The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-29 00:00:00

NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION.

The general annual meeting of this association was held
on Saturday at Willis's Rooms ; his Royal Highness the
Duke of Cambridge, President, in the chair. The room was
unusually crowded, and among others present were Earl
Ducie, Earl Grosvenor, Lord Elcho, Lord Bury, Lord Col-
ville, Gen. Hay, Sir John Anson, Sir James R. M'Kenzie,
Gen. Sir James Campbell, Sir John Burgoyne, G.C.8.,
Gen. Boileau, Sir John Shelley, General Eyre, Colonel
M'Murdo, Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, Colonel Loyd Lindsay,
Captain St. John Mildmay, and a large number of officers
of the Volunteers.

His ROYAL HIGHNESS, in opening the proceedings, said
that the task which he had to perform on that occasion
was a very simple one, as they had only met there to dis-
cuss what might be thought advisable to do during the pre-
sent year, and to hear a statement of the position of the
National Rifle Association as it now stood. With regard
to its financial prospects, and, in fact, generally, he thought
he was quite justified in saying that the association was
progressing in a very satisfactory manner. Their in-
come, though by no means a large one, had been sufficient
to meet their requirements, and he was happy to add, was
in a state of progressive increase from year to year.
Their funded property was still very sn:all, not onl•
compared with what they wished it to be, but even wits
what it ought to be ; still, it was increasing. (Hear, beer.)
At the same time, while he felt justified in speaking in this
hopeful manner of the funds of the association, he thought
it right to observe that he trusted their friends would not
press for au extra or unusual increase of their expenditure.
It would be very unwise indeed if they were to attempt any
extra expenditure merely because they happened to have a
little larger amour* of funds in their hands than usual.
Until they were in a position to feel that their finances were
secure, he thought they had better endeavour by all means
in their power to increase their funded property till they
could insure their future stability. Their funded property
last year only amounted to £3,056, and to that during the
past year they had made an addition of £616, so that the
funded proporty of the association now amounted to £4,209.
It might be thought by some that as there had been this
addition the association ought to do something more to ex-
tend its general usefulness, but it had been decided by the
Council—and in the propriety of that decision he fully con-
curred—that they ought to have a much larger sum in
funded property than £4,000 before they undertook more
than they had hitherto done. The income of the association
had increased from £9,087 in 1852 to £12,004 in 1863,
showing a clear increase of nearly £3,000. The total num-
ber of prizes in 1862 was 104, their value being £3,034. In
1863 these prizes were increased to 332, of the value of £4,386,
so that there were 200 more prizes, while in amount the
value was £l,OOO more in 1863 as compared with 1862. It
would be satisfactory to know, and more particularly to
those connected with the volunteer corps of the country,
that that amount of £l,OOO so added to the prizes had been
given almost entirely to the list of long Enfield prizes.
That matter had been very fully discussed at their last year's
meeting, and a strong feeling was then expressed, in which
he to a great extent concurred, that a sufficient number of
prizes had not been given to the long Enfield, and the
meeting would now see that the Council had added nearly
£l,OOO to that class of prizes. Coming then to the subject
of entries, he might mention that the competitors for the
Queen's Prize in 1862 amounted to 913, while in 1863 they
increased to 1,146, showing an additioa of more than 200.
The total volunteer entries in 1862 were 1,283, while in 1863
they -fetched the number of 2,739, showing an increase of
more than 1,500. The total "all comers" entries in 1862
amounted to 3,269, while last year they increased to 4,684,
showing, again, an increase of nearly 800. The total amount
of volunteers' entry in 1863 was £3,059, and the surplus
over the expenditure last year was £879. That comprised
all that was necessary to state to the meeting as to the
financial position of the society, but he need hardly add that
it was very desirable to do all that lay in their power to im-
prove its position in that respect. With that view it had
been thought that by adding to the entries for the Queen's
Prize a considerable increase might be gained, and he 'suite
concurred in the suggestion, It was therefore proposed by
the Council that, instead of having only one competitor
from each company, two might be selected, and that the
entry, which had hitherto been only 10s., should be raised
to 20s. Of course, the entry was purely voluntary—none
were obliged to enter or compete. But he could not help
thinking that it was a very advisable thing to adopt the
change, because by such means the financial position of the
society would be strengthened, and he thought this was a
legitimate and proper way of arriving at such a satisfactory
result. On a previous occasion allusion had been made to
the advantages which would arise if they could get county
and colonial associations to join and become affiliated with
the parent society, and in that respect there had been a
great improvement. The National Rifle Association had
now connected with it 31 county and 14 colonial associations.
He believed the Council were most anxious that they should
not touch their funded property till it amounted to the sum of
£lO,OOO. That might appear to some rather a large amount,
but ho certainly thought the decision was a wise and pru-
dent resolve, and he trusted no attempt would be made to
trench upon the small sum they had now in hand, which
WBB, in fact, all the property the association possessed. It
was true that the association had found great favour in the
sight of the public, and was increasing in favour from
year to year ; but still it must be borne in mind that all they
were receiving was, so to speak, from casual annual receipts,
and that they were, in fact, living from hand to mouth.
What was desired, therefore, was that the association should
be possessed of a reserve fund to meet any future unfore-
seen contingencies that might arise, so as to place it on a
more secure and permanent basis, He hoped therefore that
his observations would meet any suggestions which might
arise as to extending their sphere of action for the present,
and that
to at
securehy might in the mode he had suggested endea-
vour their permanent utility rather than merely
te
extend the operation which the liberality of the public had
hitherto enabled them to accomplish. The present was the
first meeting of the year. Another would be held in May,
when the details necessary for the arrangement of the great
Wimbledon meeting might be more fully discussed. It
would be as well, however, that even thus early the Coun-
cil should hear any suggestions which the meeting had to
make. Although it was not desirable to go deeply into
details, yet anything which required time for consideration
and decision should be brought forward now. The report
of the association showed the spirit in which the Council

