it  should  be  in- 
cluded in  any  such  matches,  whether  with  the  military  rifle 
or  the  Match  rifle. 

Some  few  years  ago  there  was  established  on  the  Continent 
an  International  Rifle  match  in  which  several  of  the  chief 


MATCH    AT    THE    HAGUE,  1899 


511 


Continental  countrieB  annoally  take  part.  In  1899  this 
match  w&B  held  in  connection  with  a  prize  meeting  in  Holland, 
at  Looeduinen,  near  The  Hague,  and  a  scratch  British  team 
went  over,  much  doubt  being  felt  as  to  whether  Continental 
methods  were  sufficiently  like  our  own  to  give  the  team  any 
chance  of  success.  These  doubts  proved  to  be  well  founded. 
The  match  was  fired  exclusively  at  800  metres  (828  yards). 
The  targets  were  1*80  metre  (5  feet  11  inches)  square,  but 
no  shot  counted  which  was  outside  a  circle  of  1  metre 
(8  feet  8'4  inches)  in  diameter.  This  was  subdivided  into 
smaller  circles,  each  10  centimetres  (8*9  inches)  smaller  than 
the  last,  a  hit  in  the  innermost  circle  of  10  centimetres 
counting  10  points,  one  in  the  next  of  20  centimetres  counting 
9,  and  so  on.  The  inner  rings  were  blackened  so  as  to  give  a 
bull's-eye  of  aim  of  60  centimetres  (28*6  inches).  The  teams 
consisted  of  five  members,  and  each  man  had  to  fire  40  shots 
standing,  40  kneeling,  and  40  prone  during  the  day.  •  Sight- 
ing shots  were  allowed.  The  British  team  all  fired  with  the 
'808  Service  rifle  and  with  Service  ammunition.  The  result, 
so  far  as  concerns  the  place  taken  by  them  in  the  match,  was 
decidedly  a  failure.  There  were  eight  competing  nations, 
and  the  scores  made  were  as  follows  : 


Name  of  Country 

standing 
1,426 

Kneeling 

Prone 

Grand  Total 

Switzerland    . 

1,669-875 

1,643 

4.528-876» 

France    . 

1,403 

1,449 

1,662-175 

4,404-175 

Denmark 

1,86790 

1,490 

1,538 

4,390-90 

Italy       . 
Holland  . 

1,281 

1,466-46 

1,577-46 

4,313-90 

1,316*650 

1,442-350 

1,518 

4,277 

Norway   . 

1,384-076 

1,365126 

1,896-450 

4,144-650 

Great  Britain 

1,138-70 

1,449-65 

1.541 

4.129-35 

Belgium. 

1,292-700 

1,360-66 

1,474-525 

4,127-875 

The  decimal  points  are  due  to  a  pecnliar  Bystem  of  penalising  misses. 


It  will  be  seen  that  in  shooting  standing  the  British  team 
made  much  the  lowest  score,  while  in  kneeling  and  prone 
shooting  it  held  its  own  very  much  better.  The  best  score 
in  the  British  team  was  made  by  Sergeant  -  Instructor 
Wallingford,  of  the  Hythe  staff,  who,  as  has  been  mentioned, 
took  the  prize  given  for  the  highest  individual  score  in  the 
prone  position,  but  his  total  in  the  three  positions  was  not 


512 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 


equal  to  the  average  score  made  by  the  winning  team.  It  is 
clear  from  his  performance  that  the  rifles  and  ammunition 
were  quite  as  accurate  as  those  used  by  the  other  teams,  and 
there  is  not  the  smallest  reason  to  suppose  that  the  skill  of 
the  men  was  inferior.  Their  chances  of  winning  were  much 
more  heavily  handicapped  than  had  been  anticipated  by  the 
difference  of  the  conditions  of  Continental  shooting  from  those 
of  shooting  as  practised  here.  The  scores  of  the  British 
team  were  as  under : 


Name 

'    Sgt.-InBt.    Wallingford,    Hyihe 
I        Staff 

Major  Cowan,  Boyal  Engineers 
I  Staff-Sgt.  Bothon,  13th  Middx. 
i  R.V. 

Qr.-Mr.-Sgt.    Davidaon,    Hythe 

Staff 
Cr.-Sst.  Davies,  let  V.B.  Welrfi 
Bgt. 


standing 

261-80 

242-85 
'224-25 

238 

172-80 


Kneeling 

808 

292 
286-65 

272 

291 


Prone       Onmd  Total 


384 

325 
307 

273 

302 


903-80 

859-85 
817-90 

783 

765-80 


1,138-70    1,449-65      1,541        4,129-35 


We  have  already  given  a  reproduction  of  Sgt.-In8t. 
Wallingford's  target  of  40  shots,  prone,  made  in  this  match. 

The  following  extract  from  the  Report  presented  to  the 
Council  of  the  National  Rifle  Association  in  connection  with 
the  Match  will  show  both  the  actual  points  which  adversely 
affected  the  British  team,  and  the  general  difference  of  the 
system  on  which  rifle-shooting  has  been  developed  in  this 
country  and  abroad : 

*  Some  opportunity  had  been  given  to  the  team  to  fire  at 
home  at  a  buH's-eye  of  the  same  kind  as  that  used  in  the 
match — 24  inches  at  828  yards— the  equivalent  of  a  86-inch 
bull's-eye  at  500  yards.  This  naturally  requires  rather  a 
different  method  of  aiming  from  that  suited  to  Bisley  targets. 
But  the  additional  difficulty  of  shooting  from  under  a  low 
roof  in  a  stall  partitioned  on  both  sides  is  considerable.  The 
use  of  the  *'  bar  "  sight  is  almost  precluded,  as  no  light  falls  on 
the  sights  from  above  or  behind,  and  they  have  to  be  defined 
against  the  glare  of  a  patch  of  sky  seen  over  the  targets. 
This  made  to  our  men  a  much  fi:reater  difficulty  than  had 
been  anticipated. 


REPORT    ON    FOREIGN    METHODS  513 

'  Many  of  the  other  teams  used  for  the  standing  position 
at  least — most  of  them  for  all  positions— fancy  rifles  of  great 
weight,  with  "set "  or  '*  hair"  triggers,  which  give,  as  compared 
with  a  heavier  poll-off,  a  great  advantage  in  standing  and 
some  in  kneeling.  These  rifles  were  in  many  cases  fitted 
with  elaborate  mipractical  devices  to  assist  the  grasp  of  the 
rifle.  When  military  rifles  were  used  the  pull-off  had  been 
specially  arranged  so  as  to  require  a  pressure  of  2  lbs.  or  less  ; 
the  pull-off  of  the  Lee-Metford,  though  reduction  was  effected 
so  far  as  possible  by  extemporised  means,  could  not  be  brought 
below  4  lbs. 

'  The  great  number  of  shots  fired  in  the  match,  30  sighters 
and  120  shots  in  competition  per  man,  proved  unexpectedly 
fatiguing,  and  much  increased  the  disadvantages  due  to  heavy 
pull  of  trigger,  &c.  Few  of  our  men  can  give  the  requisite 
time  or  obtain  sufficient  accommodation  on  their  ranges  to 
accustom  themselves  to  fire  so  many  shots  in  the  day  with 
due  care  and  deliberation. 

'  The  only  distance  fired  at  in  all  the  rifle  competitions  of 
the  Dutch  meeting  was  300  metres  (about  328  yards),  and  it 
appeared  that  one  at  least  of  the  teams  had  not  had  occasion 
to  fire  all  the  season  except  at  the  particular  distance  and 
target  used  in  the  match. 

'  It  must,  however,  be  admitted,  after  making  all  these 
allowances,  that  the  standing  shooting  of  our  team  was  not 
up  to  the  foreign  standard.  Far  more  attention  is  given  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  standing  position  abroad,  while  our 
system  of  shooting  imposes  upon  no  one  the  strain  of  firing 
a  long  series  of  shots  standing  in  any  important  competition. 

*  The  International  Match,  as  at  present  arranged,  must 
be  considered  unsatisfactory  as  not  conforming  to  practical 
or  military  requirements.  Thus,  the  innermost  circle  of  the 
bull's-eye  (4  inches  in  diameter)  and  the  width  of  the  2-inch 
rings  into  which  it  and  the  rest  of  the  target  are  divided, 
are  so  minute  as  to  be  beyond  the  accuracy  of  the  rifle  at 
300  metres.  In  the  kneeling  position  cushions  and  supports 
for  leg  and  foot  are  allowed,  and  your  delegates  were  only 
able  to  get  the  position  so  far  restricted  as  that  both  knee 
and  foot  should  touch  the  ground.     The  couches  provided  for 

L  L 


614  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    BIFLE 

lying  down  were  narrow  and  placed  at  a  steep  elope  to  suit 
the  crooked  stocks  generally  used,  and  special  permission  had 
to  be  asked  for  the  British  team  to  shoot  off  the  bare  groimd. 
While  aperture  sights  were  forbidden,  open  sights  of  all 
patterns,  often  with  very  delicate  screws  for  adjustment,  were 
used.  The  customs  of  shooting  from  under  cover  and  at  one 
distance  only  are  such  as  would  never  be  adopted  in  this 
country.  To  sum  up,  rifle  competitions  seem  to  be  looked 
upon,  except  by  Great  Britain,  Norway,  and  Denmark,  as  a 
fancy  sport,  which  is  not  meant  to  bear  any  particular  relation 
to  military  or  useful  conditions.' 

The  above  sufficiently  shows  that  the  chief  part  of  the 
British  team's  failure  in  the  match  was  due  to  the  practical 
and  military  lines  on  which  rifle-shooting  has  been  developed 
in  this  country.  It  does  not  seem  that  for  the  sake  of  again 
competing  in  this  match  it  will  be  worth  while  in  any  future 
year  specially  to  arm  and  train  a  team  under  conditions 
which  would  almost  certainly  put  them  quite  out  of  their  form 
for  shooting  in  our  home  competitions,  and  it  is  probable 
that  until  the  International  match  is  put  upon  lines  more 
compatible  with  the  use  of  military  weapons,  it  will  evoke  no 
special  interest  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 


515 


CHAPTER  XX 

ANCIENT  BIFLE  CLUBS — SOME  SWISS  CLUBS — THE  VICTORIA  RIFLES — RIFLE 
CLUBS .  AND  VOLUNTEEEINO — THE  GUN  LICENCE— COST  OF  AMMUNI- 
TION— DIFFERENT  TYPES  OF  CLUBS— SUNDAY  SHOOTING — ORGANISATION 
OF  CLUBS — COMPETITIONS  AND  MATCHES— CONDITIONS  OF  AFFILIATION 
TO  NATIONAL   RIFLE   ASSOCIATION — LIST   OF   RIFLE   CLUBS 

It  would  be  difficult  to  assign  a  date  to  the  beginning  ot 
target  competitions  with  small  arms.  Both  the  long-bow  and 
the  cross-bow  were  very  naturally  used  both  by  societies  and 
by  gatherings  of  parishes  or  localities,  at  which  the  most 
successful  shot  gained  the  greatest  honour.  We  find  that  in 
Switzerland  such  societies  existed  before  the  invention  of 
fire-arms,  and  carried  on  their  competitions  and  practice 
continuously,  as  it  would  seem,  through  the  change  in 
weapons,  first  from  the  bow  to  the  gun,  and  then  from  the 
gun  to  the  rifle.  The  Honourable  Artillery  Company  of 
London,  the  direct  descendant  of  the  old  trained  bands,  has 
seen  the  same  series  of  changes,  and  affords  the  nearest 
parallel  which  we  have  in  this  country  to  the  ancient  clubs  of 
the  Continent.  The  Societe  de  I'Harquebuse  of  Geneva, 
which  represents  the  practising  of  the  citizens  under  muni- 
cipal patronage,  and  has  existed  for  more  than  500  years, 
can  show  that  as  early  as  1474  both  the  archers  and  those 
who  shot  with  the  arquebus  held  competitions  which  were 
assisted  by  prizes  given  by  the  Petit  Conseil  de  Geneve.  The 
records  of  the  Council  show  that  before  1460,  and  no  doubt 
much  earlier,  there  had  been  a  champion  both  of  the  long-bow 
and  of  the  cross-bow,  but  no  mention  of  arquebus  shooting 
appears  until  1474.  An  improved  range  for  shooting  with 
both  cross-bow  and  arquebus  at  Geneva  was  apparently 
made  at  the  beginning  of  1475,  and  this  may  perhaps  be 
taken  to  represent  the  period  at  which  the  hand  gun  began  to 
be  considered  an  arm  of  some  precision.     But  there  remains 

L  L  2 


516  THE    BOOK    OP   THE    BIPLE 

little,  if  any,  record  of  the  details  of  the  competitions  held  at 
these  early  periods,  either  as  to  the  distance  at  which  the 
firing  took  place,  or  as  to  the  conditions  of  the  target,  &c., 
governing  the  competitions.  In  those  held  by  the  Genevan 
Clab  for  the  cross-bow  and  the  fire-arm  there  was  a  champion- 
ship at  this  time,  the  most  successful  shot  being  known  for 
the  year  as  the  King  of  the  Cross-bow  or  Arquebus.  It 
seems  very  likely  that  his  position  depended  upon  his  good 
fortune  in  striking  the  target  most  nearly  in  the  centre,  as 
that  has  been,  and  still  to  a  great  extent  is,  in  Switzerland 
the  chief  measure  of  a  man's  success  as  a  shot.  There  seems 
to  have  been  a  continuous  succession  of  Kings  of  the  Arque- 
bus and  Bifle  from  1474  down  to  the  present  time,  but 
unfortunately  the  records  do  not  show  clearly  the  transition 
from  the  smooth-bore  arquebus  to  the  grooved  rifle. 

A  similar,  and  perhaps  even  older,  society  still  exists  at 
Zurich,  and  in  the  Swiss  National  Museum  at  that  place  may 
be  seen  a  very  beautiful  cup  made  in  the  shape  of  a  rifle- 
man with  his  arquebus,  which  has  belonged  to  the  club 
since  1646.  We  are  able,  through  the  kindness  of  Mr. 
Angst  and  of  Dr.  W.  H.  Doer,  to  give  a  photograph  of  this 
cup  (Plate  LIII),  and  of  an  even  more  curious  old  Swiss 
picture  on  stained  glass  showing  a  man  shooting  at  a  target 
(Plate  LIY).  The  marker  has  a  disc  with  which  to  signal  the 
shot,  and  wears,  as  Swiss  markers  do  to  this  day,  a  red  coat. 
He  has  a  substantial  shelter  to  protect  him,  and  apparently 
comes  out  from  it  to  mark  the  shots.  The  date  of  this  picture 
is  about  1525,  so  that  it  marks  a  time  earlier  than  that  at 
which  the  rifle  was  in  vogue,  and  almost  certainly  represents 
shooting  with  the  smooth-bore  arquebus.  Mr.  Schmidt,  in 
his  excellent  volume  on  Small  Arms,  quotes  the  following 
edict  as  having  been  issued  by  the  Swiss  Government  at 
Berne  in  the  year  1568 ;  it  would  seem  to  mark  clearly  the 
time  at  which  rifled  barrels  began  to  be  appreciated  and  come 
into  use : 

'  For  the  last  few  years  the  art  of  cutting  grooves  in  the 
chamber  of  the  guns  has  been  introduced  with  the  object  of 
increasing  the  accuracy  of  fire ;  the  disadvantage  resulting 
therefrom  to  the   common    marksmen    has    sown    discord 


PLATE  LIII 


DBINKIMO  CUP.      BIFLEMAN   OF  THE   ZURICH  SHOOTING  CLUB,   lt4t 


EARLY    RIFLE    CLUBS  619 

amongst  them.  In  ordinary  shooting  matches  marksmen 
are  therefore  forbidden  mider  a  penalty  of  102.  to  provide 
themselves  with  rifled  arms.  Everyone  is  nevertheless 
permitted  to  rifle  his  military  weapon  and  to  compete  with 
marksmen  armed  with  similar  weapons  for  special  prizes.' 

The  Swiss  Rifle  Clubs  have  now  become  a  part  of  the 
military  organisation  of  the  country,  and  their  machinery  is 
used  for  the  compulsory  practice  of  those  liable  to  be  called 
up  for  active  service. 

