-~~- 



"IWHffKU * IfflPI'lUF m *«U!1 »¥'.■ 



at the range, West End, N. J. , Saturday, May 10. There 

 will be five competitions. Programmes may be obtained of 



Major lleury Fulton, 288 Broadway, N V. 



Sorjin Oabolina— -Aiken. — The heavy clouds over the city 

 on the 15th did not prevent a very big turn out on the open- 

 Lag day of the Aiken Sehuelzeufest, and the warm rays of a 

 bright sun soon made ail happy. At 10 o'clock the proces- 

 i,' i ted on Park avenue with Oapt. Wagencr in com- 

 mand. The Sehuetzen Club, of Augusta, Ga., were accom- 

 panied by the . C'iiucb Rifles as a guard of honor. At the 

 Sehuetzen Park M. D. B. Henderson delivered an Oration. 

 There was music and flags and military display, and, more 

 than all, the beauties of Georgia and Carolina were out in 

 force. The shooting opened at 18 o'clock. The Edgefield 

 Hussars defeated the Richmond Hussars with a score of 816 

 against 302. G. \V. Walker, of the Edgefield team, made 

 the best score (52), with Lieut. C. A. Fleming, of the Rich- 

 xnonds, next with 51. The second day was a very stormy 

 one, and the crowning of the king was suspended until fine 

 weather came. on. The principal scores stood : 



Team Prize — 1st prize, German Artillery; 2d prize, 

 Edgefield Rifles. General Target, 100 yards— J. A. Bolder, 66; 

 J. H. Wagener, 85 j J. G. Tompkins, 23; T. W. Coward, 

 22 ; 0. Kupper, 22. Sehuetzen Ring Target, 200 yards- 

 John D. Hahn, Augusta, 95; A. Guilfuss, Charleston, 93 ; C. 

 Heel, Chark-ston, 02; John Dryer, Augusta, 88; J. J. Bred- 

 enberg, Augusta, 86 ; D. Sancken, Augusta, 83 ; Jno. Stau- 

 bes, Jr., Aiken, 78 ; J. Hertz, Augusta, 77; D. Gercken, 

 Augusta, 76 ; Wra. Volker, Augusta, 76 ; Wni. Wessels, 

 Aiken, 75 ; A. D. Beckman, Aiken, 75 ; E. Hummer, Aiken, 

 75 ; C. F. Vonsprecken, Augusta, 71. Sehuetzen Centre 

 Target, 200 yards— J. J. Bredenberg, 38 ; D. Sancken, 84 ; 

 John D. Hahn, 27 ; A. Guilfuss, 18. The following is the 

 total of each team : Team No. 1, Clinch Rifles, 86 ; Team 

 No. 2, Edgefield Hussars. 74 ; Team No. 3, Oglethorpe In- 

 fantry, 70; Team No. 4, Richmond Hussars, 124; Team 

 No, 5, Edgefield Rifles, 12S; Team No. 6, Clarke infantry, 

 29; Team No. 7, German Artillery, 128. The Edgefield 

 Rifles and German Artillery tie resulted in the following 

 scores : Edgefield Rifles, 3S ; German Artillery, 60. 



New Oeleans. — Frogmoor Range; Crescent City Rifle Club; 

 the first prize a canoe, tho second a pool of $3, and the third 

 a bottle of champagne : 



LonlsHall 2" N ALoclt 14 



A Devi • w G JJeBuya 18 



LRLeBreton IS FTabrry ....15 



M cousin IT J ADelilanc 11 



F A Consul 16 



—The fourth contest for the Mobile Trophy, between teams 

 of militia came off at Frogmoor range on the 13th fast, The 

 Louisiana field artillery were the first holders of the prize, 

 then for two seasons the Washington Artillery teams were 

 successful, and now it passes back to the first holders. Shoot- 

 ing began at noon, with the wind strong and variable, and so 

 continued throughout the evening, blowing down one of the 

 500-yard targets, which caused considerable inconvenience 

 and necessitated the finishing of the match on one target. 

 The trophy was won by the Louisiana Field Artillery by the 

 following scores : 



Louisiana Field Artillery. 

 200 yards. 



