FOREST AND STREAM. 



393 



Second Class. 



AKoeMer i 4 4 5 4 3 i 4 4 5 4 



14444446 -1—123 



Stone 6 .-, I 4 * 4 4 i 1 4 4 5 ■! 4 4 



114 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4—334 



WOamphfU 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 3 8 3 5 



5 4 6 4 i 4 4 4 3 B 4 4 3 5 3—121 



J WtBtOIl 3 4 4 .'. 5 3 4 B 4 4 4 4 4 4 



4444544354 4 448 4—117 



The deciding ecores of the match are ; 

 First Class. 



G Hanson 123 131 209 W Hull 121 134 245 



W Caldwell 130 125 S66 O Topi -123 113 V3I5 



LFeiiiler 125 123 24S M rHndeun 112 HB 225 



Second Ctas?. 



AKoenler 123 123 'JSi W Campbell 121 121 242 



4 Whetstone 120 IS* 244 J Weston 120 11T S8T 



WiBODssm— MilwmiJtte, June 13.— The Milwaukee Rifle 

 Club had their usual practice to-day at the National Home 

 flange. The weather was reasonably propitious for good 

 score?, but the smoke from the Bay View Rolling Mills and 

 the Minerva Furnace Company's works so filled the Menomi- 

 nee Valley, where l he range is situated, that at times it was 

 impossible to discern anything hut a dim outline of the bull's- 

 eye. The following wet , . hij al scores, the distance 900 

 yaids, any rifle, any position : 



Johnston 6 45555G6464454 3-6S 



Baaus 4 5 445444853655 6— G7 



iVetfes '.4 5335655535454 6—66 



Drake 4 534653 5 454354 4-64 



Berry - ,8 4 3 36 4 65545434 4—63 



The Best Scobx.— Richmond, Ya , June 6— Editor Forest 

 and Stream : I write you for information on the subject of 

 Mr. J. B. Osborn's score, in the match between the Massa- 

 chusetts and Ahington teams. You have it; 



5 11 { 30 11 11 6 10 11—94) 



6 5 o 9 11 10 10 11 3 n— My Massachusetts count. 

 S 9 11 9 10 5 10 11 10 11-S4J 



According to the targets used by us the Creeduioor count 

 of these three scores would have been 42, 39, 42, while you 

 have it 48, 46, 48- We take it, of course, that the Cre 

 count is reduced from the scores made on the Massachusetts 

 target. If he shot sixty shots, thirty on the Massachusetts 

 and thirty on the Creedmoor, then no explanation is neces- 

 sary. It I am not much mistaken a Mr. Pyson, who was at 

 one time a member of Mr. Jackson's club, made in 15 shots, 

 168 Mass., 73 Creedmoor. I make this reference to Mr. 

 Jackson's score, having seen from the New York papers of 

 June 2 that it was the largest score ever recorded, and we are 

 anxious to know the facte. Be kind enough to publish, as 

 soon as you get the information, whether the score of C. P. 

 Stokes (Mass. tatgetj, of 48 in ten shots, 109 Massachusetts, 

 has ever been beaten or equalled. Handicap. 



Mr. Osborn's score was made upon a ring target, one inch 

 rings, and not on a Massachusetts target, therefore 12, 11, 10, 

 9 is in the bull's-eye, and the 48, 40, 48 is correct. A Mr. 

 Osgood, formerly of the Massachusetts Club, made the score 

 of 162 Mass., 72 Creedmoor, but he shot from a building, and 

 the range (Spy Pond) was thirty yards short, and he cleaned 

 his title after every shot. Capt. Jackson shot out of doors, 

 full BOO yards, and did not clean, using his Sharps mid-range 

 rifle. Therefore the Captain has the largest score, off-hand, 

 200 yards, on record. 



— A Denver paper speaking of Capt. Jackson's claim to the 

 best score at fifteen shots, off-band, says the claim is a mis- 

 taken one, and says that C. Gove, of Denver, at the Olympic 

 Park Range in that city, in April last, made 73 in the possi- 

 ble 75. 



