The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-07 00:00:00

The Wimbledon Meeting of the National

Rifle Association.

There is little reason to doubt that the great
national rifle meeting which commences this morn-
ing at Wimbledon will far exceed any meeting of
the kind which has been previously held. Profiting
by last year's experience, the council have remedied

little defects of organisation, and removed a source
of serious dissatisfaction in the principal competi-
tion of the meeting. For some weeks past Lord
Elcho and his confreres in the council have been
actively engaged in personally superintending the
carrying out of details which will tend very much
to insure the success of the gathering. Many mem-
bers of the association who knew and felt that its
most important function was to increase as much as
possible the taste for and skill in military rifle shoot-
ing, deprecated during the past year a course of
action which tended to unduly foster the use of the
small bore target rifle, at the expense of the less
accurate but more useful Enfield. This course would
tend to produce a few thousand splendid shots, who,
with their delicate and complicated and wonderfully
accurate weapon, would never miss a six-foot circle
at a thousand yards. At the same time, the judi-
cious encouragement of the military weapon will
assuredly lead to as great an improvement (so far as
our volunteers are concerned) as has been introduced
in small-arm practice since the musket and bayonet
superseded the bow and the spear. It is much to the
credit of the council that they have felt the force of
this reasoning and have shown a liberal disposition
to encourage the use of what may now fairly be
termed the " national weapon." The wisdom of this
course is already manifest in the fact that over 1,300
volunteers have entered to compete for the Queen's
price, against 1,100 last year, of whom only 901
actually fired. Very few volunteers who go to
Wimbledon this year will fail to try for some of the
prizes offered for the competition of rifles of the
Government gauge. In this way it is to he hoped

that the council will see the wisdom of their
decision. There is plenty of room for still further
progress ; but, as a first step in the right direction,

they deserve all praise.
The arrangements on the ground have been so
well studied, and proved so satisfactory in previous
years, that very little change is observable. The
office tents of the association are again pitched in
the ring fence to the south-east of the windmill,
while the volunteer camp, increased largely in the
number of tents, again dots the dry ridge overlook-
ing the valley of the Running Deer. Last year 66
officers and 146 non-commissioned officers and pri-
vates availed themselves of the convenience of the
camp. This year the numbers are 115 officers and
320 non-commissioned offizers and privates. To the
latter increased accommodation has been afforded
by giving a tent to every four privates, instead of
one tent to every six, as last year. Better camp
equipage is also provided, and one serious discom-
fort of last year, want of water, obviated, by an
adequate service. For this accommodation each

volunteer on arriving will deposit 12s. From this

sum ss. will be deducted, however short the stay ;
out beyond five days, ls. will be returned for each
day short of 12 which the volunteer may remain.
Lieut.-Colonel Luard and Captain Ruston are in
charge of the camp. The contract for the commis-
sariat department has been taken by Mr. Jennison,
of Manchester, whose admirable arrangements and
excellent accommodation justify the anticipation
that the result will be in marked contrast to the
miserable failure of last year. A novel and most
agreeable feature in the general arrangements is
the establishment of a club, reading, and writing
rooms, which will be opened gratuitously to all
members of the Association, and to general visitors
at ls. per diem. There will be an electric telegraph
station on the ground, from which messages will be
transmitted to town at ls. each.

Last year the Council inaugurated at their
Wimbledon meeting a new system of scoring,
by which bull's-eyes and centres were adopted at
all ranges. The object of this was to give to
steady shooting the advantage of which it was
frequently deprived by mere "flaking" or chance.
This new system answered its purpose so admira-
bly, that its adoption, except for class shooting, at
once became general. This year a still greater boon
will be conferred on riflemen. At present The system

of marking in general use is for a man, protected
by a mantlet, to watch each shot as it strikes the
target, roughly signalling its position by means of
appropriate flags, and washing off the marks when
they become too numerous. The markers at the last
and previous meetings of the association were
fatigue-parties of the Foot Guards, men altogether
unused to the duties. It was not, therefore, a matter

of surprise that mistakes were made. All fear of in-
correct marking is now obviated by the adoption of
a system of marking which possesses all the advan-
tages of the Swiss system, in addition to peculiar
merits. It is the invention of Capt. Hill, of Brent-
wood, and consists of having appropriate discs to
show bulls.eyes, centres, and outers, each of which
has at the back a small brush. On a bullet striking
the target, the marker at once erases the mark, and
in doing so indicates to those at the firing-point the
exact position of the shot. By this plan the target
is always clean ; there is no loss of time in stopping
to wash targets; mistakes in marking are impos-
sible ; the markers run no risk; and, lastly, the
assistance this mode of indicating the position of the
shots affords to a rifleman in correcting errors tends
rapidly to make him master of his weapon. There
has been an increase in the number of targets to 60.
At all these, except those on the Swiss system and
those for pool firing, when only the bulls -eyes are
signalled, the marking will be on Capt. Hill's sys-
tem, which will, no doubt, hereafter rapidly super-
sede every other.

The total value of the prizes offered for competi-
tion is £4,300, or nearly double the amount of those
won last year. This year the association will
have a running deer of their own (that of last
year was the property of Mr. Lancaster) which
is coloured so as to represent a Highland Red
Deer, Another moving object for military rifle
practice represents a volunteer in the act of
" doubling." The figure, which is from the designs
of Mr. Watt, is vigorous and life-like. One side is
painted to represent a grey uniform, the other
scarlet. The number of times which each is hit
may tend to settle a moot point as to the best colour
pf volunteers' clothing. The proceedings to-day
will be preliminary to the actual commencement of
the meeting to morrow. They consist of the com-
petition between the representatives of the Middle-
sea corps for the county bronze medal, the winner
of which will be qualified to compete for the Prince
of Wales's prize, the Middlesex and Lancashire
match, other county matches, sighting practice, and
pool firing. A match certainly not less interesting
than that between two counties, and quite as much
of a representative character, was brought about by
a challenge from the Ist City of Edinburgh to the
Ist City of London, to shoot, 10 men of a side, at
the Wimbledon ranges, five shots Each. The coun-
cil, however, decided that no targets could be ap-
priated for the purpose. The gallant challengers,
however, rather than be disappointed, have accepted
the offer of the Ist City of London to shoot at their
range at Plaistow, and the match comes off this day
at 4 p.m.

THE AUSTRALIAN RIFLEMEN.—A short time
ago a challenge was received in England from an
Australian battalion of Volunteers to shoot an equal num-
ber of Volunteers in this country—the latter to be selected
from the best shooting company of enrolled Volunteers for
the year ending 1862, the firing to take place at any range
not being the range of the respective corps. This challenge
was addressed to the Council of the National Rifle Associa-
tion, and it appears that the best shooting company of
Volunteer Rifles in England for the year 1862 was the No.
lof the Nottingham Robin Hoods. This company has de
dared its readiness to accept the challenge, and on Satur-
day morning Lieut.-Colonel Wright received a letter from
the Council of the National Rifle Association stating that
an answer accepting the challenge had been sent to Aus-
tralia. The contest will take place in September. The
distances are 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800 yards ;
five shots at each range. The shooting will take place at
the same time iuEngland and Australia-10 men from each
corps.

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