Although  Rifle  Clubs  are,  as  has  been  shown,  an  institu- 
tion on  the  Continent  as  old  as  the  rifle  itself,  we  do  not  hear 
anything  of  competitive  rifle  shooting  or  the  formation  of 
clubs  in  this  country  until  about  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  in 
fact  in  this  country  the  clubs  date  only  from  the  time  when 
the  rifle  became  a  recognised  military  arm.  They  were 
naturally  formed  in  connection  with  the  Volunteer  movement  of 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  Victoria  Rifles  (now 
incorporated  with  the  St.  George's  Rifles,  the  1st  Middlesex) 
have  the  distinction  of  having  maintained  their  existence 
as  a  rifle  club  right  through  the  interval  between  the  first 
Volunteer  movement,  in  which  they  existed  as  the  Duke 
of  Cumberland's  Sharpshooters,  and  the  second  Volunteer 
movement  of  1859-60.  From  1815  to  1850  the  number  of 
rifle  clubs  existing  was  very  small,  and  rifle-shooting  was 
pursued  rather  as  a  pastime  than  as  a  military  exercise.  We 
hear  of  occasional  matches,  but  they  were  at  short  distances, 
as  when  Lord  Vernon  and  Lord  Kennedy  shot  a  match  at 
100  yards  for  20Z.  a  side  at  the  Red  House,  as  related  by 
Captain  Ross.  Lord  Vernon  was  firing  practice  shots  before 
Lord  Kennedy's  arrival.  He  was  shooting  badly,  being 
evidently  nervous,  and  Captain  Ross  offered  to  shoot  five  shots 
with  a  pistol  at  100  yards  against  his  rifle,  and  beat  him. 
Lord  Vernon  was  familiar  with  Swiss  rifle  shooting  for  more 
than  ten  years  before  the  foundation  of  the  National  Rifle 
Association,  and  his  experience  was  valuable  to  it.  He  had 
tried  many  modifications  of  the  Swiss  sights,  and  had  devised 
the  aperture  foresight  by  1850. 

From  about  that  time  there  wfts  a  movement  to  revive 
rifle  clubs  as  a  defence  against  invasion,  but  with  the  new 


520  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

Volunteer  movement  there  arose  great  questioning  as  to  the 
desirability  of  establishing  more  rifle  clubs,  and  as  to  how 
far  they  should  supplement  or  exist  in  substitution  for 
Volunteer  corps.  This  is  well  brought  out  by  the  veteran 
special  correspondent  of  the  *  Times/  Sir  W.  H.  Russell,  in  a 
little  book,  published  in  1859,  dealing  with  all  the  phases  of 
voluntary  national  defence  at  that  time.  It  would  seem  that 
in  1859  the  general  opinion  was  that  on  the  whole  more 
organisation  and  discipline  was  advisable  than  is  consistent 
with  mere  club  organisation.  Sir  William  Russell,  comment- 
ing on  the  tendency  at  the  moment  at  which  he  was  writing 
to  favour  clubs  or  associations  of  riflemen,  instead  of  corps 
or  companies,  says :  '  This  tendency  is  unfavourable  to  real 
efficiency,  and  to  utility  in  case  of  need.  I  say  it  without 
offence,  but  in  all  truthfulness,  that  I  would  not  place  much 
reliance  on  rifle  ''  clubs  "  in  event  of  an  invasion,  and  that  I 
fear  they  would  be  nearly  useless  for  military  purposes." 
*What  I  contend  for,'  he  says,  *is  the  "Rifle  Company" 
regularly  officered  and  regularly  drilled,  and  well  practised, 
which  in  time  can  act  in  concert  with  its  fellows  in  a  battle, 
and  which  may  be  regarded  as  a  military  body.'  It  is  quite 
true  that  men  who  are  skilful  shots  can  individually  do  a 
certain  amount  of  good  work,  but  when  the  problem  is  to 
oppose  organised  masses  of  well-armed  and  well-drilled  troops, 
organisation  and  cohesion,  as  well  as  the  habit  of  co-operation 
in  manoeuvring  and  firing,  are  indispensable.  These  are  what 
the  mob  of  armed  men,  so  roughly  handled  by  military 
critics  in  the  Press  in  these  days,  lack,  and  always  must  lack. 
Not  only  must  a  body  of  men  for  military  purposes  be  under 
organisation  sufficient  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  commissariat 
and  ammunition  supply,  but  it  must  have  a  feeling  of  unity 
for  a  common  purpose,  of  unhesitating  subordination  to  ite 
leaders,  and  of  interdependence  among  individuals  upon 
mutual  support,  which  absolutely  demand  training  of  a 
special  kind.  If  it  be  thought,  however,  that  on  this  account 
there  is  no  use  in  rifle  clubs,  it  must  be  pointed  out  that 
a  rifle  club  may  be  a  .  very  useful  auxiliary  to  national 
defence,  even  if  it  is  altogether  unsuited  as  an  organisation 
for  military  purposes.     The  one  great  objection  to  clubs  by 


o 

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^H-  • 


LIMITATIONS    OF    VOLUNTEERING  523 

the  less  enlightened  of  their  military  critics  may  be  smnmed 
up  as  follows :  What  is  the  good  of  independent  people  who 
shoot  ?  If  a  young  fellow  wants  to  shoot,  why  should  not  he 
join  the  Volunteers,  or  the  Yeomanry,  and  drill  as  well? 
This  is  a  natural  view  possibly  for  the  townsman  to  take,  but 
it  argues  a  scanty  knowledge  of  the  real  conditions  under 
which  the  bulk  of  our  Volunteer  force  exists.  In  one  of  the 
counties  which  abut  upon  Middlesex  there  are  about  225 
parishes.  There  is  a  battalion  of  Volunteers  belonging  to 
the  county,  and  having  companies  in  various  parts  of  it,  but 
it  would  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  more  than  fifty  of  the 
parishes  in  that  county  can,  owing  mainly  to  ge6graphical 
hindrances,  contribute  men  to  the  Volunteer  corps.  The 
trouble  and  expense  of  bringing  little  parties  of  two  or  three 
men  a  long  distance  for  instruction,  and  the  difficulty  to  the 
men  of  finding  the  additional  time  required  to  come  together 
at  a  centre,  are  almost  insurmountable.  It  is  equally  out  of 
the  question  to  provide  instructors  numerous  and  ubiquitous 
enough  to  go  to  many  small  out-stations  to  teach  the 
two  or  three  whom  it  may  be  possible  to  gather  together 
here  and  there.  Both  in  towns  and  in  the  country  the 
majority  of  Volunteers  are  young  men  in  the  employment  of 
others,  whose  time  is  not  their  own,  and  who,  in  any  case,  get 
no  special  facilities  or  leave  from  work  to  attend  drill.  There 
are  many  the  hours  and  times  of  whose  occupations  make  it 
impossible  for  them  to  imdertake  regular  drill,  still  less  the 
training  in  camp  which  has  of  late  been  more  and  more 
recognised  to  be  the  most  practical  part  of  Volunteer  instruc- 
tion. A  very  large  number  of  the  best  and  keenest  Volunteers 
give  up  the  whole  of  their  scanty  annual  holiday  to  camp ; 
for  others,  who  must  take  their  holiday  when  they  can  get  it, 
attendance  at  camp  is  out  of  the  question.  It  is  therefore 
vain  to  speak  as  if  every  able-bodied  young  man  who  chose 
was  so  circumstanced  that  he  could  belong  to  the  auxiliary 
forces.  This  being  so.  what  right  has  any  organised  military 
body  to  say  that  so  far  as  its  influence  extends  no  one  who  is 
not  in  its  own  ranks  shall  fire  a  shot  ?  Such  a  '  dog  in  the 
manger'  policy  is  unreasonable,  and  can  only  be  harmful. 
Fortunately  this  is  by  no  means  the  general  attitude  of  the 


524  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

Volunteer  force.  A  large  proportion  of  existing  rifle  clubs 
use  Volunteer  or  military  ranges  by  permission,  and  it.  is  well 
that  it  is  so.  How  else  should  the  retired  Volunteer,  who 
has  served  his  time,  and  who,  it  may  be,  is  an  instructor  of 
younger  shots,  how  else  should  the  old  soldier  or  reservist, 
have  the  opportunity  of  handling  a  rifle  ?  But  it  is  not  only 
the  veterans  who  are  attracted.  The  youngster  who  learns  to 
shoot  with  effect  is  naturally  ambitious  to  have  more  oppor- 
tunities to  shoot,  and  when  he  can  handle  a  Service  rifle  is 
almost  sure,  if  he  can  manage  it,  to  join  a  Volunteer  corps.  If 
he  should  find  himself  out  of  work,  his  thoughts  will 
naturally  gravitate  towards  the  Army.  There  are  hundreds 
of  keen  Volunteers  at  the  present  time  who  would  never  have 
entered  the  ranks  but  that  they  had  become  interested  in 
shooting.     The  slovenly  pot-hunter  is  now  almost  extinct. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  we  may  never  again  have  occasion  to 
ask  the  untrained  patriotism  of  Great  Britain  to  volunteer  to 
go  across  the  ocean  to  take  part  in  active  operations  in  Africa 
or  anywhere  else.  But  there  can  be  no  question  that  had 
opportunities  for  rifle  practice  been  very  much  commoner 
than  they  are,  the  quality  as  soldiers  of  the  large  numbers  of 
Yeomanry  who  have  been  raised,  equipped,  and  hurried  out 
to  South  Africa,  would  have  been  much  higher  than  it 
actually  was.  More  of  them  would  have  felt  that  in  one 
department  at  least  of  their  training  they  were  weU 
grounded.  Many  of  those  who  did  go  out,  having  scraped 
through  a  test  of  shooting  which  hardly  demanded  any 
previous  experience  other  than  the  use  of  a  shot  gun  will  give, 
lacked  almost  or  quite  all  further  opportunity  for  instruction 
owing  to  the  absence  of  sufficient  range  accommodation  close 
at  hand  at  the  depots  to  which  they  were  sent  before  sailing. 

Both  the  late  and  the  present  Commanders-in-Chief, 
Lord  Wolseley  and  Lord  Roberts,  have  expressed  their 
strong  approval  of  the  movement  to  popularise  rifle  shooting. 
It  would  be  impossible  under  our  peculiar  conditions  in 
this  country  of  a  voluntary  army,  and  immensa  respect  for 
the  rights  of  private  property,  that  any  movement  familiarising 
the  public  with  rifle  shooting  in  its  double  aspect  of  a  pastime 
and  an   important  factor  in  national  defence  and  military 


THE    GUN    LICENCE  625 

training  should  not  be  of  material  service  to  the  Army.  It 
is  interesting  then  to  know  that  as  a  result  of  the  rifle  club 
movement,  which  dates  from  the  *  Black  December '  of  1899, 
nearly  200  rifle  clubs  have  been  established  and  affiliated  to 
the  National  Bifle  Association,  and  several  ranges  of  from 
600  to  1,000  yards,  on  which  the  Service  rifle  can  be 
used,  have  been  established  by  and  for  rifle  clubs.  Those 
who  have  experience  of  the  difficulty  of  setting  up  ranges 
for  military  practice  will  understand  the  great  value  of 
voluntary  interest  and  assistance  in  this  matter.  When 
this  country  has  all  the  troops  that  it  could  possibly 
require,  both  for  national  defence  and  for  operations  abroad  ; 
when  it  has  provided  ample  range  accommodation  at  all  its 
military  centres,  small  as  well  as  great ;  and  has  given  full 
opportunities  for  shooting,  not  only  to  those  who  are  under 
arms,  but  to  the  men  of  the  Reserve  or  the  Militia,  who  are 
liable  to  be  called  up  for  service  at  any  moment,  then  it  will 
be  time  enough  to  say  that  voluntary  associations  of  marks- 
men are  things  of  no  public  utility  whatever. 

The  chief  obstacle  perhaps  at  the  present  moment  to  the 
formation  and  prosperity  of  rifle  clubs  is  the  existence  of  the 
gun  licence.  It  is  indisputable  that  in  the  interests  of  public 
peace  and  safety,  as  well  as  for  the  prevention  of  poaching, 
the  gun  licence  has  been  necessary,  but  it  dates  from  a 
time  when  the  only  use  of  fire-arms  was  for  shooting  game 
or  for  arming  troops  or  mobs.  Shooting  with  the  musket, 
as  a  pastime,  can  have  given  no  great  amount  of  satisfaction. 
There  is  need  to  maintain  the  old  restrictions  as  regards  in- 
discriminate shooting  of  game  and  the  handling  of  fire-arms 
by  incompetent  or  disloyal  people.  But  why  the  man  who 
for  his  own  amusement  wishes  to  make  himself  proficient  in 
the  use  of  our  national  military  weapon  should  be  taxed  for 
so  doing,  any  more  than  the  cricketer  or  the  golf  player  is 
taxed  on  the  instruments  he  uses  merely  for  his  amuse- 
ment, it  would  be  difficult  to  say.  For  purposes  of  sport 
the  gun  licence  and  the  game  licence  are  readily  paid,  and 
afford  to  those  who  pursue  their  sport  legitimately  some  degree 
of  protection  for  it.  No  such  motive  holds  in  the  case  of 
military  or  target  rifles.   Many  would  like  to  see  the  use  of  the 


526  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

Service  rifle,  and,  indeed,  of  all  rifles,  for  target  porpoBes  only, 
absolutely  unfettered  by  a  payment  for  licence.  The  pro- 
viso might  be  added  that  a  police  permit  should  be  obtained 
as  a  certificate  of  character,  and  that  on  any  abuse  of  the 
privilege  being  proved,  a  heavy  penalty  should  be  imposed, 
coupled  with  a  prohibition  to  be  allowed  to  take  out 
a  licence  at  all  for  a  term  of  years.  Volunteers  at  the 
present  time  are  not  liable  for  a  gun  licence  in  respect  of 
the  shooting  in  connection  with  their  military  training,  nor 
is  any  attempt  made  to  enforce  on  them  the  payment  of  the 
licence  even  where  they  practise  on  the  range  in  plain 
clothes,  and  for  their  own  amusement,  so  far  as  the  writer  is 
aware.  Indeed,  any  interference  in  this  particular  would  be 
quite  unjustifiable. 

The  writer  has  grave  doubts  whether  the  shooting  galleries 
which  are  to  be  found  in  connection  with  fairs  and  merry-go- 
rounds  all  over  the  country  in  summer-time,  are  not  unduly 
privileged  in  the  matter  of  the  gun-licence.  He  has  never 
heard  of  the  casual  loafer  who  pays  a  penny  a  shot  having 
been  *  run  in  '  by  the  Excise  for  shooting  without  a  licence, 
and  if  this  were  attempted  the  result  would  very  quickly  be 
the  extinction  of  the  amusement.  There  appears  to  be  no 
sufficient  ground  for  allowing  to  such  concerns  a  privilege 
which  is  denied  to  a  more  serious,  systematic,  and  useful 
form  of  the  same  sport,  carried  on  not  for  gain,  but  for 
amusement  and  utility. 

It  is  the  County  Councils  that  now  reap  the  advantage  of 
the  licences  taken  out  within  their  districts.  We  may  well 
believe  that  if  they  were  allowed  an  option  in  the  matter,  as 
they  might  well  be,  some  of  them,  at  least,  would  consent  to 
reniove  the  tax  upon  target-shooting.  There  seems  every 
reason  to  think  that  the  loss  to  their  revenues  would  be 
almost  nominal.  In  any  county  there  can  be  few,  if 
any,  who  take  out  the  gun  licence  merely  for  the  purpose 
of  target  -  shooting,  whereas  certainly  an  appreciable 
number  who  might  otherwise  practise  are  now  prevented 
from  doing  so  by  the  cost  of  the  licence,  which  bears 
especially  hardly  upon  the  wage-earning  classes.  It  is  well 
that  steps  have  already  been  taken  to  reduce  the  pressure  of 


COST    OF    AMMUNITION  527 

the  gun-licence  upon  the  clubs.  In  1900  it  was  decided  by 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  that  the  tax  should  not  be 
enforced  upon  rifles  bona  fide  the  property  of  a  club  affiliated 
to  the  National  Bifle  Association  On  terms  sanctioned  by  the 
War  Office,  the  rifles  to  be  used  only  on  the  range  of  the 
club.  But  this  concession  hardly  seems  enough.  It  would 
appear  that  members  may  not  convey  these  rifles  to  another 
range,  as  they  must  in  shooting  an  out-match  with  another 
club,  nor  keep  them  at  their  own  houses,  without  becoming 
liable  for  the  licence.  This  can  scarcely  be  considered  a 
satisfactory  state  of  things.  A  minor  difficulty  arises  from 
the  date  at  which  gun-licences  have  to  be  renewed.  The 
months  between  March  and  November  practically  comprise 
the  rifle-shooting  season,  and  gun-licences  expire  on  July  31, 
so  that  for  a  single  season's  shooting  two  licences  have 
to  be  taken  out.  This  goes  some  way  towards  inflicting  a 
double  tax  upon  the  target-shooter.  The  remedy  is  not 
easy  to  see,  as  the  best  date  for  the  division  of  the  year 
for  sporting  purposes  is  August  1,  and  indeed,  it  is  not  many 
years  since  Mr.  Childers  altered  the  date  from  January  1  on 
this  account. 