were acting. A rifle conference had taken place a short time
since, which had been on the most friendly terms with the
association ; and the Council flattered themselves that most
of the suggestions which had been made by them had been
most favourably received by the conference. There was one
subject touched upon at that conference connected with
which he had been requested to read a letter which had just
been received from the Secretary of State for War, on the
assimilation of the musketry practice of various rifle corps.
He believed that hitherto that had not been quite so uniform
as could have been wished. It was felt by all that to make
the practice of Volunteer corps useful, and to really teat
and know their comparative merits, it was absolutely essen-
tial that the practice should in all cases be placed on abso-
lutely the same footiig ; otherwise, it was obvious that the
marksmen's badges, which were awarded on the same
grounds, could not have the same value, It was therefore
essential that it should be clearly understood that that
which was the practice in one corps should be identical with
the practice of others. In order to obtain the advantage of
having an authoritative rule on that question the Counbil
had communicated with Earl De Grey, whose reply was as
follows

" War-office, Feb. 2fz.
"My Lord,-4 haVe the honour to acknowledge the re-
ceipt of your letter of the 15th inst. drawing my attention to
the want of uniformity that prevails in the class firing of
the different Volunteer corps-, and the desirableness of estab-
lishing some general evstem of musketry practice and super-
intendence for the whole force.
" The subject which your Lordship hat thus brought to
my notice received my special attention when the existing
regulations for the Volunteer Pe rte were under consideration
—but at that time, eftet mature deliberation, it was not
deemed expedient to lay down any more specific rule for the
guidance of commanding officers in carrying on the musketry
practice of their respective corps than that the regulations of
the army should be adhered to as closely as the circum-
stances of each eorps would permit. As, however, the
Council of the National Rifle Association, basing its opinion
no doubt upcn the wide experience which it has gained in
watching the progress of rifle shooting throughout the
country, appears to be now impressed with the necessity of
establishing some special rules for conducting the musketry
practice of the Volunteer force, I request that your Lordship
will have the goodness to communicate to the Council my
willingness to receive any further suggestions on this sub-
ject which it may be prepared to offer, and that these, when
submitted to me, shall be taken into attentive consideration,
provided they do not involve any principle at variance with
the system of instruction pursued at the School of Musketry.
—I have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's obe-
dient servant, " DE GREY AND RIPON."
In conformity with that letter the Council had at oace ap-
pointed a committee to inquire into the whole subject, and
the result of their inquiry would at a future day be laid be-
fore the members of the Rifle Association. (Hear, hear.)
Lieut. •Col. BIGGS moved, and Sir JAMES CAMPBELL
seconded, the motion for the adoption of the report of the
Council.