.Tolin Glynn, Jr 3 4 4 8 3 6 4—26 



ELisehwlcil ......4 4 4 3 4 4 5— 2S 



if galloon 34»44B4-a| 



U B Thompson 4 6 4848 4— 'it 



K Rereesreay 4 4 3 2 4 4 5—26 



EGueim.... 8 3 4 8 8 3 2—23 



JJFLatll 3 343 382-21 



PC Plirel 2 1344 3 0-20 



Total •■••«* 



Washington Artillery. 



Wm Arms 4 4 5 3 5 4 3-28 



Dudley Selpll 4 4 4 5 6 4 4—3(1 



a W Charlton 3 4 4 4 4 5 4— 2S 



PMicliel .' 1 5 4 ' i 2 'i - -;'" 



HM. Bradford....... 4 4 3 4 .. 3 4— la 



J USporl f 3 5 3 4 8—22 



^olUlTlUer'.".'.""'.".'.'.'.'.'.'.:".'.^ 4 2 4 4 4 4-25 



First practice of Lake View Club at the new range, April 

 19, MO yards: 

 Oram — 6 



Til! 



Macauley 4 



Drury 4 'i i 



Bradley 4 4 5 



llcnroiln 5 3 4 



Colehour 4 4 4 



Thlelolee r 3 5 



Burns 4 3 3 



McConnell ...4 4 i 



.A r, 5 5 4 5 4 J 4 

 545543 



5 5 4 4 4 4 



4 4 4 4 4 4 



5 4 6 5 3 6 

 4 4 5 14 4 

 4 6 6 4 4 4 

 4 4 4 5 4 5 

 4 4 4 4 4 4 



1.— If, 

 4—41 

 5—11 

 J- IS 

 5-48 



;- 15 

 J- 41 



3--H 



5. -ii 

 4-40 



500 yards. Totals. 

 4 5 3 4 4 4 4— 23— 54 



3 4 4 5 2 5 0—23—51 

 £3 834 3 5-21—49 

 2 5 2 4 5 8—21—43 



a a a a 4 3 4—21—17 



3 2 2 5 2 2—16—39 



4 3 2 2— Ii— 52 



5 4 4 4 2 3 3-25—15 



4 4 5 5 5 2 4— 29— 5T 

 3 3 4 3 4 8—25—55 



Total 



Continental Guards. 

 D Rosenberg 2 3 3 2 4 3 4-21 



Wm 1-lereu 44S 8 > 4 S-.3 



E G Catlialonsnc j tit.. ',' ;".",' 



.1 KKeuaucl.. 4334 3 4 5-26 



.lolin WUSOD 3 4-8 0-25 



I- A Thn.1 4 S 4 ft o 'i 4— 'in 



WJMaiiby" ' S 48*46 0-80 



..361 



3 3 4 4 5 6 5—29—50 



3 2 3 5 5 4 4—26—50 



4 3 8 3 2 4 8— 22— 15 

 3 4 5 3 2— IT— 44 

 2 5 4 4 4—17—43 

 (14 2 8 3 2—14—39 

 2 3 4—11—36 

 3 5 3 2 8 0—15-35 



Total... 



..::-<*.! 



The silver cup for the best individual score went to Lieut. 

 Sclph. For the Lilienthal Diamond Badge, at 500 yards, 

 military rifles, 15 shots, the leading scores stood i 



_„ ., .„ coir.ii 3 3 4 3 5 4 3 5 4 4 3 6 5 5 8—59 



S^/rm! 1 4 4 i 5 •:• t 2 2 4 4 * i 8 3-5(1 



kSh2^ ...42342124430424 8—17 



.Von' u u Cn, T. ::::■.. :::::::::::::" .uHuioonno^. 



Illinois— Catowo, April 12.— At the invitation of the Lake 

 View Rifle Club, the members of the Thomas Post Club par- 

 ticipated in the opening of the new range at Lake View to- 

 day It was as perfect a place of enjoyment for a rifleman as 

 it is possible to find anywhere, and there was a banquet 

 which preceded the shooting, and which was provided by the 

 wives and Bisters of our comrades at Lake View. The score 

 stood thus (distance, 200 yards j position, off-hand ; wind, 

 none) : 



Oram * * * J « 



Tyrrell * \ t t i 



Hobba * *. t t i 



Austin J \i\ i 



j££» 4 4 t I 4 



I'r.»rn:m * ,15 5 



HenroLln J * i it 



Macuuley * | * * J 



SStonfieii 



mt t * * * i 



Chenowetn % till 



ssu .. If 



S::;:;;;r::::::;:::q 



HaacueU •* 4 3 2 . - - L(j _ 



Omo-Oiminnati, April 11.— The Cincinnati Shooting and 

 Fishing Club had their Beventh competition for club prizes 

 to-day , distance, 200 yards ; position, off-hand : 

 First Class. r 



W Caldwell 4 till it 



I) T Disney * « » J j * * 



W 11*11 - 4 4 5 4 4 5 4 



Second Class. „ . 