A  further  difficulty  which  affects  not  the  clubs  only,  but 
the  whole  of  His  Majesty's  forces,  is  that  of  the  heavy  cost  of 
the  ammunition  for  the  Service  rifle.  It  is  one  of  the  few 
drawbacks  of  the  small-calibre  rifle  that,  with  smokeless 
powder  and  a  compound  bullet^  as  well  as  a  solid-drawn  brass 
case,  its  ammunition  is  more  costly  to  manufacture  than  that 
of  former  Service  rifles.  4Z.  to  51.  per  thousand,  though  it 
may  represent  the  actual  cost  of  manufacture,  is  a  heavy 
price  to  pay  for  the  amusement  of  rifle  practice. 

Bifle  associations  and  clubs  may  be  divided  into  several 
classes.  There  are  the  large  associations,  such  as  exist  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  in  most  of  the  Colonies.  There 
are  the  Army  Bifle  Association  and  the  Militia  Bifle  Associa- 
tion, which  in  their  several  spheres  do  excellent  work.  Then 
there  are  the  County  Associations,  of  which  a  list  may  be 
found  in  the  annual  report  of  the  National  Bifle  Association, 
most  of  which  have  existed  for  many  years,  and  which 
are   for  the    most    part    associations    mainly   for   the   en- 


528  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

couragement  of  Volnnteer  shooting.  Such  associations  have 
asually,  like  the  National  Bifle  Association,  only  a  very  small 
percentage  of  purely  civilian  members.  There  are  such  clubs 
as  the  English  Twenty  Club,  which  exists  to  keep  touch  with 
the  best  shooting  Volunteers  eligible  to  shoot  in  the  Inter- 
national short-range  match,  and  whose  ramifications  extend 
all  over  the  country,  and  the  very  similar  Scottish  Twenty 
Club.  There  is  also  the  English  Eight  Club,  which  performs 
a  similar  function  for  the  Elcho  Shield  match.  Scotland  and 
Ireland  have  corresponding  organisations.  Of  local  rifle 
clubs,  other  than  the  County  Associations,  a  few  are  large  and 
important  ones,  of  which  the  North  London  Bifle  Club  is  the 
best  known  within  the  metropolis.  These  again,  have  very 
few  members  who  are  not,  or  have  not  been.  Volunteers,  or 
connected  with  one  of  the  other  Services.  Nor  must  we 
omit  to  mention  the  Cambridge  University  Long  Bange  Club, 
a  rather  small  body  which  cultivates  the  extreme  range  of 
1,100  yards,  and  has  for  many  years  held  an  annual  two  days' 
meeting,  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  events  of  the  year  to  those 
privileged  to  attend  it.  There  are  also  many  smaller  rifle  clubs 
and  associations,  mostly  of  recent  origin,  and  usually  having 
some  town,  large  or  small,  for  a  centre.  A  number  of  these  are 
able  by  arrangement  to  use  the  Volunteer  ranges  at  times 
when  accommodation  for  them  can  be  spared,  and  in  such 
cases  some  of  their  members  are  usually  Volunteers.  A 
certain  number  of  purely  civilian  clubs  exist,  and  some  of 
these  have  full-sized  ranges  of  their  own,  and  use  the  Service 
rifle.  Others,  which  may  be  called  miniature  rifle  clubs, 
have  shorter  ranges,  sometimes  under  cover,  and  the  shooting 
is  done  either  with  small  rifles,  firing  quite  a  light  charge,  or 
the  Service  rifle,  fitted  with  the  Morris  tube  or  with  some 
other  device  for  firing  miniature  ammunition  through  the 
barrel.  There  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  such  clubs  as 
these  should  not  be  extensively  established,  since  the  expense 
of  making  a  safe  range  for  these  small  weapons  is  very  little, 
and,  what  is  of  still  more  consequence,  the  ammunition  is 
very  cheap.  There  have  been  some  satisfactory  instances 
quoted  of  late,  in  which  youths,  whose  only  experience  of 
rifles  was  practising  at  a  miniature  range,  have  done  very 


ORGANISATION    OF    CLUBS  629 

well  when  firing  with  the  Service  rifle  at  longer  distances,  in 
qualifying  to  go  to  South  Africa  with  the  Imperial  Yeomanry, 
or  on  some  such  occasion. 

The  existence  of  a  rifle  club  in  a  small  place  depends 
largely  upon  two  factors.  In  the  first  place  there  must  be 
someone  to  lead  the  movement  who  is  active  and  willing,  and 
will  give  time  and  trouble  to  organise  it.  It  is  of  great 
advantage,  too,  if  some  owner  or  occupier  of  land  close  by  is 
interested  in  the  matter,  and  willing  to  help  the  club  by 
providing  a  site  on  which  they  can  practise.  Where  these 
two  essentials  are  fulfilled  there  is  usually  little  difficulty 
in  setting  up  a  club  of  one  kind  or  another.  Some  sort  of 
meeting  of  those  interested  is  usually  held  to  start  the 
proceedings ;  rules  are  drawn  up,  and  a  subscription  fixed  at 
as  low  a  figure  as  practicable.  A  committee  is  appointed, 
and,  almost  more  important  still,  a  secretary,  upon  whose 
individual  exertions,  good  sense,  and  tact  the  prosperity  of  the 
elub  will  mainly  depend.  Friends  in  the  locality  are  usually 
asked  to  help  start  the  club  by  subscriptions,  and  if  the 
management  is  business-like,  and  if  the  secretary  or  some 
other  competent  person  attends  when  the  range  is  open,  to 
superintend  and  give  any  necessary  instruction,  the  club  soon 
becomes  a  going  concern.  Lieut.-Colonel  Crosse,  the  courteous 
and  indefatigable  secretary  of  the  National  Bifle  Association, 
Bisley  Camp,  Brookwood,  will  always  be  pleased  to  give  infor- 
mation or  advice  to  those  who  think  of  starting  rifie  clubs. 

We  give  at  the  end  of  the  chapter  the  conditions  for 
affiliation  of  rifie  clubs  to  the  National  Bifie  Association  as 
approved  in  1900  by  the  Secretary  of  State  for  War,  and  also 
a  list  of  the  clubs  registered  (pp.  536,  539). 

We  have  already  spoken  of  Swiss  and  Continental  ranges, 
and  of  the  equipment  and  club-houses,  &c.,  with  which  they 
^re  so  often  fitted.  The  fact  is  that  on  the  Continent  shooting 
has  been  made  almost  an  indoor  sport,  an  occupation  available 
just  as  much  in  wet  as  in  dry  weather  ;  while  it  admits  to 
some  extent  an  opportunity  for  a  picnic  on  occasions  of 
matches,  or  of  any  shooting  of  special  interest.  One  great 
advantage  that  Continental  clubs  enjoy  is,  as  has  already  been 
.said,  that  they  have  the  custom  of  shooting  on  Sundays.     On 

M  M 


630  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

the  other  hand,  they  have  no  free  Saturday  afternoon.  If  rifle 
gatherings  were  tolerated  after  the  hours  of  morning  service 
in  this  country,  as  they  are  in  the  Protestant  as  well  as  the 
Catholic  cantons  of  Switzerland,  the  opportunities  which 
'  busy  men  have  for  shooting  would  be  multiplied  manyfold. 
In  a  country  like  Switzerland  shooting,  although  a  much 
valued  sport,  is  that  and  something  more.  It  is  recog- 
nised to  be  a  national  necessity  for  the  security  of  the 
country  that  it  should  be  in  every  way  encouraged ;  and 
since  the  population  generally  cannot  shoot  except  on  Sunday, 
and  national  security  demands  that  they  should  shoot, 
Sunday  afternoons  are  devoted  to  the  purpose.  It  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  such  a  change  would  ever  be  sanctioned 
by  public  opinion  in  this  country,  unless  shooting  became 
recognised,  under  the  stress,  possibly,  of  some  special  national 
peril,  as  a  work  of  real  and  standing  necessity.  In  some 
parts  of  Great  Britain  (but  certainly  not  in  the  north  of  it) 
a  good  many  appear  'to  hold  the  opinion  that  it  would  be 
desirable  that  shooting  on  Sunday  should  be  recognised  by 
the  chief  associations,  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  this  proposal 
has  so  far  met  with  any  general  support.  Sunday  shooting 
was  the  rule  in  this  country  before  the  Beformation,  and  seems 
to  have  been  to  some  extent  revived  100  years  ago,  for  in  1808 
the  author  of  *  Scloppetaria '  expressed  himself  as  follows : 
*  As  for  the  Sunday  practice  and  drill,  which  is  objectionable 
in  the  eyes  of  some  moralists,  it  may  be  again  asked,  whether 
it  be  not  better  that  the  bulk  of  the  people  should  thus  meet 
in  a  lively  and  healthful  exercise  to  qualify  themselves  for 
becoming  patriots  and  champions  of  liberty,  than  to  assemble 
in  public  houses,  taverns,  and  tea-gardens,  exhausting  the 
produce  of  their  labours  in  drunkenness  and  debauchery  ?  In 
those  times,  when  it  was  enacted  by  law,  that  the  Sunday 
afternoon  should  be  appropriated  to  the  practice  of  archery, 
do  we  find  that  the  labouring  orders  were  less  virtuous  or  less 
religious  than  in  the  present  day  ? ' 

Unfortunately,  the  difficulty  of  establishing  ranges  con- 
stantly increases  as  population  spreads,  and  on  the  Continent, 
as  in  this  country,  people  have  further  to  go  in  order  to 
enjoy  the  sport  of  shooting  with  rifles  of  any  power.   Bicycles 


SUPERINTENDENCE  DURING  CLUB  SHOOTING     531 

and  other  means  of  locomotion  now  make  distance  of  less 
importance  than  formerly  ;  but  for  club  shooting,  as  for  other 
things,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  time  of  the  com- 
petitors is  one  of  the  most  important  considerations.  The 
man  who  can  find  a  spare  hour  to  go  down  and  shoot  will 
almost  certainly  not  be  able  to  find  the  two  or  three  hours 
which  a  journey  by  a  particular  train  each  way,  probably 
with  a  walk  at  the  end  of  it,  will  demand.  It  is  no  remedy 
to  help  with  cheap  tickets,  or  a  grant  of  travelling  expenses, 
where  the  time  involved  is  such  as  to  interfere  with  the  man's 
ordinary  occupation. 

There  are  certain  points  which  must  equally  engage  the 
attention  of  the  organisers  of  a  rifie  club,  whether  the  shooting 
be  with  the  full-sized  rifle  or  on  a  miniature  scale.  One  is  to 
provide  proper  superintendence  at  all  times  while  the  shooting 
is  going  on.  There  should  always  be  somebody  on  the  spot 
responsible  for  the  methodical  carrying  out  of  the  shooting ; 
to  give  the  order  to  commence  and  to  ^«ase  fire ;  to  insist 
upoil  a  strict  observance  of  all  precautions  against  accident ; 
to  serve  out  the  ammunition ;  to  see  that  carelessness  or 
ignorance  does  not  lead  to  the  dangerous  handling  of  the 
rifles.^  These  functions  are  performed  in  the  Swiss  clubs  by 
the  schiltzenmeister,  a  voluntary  official  who  serves  for  a  year 
or  two,  and  is  then  replaced  by  another.  His  duties  are  not 
combined  with  those  of  the  secretaryship  of  the  club,  which 
are  of  a  different  order.  In  this  country  it  may  be  convenient 
to  engage  the  services  of  a  retired  soldier,  in  his  spare  time, 
for  the  purpose.  If  so,  he  should  be  a  man  really  interested 
in  the  work  which  he  has  to  do.  The  same  individual  has 
another  function,  to  give  instruction,  when  required,  to  the 
beginner  or  young  shot,  and  to  teach  not  only  the  principles 
of  aiming  and  firing,  but  the  proper  and  safe  manipulation 
of  the  weapon.  He  has,  further,  to  superintend  the  registra- 
tion of  the  scores,  and  to  check,  so  far  as  he  can,  the  correct- 

*  At  many  rifle  meetings  of  Continental  clubs«  those  waiting  to  shoot 
secure  their  turn  by  placing  their  rifles  in  a  rack  behind  the  firing  point  of  the 
target  at  which  they  wish  to  fire.  They  thus  '  squad '  themselves,  making  a 
queue  of  rifles  instead  of  one  of  men.  By  an  admirable  rule,  all  rifles  not  in 
use  must  have  the  breech  left  open. 

M  M  2 


632  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

neBS  of  the  marking.  It  is  one  of  the  great  advantages  of 
miniature  ranges  that  a  marker  at  the  butts  is  not  necessary, 
and  that  the  score  is  recorded  on  the  actual  cardboard  target 
used  by  each  competitor,  which  can  be  examined  at  leisure 
if  there  is  a  doubtful  shot,  and  which  the  fortunate  man  who 
makes  a  good  score  can  take  home  and  keep  as  a  memento 
of  his  prowess.  The  shooting  superintendent  must  further 
see  that  the  targets  supplied,  or  painted  upon  the  iron 
plate,  have  their  dimensions  in  accordance  with  those  laid 
down,  and  that  the  shooting  is  done  from  the  proper  distance 
by  each  competitor,  and  the  rules  in  every  respect  observed. 

The  attention  of  the  club  committee  will  have,  at  a  very 
early  stage,  to  be  directed  to  drawing  up  some  simple  rules 
for  the  management  of  the  range  and  the  order  of  shooting. 
They  must  vary  very  much  according  to  the  different  circum- 
stances of  each  range  and  club.  It  is  convenient  to  have 
certain  times  in  the  week,  usually  Saturday  afternoons  and 
evenings,  and  when  the  days  are  long,  one  or  two  other 
afternoons,  when  the  range  is  open  for  a  competition  or  for 
ordinary  individual  practice.  There  is  no  objection  to  the 
use  of  the  range  at  any  other  time  by  individual  members,  on 
their  paying  the  necessary  expenses.  If  the  club  owns  rifles, 
as  many  clubs  do,  it  is  necessary  to  have  some  place  where 
they  can  be  safely  kept,  and  where  they  can  be  cleaned  and 
looked  after.  If  they  exceed  in  number  more  than  a  very  few, 
it  becomes  imperative  to  have  a  proper  armoury,  fitted  with  a 
bench  for  cleaning,  and  for  doing  any  small  adjustments  or 
repairs.  If  either  the  caretaker  of  the  range,  or  the  super- 
intendent of  the  shooting,  live  close  by,  he  may  be  able  to 
find  the  necessary  accommodation  in  his  house.  In  any 
event,  the  rifles  will  want  constant  attention.  It  is  not  wise 
to  keep  rifles  in  a  building  of  a  temporary  kind,  erected  for 
that  purpose  on  the  range,  and  apart  from  other  dwellings. 
Not  only  is  there  some  risk  of  robbery,  but  if  the  roof 
happen  to  leak,  or  rain  or  snow  to  drive  in  through  crannies, 
irreparable  damage  may  be  done  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours. 
If  a  separate  armoury  is  used,  it  should  be  a  substantial 
building  difficult  to  break  into,  really  weather-proof,  with 
good  ventilation,  and  with  a  stove  or  some  other  means  of 


CLUB    COMPETITIONS  533 

warming  it.     It  should  be  visited  every  day,  and  the  rifles 
constantly  looked  over. 