Amebican Kifi.es tn Afekja.— There is room for rifle clubs 

 as well as Zulus in South Africa, and the last mail brings ac- 

 count of the doings of the Bloemfonteni Rifle Club in Orange 

 Free State, on Aionday, April 14. The Orange Free Stale 

 challenge trophy was competed for at 800, 900 and 1,000 yds. 

 The trophy was a massive affair of silver, and consisted of a 

 bowl-form cup. richly chased with Greek scrolls, the bowl 

 being embellished with the shield, flags, and arms of the 

 Orange Free c.tate. which are splendidly executed. It stands 

 on a silver pedcsial, adorned with four lion masks in medalli- 

 ons and four paneled shields for winners' names to be en- 

 graved on. Al each end of the pedestal there are projections, 

 supporting on the right a finely modeled statue of an officer, 

 and ou the left a private soldier. The weight of the trophy 

 is 127 ounces, and the cost, including carriage, £150. It wiil 

 remain the properly o£ the Association, but the champion 

 shot, if he gives adequate security and vouches for the safety 

 of this beautiful specimen of art, will, possibly, be permitted 

 to decorate his sideboard with it, so long as he remains the A 

 1 shot. The medals to be presented to the winners are 

 mounted with bars, having a buckle and blue ribbon attached. 

 On the plain side the winners' names are to be engraved ; on 

 the obverse are three riflemen in relief. The whole have 

 been manufactured by the Goldsmith Alliance, Cornhill, Don- 

 dou; and their design and workmanship reflect great credit 

 on that well-known company. K. E. Rushby, the President 

 of the Association, was the winner at the first contest, and 

 used in it an American Remington long-range rifle. W. B. 

 Gradwell was second with a Rigby, and C. Voight third with 

 another Remington. 



AMATECTi and Psora bskbjai. — Editor Forest and Stream 

 Have read with much interest the discussion relating to the 

 handicaping of professional riflemen and what constitutes a 

 professional, which is a subject very pertinent lo the true in- 

 terests of rifle shooting, and which the National Rifle Asso- 

 ciation has brought, before riflemen for consideration. Fully 

 believing handicapping necessary, but undecided as to where 

 an amateur steps in and the professional out, which has 

 drawn opinions from some and a proposition from "Handi- 

 cap" in your last issue that the highest score in any previous 

 match be taken as a basis. Should there then exist a'linc. be- 

 t-wees the profesional amateur, should it not rather be erased 

 in a thorough s> stem of equalization of scores according to 

 previous merit? The professional who may have in the be- 

 ginning of his shooting carreer labored under adverse circum- 

 stances, but by perseverance and a strict attention to temper- 

 ance in all its forms, have attained his present perfection can- 

 not but feel aggrieved at being laid aside at the beginning of 

 what OTigUt lo be his usefulness. What is the encouragement 

 to the beginner if as soon as he has made himself a name he 

 he put on the shelf f Taking 47 as the high..; 

 made in match shooting, and 42 that of another, the difference 

 between the two is rather great, for the rifleman who has made 

 47 has done about all there is to do, or about al 1 that ib expected 

 of him, ub the next point comes harder than three before ; 

 experienced shots understand this. While the one who has 

 made 42, three or four points are quite within reach. The 

 handicap;should not be more than half of this, and none to 



those who have made as high, as 47, or rather between those 

 riflemen who have made from 47 to 50. This ratio is more 

 particularly applicable to 200 yardoff-hand shooting. Ireally 

 hope some definite result may be obtained in handicaping and 

 that al) riflemen may meet on as near equal terms as possible. 

 Coxsackie, JV. Y. Amateur 



For Forett and Stream and Rod and Gun 

 SIGHTING, "PULL-OFF" AND RECOIL. 