AKoeluer. > 6 4 4 3 5 3 



W Campbell 



B 6 5-44 



4 5-43 



4 6 4—42 



•1 3 4—42 



4 4 4—11 



4 3 4—40 



4 D 4-40 



3 4 6—39 



4 4 4—39 

 4 4 4—38 

 4 4 5—38 



2 8 6— 38 



3 4 4— S7 



2 3 4—36 



4 4 6-36 



3 8 B— 82 



4 a 2— :n 



3—80 



6 6-43 

 4 6—43 

 3 i.—i\ 



;;,'5 4 5 2 8 4 4 



3 6-41 



4 4-38 



0. 



Ripi.e Sookk Score Books.— For best improvement in rifle 

 practice a complete record of all work done should be care- 

 fully preserved for study. The best thing yet devised for 

 this purpose is E. A. Pe'rry's " Green Book." We can sup- 

 ply the same. Price, $1. 



—Lovers of off-hand shooting are likely to get enough of it, 

 for there is a match on the tapis which will require the stand- 

 ing position at the very long range. 



Pbonb vs. Back Positions.— The circular of Major Jones, 

 Secretary of the National Rifle Association, is drawing out 

 opinions from all- quarters on the matter of position for mili- 

 tary shooting. This week we give opinions from tho East 

 and from the West, representing tho ideas of two live rifle 

 clubs. Next week we shall continue the discussion, and 

 should be pleased to hear from those who have experience 

 on the subject : 



Milwaukee, April 14, 1879. 

 Majob James H. Jones, Sbo. G. N. R. A. , New Yoek : 



Dear Sir — I have your favor of the 29th ult. asking my 

 views in reference to permitting competitors in military 

 matches to shoot in other than the prone position at dis- 

 tances over 200 yards. In answer, I would say that my 

 views are very decided that any position should be permitted 

 provided no artificial rest is used. There are three positions 

 used in rifle shooting, to wit : the standing, off-hand posi- 

 tion ; the prone, lying on the face position, and the back 

 position. I believe a good soldier should be able to shoot 

 from all these positions. First — The erect off-hand position; 

 regarding the use of this alone for the short ranges I believe 

 there is no controversy. Second — The prone or lying on the 

 face position is one which all soldiers should be able to use, 

 because in actual warfare there may be occasions and cir- 

 cumstances in which it may be very desirable to call it into 

 practice. Third — The back position is of all others the one 

 which all long-range marksmen should be able to use, be- 

 cause in that position they can do far better shooting than 

 they can on their face. The international contests between 

 the America! and the English, Irish and Scotch teams have 

 shown conclusively the superiority of the back position. 

 The Old Country riflemen are becoming gradually convinced 

 of this and are now adopting it. At Wimbledon last sum- 

 mer, although more men shot from the prone position than 

 from the back, yet of the sixty highest scores for the Queen's 

 Cup forty were made from the back. Mr. Humphrey and 

 some others, who had changed from the prone to the back 

 position, showed a marked improvement in their shooting. 

 The international contests at Creedmoor show that more 

 rapid good shooting can be done from the back than from 

 the face. The American team always got through first. 