The  amount  of  the  entrance  fee  and  subscription  to  be 
paid  by  the  members  is  a  matter  to  be  determined  entirely 
by  the  circumstances  of  the  particular  club.  It  is  necessary, 
where  all  the  members  are  not  in  a  position  to  bear  the  whole 
cost  of  the  cartridges  for  their  own  use,  to  have  a  fund  through 
which  ammunition  can  be  supplied  at  less  than,  cost  price. 
Much  interest  is  roused  by  an  occasional  competition  for 
prizes.  It  is  well  to  cultivate  the  feeling  that  the  honour  and 
satisfaction  of  making  a  good  score  are  in  themselves  a  reward. 
Any  idea  that  it  is  not  worth  while  for  a  man  to  do  his  best 
unless  there  is  a  substantial  money  prize  to  be  won  must  be 
discouraged  as  *  bad  form.'  When  money  prizes  are  arranged, 
they  may  well  be  such  as  will  to  some  extent  meet  the 
expenses  to  which  the  shooter  is  put  in  his  practice. 
Handicap  competitions  are  invaluable  in  bringing  on  the 
younger  shots  and  encouraging  the  less  skilful.  Many  clubs 
have  very  interesting  competitions  for  a  challenge  cup  three 
or  four  times  in  the  season,  or  perhaps  every  month,  and 
when  this  is  done,  a  system  is  adopted  by  which,  if  there 
is  not  a  general  handicap,  at  all  events  the  previous  winners 
are  penalised.  The  conditions  for  such  a  competition  must 
vary  according  to  the  nature  of  the  range,  &c.  It  is  well 
not  to  let  the  number  of  shots  be  too  great,  since  this  is 
all  in  favour  of  the  old  hand,  and  it  is  the  young  shot  who 
most  needs  encouragement.  Tournaments  in  which  pairs  of 
competitors  meet  and  shoot  against  each  other  shoulder  to 
shoulder  give  rise  to  much  interest.  Special  prizes  for  the 
aggregate  total  made  in  a  given  number  of  the  minor  com- 
petitions may  constitute  a  championship  test.  Medals  or 
badges  of  a  simple  kind  to  mark  the  chief  event  of  the  year 
are  attractive  to  many.  In  some  clubs  a  little  silver  spoon 
of  a  special  pattern,  and  costing  a  very  few  shillings,  is  the 
prize  in  a  weekly  or  monthly  competition.  These  matters 
depend  largely  upon  taste,  and  still  more  largely  upon 
finance.  But  the  secretary  should  not  fail  to  keep  a  special 
book  in  which  to  record  the  result  of  the  shooting  in  all 
competitions  of  every  kind.    More  interesting  than  individual 


634  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

competitions  are  the  team  matches,  which  can  be  arranged 
within  the  club  itself  or  with  neighbouring  clubs.  These 
afford  an  opportunity  not  only  for  the  organising  power  of  the 
captain  (for  a  good  captain  is  the  first  and  foremost  element 
in  success  in  team  shooting),  but  for  mutual  help  on  the  part 
of  the  members,  and  are  valuable  as  giving  experience 
in  shooting  under  circumstances  and  among  surroundings 
different  from  those  of  the  home  range.  The  young  shot 
who  has  a  difficulty  in  coming  to  the  top  in  individual 
competitions,  is  much  encouraged  if  he  finds  himself  selected 
as  a  useful  team  shot,  and  fairly  holding  his  own  among 
others. 

There  is  much  enjoyment  to  be  had  out  of  shooting  even 
on  quite  a  small  scale,  and  it  is  perhaps  in  the  stage  of 
emergence  from  boyhood  that  shooting  is  more  attractive 
than  at  any  other  time.  The  one  thing  important  is  that  the 
weapon  should  answer  to  the  helm,  and  respond  to  the  care 
and  skill  with  which  it  is  directed.  The  common  fault  of 
shooting  galleries  is  that  even  if  the  rifles  are  not  badly 
sighted,  they  are  allowed  to  get  foul,  and  do  not  by  any  means 
do  justice  to  the  aim.  It  is  very  disheartening  work  to  try 
to  make  fine  shooting  with  •them,  though,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  lucky  fluke  which  comes  at  rare  intervals  is  all  the 
more  satisfactory.  The  club  rifles,  then,  should  not  only  be 
kept  in  scrupulously  good  order,  but  should,  if  there  is  much 
shooting,  be  wiped  out  at  intervals  during  the  firing.  As  in 
all  else,  it  is  business-like  management  and  attention  to  detail 
that  will  make  the  difference  between  success  and  failure  in 
club  management.  To  enlist  the  largest  possible  amount  of 
support  and  sympathy ;  to  meet  the  convenience,  within 
reasonable  limits,  of  every  one  ;  to  apply  rules  for  competitions 
with  perfect  fairness,  yet  always  tactfully;  to  see  that  no 
detail  of  proper  management  is  neglected ;  these  are  the 
things  to  make  the  difference  between  success  and  failure. 
Most  of  all,  there  should  be  that  healthy  rivalry,  which 
will  tolerate  no  unfairness,  no  taking  of  a  mean  advantage, 
and  which  is  a  better  bond  of  union  among  members 
than  anything  else  which  can  be  devised.  It  is  one  of 
the  pleasantest  recollections  of  an  old  shot  to  call  to  mind 


MAORI    MANNERS  635 

days  when  he  as  a  youngster  received  kind  and  tactful  advice 
and  help  in  his  difficulties  from  older  shots  ;  and  he  will  lose 
nothing  if  he,  too,  in  his  turn  gives  help  to  the  youngster  who 
needs  it.  There  is  a  pretty  story,  which  is  said  to  be  well 
authenticated,  of  some  Maoris  who  were  defending  a  '  pah,'  or 
stockaded  position,  against  an  attack  by  white  troops.  Fire 
on  both  sides  had  been  for  some  time  in  progress  without 
much  result.  At  last  that  of  the  attacking  force  slackened, 
and  then  ceased.  The  Maoris  sent  out  to  know  what  was 
the  matter,  and  the  reply  was  that  the  attackers  had  exhausted 
their  ammunition;  whereupon  the  Maoris,  in  a  thoroughly 
gentlemanlike  spirit,  offered  to  share  out  their  remaining 
ammunition,  so  that  fighting  might  proceed  on  equal  terms  ! 
This  was  perhaps  rather  straining  the  courtesies  of  war.  But 
even  among  friendly  rivals  such  feeling  is  none  too  common, 
and  cannot  be  too  much  encouraged.  There  is  room  for  it  in 
shooting,  as  in  all  else.  It  is  a  wholesome  state  of  things  if 
a  man  feels  that  if  he  does  a  mean  act,  or  takes  a  petty 
advantage,  public  opinion  will  be  decidedly  against  him ;  and 
whether  among  friends  in  a  club,  or  among  strangers  at  a 
big  gathering  of  riflemen,  the  same  spirit  should  always 
prevail. 


636  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


CONDITIONS   FOR  AFFILIATION    OF   RIFLE   CLUBS 
TO   THE   NATIONAL   RIFLE   ASSOCIATION 

In  pursuance  of  the  memorandum  published  by  the  Council  of  the 
National  Rifle  Association  on  January  16,  1900,  and  in  consequence  of 
the  large  number  of  applications  received  from  persons  desirous  of 
establishing  local  rifle  clubs,  the  Council  have  entered  into  communica- 
tion with  the  Secretary  of  State  for  War,  and  having  been  deputed  by 
him  to  deal  with  the  question  of  the  formation  of  rifle  clubs,  do  now 
issue  the  following  conditions  for  afliliation : 

1.  Every  rifle  club  to  be  afiiliated  with  the  N.B.A.  must  consist  of  at 
least  twenty  subscribing  members. 

2.  The  annual  registration  fee  of  1/.  must  be  paid  on  or  before 
March  31  in  each  year. 

8.  The  rules  and  practice  regulations  of  each  club  must  be  submitted 
to  and  approved  by  the  N.R.A.  No  alteration  in  the  above  can  be  made 
without  fiirther  approval. 

4.  Every  rifle  range  must  be  approved  by  proper  military  authority. 

5.  Every  rifle  club  must  render  to  the  N.B.A.  on  formation  and 
before  March  81  annually  a  nominal  roll  of  its  members  for  tran9mis8ion 
to  the  G.O.C.  the  district  in  which  the  club  is  located. 

6.  Rifles  and  ammunition  will  be  issued  on  repayment  at  vocabulary 
rates ' — rifles,  64e.  each ;  ammunition,  4Z.  13«.  a  thousand — to  each  club 
in  the  proportion  of  one  rifle  to  every  ten  members,  and  100  rounds  of 
ammunition  per  annum  per  member.  Rifles  thus  issued  become  the 
property  of  the  club  and  not  of  any  individual  member,  and  are  only  to 
be  used  on  the  range. 

7.  In  addition  Martini- Enfl eld  rifles  at  88«.  each  may  be  had  in  the 
proportion  of  80  per  cejit.  under  the  following  conditions : — This  further 
issue  will  only  be  made  upon  the  condition  that  the  Martini-Enfield 
rifles  shall  be  returned  if  required  in  emergency  by  H.M.  Government, 
the  club  being  refunded  the  full  price  paid  for  the  rifles  less  one-twelfth 
for  each  completed  year  since  the  date  of  issue,  with  a  minimum  price  of 
one-fourth  of  the  fiill  price  paid.  An  undertaking  to  comply  with  this 
condition  will  be  required  from  each  club  before  any  issue  is  made. 

8.  The  club  rifles,  when  not  in  use,  and  ammunition  must  be  stored 
in  a  place  provided  b}'  the  club  for  the  purpose.  On  no  account  are  club 
rifles  or  ammunition  to  remain  in  the  possession  of  individual  members. 

9.  Ammunition  will  only  be  issued  at  the  flring-point,  and  on  no 
account  will  individuals  be  allowed  to  take  unexpended  rounds  away 
with  them. 

>  These  rates  are  sabject  to  alteration. 


AFFILIATION    OF    RIFLE    CLUBS  537 


CONDITIONS  FOR  AFFILIATION  OF  MINIATURE 
RIFLE  CLUBS  TO  THE  NATIONAL  RIFLE  AS- 
SOCIATION 

The  National  Rifle  Association  having  been  deputed  by  the  War 
Office  to  deal  with  the  question  of  the  formation  of  rifle  clubs,  the  fol- 
lowing conditions  have  been  drawn  up  for  controlling  the  working  of 
miniature  rifle  clubs  associated  to  the  N.R.A. 

Any  properly  organised  miniature  rifle  club  is  eligib  e  for  affiliation 
on  the  following  conditions : 

1.  That  it  shall  have  not  less  than  twenty  members. 

2.  That  it  shall  undertake  to  pay  an  afiiliation  fee  of  10«.  per  annum 
to  the  N.R.A. 

8.  The  rules  and  practice  regulations  of  each  club  must  be  submitted 
to  and  approved  by  the  N.B.A.  No  alteration  in  the  above  can  be  made 
without  further  approval. 

4.  That  it  shall  have  a  range  or  ranges  of  not  less  than  25  yards^ 
which  must  be  approved  by  military  authority. 

5.  That  on  all  occasions  when  the  ranges  are  open  for  use  by  the 
members  there  shall  be  an  authorised  person  in  charge  of  the  shootings 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  see  that  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  club 
are  properly  observed,  and  preferably  such  person  should  be  capable  of 
acting  as  instructor. 

6.  That  the  club  shall  not  allow  the  use  of  any  rifle  or  ammimition 
which  does  not  conform  with  the  following  requirements : 

Calibre. — Not  to  exceed  '820  bore. 
.   Bullet. — Not  to  exceed  80  grains  in  weight. 

Bifle. — Not  to  exceed  8  lb.  in  weight,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Service 
rifle  with  Morris  tubes. 

Trigger. — Pull  not  to  be  less  than  4  lb. 

Butt. — To  be  of  plain  type  without  projections  at  toe  or  heel. 

Sights. — Any  except  telescopic. 

Magazine. — Repeating  or  magazine  rifles  shall  be  absolutely  pro- 
hibited. Service  rifles  when  fitted  with  Morris  tubes  shall  not  be  con* 
sidered  repeating  or  magazine. 

7.  The  N.R.A.  miniature  standard  targets,  recommended  for  club 
competitions  are  as  follows : 


Bull 

Inner                Magpie           Whole  Target 

Points     . 

6 

4                    3                      2 

26  yards  . 

.     1-in.  circle 

2-in.  circle    4-in.  circle    6-in.  square 

50     „      . 

.     2-in.     „ 

4-in.     „         S-in.     „       12-in.      „ 

100     „      . 

.     4-in.     „ 

8-in.     „      16-in.     „      24-in.      „ 

-538  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

8.  Every  rifle  club  most  render  to  the  N.RA.  on  formation  and  on  or 
before  March  81  annually  a  nominal  roll  of  its  members  for  transniLSsion 
to  the  G.O.C.  the  district  in  which  the  club  is  located. 

9.  The  club  rifles,  when  not  in  use,  and  ammunition  must  be  stored 
in  a  place  provided  by  the  club  for  the  purpose.  On  no  account  are  club 
rifles  or  ammunition  to  remain  in  the  possession  of  individual  members. 


The  Lords  Commissioners  of  H.M.  Treasury  have  sanctioned  exemp- 
tion from  gun  licence  in  respect  of  each  rifle  belonging  to  an* affiliated 
«lub  which  is  the  property  of  the  club  and  used  only  at  the  rifle  ranges. 


LIST    OF   RIFLE    CLUBS 


639 


RIFLE   CLUBS  AFFILIATED  TO   THE   NATIONAL 
RIFLE   ASSOCIATION 


Those  marked  (M.)  are  miniatiire  rifle  dnbe.    Those  marked  (m.)  use  miniature 
ranges  as  well  as  full  ranges. 


Secretaries 


Rifle  Clab 


Aberystwith . 
Albury(m.)  . 
Aldenham      Park 

(M.) 
Altcar  . 

Antony  (m.) . 

Asoot    . 
Ashdown 
AshingtoD        and 

District  (m.) 
Ayton  . 

Baden-Powell  (M.) 
Ballymena    . 

Bamsley  and  Dis- 
trict 

Barry    . 

Beef  olds  (Fam- 
ham)  (m.) 

Beliast  Y.M.C.A.  . 

Belper  . 

Benenden 
Bermondsey    and 
Botherbithe  (M.) 
Birmingham 

Bishop  Sutton  (M.] 
Bishop    Auckland 

(M.) 
Bisley  . 

Bitton  . 
!  BlandfordaudDis- 

\      trict 


Name 

J.  Davis  . 
G.  H.Coe 
C.  Curston 


I  W.  F.  Huston  . 

Bev.  J.  A.  Kitson     . 

I  C.  Deavin 

j  Norman  W.  Grieve  . 

I  J.  Boutland 

J.  Chalmers 

H.  Johnson,  jun. 
David  Adams  . 

Biohard  Hoey  . 

F.  P.  Jones-Lloyd    . 
Bryan  Hook 

J.  Stewart 

Sergt.-Instruotor   P. 

McCarthy 
Thos.  Weston  . 
M.  Haig  . 

i  E.  C.  Tye 

Tudor  Harvey . 

W.  A.  Scarborough  . 

F.  G.  Britten   . 

Dr.  F.  W.  S.  Stone  . 
W.  Haskell  Short     . 


Address 


4  Bridge  Street,  Aberystwith 
Albury,  Guildford 
Morville,  Bridgnorth 

40  St.  Paul's  Boad,  Seacombe, 

Cheshire 
Antony  Vicarage,  near  Devon- 

port 
Birch  Cottage,  Ascot 
Ivy  Chimneys,  Tunbridge  Wells 
Ashington,  Northumberland 

West  Lodge,  Ayton,  Abemethy, 

Perthshire 
346  High  Street,  Chatham 
Glenmanus  Place,  CoUeybacky 

Boad,  Ballymena 
Eldon  Street,  Bamsley 

74  Holton  Boad,  Barry 
Beefolds  Churt,  Famham 

Y.M.C.A.,     Wellington     Place, 

Belfast 
Milford,  Derby 

j  Standen  Benenden 

I  Tower  Bridge  Hotel,  S.E. 

Havelock    Boad,    Handsworth, 

Birmingham 
Bishop  Sutton,  Chilton,  Bristol 
Bishop  Auckland,  Durham 

Aldershot  Brick  Works,  Alder- 
shot 
Bitton  B.C..  near  Bristol 
The  Shrubberies,  Blandford 


I 


540 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


Ride  Club 


Name 


I  Blyth    . 
I  Boarnemoath 
Braintree 

Brarashott  and 
District  ^m.) 

Bridgenorth  and 
District 

Brighton  Imperial 

i       (m) 
British  Rifle  Glab, 

Alexandria 
Brough  (m.). 
Buckingham  (m.) 
Burnham  (m.) 

Cairo,  British 
Calder  Valley 

Central   Presbyte 

rian  Association 

Charlton  and  Kid 

brook  (m.) 
Chepstow  and  Dis 

trict 
Chevening    . 
Chirk  (M.)    . 

Chiswick  (m.) 

City  of  Newcastle 
(lateStOeorge's) 
(m.) 

Civilians 

Clacton 

Clayesmore  School 

(m.) 
Clevedon 
Colchester     . 
Cork  (M.)      . 
Cranboume  . 
Crystal  Palace  (m.) 
Dalmellington 


Dartmouth  (M.) 
Deane  (M.)   . 
Deptford 

Dore 
Dorking  (m.) 