AMONG the many perplexing problems offered in long- 

 range rifle shooting, not the least misunderstood is the 

 variation shown in the results attained by different marksmen, 

 of equal steadiness and merit, firing with the same gun and 

 the same charges. It not infrequently happens that, after 

 a rifleman has adjusted rear sight and wind gauge accurately 

 for his use, and has made several shots, striking not merely 

 the bull's eye, but almost the same spot on the distant target, 

 a comrade, taking the same gun, and firing under the same 

 conditions of wind, temperature and charges, will make a 

 succession of centres, inners, or even provoking outers, all 

 grouped in some particular spot more or less distant from the 

 bull's eye. The most obvious explanation and the one 

 usually offered and accepted, is that the "pull-ofT" of one 

 man differs from that of another, and that, although introduc- 

 ing an aberration into the act of firing, this aberration is 

 a nearly constant factor for each marksman. The explana- 

 tion, however, leaves much to be desired in point of con- 

 clusiveness. It may, and probably does, account for many 

 eccentricities in the course of the bullet as it leaves the 

 muzzle of a novice's gun, but the trained rifleman needs a 

 more convincing reason. Leaving out of sight the peculiar- 

 ities of aim and pull-off of thpse who involuntarily, and 

 pardonably perhaps, shut their eyes at the instant of dis- 

 charge, and whose statements as to the accuracy of their 

 holding may be regarded with some leniency of doubt ; and 

 confining the investigation to the more numerous class of 

 adepts who habitually keep the foresight and the bull's eye 

 coincidently in view up to the instant when the perfectly 

 visible flash and smoke from the muzzle of their guns relieve 

 eye and muscle of the strain undergone, — we find that such 

 marksmen are amply cognizant of any variation arising from 

 a defective pull-off, and can for the most part announce the 

 fact, and even the extent, of the divergence of the bullet 

 from the intended line of sight. 



It may be conjectured, and even asserted with some degree 

 of probability, that the movement of the rifle itself under" the 

 influence of the explosive shock, is a more potential element 

 in determining such variations than is generally believed. If 

 a gun or rifle were reduced to its simplest element, denuded 

 of lock and stock, and left a mere cylinder of metal, closed at 

 one end and resting loosely on a plane surface, and to be dis- 

 charged by some unmechanical contrivance, the electric spark 

 for instance, it will be readily seen that the conditions of re- 

 coil would be set at, their simplest factors of uniformity. 

 Centre of gravity and axial line of bore being coincident, the 

 primary recoil, taking place to a minute but easily calculable 

 extent while the projectile is still passing through the brief 

 space from breech to muzzle, would simply lie in the back- 

 ward prolongation of the line of the bullet's flight, and, but 

 for outward causes, would exert no deflecting influence on 

 the initial path of the shot. But, in point of fact, a rifle is a 

 highly complex structure. Its centre of gravity lies con- 

 siderably below the axis of the bore, while the recoil of main- 

 spring aud hammer causes the mechanical shock which 

 precedes the explosion of the powder charge, to exert its 

 percussive effect in a direction nearly always at an appreci- 

 able angle to the line of fire. H it were possible to suspend 

 a rifle in the air, like Mohammed's coffin, touching no sup- 

 port, and to pull the triger by some self-acting device of 

 clock work set in the stock, the bullet's path would not abso- 

 lutely follow the axial line of the bore as sighted, but would 

 be a resultant of the two forces of recoil and percussion, 

 modified by tbe position of the centre of gravity. 



That the path of the bullet is perceptibly deflected by the 

 change wrought at the instant of discharge and while it is 

 stil! journeying the length of the barrel, is made clear by the 

 now familiar investigation of the so-called anomaly of the 

 downward "drop" of the muzzles of small arms, conducted 

 in January, 1876, by Major J. P. Farley of the Ordnance 

 Department. It is known, and demonstrated by r those ex- 

 periments, that an increase in the charge of small arms fired 

 from the shoulder causes a greater downward deflection of 

 the bullet's course at the shorter ranges ; that this apparently 

 contradictory result is brought about by the primary move- 

 ment of the gun while the bullet is yet coursing through the 

 barrel ; and that this " muzzle drop" always takes place with 

 charges heavy enough to produce a smart recoil. 



If, therefore, different positions, or physical peculiarities 

 of riflemen, interveue to modify, in however slight a degree, 

 the first movement of the rifle at the instant of discharge, so 

 that the primary recoil does not take place along the line it 

 would follow if suspended in the air, the result, will be to de- 

 fleet the bullet from the path it would theoretically follow. 