 The reason probably is that the marksman can on his back 

 get more rapidly into a steady aim than he can on his face 

 with his rifle resting on his extended left arm. In the latter 

 position the rifle will wiggle. When awaiting orders to fire, 

 the soldier can sit very comfortably in a position from which 

 he can fall on bis back in an instant, when, in order to get 

 on his face readily, he must sit on his knees— a very uncom- 

 fortable position. Again, the soldier can spring to his feet 

 more speedily from the back position than he can from the 

 prone. Some object to the back position because they say 

 that a soldier should always keep his face to the foe. This 

 is mere sentirncntalism. in the back position he keeps his 

 eye on the enemy as surely as on the prone. The recoil of 

 the rifle will punish the soldier more severely in the prone 

 position than if he lie on his back. On the face, the rifle 

 rests against the hard bone of the shoulder and the body is 

 so braced that it cannot yield, while on the back, whether 

 in the Fulton position or with the rifle in the arm-pit, the re- 

 coil of the rifle will not be felt so much as it is against the 

 hard shoulder-blade. I think, however, the soldier should 

 be able to shoot from the face, and it might be good policy 

 to have one range— say the 500— at which he must shoot 

 from the prone position. All soldiers, however, should be 

 permitted to use the back position at the long ranges for the 

 reasons above given, and others with which I will not detain 

 you. It has been said that the soldier might as well shoot 

 from a fence or the branch of a tree as from his back. Well, 

 if he is sure that he will always have a fence to shoot from, 

 he should learn how to shoot from a fence. But he cannot 

 be sure of this ; he can, however, be sure of always having 

 his own body along with him, and hence he should be al- 

 lowed to use it in such a position as will insure the best 

 marksmanship. Therefore I say let the soldier use any po- 

 sition he sees fit over 300 yards. 

 Yours respectfully, Jons Johnston 



Prest. Milwaukee Rifle Club, 



Boston, April 17, 1879. 

 Editor Fobest and Stebam ; 



I suppose the desire of the N. R. A. for opinions upon 

 position for military matches at long distances is simply to 

 get a vote from riflemen and see which side wins by the 

 number and strength of the opinions. But it will not prove 

 anything as General Wingate almost exhausted the subject 

 infeVorO* the front position. So if we say anything it 

 must be for some other. I can say that I hardly care which 

 side wins, as I am not a military man. I graduated in 63. 

 My hobby is small-bore or match rifles. But as we have dis- 

 carded the front, prone or belly position for one more firm, 

 steady and sure, and we have proved most conclusively to 

 the foreign teams that they must take the back position if 

 they would compete with us, it almost seems folly to com- 

 pel our soldierB to retain the discarded position for long dis- 

 tances. I always supposed that rifle practice was to teach 

 the soldier to hit the enemy and to educate the citizen so 

 that he would quickly drop into the ranks with a familiarity 

 of the rifle that would make an efficient soldier of kimm a 

 short time. What is a soldier ready to do battle V What 

 does he look like, and how is he accoutered ? An old cam- 

 naiener (many of us are familiar with the picture)— his hav- 

 ersack crowded with five days' rations, one hundred rounds 

 of ammunition in hiseartiidge-boxand stowed about his per- 

 son canteen of water, bayonet and rifle, his knapsack gone 

 long ago or laid aside forthe fight. It is the quartermaster s 



fault that his clothing is so dilapidated. The question is, 

 what is the best position for him to take to hit what he aims 

 at? Can this question be settled by opinions from us that 

 know nothing about it ? Would it not be better to have 

 competition drills or matches? Have the men accoutered as 

 they would be for regular work — as they were in '(il-'65 — 

 not with a simple belt, carrying their cartridges in their 

 hands. Let us find from actual practice which is the best 

 position for the most effective work, and then teach all the 

 soldiers to shoot in that position when on drill. I have 

 practiced a little in a position which is very nearly the one 

 that I use in long-range. It may help some one, so I will 

 give it. The cartridge box will bo brought to the front so 

 as to be convenient to the right hand ; seize the canteen and 

 haversack with the left, hand, holding the rifle with the 

 right ; first Sit, then lie down partly upon the right side ; 

 cross the left leg over the right. You are now in a linn 

 position. Lay the rifle upon the left thigh near the knee. 

 You can put the butt in the right arm-pit or pass it back over 

 tho right upper arm, taking up the recoil with the gun-strap 

 by putting it over the left knee or left foot. I prefer the 

 left foot, as it is quickly done. This position has some dis- 

 advantages, but you can load and lire keeping the rifle in 

 position, doing the whole work with the right hand. The 

 left hand'seizes the 6tock about six inches from the butt and 

 steadies the rifle. You can remain in this x'osition a long 

 time, and if the neck becomes tired tho right hand is close 

 by to rest it upon, and the rifle does not have to bo laid 

 down in the dirt or upon tbe wet grass while you are resting. 

 You can get into and out of tho position very quickly, and 

 shoot accurately nearly twice as rapidly as in the front posi- 

 tion Then what an advantage we of largo feet would have. 

 No need of digging a hole; put tho feet together and lie 

 behind the breastwork. Our army would look like the 

 Zulus if when they went into action they unsluug knapsacks 

 and carried them in their left hands to rest their rifles over. 