Robert  Nicholson 

O.  Palmer 

Armr.-Sergt.  Bloom- 
field 
Mrs.  Bobb 

J.  Bromley 

H.  King   . 

A.  S.  Preston  . 

R.  Philipson     . 
Rev.  Herbert  Dale    . 
W.  Hyde . 

T.  C.  Macaulay 

E.  A.  Dennis    . 

J.  R.  Hunter    . 
Lieut.-Col.  Swinton . 

F.  Hammond  . 

H.  8.  King 
W.  Parker 

C.  W.  Stuart    . 

R.  Sheriton  Holmes. 

G.  B.  Ince 

J.  Lee      .         .      •  . 
Alex.  Devine    . 

I  George  Rich     . 

H. H.  Light     .      • . 

S.  H.  Milner    . 

Walter  West  . 
I  A.  Scott  Turner 
'  Alex.  Gillespie 

I 

H.  Bastard 
I  W.  B.  Webb     . 
J.  H.  Peppercorn 

Frank  H.  Slater       . 
W.  F.  Porter    . 


Old  Post  Office,  Blyth,  North- 
umberland   . 

Burley,  Tregonwell  Road, 
Bournemouth 

55  Manor  Street,  Braintree 

Liphook,  Hants 

Endon,  Bridgenorth 

24      Lower      Rock      Gardens, 

Brighton 
7  Boulevard  de  Ramleh,  E.V. 

Brough,  Westmoreland 
Radclive  Rectory,  Buckingham 
Shortland      Villa,      Burnham, 

Bucks. 
Cairo  British  R.C.,  Cairo,  Egypt 
9    Brunswick    Street,    Hebden  , 

Bridge 
C.P.A.,  12  May  Street,  Belfast 

2  Charlton  Park  Terrace,   Old  ' 

Charlton 
27  Bridge  Street,  Chepstow 

Chevening  Estate  Office,  Kent 
Chirk     Castle     Office,     Chirk, 

N.  Wales 
29  Cambridge  Road,  Gunners-  | 

bury 

5  Mosley  Street,  Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne 

St.  Benet's  Chambers,  Fen- 
church  Street,  E.C. 

Thorness,  Marine  Parade,  Clac- 
ton-on- Sea 

Clayesmore  School,  Enfield 

The  London,  Clevedon 
North  Hill,  Colchester 

6  Mount  Verdon  Terrace,  Cork 
Roseneath,  Rochester 

39  Anerley  Road,  Upper  Norwood 
Helen     Bank,     Dalmellington, 

Ayrshire 
Fairfax  House,  Dartmouth 
Oakley  Station,  Basingstoke 
17   Deptford   Broadway,   Dept- 
ford, S.E. 
Wood  Lea,  Dore,  Sheffield 
9  High  Street,  Dorking 


LIST    OP    RIFLE    CLUBS 


541 


1              Rifle  Club 

—      _ 

—           - 

Name 
G.  Drinkwater.      .. 

AddresB 

Douglas 

Isle  of  Man 

Dover   . 

A.  E.  Aldington 

5  Cannon  Street,  Dover 

DubUn  Civil  Ser- 

Charles Beid    . 

General  Valuation  Office,  6  Ely 

vice 

Place,  Dublin 

:  Dukinfield  (M.)    . 

F.  Pym    . 

19     Town     Tiane,    Dukinfield, 
Cheshire 

1  Dundee  and  Dis- 

J. McEinley  Stronner 

Thistle  Cottage,  Maryfield,  Dun- 

trict 

dee 

Dunrobin  (m.) 

W.  R.  Birnie    . 

Sutherland    Bifle    Association, 
Golspie 

Dunstan's  College 

(M.) 
Durham      School 

(m.) 
Earls  Colne  . 

Head  Master    . 

St.  Dunstan's  College,  Catford 

F.  E.  Hewitt    . 

35  South  Street,  Durham 

A.  W.  Woods  . 

Burrows    Boad,    Earls    Colne, 

Essex 

Eastbourne  . 

G.  E.  Colville  . 

Cradock  House,   Meads,  East- 
bourne 

East  London 

G.EUis    . 

61    West    Ham    Lane,    Strat- 
ford, E. 

'  Ebo  (M.) 

B.Storey. 

West  Street,  Gateshead-on-Tyne 

Enfield  (M.) . 

J.  J.  Makings  . 

1  Bury  Villas,  Southbury  Boad, 
Enfield 

Enniskilien  . 

B.  H.  Bitchie  . 

Town  Hall  Street,  Enniskilien 

Epsom . 

G.  F.  Burgess  . 

Upland  House,  Epsom 

Exonian 

H.  A.  Drew 

Hillsborough  Lodge,   Pennsyl- 
vania, Exeter 

Faculty  of  Advo- 

Edwd. H.  Bobertson 

The  Advocates*  Library,  Edin-  ' 

cates 

burgh 

Falmouth 

Martin  Furze  . 

Glencoe,  Falmouth 

1  FariDgdon    . 

W.  Tucker 

Faringdon,  Berks. 

Felixstowe    . 

G.  F.  Hulme,  M.B.  . 

Montague  Boad,  Felixstowe 

Felling   and   Dis- 

P. Lynn  . 

Kenmir  Street,  Felling- on-Tyne 

trict  Civilian 

Qodalming  (m.)    . 

B.  Munday       . 

Bridge  Street,  Godalming 

Grayshott       Hall 

A.  Ingham  Whitaker 

Grayshott     Hall,      Hasleniere, 

(M.) 

Surrey 

Greenock  and  Dis- 

J. Macgregor    . 

28  Hamilton  Street,  Greenock 

trict 

• 

1 

Guildford  and  Dis- 

F. E.  Higlett    . 

Onslow  Street,  Guildford 

trict 

Guildhall  (m.)      . 

(  8.  Knight,  junr.      \ 
\  H.  C.  Folkard         J 

Guildhall  Club,  Newbury 

Guisborough  (m.) . 

G.  H.  Tamblingson . 

36     Fountain      Street,      Guis- 
borough 

!  Harborne 

1 

George  Hart     . 

Heathdale,  Harborne,  near  Bir- 
mingham 

Harrogate     . 

B.  A.  Breare     . 

Herald  Office,  Harrogate 

Hartlepool  (m.)    . 

George  Chambers     . 

138  Durham  Street,  Hartlepool 

HaHtings  and   St. 

J.  Simmonds   . 

Maisemore,  Hastings 

Leonards 

Helensburgh  (m.) . 

J.  Bennie. 

W^ellcroft,  Helensburgh 

Henley-on-Thames 

A.  S.  Stone       . 

•Market  Place,  Henley-on-Thames 

i  Howick  (M.). 

J.  Mansfield     . 

Howick,  Lesbury 

542 


THE    BOOK    OP   THE    RIFLE 


Rifle  Clob 

Secmaria 

Sfame 

J.O.Wilson    . 

AddnsM 

Hudderafield   and 

Huddersfield 

District 

Hull  Patriotic  (H.) 

J.  W.  Fryer  .  . 

4  Tynemouth  Street,  Hull 

Inverness 

D.  Guy    . 

36  Union  Street,  Inverness 

Ivybridge 

Major  F.  M.  Eden    . 

Ivybridge,  S.  Devon 

Jesmond  (M.) 

H.  J.  Tyeman  . 

13  Cavendish  Boad,  Jesmond, 

Kettering      . 

A.  N.  Simmons 

Bank  House,  Kettering 

Ketton . 

Hubert  Eaton  . 

.  Ketton  Grange,  Stamford 

Kolapore 

J.  8.  Birkby  sen.     . 

2    Gordon    Place,    St.    Luke's, 

Jersey 
Chedgrave,  Loddon,  Norwich 

Langley  Park 

Gbas.  Narborough   . 

Langport 

J.  KeUy    . 

Latheron 

J.  B.  Kennedy . 

Dunbeath,  Caithness,  N.B. 

Leamington  (M.) . 

B.  S.  Streeten . 

Tachbrook  Boad,  Leamington 

Leatherbead    and 

Bonald  Peake  . 

Hovard  House,  Ashtead,  Epsom 

District  (m.) 

Lee  District  (M.)  . 

Percy  Henry    . 

The  Lee,  near  Great  Missenden, 
Bucks 

Leeds  (m.)    . 

A.  Hutley 

209  Cardigan  Lane,  Headingley, 
Leeds 

Leicester  (m.) 

T.  Fitchett 

9  Welland  Street,  Leicester 

Lewes  . 

Stanley  Morris 

School  Hill,  Lewes,  Sussex 

Lewisham  (m.) 

J.  G.  Webb       . 

Catford,  S.E. 

Liverpool 

W.  F.  Huston  . 

40  St.  Paul's  Boad,  Seacombe 

London  and  South- 

C. E.  Worsdell 

Nine  Elms  Station 

western     Bail- 

way  (m.) 

Louth  and  District 

H.  S.  Thatcher 

42  High  Holme  Boad,  Louth, 

Patriotic 

Line. 

Ludgershall . 

Dr.  H.H.Williamson 

Ludgershall,  Andover 

Manchester  . 

W.  Wilson 

163  Gt.  Ancoats   Street,   Man- 
chester 

Matlock  and  Dis- 

William Jaflfrey 

Matlock  Bath,  Derbyshire 

trict  (m.) 

Middlesex     . 

C.  Beagley 

Custom  House,  E.C. 

Midland 

Q.M.S.  Ault      . 

Swanbank,  Bilston 

Mi  Horn 

W.  Hutchinson 

26  Duke  Street,  Millom 

Modbury  (m.) 

W.  H.  Trinick . 

14     Broad      Street,    Modbury, 
Devon 

Neath  Civilian 

H.  G.  Hannabuss    . 

2  Greenway  Villas,  Neath 

Newburn 

Thos.  Armstrong     . 

Working  Men's  Club  and  Insti- 
tute,   Newburn  -  on  -  Tyne, 
B.S.O. 

Newlands    Corner 

G.  Findlay 

Newlands  Comer,  Merrow,  near 

(m.) 

Guildford 

Newport  (m.) 

W.  Garland 

Brookwood,  Newport,  Mon. 

Norfolk       Works, 

E.  G.  Dignan   . 

Norfolk  Works,  Sheffield 

Sheffield 

Novington    . 

C.Hall    . 

The   Cottage,   Plumpton,  near 

• 

Lewes 

Old  Windsor  (M.) 

Rev.     J.     Kenmure 

The  Tapestries,  Old  Windsor 

Boberts 


LIST    OF    EIPLE    CLUBS 


549 


SeoretarieB 


Rifle  Club 


Pewsey  Vale  (m.) . 
Pelton  Fell  (m.)    . 

Plymstock    . 
Polytechnic  (m.)  . 
Portsmouth  . 
Bamsgate  (m.) 

Beading  (m.) 
Bedcar 


Beigate 
Bevelstoke 
trict  (m.) 
Botherhams  (M.) 


Dis. 


Bottingdean . 
Bageley  (m.) 
Saltash  (m.) . 
Scarborough  Civi- 
lian 
Seaton  Sluice 

Sevenoaks  Volun- 
teer (m.) 

Sheffield  (m.) 

Sheffield,  Hallam- 
shire,andOugh- 
tibridge 

Shere  (near  Ghiild- 
ford)  (m.) 
I  Slough  (m.)  . 

Soutibend-on-Sea . 

South  London 
South  Shields  (m.) 
Strathearn    . 
Spilsby. 

Stevenage  (m.) 
I  Stockton 

1  Stokesley      .         | 

Stour  Valley. 
Streatham       and 
Stainton  (M.)    . 
Tenterden 

Three  Towns  and 

District 
Tillington     . 

Torquay  (m.) 
Totnes . 


Name 


AddreM 


I 


Q.  £.  Ooddard 
Norman  Thornton 

P.  E.  Bateman 
W.  J.  Davies  . 
W.  H.  Edwards 
Walter  Keeley  . 

H.  Child . 

W  H.  MacKinley 

F.  Humphrey  . 
Bev.  W.  E.  Boome 

A.  H.  Moore 

A.  £.  Coe. 
Col.  Wetherali . 
H.  Bulteel 
C.  Edge  Farr   . 

T.  W.  Gibson  . 

Balph  F.  Harrison 

W.  Swift . 
H.  Auty   . 


F.  E.  Bray 

G.  Sargeant     . 
J.  W.  Picton     . 

Capt.  B.  P.  Mortlook 
B.  P.  Fernandez 
A.  Gibson 
Bennett      Langton, 

jnn. 
Buthven  Trendall    . 
Bev.  B.  M.  Keymer  . 
H.  A.  Hunter  . 

F.  Warden 

L.  B.  Tippins  . 

A.  E.  Wolfe-Barry    . 

A.  J.  Letchford 

G.  Elliot  Square 

Stanley  Clark  . 

Edwin  Smith  . 

F.  W.  Hainthorpe    . 


I 


Victoria  House,  Pewsey,  Wilts 

3  Whitehill  Terrace,  Chester-le- 
Street 

Plymstock,  Plymouth 

309  Begent  Street,  W. 

145  Wahner  Boad,  Fratton 

Harewood,  Crescent  Boad,  Bams- 
gate 

101  Oxford  Boad,  Beading 

11  Portland  Terrace,  Coatham, 
Bedcar 

Avondale,  Beigate 

Bevelstoke  Bectory,  South  Devon 

Botherhams  B.C.,  Bull's  Head 

Lane,  Stoke,  Coventry 
Preston  House,  Bottingdean 
Bugeley,  Staffs. 
Home  View,  Saltash,  Cornwall 
94  Westborough,  Scarborough 

West    Terrace,   Seaton   Sluice, 

Seaton  Delaval 
Bradboume,  Sevenoaks 

University  College,  Sheffield 
66  Queen  Street,  Sheffield 


17  The  Boltons,  S.  Kensington 

176  High  Street,  Slough 
Municipal  Buildings,   Clarence 

Boad,  Southend 
46a  Pall  Mail,  S.W. 
20  Salmon  Street,  South  Shields 
Union  Bank  House,  Crieff,  N.B. 
Langton    Hall,    near    Spilsby, 

Line. 
The  Bowans,  Stevenage 
Stockton  Vicarage,  Wakefield 
West  Bow,  Stokesley 
The  Villas,  Stokesley 
Mistley,  Manningtree,  Essex 
Streatham  House,  near  Darling- 
ton 
West  Cross  House,  Tenterden, 

Kent 
10  Princes  Square,  Plymouth 

Biver  House,  Pet  worth,  Tilling- 
ton 
Livermead  House,  Torquay 
Northcote,  Totnes 


44 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


Rifle  Hub 


I 


Tring  (m.)  . 
TulseHill  . 
TynemoQth      and 

District 
Undershaw  (Haale- 

mere) 
United  Engineer- 
ing 
University      Col- 
lege,  London  (m.) 
Usk  and   District 

(m.) 
Wallsend  Civilian 

(M.) 
Wallsend  Slipway 

(M.) 
Warde  (M.) 
Warwickshire 
Wells   . 
West  Cornwall 
West     Hartlepool 

(m.) 
West  Surrey. 
Wester  Kirk. 
Weston  -  supe 

Mare 
Weybridge  (m.) 
Wheatbutts  (m.)  . 
Whitley  &  Monk- 

seaton   Civilian 

(m.) 
Whitstable  . 
Willington     Quay 

(M.) 
Wokingham     and 

District  (m.) 
Wolverley  (M.)     . 

Worcester      Park 

(M.) 
W^orthing 

Wotton         .     *   . 

Wragby  and  Dis- 
trict 

Yarmouth  (Great) 
(m.) 

Yealmpton  (m.)    . 

Yoker  Conserva- 
tive (M.) 

York     .        .  r 

Youngsbury .        .  [ 


Herbert  Grange 
£.  D.  Lovell  . 
Wm.  Dodds 

A.  Conan  Doyle 

P.  B.  Went 

G.  C.  B.  Mieville 

E.  B.  Haynes  . 

C.  A.  Brooke    . 

C.  Morgan 

Montague  White 
A.  W.  Barker   . 
H.  E.  Balch      . 
W.  G.  Perks     . 

F.  Miller  . 

Marshall  Walsh 
W.  S.  Irving  . 
J.  S.  Walker    . 

P.  E.  Pilditch  . 

T.  E.  Lovell     . 
I  J.  Ventress  Wedder- 
I      bum 

I 

,  F.  J.  Sparshott. 
'  A.  A.  Bobertson 

\  Lewis  C.  Dncrocq     . 

I  H.  Edmonds    . 

H.  Austin 

W.  Dixon. 

J.  V.  Moore 

G.  C.  March, 
M.R.C.S. 

Capt.  E.  E.  Bond     . 