 And such differences of position or physical conditions, while 

 reasonably constant in the case of each individual, may 

 naturally be supposed to vary in the case of different in- 

 dividuals sufficiently to account for the changes in the path 

 of the bullet from the same gun when in the hands of 

 different marksmen. 



Taking the extreme cases of two men, one of whom fires in 

 the toe-rest, position, while the other adopts that made famous 

 through the advocacy of Fulton and Gildersleeve, it is easy 

 to see that iu the former method of holding the "drop"" 

 anomaly is almost entirely counteracted by the firm support 

 given to the muzzle of the rifle, while iu the latter, or 

 •'Fulton's position," the barrel is supported midway on a 

 more yielding rest, and the primary downward tendency of 

 the muzzle has freer play. That there is such an instantan- 

 eous downward aberration at the outset can be easily tested 

 and witnessed to by any one who tries the Fulton position 

 resting the head on the butt of the rifle without an interven- 

 ing cushion, for the smart upward shock on the hard bones 

 of the skull just behind the ear is perfectly perceptible and 

 not readily forgotten. As a matter of fact the toe-rest 

 position needs less elevation of rear-sight than the other, and. 

 if the sight is not correspondingly changed, the shot strikes 

 higher. 



Where two men adopt what appears to be an identical 



position, there may still be personal peculiarities sufficient to 

 account for a higher or lower flight of the bullet, all other 

 things being equal. For instance, take the now favorite 

 position adopted by Partello, Hyde and others, with more or 

 less modification, where the barrel rests on the crotch formed 

 by clasping the right knee around the left ankle, while the 

 butt rests in the hollow of the armpit, and the gun is steadied 

 at the butt or in front of the breech by the firmly clasped 

 left hand. One marksman may be fleshier than another, to 

 the extent even of the barrel resting on the right thigh instead 

 of on the crotch formed by the crossed shin bones, and thus 

 give a more yielding support to the barrel, to the result of 

 shooting lower. Another may take up the direct recoil more 

 firmly than the average, and so cause a perceptible variance. 

 In the Fulton position, one marksman may confine the butt 

 more tightly beneath the head, or with a less clastic cushion 

 than another with corresponding change of angle in the bul- 

 let's path. These considerations would seem to be sufficient 

 to account for variations in elevation between marksmen 

 adopting the same position and using the same rifle and car- 

 tridges, without invoking the vague and uncertain explana- 

 tion of the "pull-off." 



The lateral deviations remain to be accounted for, and 

 are apparently more puzzling and less explicable. The 

 writer, using the crossed knee and arm-pit rest, and shooting 

 the same gun with a brother marksmen in a dead calm at 

 1,000 yards, has put three or four bullets to the left of and 

 below the bull's eye, almost in the same spot, not six inches 

 apart, while his comrade, shooting alternately with him has 

 made the like number of " carton" bull's eyes. Then, ehangj 

 ing elevation and wind gauge to suit his holding, and 

 pursuing the experiment, he has in turn made three or four 

 "carton" shots, while his companion grouped his bullets to 

 the right of and above the bull's eye,— made " two o'clock 

 mags" in short. This variance would seem most readily ex- 

 plicable, in the light of the considerations advanced above, 

 by assuming that, through some pbysicial cause, the butt of 

 the gun describes, at the instant of discharge, a path different 

 for each individual, and not due to the jerk of the right hand 

 in pulling the trigger. The experiments of Major Farley 

 show conclusively that the muzzle of the gun moves back- 

 ward as well as downward at the moment of the explosion, 

 describing a small, but definite and constant arc. Unless the 

 rifle stock rests against a rock or post, this backward motion 

 must occur and affect to a greater or less extent, the position 

 of the whole rifle. If the recoil be mainly taken tip with the 

 lfet hand, the left arm most probably describes a short arc of a 

 circle having the left elbow for its centre. If the recoil be re- 

 ceived in the arm-pit, a small arc is still described, the collar 

 bone aud shoulder blade turning as levers on a fulcrum . A mo- 

 ment's consideration shows that this arc is curved toward the 

 left, The stouter and more unyielding the frame of the marks- 

 man, the smaller the resultant arc. In the instance described 

 above, the writer is a much heavier man than his companion, 

 the lateral arc of recoil toward the left is smaller, and the 

 consequent minute deflection of the path of the bullet in the 

 opposite direction, that is, to the right, is less. Whatever 

 the cause of the lateral deflection, it is, however, practically 

 constant for the same individual. 