 A change of position, I fear, would rob them of their rests. 

 If a soldier is to wear his knapsack into the fight he will 

 have to take the front position; but "handle cartridge" 

 would be a difficult manoeuvre, and I should think that aim- 

 ing would be equally difficult. Put the knapsacks on in the 

 competitions and see what will be the result. The soldier 

 eould be taught the front position to include 500 yards and 

 some better position for the longer distances. The off-hand 

 position should be taught to include 300 yards. Then the 

 soldier would be efficient and ready to take the position best 

 suited to the circumstances, for we must never forget that 

 the sole object in firing is to hit, and the soldier must be 

 trained to that point alone. Misses never count five ; the 

 white disk tells its story. I hope to see a fair competition 

 to decide the best position. W. H. Jaokson. 



Those Gbizzlies. — Dauphin, Pa., April 21. — Mr. l-l>liior -. 

 With reference to " Bear Paw's " letter in your last issue, I 

 am very sorry to find that I did not give my companion 

 credit for his share in the killing of the~six grizzlies. I did 

 not see my letter after it was published, owing to my ab- 

 sence from home and the paper's having been sent as usual 

 to a friend in England. I fully intended to say "we killed" 

 instead of " I killed," and I beg to apologize for my mistake. 

 Then as to the two bears killed with one Express ball. The 

 first was the one shot at a bait by our driver and myself, his 

 ball being one from a '73 model Winchester, which, Bred 

 from above the bear, struck him in the chest, ranging down 

 wards through the muscles and hitting no vital organ, did 

 not injure him in the least, as the force of it owned, where- 

 as my bullet killed him at once. The second was the bear 

 on which my companion and I crept, hitting him in the 

 hind leg and chest. The shot, in the hind leg would certain- 

 ly not have killed him, and my reason for claiming that in 

 the chest was, that any rifle carrying nearly a drachm more 

 powder made a much worse wound than my companion's, 

 and the wound in the leg was not such a one. as my rifle 

 would have made. In any case, whoever fired the shot 

 whichkilled him, it was a single one with an Express ball. 

 To show the effect of such a ball, a bear killed by me and 

 struck in the eye had the inside of the head smashed to 

 pieces, the skull being very much cracked, and some ot the 

 lead finding its way through the bone and lodging under 

 the skin at the side of the head. With reference to my 

 opinion of Express rifles being formed from what others had 

 told me of them, I have used three double Express rifles 

 during the last eleven years as my only 

 game, two of them being 50 bores by Lang and Dougal and 

 my present Title, and on two trips my companion has also 

 used a single Express by Lang, so that I may fie said to have 

 had some practical experience of them. The Express ball 

 which I mentioned as expanding to ten or twelve times its 

 own diameter, was that used in the 50 bore rifles 1 have 

 mentioned, and I find that on referring to my companion's 

 journal we three times cut out the ball from the 

 side of a deer, expanded so as to measure from 

 inches in diameter, which would bo larger than I stated. 

 These rifles carried a coiled case, using only 4i drs, powder 

 or about 118 grains and a ball weighing 840 grains. My 

 present rifle can be made to take 188 grains, and I never use 

 less than 120 grains for a 260 grain ball, and I find thai with 

 this charge it smashes the bullet up much more than the 50 

 bores did. ■ Viatob. 



^ hmJ §un. 



GAME IN SEASON IN APRIL. 



Wild docks, geese, brant, tic, 



Canada— Ontario, April 15.— Two of our local sportsmen, 

 Judge Jellett, of the neighboring county of pii nee Edward, 

 and Alderman R. Croft Hulme, of Ihis city, had great sport 

 among the ducks and swans at the St. Clair Flats last week. 

 Their bag, most of which was made within ten hours, con 

 sisted of 180 ducks, principally red-heads, and 18 swans, 

 the latter of which were got by torchlight. ? 



New HAitPSBres— Sewud Lake, April 18.— Snow four or 

 five feet deep in the woods, and still snowing eight days^ in 

 the week. c> 



Dover, April 14.— Robins, blue birds, and others have 

 made their appearance in large numbers. Large numbers of 

 black duck are shot at the beaches around us. G. A. W. 



Massachusetts— SaUm, April 18.— Awful weather, with 

 heavy rain, sleet and snow. Some scattering snipe along ; 

 Whipple got two on Miles River. Very wet on this ground. 