John  Brown  . 
j  P.  McGibbon    . 

A.  Anderson     . 
I  C.  B.  Giles  Fuller 
Rev.  F.  A.  Overton 


Secretaries 


Address  j 

Tring  Grove,  Tring 

52  Heme   Hill,  S.E. 
'  33  Washington  Terrace,  North 
I       Shields 

Undersbaw,   Hindhead,  Hasle- 
mere 

Boyal  School  of  Mines,  S.W. 

University  College,  Gower  Street ; 
I  Bridge  Street,  Usk 
17  Philiphaugh,  Wallsend 

I  Wallsend   Slipway   Co.,  Walls-  ' 

end 
The  Lodge,  Wateringbury,  Kent  , 
26  Chapel  Street,  Warwick 
Portway,  Wells 

Hayle,  Penzance  | 

8  Milton  Street,  West  Hartle-  , 

pool  I 

Herald  Office.  Chertsey 
Enzieholme,  Langholm 
Weston-super-Mare 

Mansfield,  Weybridge 
Eton  Wick,  Windsor 
Station     Road,    Whitley    Bay, 
Northumberland 

Tmst  School,  Whitstable 
Bewicke  Road,  Willington  Quay- 

on-Tyne 
The  Bank,  Wokingham 

Frogmore,    Wolverley,    Kidder- 
minster 
Inverness,  Worcester  Park 

Dartford,      Homefield       Road, 
Worthing 
I  School  House,  Wotton,  Dorking 
Wragby,  Line. 

Bank  House,  Great  Yarmouth 

I  Paradise,  Yealmpton,  Devon 
I  Bisley  Buildings,  Clyde  Bank, 

Dumbarton 
I  44  Coney  Street,  York 
I  Youngsbury,  Ware 
High  Cross  Vicarage,  Ware 


546 


LIST  OF  BOOKS 

The  following  are  some  of  the  books  which  have  been  quoted, 
referred  to,  or  consulted  by  the  writer  in  connection  with  the 
present  work.  For  an  almost  complete  list  of  works  on  the 
gabjeet  of  shooting  the  reader  is  referred  to  Mr.  Gerrare's  Biblio- 
graphy mentioned  below : — 

Anderson,  B.    To  hit  a  Mark  as  well  upon  Ascents  and  Descents  as 

upon  the  Plain  of  the  Horizon  :  Experimentally  and  Mathematically 

Demonstrated.     London,  1600. 
Angehiccij  Angelo,    Catalogo  della  Armeria  Beale.    Turin,  1800. 
Anonymous,    The  Perfection  of  Military  Discipline,  after  the  newest 

Method,  as  practised  in  England  and  Ireland.    London,  1600. 
The    British   Soldier's  Guide   and    Volunteer's    SeH-Instmetor. 

London,  1808. 

Volunteer  Bifle  Corps,  by  *  A  Bifleman.'    London,  about  1860. 

Arms  and  Explosives.    London,  1802-1000. 

Le  Fusil  &  B^p^tition  Manser,  Direction  et  Administration.    Li^ge, 

1000. 

Memoir  of  William  Ellis  Metford.    London,  1000  (privately  printed). 

Baker,  EsMkiel,    Bemarks  on  Bifle  Guns.    London,  1800. 
Baek/oTtk,  Francis.    Account  of  Exponments  made  with  the  Chrono- 
graph.    1866-00. 
Beannfoy,  Col.  (*  a  Corporal  of  Biflemen ').   Soloppetaria :  or  Considerations 

on  the  Nature  and  Use  of  Bifled  Barrel  Guns.    London,  1808. 
BeUofy,  Gen,  W,  de,    InstructionB  for  the  Warres,  amply,  learnedly,  and 

politiquely  discoursing  the  Method  of  Militarie  Discipline.  Translated 

by  Paul  Ive.    London,  1580. 
Boueher,  John,    The  Volunteer  Bifleman  and  the  Bifle.    London,  1860. 
Bourne,  William,    Arte  of  Shooting  in  Great  Ordnaunce.    London,  1587. 
Bury,  the   Viscount,  Lieut. -Col.    Manual  of  Bifling  and  Bifle  Sights. 

London,  1864. 
Bu^Tc,  Hans,    The  Bifle  and  How  to  Use  It.    London,  1858. 

Handbook  for  Hythe.    London,  1860. 

Campbell,  Walter,  Captain.    The  Old  Forest  Banger.     London,  1842. 
Carver,  Dr.  Wm.  F.    The  Life  of  Dr.  Wm.  F.  Carver.    Boston,  U.S.A., 

1878. 

N  N 


546  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

Chapman,  John  Ratcliffe.    Improved  American  Rifle.     New  York,  1848. 
Cockle,  Maurice y  J.  D.    A  Bibliography  of  English  Military  Books  up  to 

1642,  and  of  Contemporary  Foreign  Works.     London,  1900. 
Cope,  Sir  Wm.  H.    The  History  of  the  Rifle  Brigade.     London,  1877. 
Coutau,  Siffismund.     Archives  4e  la  Soci^t^  de  rArqaebnse.     Geneva, 

1872. 
Deans.    Manual  of  the  History  and  Science  of  Fire-arms.    London,  1858. 
Douglas ,  Sir  Howard,  Bart.^  LieuL-Oen,    A  Treatise  on  Naval  Gxmnery. 

London,  1851. 
EepinoT,  Aloneo  Martinez  de.    Arte  de  Ballesteria  y  Monteria.    Madrid, 

1761.     (Original  edition,  1644.) 
Forsyth,  Lieut,  James.    The  Sporting  Rifle  and  its  Projectiles.    London, 

1868. 
Foulkes,  A.   Olyndwr.    The  Theory  and  Practice  of  Target-shooting. 

London,  1895. 
Fremantle,  Hon.  T.  F.     Notes  on  the  Rifle.     London,  1896. 
Gaya,  Louis  de.    A  Treatise  of  Arms.     London,  1680. 
Oerrare,  Wirt.    A  Bibliography  of  Guns  and  Shooting.     London,  1896. 
Gheyn,  Jacob  de.    The  Exercise  of  Armes  for  Calivres,  Muskettes,  and 

Pikes.     The  Hague,  1607. 
Gould,  A.  G.    Modern  American  Rifles.     Boston,  U.S.A.,  1892. 
Greener,  Wm.     The  Gun.     London,  1835. 

The  Science  of  Gunnery.     London,  1846. 

Gunnery  in  1858.     London,  1858. 

Greener,  W.  W.    The  Gun  and  its  Development.     London,  1896. 
Grose,  Francis.     Military  Antiquities  respecting  a  History  of  the  English 

Army  from  the  Conquest,  Ac.    London,  1786. 
Halford,  Sir  H.  St.  John,  Bart.,  GoL    The  Art  of  Shooting  with  the 

Rifle.     London,  1888. 
—   Lecture  upon  the  *  New   Service    Magazine    Rifle.'      Di\'isional 

Printing  Ofiice,  Aldershot,  1888. 
Hamper,  General  George.     To  all  Sportsmen,  Farmers,  and  Gamekeepers : 

above  Thirty  Years*  Practice  on  Horses  and  Dogs,  9ui.,  &c.    London. 

181Q. 
Heaton,  Capt.    Notes  on  Rifle  Shooting.     London,  1864. 
Johns,  Max.    Entwicklungsgeschichte  der  alten  Trutzwaffen.     Berlin, 

1899. 
Jervis,  Capt.  Jervis-  White.     Our  Engines  of  ,War,  and  How  we  got  to 

Make  them.     London,  1859. 
Jetvitt,  Llewellyn.    Rifles  and  Volunteer  Rifle  Corps.    London,  1860. 
Kromar,    K.    E.    von.      Repetier-automatische    Handfeuerw%Sen    der 

Systeme  Ferdinand  Hitter  von  Mannlicher.    Wien,  1900. 


.        LIST    OF    BOOKS  647 

Leech,  Arthur  BlennerhoMett,    Irish  Riflemen  in  America.    London, 

1876. 
MacDonell,  J,  R.    The  National  Rifle  Association,  1869-1876.     London, 

1877. 
Marks,  Edward  C.  B.    The  Evolution  of  Modem    SmaU  Arms   and 

Ammunition.    London,  1898. 
Mason,  Bichard  Oswald,    **  Pro  Axis  et  Pocis  "  :  consideration  of  the 

reasons  that  exist  for  reviving  the  use  of  the  Long-bow  with  the 

Pike.     London,  1798. 
National  Rifle  Association.    Annual  Reports,  1860-1900.    London. 
Official.    Text-book  for  Military  Small  Arms  and  Ammunition.     War. 

Office,  1894. 
Instructions  for  Selection  of  Sites  for,  and  Construction  of  Riflft 

Ranges.    War  Office,  1901. 
Ordnance  Department  U.S.  Army.    Small   Arms,    1866.    Reports    of 

Experiments  with  Small  Arms  for  the  Military  Service,  &c.    London,. 

1867. 
Phillips-Wolleyy  Clive.    Big-game  Shooting  (The  Badminton  Library). 

London,  1894. 
Polygraphisches    Institut,   Zttrich.      Festgabe    auf    die  Eroffiiung  des. 

Schweizerischen  Landesmuseums  in  Zttrich.     Zttrich,  1898. 
Plat,  Sir  Hugh.    The  Jewell  House  of  Art  and  Nature.     London,  1694. 
Rifle  Conference,  The.    Report  and  Proceedings,  &c.     London,  1864. 
Mohin$,  Benjamiin.    Mathematical  Tracts  of  the  late  Benjamin  Robins,. 

Esq.,  containing  his  New  Principles  of  Gunnery,  &c.     London,  1761. 
Bumf  or  d.    Life  and  Works  of  Benjamin  Thompson,  Count  Rumford^ 

London,  1876. 
Bussell,  W.  H,    Rifle  Clubs  and  Volunteer  Corps.     London,  1859. 
Schmidt,  Budolphe.    Armes  &  Feu  portatives.     B&le,  1889. 
Scoffem,  J,    Projectile  Weapons  of  War  and  Explosive  Compounds. 

London,  1859. 

The  Royal  Rifle  Match  on  Wimbledon  Common.     London,  1860. 

Scrope,  William,     The  Art  of  Deer- Stalking.     London,  1847. 

Sm/ythe,  Sir  John,  Knt.    Certain  Discourses  concerning  the  formes  and 

'    efifects  of  divers  sorts  of  weapons,  Ac.     London,  1690. 
Tartaglia,  NicoUis.    Three  Bookes  of  Colloquies  concerning  the  Arte  of 

Shooting  in  great  and  small  peeces  of  Artillerie,  Ac.     London,  1588. 
Teaadale-Buelcell,  G,  T,    Experts  on  Guns  and  Shooting.     London,  1900. 
Tennent,  Sir  J,  Emerson.    The  Story  of  the  Guns.    London,  1864. 
Thierbach,    M.      Geschichtliche    Entwickelung    der    Handfeuerwaflen. 

Dresden,  1899. 

Tippvns,  L.  B.  ('  A  Marksman ').    Modern  Rifle  Shooting.    London,  1896. 

N  N  2 


548  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 

TippiM,  L.  B.  0  A  Marksmaa ').    Modern  Bifl«  Shooling  in  Peace,  Wv, 

and  Sport.    London,  1900. 
Van  Dyke,  Theodore  8.    The  Still  Hanter.    London,  1888. 
WdlJcer,  Arthur.    The  Rifle,  its  Theory  and  Practice.    London,  1865. 
Walsh,  J.  H.  C  Stonehenge  ').      The   Shot-gun   and    Sporting    Rifle. 

London,  1869. 
— —  The  Modem  Sportsman's  Qtin  and  Rifle.    London,  1884. 
Wheeler,  C  A*    Sportascrapiana.     London,  1888. 
Whitworth,  Sir  Joseph,  Bart    Miscellaneous  Papers  on  'Mechanical 

Subjects.    London,  1858. 
— —  Ditto.     Guns  and  Steel.    London,  1878. 
-^-  Papers  on  Mechanical  Subjects.    Part  II.    London,  1882. 
Wileox,  C.  M.    Rifles  and  Rifle  Practice.    New  York,  1861. 
Wilder,  Salem,     Rifles  and  Rifle  Shooting.     Boston,  n.S.A.,  1892. 
Wilkinson,  Henry,    Engines  of  War.    London,  1841. 
Yowng,  Stamford  Sheridan,    The  Three  Rifles.     London,  1878. 


INDEX 


Absl,  Sir  Fbsdsbick,  88 
AeeeeaorieB  for  shooting,  880-S52 
Accuracy  of  cross-bows,  272 

rifles,  271,  474 
Action,  bolt,  66,  72,  78,  96-98 

bt'eak-down,  147-149 

care  of,  862,  863 

falling  block,  78,  288 

Erag- Jorgensen,  84 

LeeEnfield,  86 

Lee  straight-pull,  84,  98 

Mannlieher,  82 

Martini,  71, 78.  84 

Mauser,  82 

Spencer,  80 
Adaptors,  167 
Aim  corrector,  352 
Aiming,  conditions  of,  227,  254 

in  the  dark,  226,  227 

method  of,  257,  258 

rapidity  in,  260,  284 

with  both  eyes  opnen,  254-257 

with  wind-gauge  sights,  259, 260 
Alcohol,  268 
Allowance  for  wind,  217, 220, 258, 259, 

279-289 
American  and  British  Matches,  499- 
510 

marksman,  160, 169 

rifles,  28,  60,  65,  79,  129,  130, 
148,  153,  154,  479 

War,  24,  27,  247 
Ammunition  {see  also  Cartridges) 

fund,  533 

miniature,  156,  528 

supply,  124 
Anderson,  Robert,  312 
Angelucci,  Angelo,  4 
Angle  of  descent  of  bullet.  297 
Angles  of  elevation  for  -303  rifle,  293 

experimental  -402  rifle,  296 

Mannlieher  -256  rifle,  296 

MartiniHenry  rifle,  296 

Metford  match  rifle,  296 
Angst,  H.,  516 
Aperture  sight,  229 


Aperture,  ancient,  228,  272 

Lyman,  236-238 

position  of,  198 
'  Arms  and  Explosives,*  388 
Arquebus,  2,  68, 515 

king  of  the,  516 
.   rifled,  6,  7 
Ashburton  Challenge  Shield,  491 
Association  Cup,  484^486 
Atmosphere,  density  of,  277 

resistance  of,  269 
Automatic  rifles,  100, 101 

tajgets,  417 


Back  Positiom,  197-210 
Baker,  Ezekiel,  11,  28, 181, 185, 193, 
198,  256,  307,  365 

rifle,  27 
Ball  and  shot  guns,  152 
Ballard  rifle,  153 
Ballistio  pendulum,  318,  836-338 
Barlow,  Major,  103 
Barr  and  Stroud  range-finder,  274 
Barrel,  detachable,  149 

erosion  of,  92 

flexibility  of,  233 

»Ufe'of,92 

polishing  of,  354,  357,  359 

stresses  on,  315-317 

vibrations  of,  308,  311,314-319 

wear  of,  76,  92 
Bashforth's  experiments,  294,  337 
Bayonet,  24,  102,  126, 170,  234,  235, 

317 
Bear,  grizzly,  129 
Beaufoy,  Colonel,   11,   12,   178,  181, 

228,  530 
Bellay,  de,  2 
Berne,  edict  respecting  rifles  (1568),  5, 

516 
Bisley  competitions,  451,  481-498 

fines,  451 

flags,  283,  288 

marking,  416 

meeting,  444-459 


650 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


Bisley  meeting,  organisation  and  man- 
agementf  444-448 
squadding,  445,  450 

miniature  range,  421 

ranges,  384,  386.  398,  421 

register  tickets,  445-450 

rifle  conditions,  452-455 

running-deer,  437 

targets,  419,  420,  437 

wind  at,  218 
Black,  dead,  for  sights.  239-241 
Black  powder,  40,  88,  100 
BUnd  patch,  396 
•  Blowing-off,'  320 
Blunt,  Captain,  415,  428 
Bodine,  Colonel,  479,  501 
Boers,  96,  235,  304,  371 
Boivin,  M.,  417 
Bolt  actions,  72,  78,  96,  98 

straight  pull,  98,  99 

with  revolving  head,  98 
Books,  list  of,  545 
Boone,  Daniel,  272 
Borchardt  rifle,  479 
Boucher,  J.,  38,  43 

grooving,  61 
Bonleng^  chronograph,  837,  338 
Bourne,  William,  312 
Boxer  cartridge,  68 
Boys,  Professor,  324 
Break-down  action,  147,  149 
Breathing  tube,  348 
Breech -loading,  63,  64 
British  and  American  matches,  499- 