Another influential cause of lateral variation in the course 

 of the projectile may be found in the spirit level, especially 

 at very long ranges. The friction with which the confined 

 bubble of air moves to and fro in the bulb, although almost 

 a vanishing quantity, is still calculable, and, as is well known, 

 varies greatly in "lively" or "slow" bulbs. It is probable 

 that, if the bubble be at rest in one end of tiie bulb, the right 

 end for example, and then ba brought gradually to the centre, 

 the position of the rifle may not be"preeisely the same as 

 when the bubble is at rest in the other, or left, extremity and 

 in like manner brought to the centra. At the extreme rauges, 

 1,000, 1,100, and 1,200 yards, with the rear sight on the heel 

 of the butt as uow so generally used, the peep aperture is 

 raised some three or four inches above the axial fine of point- 

 blank fire, and an infinitesimal difference of \evei. in the' rifle 

 may swerve the butt of the barrel to the right or left a 

 distance equal to half a point or a point of wind gauge 

 especially if the spirit level be not quickly sensitive, although 

 the line of sight and holding may be perfect. This reasoning 

 may perhaps satisfactorily account for the provoking "nine 

 o'clock" and "three o'clock" centres which are so apt to 

 creep inio a promising score at long ranges, even in a dead 

 calm. In such cases, to counteract them by a change in the 

 wind gauge is often fatal, giving at the next shot a centre in 

 the opposite direction. Unless a marksman is confident of 

 possessing a perfect spirit level, the most discreet course at 

 extreme rauges would seem to bo to bring the bubble to rest 

 always at the same extremity of the bulb, and then slowly 

 back to the centre, witliout permitting it to zig-zag to and fro 

 when it gets there, and thus make the conditions of levelling 

 and sighting as nearly constant as possible for each successive 

 shot. The fact that different marksmen fall into dijtinct 

 habitudes of manipulating their levels and bringing their rides 

 to a rest, may not infrequently account for lateral variations 

 in shooting with the same gun in different hands. 



Another pregnant cause of slight variations of shootin" 

 may exist in the uniformity, or want of uniformity, with 

 which the eye regards the foresight and the target through 

 the minute aperture of the peep-disc. It is, "of course 

 reasonable to suppose that every good and careful rifleman 

 makes it a conscientious point to" bring the axis of vision into 

 the axial centre of the peep aperture. If, through inatten- 

 tion or fatigue, he is content with merely seeing the foresight 

 and the target through the aperture near tec eye, it may hap- 

 pen that the line of vision comes close to, or almost touches, 

 the edge of the rear aperture. In such cases it is not im- 

 probable that the optical phenomenon of diffraction may 

 come into play to distort the aim perceptibly in addition to 

 the divergence caused by departing from the axis of the aper- 

 ture. Although small, the aperture is measurable, and a de- 

 flection of half its actual diameter in sighting may easily 

 equal a point of elevation, or half a point of windage, without 

 invoking the aberration of diffraction to increase the error. 

 However, no source of error is more easily eliminated than 

 this by proper care and attention. 



The moral to be drawn from this somewhat extended re- 

 view of the physical problems of holding and sighting is 

 simply, that the best results are only to be attained by the 

 marksman who makes it a careful study to bring all the con- 

 ditions attending sighting, levelling and recoil into as abso- 

 lute uniformity during a succession of shots as the fallibility 

 of human eye and mnscle will permit. 



— Ayer A. Son'a Manual contains more information of value to 

 advertiaera than any other publication. Sent po&paiA on reqe&t 

 of 25 cent*. Address N. W. Ayer £ Sena, Advertising Agents , 

 Times Building, Philadelphia.— [Ado. 