Mr. TEMPLER (Harrow Rifles) said that he hoped facili-
ties would be given for competition between the Enfield, the
large bore Whitworth, the Lancaster, and Storm's breech-
loading rifle, and that prizes would be awarded for them,
He also wished to draw the attention of the Council to the
necessity for an alteration is the present V notch in the
back eight of the rifle, and to impress upon them the value
which would accrue if a plain horizontal bar were substi-
tuted for it. (Hear.)
After a few words from Lord ELCHO, who stated that the
subject of classification of rifles for prizes was engaging the
attention of the Council,

Lord BURY said that the question of sighting had not
only been before the Council, but had been submitted by
them to the authorities at the War-office, for the purpose of
substituting the horizontal bar at the back sight, and a line
down the middle, instead of the present mode of sighting.
As yet, however, they had not received any reply on the
subject.
Captain M'GREGOR (London Scottish) hoped that no
such important change in the targets to be used at Wim-
bledon as those exhibited on the diagrams in front of the
platform would be made until they had been cautiously
considered and tested ; and Lieut. GOODLIFFE (London
Rifle Brigade) expressed a hope that whatever change
might be made with respect to the targets, the disc-marking
principle would be retained.
After a few words from Mr. RADCLIFF•E (of the South
Middlesex), who was of opinion that a prize ought to be
given for the Enfield rifle, to be shot for in the same way
as the Association Cup was shot for,
Lord ELcHo said that many of the suggestions that had
been made had already engaged the attentive consideration
of the Council. Some of them had not been decided upon,
but yet he thought that he might go so far as to sly in the
name of the Council that an All Comers' Enfield Prize
would be shot for by members of the associaiion, and that it
would form part of the programme for their next prize meet-
ing. Some other of the points referred to would be found
in the report of the council. (Hear.) He thought if gen-
tlemen would refer to that report they would see that the
council were quite alive to all these subjects, and did all they
could to increase the usefulness of the association. Capt.
M'Gregor had consulted them as to the propriety of hold-
ing a rifle conference, and, being desirous of obtaining
every possible information of the slightest advantage, they
, not only highly approved that conference, but sent Captain
Page to attend it. (Hear.) A very valuable paper was
read on the subject of circular targets by Mr. Hemming.
Although the Coancil fully admitted the theoretical % slue of
the principle of the concentric circle, still there was some
difficulty found in applying it to the present square
targets. They had submitted the whole question of Mr.
Hemming's paper to a committee to ascertain how the com-
bination of the circles with the existing form of target could
be best carried out, and there could be no doubt that theo-
retically the system of circles was most perfect. The com-
mittee appointed on the subject consisted of Colonel
Kennedy, Lord Bury, and himself (Lord Elcho), They
came to the unanimous conclusion that it was desirable to
have this system of concentric circles, but that they ought
not to be more than four in number, as there was a difficulty
in applying them to the present form of target. If they had
more than four circles there would be great difficulty in
scoring and keeping a correct account. At present a bull's
eye eounted four, a centre three, and an outer two. If they
had more than four circles, therefore, the chances of error
and the difficulty of correct marking would be very great
indeed. (Hear.) The plan proposed by Mr. Hemming,
founded on mathematical calculations, was, for the first
series of targets, circles commencing from the centre of 12,
7,:5, and 6 inches distance; for the second series, 18, 101,
7i, and 9 inches; and for the third series, 24, 14, 10, and 12
inches. The adoption of the circle system would involve a
change in the marking. A bull's eye would count four,
centre three, middle two, and outer one. If the new system
were adopted it would be desirable that the targets should
be provided at private ranges as speedily as possible, in
order that the Volunteers should practise upon them before
coming to Wimbledon. As the targets were eft. in height,
and the diameter of the outer circle was more than eft., a
portion of the upper part of the target would be truncate(' ;
but as the deviation of the shots was most frequently in a
lateral direction rather than in elevation, the Council did
not consider it of great importance that the shot going over
would fail to be registered. Lord Dude, he said, had re-
cently fired 150 round.at 1,000 yards, and had only missed
the target five times. It would be better, no doubt, to have
the target mathematically correct, but he believed this
would be impracticable, 'With respect to the "squadding"
at Wimbledon, arrangements would, he said, be made for
doing so with all gentlemen who sent in their names in
sufficient time. He agreed that the system of disc marking
ought to be maintained, and the Council were also of that
opinion. An estimate had been received of the expense of
converting every target to be fired at at Wimbledon into
the Swiss system of marking. The cost of the alteration
would be about £lOO, but he believed the outlay would be
judicious, and that the results would be satisfactory to all
who attended the next meeting. (Hear.)
In reply to Mr, HEMMING,