610 
British  and  foreign  rifles,  102-122 
Brunei's  octagonal  bore,  19 
Brunswick  rifle,  15,  31 
Bullets,  304,  305 

breaking  up,  136 

compound,  88.  95,  96,  142 

conical  and  spherical  compared, 
139 

objections  to,  131 

Davidson,  40 

Delvigne,  38 

drift  of,  332-334 

effect  of  rotation  of  earth  on, 
334-335 

Enfield,  44,  45 

expansive  136,  137,  142 

explosive,  48,  61 

Express  -450  and  500, 136, 137 
143,  150 

Greener's,  35 

in  flight,  324-336 

visible,  331.  332 

Jacob,  46,  47 

Kmka-Hebler,  305 

Lancaster,  44 


Bullets,  lightness  of,  136 

L.-M.  and  L.-E.,  76,    77,   88, 
95,  96,  142,  304 
first  shot,  90 
flight,  times  of,  442 
melting  in  barrel,  90 
Metford,  47,  48,  58 
for  -308,  304 
Mini6,  40,  43,  44 
Norton,  38 
picket,  39 
Pritchett,  47,  57 
Purdey,  44,  45 
Bubin,  324 
Bubin  and  Hebler,  75 
spherical,  15,  32,  36-38,  129- 

131,  139 
spin  of,  321-324 
stability  of.  323 
Tamisier,  45 

trial  with  different  powders,  90 
Whitworth,  49 

experimental,  17 
tubular,  305 
Wilkinson,  44 
Bull's-eye,  Bisley,  419,  420 
circular,  415 
elliptical,  415 
ringing,  390 
square,  416 
Burr,  Sergeant,  448 
Bury,  Lord,  228,  247 
Busk,  Hans,  223,  391 
Batt  of  rifle,  loosening  of,  234,  365 

warping  of,  233 
Butt  for  targets,  construction  of,  383- 
385 

Calibre  and  Spiral,  8 

reduction  of,  75 
Cambridge  Cup,  60,  194, 487 

University  Long  Range  dub, 
60,528 
Campbell,  Captain  Walter,  134 
Cannonite,  478,  487,  488 
Carbine,  Ferguson,  63 

Sharp's,  65 
Carton  shooting,  413,  414 
Cartridges,  Boxer,  68,  125 

Chassepot,  67 

Express,  136,  137,  150 

leather  pouch  for,  124,  125 

L.-M.  and  L.-E.,  76,  77 

Mannlicher,  124 

Martini-Enfield,  74 

Martini-Henry,  71 

Mauser,  124 

miniature,  156-158 

needle-gun,  65 

Bubin,  75 


INDEX 


551 


Cartridges,  Snider,  68 

United  States  Navy,  124 
waste  of,  124 
with  rims  or  grooves,  97 
Carver,  Dr.,  148,  149,  460-462 
Chadwick,  L.,  488 
Chamois  shooting,  128, 147,  269 
Chancellor's  Challenge  Plate,  492 
Chapman,  J.  B.,  169,  247,  353 
Charger  loading,  124,  125 
Chassep6t  rifle,  66,  67 
Chronographs,  electric,  337,  338 
Clark,  Sir  Andrew,  263 
Cleaning  of  rifle,  356-361 

difficulties  of,  98,  156 
rod,  353,  367-359 
Clip  loading,  124, 125 
Close,  Captain,  314 
Coaching  in  individual  shooting,  455, 
456, 
of  teams,  290,  291,  459 
Collective  firing,  126,  372-375 
Colt,  Colonel,  78 
Colt  rifle,  153 

Commander-in-Chief's  Prize,  376 
Competitions,  National  Bifle  Associa- 
tion's, 465.  499 
'  Any  Bifle  '  Association  Cup, 
484-486 
Wimbledon  Cup,  486 
Ashburton    Challenge    Shield, 

491 
Chancellor's  Challenge  Plate, 

492 
Commander-in-Chief's     Prize, 

376 
Elcho  Shield  Match,  495-498 
individual,  451 
Inter- University      Long-range 

Match,  492,  493 
King's    (and    Queen's)    Prize, 

481-484 
National    Challenge     Trophy, 

493.  494 
Pixley,  465,  466 
Bajah  of  Eolapore's  Cup,  494, 

499 
Spencer  Cup,  491 
United  Service  Challenge  Cup, 

494 
Wantaf2:e,  466,  467 
Cope,  Sir  William,  197,  467 
Cordite,  charge  of,  for  -303,  88,  92,  93 

oil,  356 
Corrector,  aim,  352 
Coutau,  Sigismund,  546 
Covered  firmg- points,  178 
Cranz  and  Koch,  314 
Creedmoor,    shooting    at,    178,   291, 
499-508 


Crehore,  Dr.,  814,  338 
Cross-bow,  champion  of  the,  272,  515 
Crosse,  Lieut.-Colonel,  448,  529 
Cratch  on  stock  of  rifle,  166 
Cumberland's,  Duke  of,  sharpshooters, 

12,  619 
Cut-off,  86,  125 


Dakin,  Qenebal,  500,  501 
Dalton,  Mr.,  334 
,  Dauner,  Wolff,  174 
Davidson  bullet,  40 
!  telescope,  247,  248 

Deano,  11,  66 
,  Deer-stalking,  132,  133,  285,  286 
I  Delvigne's  bullet,  36,  38 
,  Density  of  air,  277-279 
I  Deviation,  measurement  of,  410 
Diagrams  of  shooting,  343,  344,  360, 
351 
of  Baker  rifle,  25 
from  '  Seloppetaria  '  28 
made  at  50  yards,  477,  478 

100  yards,  144,  479-481 
200  yards,  475 
300  metres,  482 
I  1,000  yards,  489,  490 

1,100  yards,  489 
Distance,  estimation  of,  273-276 
Doer,  W.  H.,  463,  516 
Double-barrelled  rifles,  147,  148,  308 
Down-hill  shooting,  268 
I  Doyle,  Dr.  Cpnan,  269 
I  J.  A.,  456 

!  Draw-pull,  173 

Drift  of  bullets,  332-334 
,  Driving  the  nail,  272,  412 


EaBTH-ROTATION  AFFECTING  BULIiET,334 

Egg-pool,  412 

Elcho  Shield  Match,  records  of  indi- 
vidual scores,  497,  498 

and  sighting  shots,  291 
Elevation,  angles  of,  292 

tables,  293,  296 
Enfield  rifle,  44,  45 
Erosion  of  barrel,  92,  93 
Espinar,  Alonso  Martinez  de,  6,  7, 128 
Estimation  of  distance,  273-276 
Expansive  bullets,  136,  137,  142 
Explosive  bullets,  48,  61,  276 
Explosives  Conmiittee,  93 
Express  rifle,  134-136,  HO 

modern,  150,  151 

sighting,  213 

striking  energy,  138 

trajectories  of,  135 

velocity  of,  132 


562 


THE    BOOK    OP    THE    BIFLE 


Faijjmo  tabobts,  4S9-484 

False  muzzle,  854 

Fenton,  Colonel,  484,  485,  504 

Lieutenant,  504 
Fergnson,  Lient. -Colonel,  24,  37,  68, 
197 

carbine,  68 
Field  Firing  Association,  418 
Field-firing,  874,  375,  426 
Field-glasses,  849 

*  Field '  trials  1883, 184-137, 150,  478 
Fines  at  Bisley,  451,  452 
Fire,  high-angle,  268,  269 
Firing,  collective,  126,  872-875 

independent,  127 

with  musket,  8 

points,  covered  v.  open,  401 

up-  and  down-hill,  267-269 

volleys.  126,  127 
Flags  on  ranges,  282,  288,  287,  288 
Flip,  814 

Flying  bullets,  824-828 
Foreign  and  British  rifles,  particulars 

of,  102-122 
'  Forest  and  Stream,'  479 
Forsyth,  15,  16,  180,  131 
Fosbery,  Colonel,  152,  276 
Fouling  in  muzzle-loaders,  8,  32 

in  Whitworth  rifle,  51 

metallic,  98,  856 

of  black  powder,  320,  848 
Foulkes,  A.  G.,  546 
Fourquevaux,  de,  2,  8 
Fraser,  174,  229,  498 
Froome,  W.  G.,  238 
Fulton,  346 

position,  201 

GALIIiEO,  312 

Gaya,  Louis  de,  22,  28 

Geneva,  early  shooting,  515 

Gheyn,  J.  de,  169 

Gibbs,  Major.  232,  354,  490,  496,  498 

G.,  62,  498 
Gilbert,  255 
Glasses,  field,  349 

Gould,  A.  G.,  185,  225,  247,  248,  250, 
415,  428,  432,  474-477 

shooting  at  Dakota,  370 
Godsal,  Major,  230 
Green's  breech-loader,  65 
Greener,  William,  131,  812 

Cape  rifle,  132 

expanding  bullet,  35 

on  breech -loading,  64 

W.  W.,  63 

Sharpshooters'  Club  rifle,  155 
GreenhiU,  Professor,  383 
Grifiiths    and    Woodgate,    automatic 
action,  100 


Grip  of  rifle,  197,  817 
I  Grooving  of  808  rifle,  60,  61,  88 
'  early,  4,  8 

polygonal,  19 
I  ratcfaet-shaped,  57,  72 

segmental,  61 
I  shallow,  60 

substitutes  for,  4,  20,  21 
Grose's  '  Military  Antiquities,*  f^ 
Grouping  "of  shots,  886 
Gun-licence,  525-527 

Hague,  The,  Comfebence,  95 

International  match    at,  411, 
481.  482,  510>^14 
Hair-powder,  tax  on,  170 
Hair-trigger.  174,  177 
,  HalfQrd,  Sir  Henry,  54,  58, 60,  €1,  SIS, 
819,  404,  406,  478 
back  position,  202,  205 
care  of  rifle,  283 
on  delay  in  firing,  289 
i  diagram,  487 

Gibbs's  shooting,  291,  490 

lecture  at  Aldershot,  90 

narrow  escape  of  marker,  405 

range  at  Wistow,  888 

smoking,  263 

spotting  shots,  844 

table  of    angles  of  elevation, 

293,297 
temperature  experiments,  277 
Hanger,  Colonel,  15,  28,  80,  129 
I  Hang-fires,  367,  868 
I  Hardinge,  Lord,  49 
,  Heaton,  Captain,  51,'  54 

Hebler,  75,  805 
I  Hehnets,  209 
I  Henry  rifle,  79,  463 
'  Herrmann,  464 
High-angle  fire,  268,  269 
Hinman.  Major,  424,  508,  509 
Holden,  Major,  887 
HoUand  A  Holland,   184,  185.  152, 

158,  238,  478 
Honeycomb  rust,  855 
Honourable  Artillery  Company,  515 
Hopton,  Lieut. -Colonel,  291,  4% 
Hounslow  Long  Bulge  dub,  488 
Humphry,  A.  P.,  482,  492,  493 
Humphry  Cup,  492 
Hutton,  836 
Hyde,  F.,  485.  506 
Hythe  position,  160, 181 
ranges,  425,  426 

l2a>EPENDENT   FIRE,  127 

Individual  fire,  372-374 
Infrascope,  252,  258 
Ingram  rifle,  57 


INDEX 


55a 


Initial  Telocity,  103,  331 
International  Match  at  The  Hague, 
610-614 
target  at,  411,  481.  482 
Iris  orthoptic,  348 
Ive,  Paul,  2 


Jacob,  Qehbbai.,  46-47 
Jamea,  of  Utica,  247 
Jervis.  Gapttfin  J.  W.,  546 
Jamp,  314-319 


EAR8LAKE,  493 

Kentaoky  pea  rifle,  129, 130 
Kick  of  rifles,  95,  236,  308,  814 
Kings  of  the  cross-bow,  arqaebns,  and 

rifle,  516 
King's  Prize  (see  also  Queen's  Prize) 

ranges,  54 

winners,  448-460,  483,  484 
Kneeling  position,  181-186 
Kolapore  Gup,  494,  499 
Kollner,  G.,  5 
Kotter,  A.,  5 
Kmka,  80,  305 


LaOTSMITH,  long  RANOB  riBIKO  AT,  304 

Lamb,  Major,  291,  496,  497 
Lancaster,  Gharles,  162,  223,  332 

shooting,  468,  479 

rifle  (1846),  32 

oval-bore,  44,  479 
Landseer,  Sir  E.,  434 
Leather  Stocking,  272 
Leech,  Major,  499 
Lee-Enfield  rifle,  86 
Lee-Metford  rifle,  86 
Lefaucheaax  breech-loader,  64 
Licence,  gan,  525-627 
Littledale,  St.  G.,  143,  144,  479 
Loder,  Sir  E.,  189,  438 
Long-bow,  2,  516 
Long-range  shooting,  68,  59,  304 
Lowe,  G.  F.,  266 
Luck,  element  of,  146,  272,  282,  284, 

412 
Lnff,  W.  G.,  181 


Mafeking,  262,  418 

Magazine,  79,  82 
Harris,  84 
Krag  Jorgensen,  84 
Lee-Metford,  82,  86 
Lee-Enfield,  86 
Mannlicher,  82 
Mauser,  82 


Magazine  rifles  {see  Rifles,  magazine) 
Schonauer,  84 
system,  78,  80 

Malcolm,  of  Syracuse,  248 

Mallock,  A.,  261,  314,  319 

Mannlicher  rifle,  145,  487 

automatic  action^lOl 
diagram,  144, 146, 480, 486, 487 
angles  of  elevation,  296 
trajectory  tables,  146,  303 

Maori  manners,  635 

Markers,  accidents  to,  404,  406 
mistakes,  407,  408 
protection  of,  386-389,  402-40& 

Marking,  automatic,  417 
;  in  Ghina,  409 

{  on  iron  targets,  388,  389 

on  penetrable  targets,  396-404 

Marlin  rifle,  153 

Martin,  Alex..  498 

Martini-Henry  rifle,  61,  63,  71 
compared  with,  -303,  94 
kick,  95 

Martin  Smith,  Mr.  54, 414,  432 
competition,  143-146, 189 
I  target,  421,  422 

I  Mason,  B.  O.,  3 
>  Master  eye,  264 

Match  at  The  Hague,  610-514 
!  Match-slide,  214 

'  Matches,  British  and  American,  499- 
510 

team,  466-469,  491-614 

Maxim  gun,  100,  304 

Maynard  rifle,  479 
I  McGlintock,  134, 137 

McVittie,  260 
I  Mekometer,  273 

Mellish,  Lieut.-Golonel,  487,  489,  496 

Metallic  fouling,  93,  366 

Metford,  W.  E.,  317,  322,  336 
buUet  for  -303,  304 
his  experiments,  67-63 
explosive  bullet,  47,  48,  58 
practice  at  extreme  range,  384 
pulsations  of  body,  206 
M.BJi.  rifle,  61,  507.  509 

compared  with  *303,  94 
grooving,  60,  61 
telescopic  sights,  247,  248 

Millner,  J.  K.,  206,  496 

Mini^  bullets,  40,  43 
rifle,  43 

Mirage,  284,  350 

Miss-fires,  367,  368 

Moore's  hexagonal  bore,  19 

Morris  safety-range,  378 
tube,  163,  156,  528 

Movement  of  rifle,  307-316 
barrel,  308-319 


554 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


MoTing  Utfgete.  438-44B 
Mnsket,  2,  3 

and  rifle  compared.  24,  32 
Muzzle,  false,  354 

velocity,  328 


Nail,  DRivnfO  tbe,  272,  412 
National  Challenge  Trophy,  493,  494 
National  RiHe  Association,  adoption 
of  penetrable  targets,  391 

carton  shooting,  414 

club  rifles,  156 

competitions  {see  Competitions) 

condemn    aperture    foresights, 
229 

conditions     for    affiliation    of 
rifle-clubs,  536  538 

first  meeting,  52,  53 

first      shot    fired     by     Queen 
Victoria,  53 

functions  of,  56 

Jeffries'  target,  395 

miniature     standard     targets, 
423,  537 

painting  sights,  219,  222 

positions,  169,  178 

pull-off,  364 

rifle  clubs  affiliated,  539-544 

rifle  conditions,  452-455 

rules  and  regulations,  444-459 

running-deer,  434 

sitting  position,  186 

sling,  use  of,  181 

telescopic  sights,  246,  250 

wind  gauge,  219 
Needle-gun,  65,  66 
Nitro-oellulose,  93 
Nitro-glycerine.  92,  93 
Nobel,  88 
Norton  projectile,  38 


