The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-20 00:00:00

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NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE SEN. •
Sir,---Yoll will greatly- obl;go the Council of the
National Rifle Associntion by inserting the enclosed
in the columns of Me Sun.—l am, Sir, yours, &0.,
11, Pall-mall East, Aug. 19, 166 E.
1. MILDm.iY.

CONDITIONS FOR COMPETITIVE TRIAL OF
RIFLES FOIL 186 J.

I. The annual competitive trial of rifles shall take place
at 'Woolwich, co:wneucing at 11 o'clock a.m, on the 22d of
November next.
11. Each competitor shall furnish six complete rifles of
precisely similar description.
111. The conditions es to bore, weight, pull of trigger,
stocks, sights, shall be as follows :
A. Bore—Minimum, .451.
B. Weight—Maximum, 101bs. The barrels and stocks
not to be weighed separately.
C. Pull of Trigger—Minimum, Glbs.
D. Stocks—Half stocked. All the barrels of any one
set of rifles may be fired from the same stock.
E. Sights—Regulation Enfield, but so arranged as to
admit of any other sights being subsequently fitted to the
rifles.

IV. Any person intending to compete shall, on or before
the 22d of October next, pay an entrance fee of £lO, and
shall at the same time sign a letter to the secretary in the
annexed form, accepting the conditions of competition as
here laid down. Each competitor may enter more than one
description of rifle, subject to these regulations and to the
payment of an additional entrance fee of £lO for each addi-
tional set of rifles.
V. The rifles shall be delivered at the office of the Asso-
ciation before eleven o'clock a.m. on the 21st of November,
and shall be. tested and examined between the hours of

12 and 5 p.m. on that day, in presence of the Council, by the
superintendent of the Royal Small Arms Factory. The rifles
delivered by any competitor will not be accepted without the
certificate of such superintendent that the conditions Nos.
11. and 111. have been complied with by such competitor.
VI. Bach competitor shall, previous to the trial, fill up
and sign the annexed paper, stating the particulars of his
rifle and ammunition, and the price of the rifle, which shall
in no case exceed £2O. The charge and ammunition used
by the competitor at the trial shall be the same in all re-
spects as stated by him in such paper.
VII. Three rifles of each set shall be taken indiscrimi-
nately for trial, and these shall be numbered from 1 to 3.
Tho rifles shall be tried in the order in which they are
numbered.

VIII. The order of shooting shall be determined by lot,
to be drawn by the secretary not less than 15 days previous
to Nov. 22. A letter will be assigned accordingly to each
competitor for each set of rifles delivered by him. Notice
will be given to each competitor of the letter drawn for him.
11. Letter A, rifle No. 1, shall cammence the trial
letter B, rifle No. 1, will then be taken, and so on in suc •
cession; and after the rifles No. 1 have been fired, then
rifles No. 2 will be fired, commencing with letter A.
The firing shall be continued from day to day with the
letter and number next in order after the rifle last fired on
the previous day.

X. The rifles shall be fired from fixed mechanical rests,
Government rests shall be assigned by lot to such competi-
tors who do not bring their own.*

XI. Each competitor shall be responsible for the adjust-
ment, fitting, and general condition of the rest used by him
during the trial.

Each competitor shall either be present to fire his rifles,
or shall appoint a representative to do so.

XII. The distance fired at shall be 1,000 yards.
Eight trial shots shall be allowed for each rills before the
30 competitive shots are fired.

Thirty competitive shots shall ba fired consecutively from
each rifle.

XIII. No cleaning out during the 30 competitive shots
shall he allowed.

XIV. The diagrams, giving the mean radial deviation,
and taken as at the School of Musketry at Hythe, shall
decide the figure of merit of the rifles.
XV. The description of rifle that gives the best figure of
merit shalle be selected as the one with which the Queen's
Prize secoi.ad stage shall be competed for at the ensuing
Prize Meeting of the association.
X.VI. Mechanically fitting loading rods may be used.
XVII. Competitors may use the clinometer to take the
'angle of elevation, which shall be recorded by an officer ap-
pointed for that purpose. The clitLometer may also be used
to re-adjust the angle of elevation during trial, but only in
presence of this officer and with the sanction of a member
of the council, or some person appointed by the council.
XVIII. No telescope shall be used by competitors or
spectators after the trial shots.

XIX. Competitors shall either be present themselves, or
appoint solkie one to be present, at the target when the dia-
grams aro taken off. They or their representatives ehall
sign the diagram, which shall also be countersigned by the
secretary, or by some person appointed by the Council.
XX. The secretary shall select one of three successful
rifles, to be kept by the council as a pattern arm.
XXI. The successful competitor shall be required to sup-
ply to the Association, by the Ist of May, 1865, sixty rifles,
which shall in every respect be similar to the pattern arm,
and the price of which shall not exceed that stated in the
annexed paper.

The 60 riff s, when supplied, shall be submitted to the
Council,and such an examination of them will be instituted by
the Superintendent of the Royal Small Arms Factory as will
sat;sfy the Council of the perfect soundness of the rifles and
of their conformity with the pattern arm. Every rifle which
he shall certify to be not made in accordance with the
pattern arm will be rejected, and the competitor shall
supply another rifle in lieu thereof, which shall be submitted
to examination in like manner.

XXII. The successful competitor shall supply at a fair
price such quantity of ammunition of the same quality and
kind as used by him at the Woolwich competition for the
sighting of the rifles previous to the Wimbledon Meeting,
and for the use of the competitors in the second stage of
the Queen's Prize.
ra-ue zunauted uutier the direction of tho

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or their officer appointed for the purpose, whose decision is
in all cases to be final.—By order,
E. ST. JOHN-MILDMAY, SderetilTy.
Facilities will be afforded by the Superintendent of the
Royal Laboratory at Woolwich for competitors to fit their
slide bars to the rests any time previous to the trial.