Lord EEURY said that it the association could do every-
thing precisely as they wished there was no doubt but that
they would adopt the concentric circle system of targets. A
target of this kind, 12 feet in diameter, would perhaps be
the best that could be adopted, but to do this now they
would have to alter the whole of the targets, not only at
Wimbledon, but throughout the country, and if this change
were made at Wimbledon the missed shots that would pass
over the top of the target would go into Combe-wood, and
render the country behind the targets unsafe. As a rule
the misses, however, did not go over the target, but de-
viated laterally on each side.
General HAY said that in this matter of the targets, as in
every other, there were two sides to the question. He alto-
gether differed from the opinion of Lord Bury, that the de-
viation of the shots was mainly lateral. On the contrary,
his experience led him to believe that the chief difficulty
was in the elevation. If the concentric circle system was
to be adopted, they should certainly have a target of more
than six feet in height. He was afraid, however, that the
association was rather losing sight of the chief object with
which it was formed. The object of all the training of the
volunteers ought to ",e to teach them to fire at something in
the field, and not at a bull's-eye. What they would want
in the field was either oblong or square ; there was nothing
circurar except great guns, and even thoso were changing,
(Laughter.) By the proposed system the outer circle cut
off the upper corners of a target. A shot there would not
count, but it would cut through the head of an infantry
soldier at that height. (Hear, hear.) A man might win
the Queen's prize at Wimbledon, but in the battlefield he
might not be worth sixpence as an effective shot. He hoped
that they would not hastily abandon a system of targets
which was eminently fitted for making volunteers useful in
the field.

After some further observations against any change of
the present system of targets, the vice-presidents and mem-
bers of the Councq were unanimously re-elected, and on
the motion of Lord Elcho his Royal Highness the Daire of
Cambridge was chosen President of the Association for the
fifth time.

The Duke 01 CAMBRIDGE, in returning thanks, said he
certainly was very much disposed to concur in the opinion
expressed by General Hay that it would not be wise to
attach too great importance to mere prize match shooting.
The association had nothing to do with volunteers as such,
but it should not be lost sight of that the object of all the
shooting was not that of the mere gratification of one gen-
tleman shooting better than another, but for the purpose of
getting such a system of rifle shooting throughout the country
that, if at any time it should happen—though God forbid
that it ever should happen—the volunteers might be relied
upon to act in the field as the regular army. Neither him-

self nor General Hay would be performing their daty;if
they did not encourage those efforts which they believed to
be conducive to the real efficiency of the volunteer force of
the country. If great delicacy of shooting was alone to
paired, then this system of cireu ar targets would no doubt
be very valuable, but somethir.g more than that was required,
which was that they should have such shooting as would
make them useful in the field. (sheers.)
The proceedings were then brcught to a ciose.