Oil,  for  clkaning,  356,  357 
Ommundsen,  Lance-Corporal,  448, 450 
Organisation  of  Bisley  Meeting,  444- 

448 
Orthoptics,  345-348 
Orthoptic  sights,  227-229 
Otter,  Captain,  429,  465 
Owen,  Major-General,  333 
Owl  target,  481,  432 


Paint-box,  340 

Painting  of  sights,  219,  222,  340 

Paradox  gun,  152 

Peel,  Colonel,  504 

Pendulum,  ballistic,  318,  336-338 

Penetration  of  303,  95,  141 


Performances  with  the  rifle,  474--490 

Physical  condition,  261,  262 

Picket  bullets,  39 

Pikes,  2,  3 

Pitch  of  spiral,  to  measure,  8 

depending  on  velocity,  15, 16 

adjustment  of,  18 
Pizley,  Capt.,  54 
Pizley  competition,  466,  466 
Plat,  Sir  Hugh,  5,  6,  27 
Plunkett,  Thomas,  197 
*  Point-blank,*  23,  131,  311-313 
Polishing-powders,  use  of,  356,  357 
Polygonal  rifling,  17,  19,  49 
Pool  shooting,  414,  415 
Popinjay  shooting,  433 
Position  of  bullet  in  flight,  37,  335 
Positions,  back,  197-210 

kneeUng,  181-186,  513 

prone,  190-197,  514 

sitting,  186-190 

standing,  159-181 
Powder,  ballistite,  93 

black,  compared  with  cordite, 
88,  100 

cannonite,  478,  487,  488 

cordite,  88,  92,  93 

Curtis  &  Harvey's,  40,  277 

deficiencies  of,  in  early  days,  40 

E.  C,  93 

nitro  cellulose,  93 

Schultz,  93 

smokeless,  76,  88,  143 

advantages  of,  126,  348 
effect  on  barrel,  92,  93, 
120 
Presbyopia,  345 
Pritchett  bullet,  47,  57 
Prone  position,  190-197,  514 
Prussian  needle  gun,  65,  66 
Pull-off,  173,  174,  363-366 
Pull-through,  93,  366,  358 
Pulsations  of  body,  206 
Purdey  rifle,  44,  45,  131 


QuEEN^s  Prize,  first  winner,  53 
ranges,  54 
record  and  winning  scores  of, 

482-484 
Sixty  and  Hundred,  413 


Range,  extreme,  304 
Kange-finders,  273-275 
Ranges,  377-387,  530,  532 

at  Bisley,  384,  386,  387 

at  Hythe,  425,  426 

at  Li^ge,  379 

at  Lucerne,  379,  380 


INDEX 


566 


Banges,  at  St.  Petersburg,  379 

Rifle  competitions,  53,  425-484 

at  Wormwood     Scrubbs,     377, 

double-barrelled,  147,  148 

378 

recoil  of,  308 

coDBtructiou  of,  882-387 

early  use  of,  6,  22 

gillery,  423 

gallery,  153 

in  Bwitzerland,  379,  381,  898- 

grip  of,  197,  317 

401 

interchangeable  parts,  48 

lighting  of,  377 

kick  of,  237,  308,  314 

miniature,  421 

movement  of,  307 

official  requirements,  385,  386 

performances  with,  474-490 

primitive    arrangements,    401, 

rests,  160,  307,  468 

402 

rust  in,  101,  353,  355-362 

running  deer,  437,  438                 ; 

warping  of  stock,:  232,  362 

screened,  377,  380                         > 

Rifles,  breech-loaders  - 

underground,  376,  387 

Borchardt,  479 

Kanken,  Lieut..  189,  437,  488 

Experimental  402,  72 

Rapid  firing,  375,  376,  464-467 

Green's,  65 

at  Wimbledon,  462,  463 

Martini-Enfield,  74 

Bapidity  of  fire  with  bolt  action,  99 

Martini  Henry,  61,  63,  71 

long-bow,  9 

Maynard,  479 

magazine  rifle,  99,  148,  460 

Metford,  61,  62 

musket,  24,  32 

Sharps,  65 

Ratchet-grooving,  67,  72 

Snider,  66-68 

Recoil,  139,  148,  198,  201,  236,  307, 

Soper,  463 

308,  315 

Terry's,  66 

effect  on  sighting,  308 

Westley-Bichards,  65 

Register  tickets  at  Bisley,  445^50 

Rifles,  magazine,  79-127 

Remington  action,  72 

foreign,  102-122 

Repeating  arms,  79,  80 

Harris,  84 

Rest    for    rifle,   160,  307-309,    468- 

Henry,  7a 

470 

Krag-Jorgensen,  84 

shooting,  468,  476 

Lee-Enfield  Mark  I.  and  1.*, 

table,  317 

86,  122,  123 

Ricochet  of  -303  bullets,  305,  306 

Lee-Metford,  Mark  I.  and  I*, 

hits,  counting  of,  417-419 

Mark  II.  and  II.*,  84,   86, 

banks  on  ranges,  377,  379 

122,  123 

Rifle,  accidents,  374 

compared   with    Mann- 

accuracy  of,  271 

licher,  487 

and  musket  compared,  24 

deviation  of,  94 

associations  and  c]ubs,  528 

extreme  range,  303 

at  fairs,  156 

scoring  with,  94 

breech -loading,  for  sport,  147 

penetration,  95,  141 

Brigade,  27,  304 

rapidity    of    fire,     123, 

shooting     stories,    197, 

124 

467,  468 

Service        ammunition 

care    of,  232,    362-367,    532- 

with,  367,  368,  488 

534 

standard  velocity,  303 

cleanin^r,  93,  155,  354-362 

table  of  angles,  293 

clubs,  516-544 

trajectory    tables,    146, 

competitions  and  tour- 

302 

naments,  533 

use  in  sport,  140,  147, 

conditions  for  afiiliation 

161 

•     to  N.R.A.,  536-638 

Mannlicher,  82,  146,  487 

English,  519-535 

Mauser,  82 

list  of,  539-644 

Rubin,  76 

Swiss,  519 

Spencer,  79,  80 

and    Rifle    corps,    520, 

Winchester,     79,     148,     154, 

624 

460 

conditions  at  Bisley,  452-455 

Rifles,  muzzle-loaders- 

Conference,  58 

Baker,  11,  28 

556 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


Rifles,  mnzsle-loading— 

Brunswick,  16,  31 

Enfield,  44,  45,  66,  68 

English  Millie,  48,  44 

Henry,  67 

Ingram,  57 

Lancaster,  82,  44 

Mefcford,  68-62 

Westiey-RicliArds,  57 
Bifles,  sporting — 

American,  129 

Baker,  Sir  S.,  129,  180, 181 

Ballard,  158 

Colt,  168 

Express,  182, 134,  136, 150. 151 

Elephant,  188 

Forsyth  on  130  181 

Greener's  Cape,  132 

Kentucky  Pea,  129,  180 

Mannlicher,  82,  148, 145,  151 

Marlin,  168 

rook  and  rabbit,  158 

sighting  of,  818 

smokeless  charge  for,  98 

Bifling,     11,     12,     16-17     {tee    also 

Orooving  and  Spiral) 

Boucher,  61 

Henry,  67,  71 

invention  of,  6 

Jacob,  47 

Lancaster,  44 

Metford,  60,  62,  86 

principle  of,  8 

of  '308,  60,  62,  92 

Whitworth,  48-51 
Bigby,  John,  322,  323,  388,  486,  489, 
498,  601 

grooving,  67 
Roberts,  Lord,  872,  876,  624 
Bobin  Hood,  272,  433 
Bobins,  Benjamin,  11,  28,  63,  88,  886 
Bohne,  Lieut.-Oeneral,  441 
Book  and  rabbit  rifles,  153-155 
Boss,  Sir  Charles,  99 

Edward,  53,  64,  482,  484,  485, 
498 

Capt.  Horatio,  64,  194,  519 
Bubln  rifle,  75,  824 
Bumford,  Count,  336 
Bunning  deer,  434-438 
Buntz,  Private,  457 
Busseil,  Sir  W.  H.,  520 
Bust  in  rifles,  101,  353,  356-362 

Saint  Robert,  Paul  de,  334 
Schmidt,  B.,  5,  516 
Bchiitzenmeister.  581 
Scoffern,  J.,  66,  164 
Score  book,  350,  351 
Scores,  challenging  of,  448,  452 


Scores,  registration  of,  447 

records.       Centennial      Inter- 
national (1876),  503 
Elcho     Shield     (1892), 

496 
Great       Britain       and 
America  (1877,  1882,. 
and  1888),  606-610 
Hague      The,       Inter, 
national  Match  (1899). 
611,  612 
Halford       and       Hyde 

teams  (1880),  506 
Ireland     and     America. 
(1874,  1875),  500,  501 
National  Challenge 

Trophy,  Scotch  team, 
494 
Scott,  J.  H.,  185 
Scrope,  183,  468 
SeloQS,  140 

Sharps  rifle,  65,  600,  604 
Shooting  case,  852 

from  rests,  468-476 
in  Switzerland,  880-882 
on  Sundays,  880,  401,  629,  530 
two-eyed,  254-267 
Shot-guns,  firing  ball,  162 
magazine,  149 
method  of  aiming  with,  264 
Shot,  Whitworth's  forms,  304,  305 
Shots,  grouping  of,  886 
Sight-protectors,  339 
Sighting  shots,  278,  291,  450,  461 
Sights,  adjustment  of,  218,  288-241 

alignment   of,   264,  265,   257, 

271 
aperture,  198,  228,  229 

for  cross-bows,  272 
bar,  219,  269 
bead,  222,  230,  282 
buokhom,  225 
care  of,  866 

hood  for  foresight,  223,  224 
lateral  adjustment  of,  217-220r 

268,259 
Lewes,  226 
Lyman,  286-288 
match  rifle  (backsight  and  fore- 
sights), 229,  280 
military,  backsigbtn,  214.  217 
foresights,  220 
long-range,'  244 
orthoptic,  227-229 
painting  of,  219,  222,  840 
sporting,  225,  226,  286 
telescopic,  246-268 
tilting,  259,  264-266 
to  blacken,  289 
uprightness  of,  264 


INDEX 


567 


Bitting  position,  186-190 

Skirmishing  fire,  307 

Slade,  Colonel,  76 

Sling,  178,  181 

Smeaton,  467 

Smith,  Martin,  414,  481,  482 

General  Philip,  84 

Professor  Jervis,  838 
Smokeless  powder  {see  Powder) 
Smythe,  Sir  John,  2 
Snider  rifle,  66,  68 
Sooi^t^  de  rHarqoebiue  of   Geneva, 

516 
Soper,  463 

Spencer,  Lord,  62,  491 
Spencer  Cup,  491 
Spencer  rifle,  79,  80 
Spin  of  bullet,  37,  321-324 
Spiral,  15-19 

Beaufoy's  opinion,  11, 12 

direction  of,  334 

Forsyth's  conclusions,  16, 130 

of  '303  rifle,  16,  86 

pitch  of ,  8 

rifling,  early,  4 
Spirit-level,  206,  209,  265,  266,  332 
Sporting  rifles  (see  Bifles,  Sporting) 
Spotting  discs,  396 
Spurry,  467 
Squadding,  445,  450 
■Squier,  Dr.,  314,  338 
Stability  of  bullet,  823 
Standing  position,  159-181 
Stevens  rifle,  154 
St.  George's  Bifles,  519 
St.  Petersburg  Convention,  48 
Stock,  care  of,  233,  362 

divided,  284 

loosening,  234,  366 
^Striking  energies,  138 
Sunday  shooting,  380,  401,  629,  530 
.Swiss  early  shooting,  516-519 

field  firing,  874,  375 

marksman,  164-166,  170 

ranges,  379,  381,  398-401 

rifle  clubs,  516-519 


Targets,  military,  421 

miniature,  423,  587 

moving,  484-448 

owl,  431,  432 

penetrable,  849,  891>^96,  487, 
438 

pool,  415 

Swiss,  401,  402,  428,  465 

torpedo,  431 

windmill,  392,  396 
Tartaglia,  312 
Tax  on  hair-powder,  170 
Team,  captain  of,  457, 458 

match  at  breakable  targets,  488, 
434 

shooting,  455-459 
Teasdale-Buckell,  G.  T.,  57 
Telephones,  405,  406 
Telescope,  350 
Telescopic  sights,  246-253 
Temperature,  effect  on  flight  of  bullet, 

277, 278 
Terminal  velocity,  269,  270 
Terry's  breech-loader,  65 
Thompson,  Maurice,  461 
Thorn,  Mr.  332 
Thouvenin  rifle,  36,  37 
Thiynb-trigger,  163 
TUting  of  sights,  259,  264-266 
Times  of  flight  of  '308  bullet,  442 
Tippins,  L.  B.,  269,  278,  280,323,  383, 

859 
Tobacco,  263 
Torpedo  target,  431 
Trajectory,  300-302 

diagrams,  298-308 

early  ideas  of,  811,  812 

Mannlicher,  145, 146,  308 

•303  rifle,  145,  146,  308 
Trigger,  hair  or  set,  174, 177 

pull-off  of,  173,  174,  368-365 

pulling  the,  168,  164 

thumb,  163 
Twist  {see  Spiral) 
Two-eyed  shooting,  254-257 
Turin  Boyal  Armoury,  4 


Tamibieb  bullet,  45 

Targets,  American,  415,  424,  428 

Bisley,  395-398,  419,  420 

electric,  417 

falling,  429-431,  433 

figure,  425-429 

gallery,  423 

International  Match,  411,  481, 
482 

iron,  387-390,  406 

Jeffries,  395 

Martin  Smitb,  421-424 


Ulsteb  Bifle  Association,  510 
Umbeyla  campaign,  276 
Unfair  practices,  456,  457 


Van  Dtke,  132,  225,  313,  461,  462 

Vaseline,  357 

Velocity,  initial,  103,  331 

muzzle,  328 

of  spin,  324 

standard  of  -303,  303 

terminal,  269,  270 


658 


THE    BOOK    OF    THE    RIFLE 


Ventometer,  34*5 
Vernier,  340-344 

scale  attached  to  sights,  242, 
341 
Vernon,  Lord,  619 
Vertical  fire,  267^270 
Vibrations  of  barrel,  308,  311,  314- 

319 
Victoria  Bifles,  12,  52,  519 
Vienna,  rifles  at,  5 
Vinci,  Leonardo  da,  312 
Virgil,  433 

VoUey.firing,  126,  127,  872,  373 
Volunteers'  shooting,  382, 383 
Voianteering  and  rifle  clubs,  520 


Wadb,  Lieut.-Colonel,  467 
Waldegrave,  Earl,  493 
Walker,  A.,  334 

Wallingford,  194,  467,  481,  511 
Walsh,  J.  H.,  132,  134,  135 
Wantage  competition,  466,  467 
War,  American,  24-28 

Austrian  and  Prussian,  66,  68 
humanity  in,  96 
in  Ghitral,  95,  141 
Bnsso-Turkish,  80 
South  African,   96,   127,    141, 
193.  246,   251, 
252,  349,  427 
Service  rifles  in, 

123 
waste     of     cart- 
ridges in,  124 
Turko-Greek,  141 
War  Office  Small  Arms  Ck>mmittees  : 
1853,  57 
1864,  66 
1866,  60,  61,  68 
1883,  72 


War  Office  Small  Arms  Committee : 

1886,  84,  334 

1890  86 
Watkln,  Colonel,  273,  316.  470 

y,  values  of,  103 

d* 

Wells'  diploma  picture,  54 

Wemyss,  Lord,  52,  54,  434,  441,  495 

Westley-Bichards  breech-loader,  65 

rifle,  57 
Whitehead,  H.,  202,  414 
Whitworth,    Sir  J.,   16,  17,   48,   49, 
•     58 

bullets,  304, 305 

rifle,  48-51,  247 
WUder,  Salem,  272,  370,  477 
Wilkinson,  H.,  15 

rifle,  44,  45 
Wimbledon  Cup,  486 
Winchester  rifle,  79,  148,  154 
Wind  allowance,  280-289 

at  Bisley,  218,  283 

effect  of  side,  283 

gauges,  217,  259,  260 

judgment    of,  262,    285,    289^ 
290 

resistance  of,  279 
Wire-brush,  93,  359 
Wolseley,  Lord,  372,  624 
Woolwich  Museum,  4 
Wormwood  Scrubbs  range,  377 


Teomanbt    and   rifle-practice,  524» 

529 
Young,  Major,  201,  289-241,  261,  477. 

488 


Zero  of  sighting  bcai£,  242,  243 
Zurich,  early  rifles  at,  5 
early  shooting,  516 


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