94 VARIETIES OF SHOOTING. 



military rifle it is thought a sine qud non for the purpose of 

 safety that the cartridges should not contain any detonating 

 powder, because they may explode, when collected in masses, 

 with a most disastrous result. But in the sporting rifle 

 there is little or no danger of such an accident ; and several 

 very efficient breech-loading pieces are used with cartridges 

 containing detonating powder. All this will, however, be 

 fully described in alluding to each particular rifle. 



TARGET SHOOTING with the rifle is a very common amuse- 

 ment in some countries, and in Switzerland it is quite a 

 national pastime. Latterly it has been gradually becoming 

 more popular in England, but as yet it cannot be said to have 

 obtained a hold upon the people. In the army it is, of 

 course, regularly practised as a part of the business of the 

 profession; but what I am now alluding to is target shoot- 

 ing with the rifle as an amusement, conducted in the same 

 way as modern archery. There is a Swiss club in London, 

 whose members meet at regular intervals at the Hornsey 

 Wood Tavern ; ' and there are two rifle regiments of volun- 

 teers the Victoria, and the Honourable Artillery Company, 

 but the two last are of a military rather than a civil character, 

 though composed of civilians. 



The TARGETS, whether for civil or military purposes, 

 should be carefully backed by some dense substance imper- 

 vious to balls, and no mere fence of planks should be relied 

 on. A wall or a faggot pile will either of them suffice, but 

 nothing less impervious will do. The height should depend 

 upon the distance at which the shots are fired ; but for two 

 or three hundred yards, a height of twenty feet and a 

 breadth of thirty will secure against accident, though I 

 have seen even this missed; but then such an unpractised 

 shot should not be allowed to display his ignorance at a 

 longer distance than fifty yards, when he could not fail to 

 effect a hit. In the middle of this large bulk an iron or 

 brick target is placed six feet high, and for sporting purposes 

 generally square or circular, with a bull's-eye in the centre, 

 surrounded by rings, as in archery. In military shooting 

 the target is six feet by two, and is marked off by perpen- 

 dicular and transverse lines into small squares. The Swiss 

 use linen squares set in frames, each of which is marked 



