The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-22 00:00:00

THE STIR, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENIAG, AUGUST 22, 1865.

appointing two auditors with an allowance of £42
a year each for their services; and the proceedings
concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman.

THE VOLUNTEERS.

The following are the Conditions for the competi-
tive trial of rifles for 1866 :

1. The annual competitive trial of rifles shall take place
at Woolwich, commencing at 11 o'clock a.m. on the 23d of
November next.

2. Each competitor shall furnish six rifles, complete and
finished in every respect, and of precisely similar descrip-
tion.

3. The conditions as to bore, weight, length of barrel,
pull of trigger, stocks, sights, shall be as follows :—A.
Bore, minimum, 451. B. Weight, maximum, 101 b. The
barrels and stocks not to be weighed separately. C.
Length of barrel, any. D. Pull of trigger, minimum, 61b.
E. Stocks, half stocked. All the barrels of any one set of
rifles may be fired from the same stock. F. Signs, regu-
lation Enfield, but so arranged as to admit of any other
sights being subsequently fitted to the rifles.
4. Any person intending to compete shall, on or before
the 23d 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
dipyment. of an additional entrance fee of .£lO for each ad-
tional set of rifles.
5. The rifles shall be delivered at the office of the Asso-
ciation before 11 o'clock a.m. on the 21st of November, and
shall bo tested and examined between the hours of 12 and
5 p.m. on that day, in presence of the Council, by the Su-
perintendent 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. 2 and 3 have been complied with by such competitor.
6. Each 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.

7. The charge and ammunition used by the competitor
at the trial shall be the same in all respects as stated by
him in such paper.
8. The price of tho rifle shall in no case exceed £2O, and
shall include tho cost of a disc aperture back sight with
Vernier scale, and a covered slot fore- sight with graduated
lateral adjustment. The rifles must admit of these sights
being fitted to them.

9. Three rifles of each set shall be taken indiscriminately
for trial, and these shall bo numbered from 1 to 3. The
rifles shall be tried in the order in which they are numbered.
10. The order of shooting shall be determined by lot, to
be drawn by the secretary not less than 15 days previous
to the 23d of November. A letter will be assigned accord-
ingly to each competitor for each set of rifles delivered by
him. Notico will be given to each competitor of the letter
drawn for him.

11. Letter A, rifle No. 1 shall commence the trial ; letter
B, rifle No. 1 will then be taken, and so on in succession ;
and after the rifles No.l 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.

12. The rifles shall be fired from fixed mechanical rests.
Government rests shall be assigned by lot to such compe-
titors who do not bring their own.*
18. Each competitor shall be responsible for the adjust-
ment, fitttng, and general condition of the rest used by him
during the trial. Each competitor shall either be present
to fire his rifles, or shall appo int a representative to do so.
14. The distance fired at shall be 1,000 yards. Eight
trial shots shall be allowed for each rifle before the 30 com-
petitive shots are fired. Thirty competitive shots shall be
fired consecutively from each rifle.
15. No cleaning during the 30 competitive shots shall
be allowed.

16. The diagrams giving the mean radial deviation, and
Waken as at the School of Musketry at Elythe, shall decide
;he figure of merit of the rifles.

- 17. The description of rifle that gives the best figure of
merit shall be selected as the one with which the Queen's
Prizo, second stago, shall be competed for at the ensuing
prize meeting of the Association.

18. The figure of merit determining the best description
of rifle shall be the average of the three rifles of one de-
scription.

19. No mechanically-fitting loading rods shall be used.

20. Competitors may use the clinometer to take the
angle of elevation, which shall be recorded by an officer
appointed for that purpose. The clinometer may be also
used to readjust the angle of elevation during trial, but
only in presence of this officer and with the sanction of
any member of the Council, or some person appointed by
the Council.

21. No telescopo shall bo used by competitors or spocta•
tors after the trial shots.

22. Competitors shall either be present themselves, or
appoint somo ono to be present at the target when the dia-
grams are taken off. They or their representatives shall
sign the diagram, which shall also bo countersigned by
the secretary, or by some person appointed by the Council.
23. Tho secretary shall select one of the three successful
rifles to be kept by the Council as a pattern arm.
24. The successful competitor shall be required to supply
to the Association, by the Ist of May, 1866, GO rifles, which
shall in every respect be similar to the pattern arm, except
that they aro to be fitted with a back-sight and fore-sight of
tho description mentioned in Condition No. 8, and the price
of which shall not exceed that stated in the annexed paper.
The 60 rifles, 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 satisfy 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 the like manner

25. 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 as may be
required for the sighting of the rifles previous to the Wim-
bledon meeting, and for the use of the competitors in the
second stage of the Queen's Prize.

26. The shooting shall commence at 11 o'clock p.m. on
the 23d of November. Any competitor failing to comply
with the rule shall be disqualified.

27. Subject to the above regulations, the competition
will be conducted under the direction of the Council or
their officer appointed for the purpose, whoso decision is
in all cases to be final:, By order.

E. ST. JOll'N-MILDM.4.; Secretary.

The 48th Middlesex (Havelock's) Rifle Volunteer
Corps was inspected by Col. Wright, Deputy In-
spector-General of Volunteers, on Saturday even-
ing, the 19th inst., at Burton-court, Chelsea. The
regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Geo.
Cruikshank, mustered about 300 men of all ranks.

In Suffolk, the Stowmarket Corps has commenced
its class shooting for the current year. In a compe-
tition for a challenge cup offered to the Framling-
ham Corps, Private Precious was the winner. This
is the third occasion on which Private Precious has
won the cup. Two cups have been presented for
competition by members of the Eye Corps by Ser-
geant and Mrs. Etheridge ; each is to be competed
for monthly, until won six times by the same per-
son, when it is to become his property.
The battalion drill of the Herefordshire Rifle
Corps took place at Bromyard on Friday. The
Hereford Ist and 2d Companies, the Leominster,
the Kington, and the Bromyard Companies assem-
bled on the occasion, and were reviewed by Colonel
Fielding, who put them through a variety of evolu-
tions, at the conclusion of which they were compli-
mented by the Colonel. The party afterwards
dined together.
By the permission of Mr. W. Ferrand, M.P., the
following volunteer corps took part in a sham battle
on Saturday last, in the beautiful park of St. Ives,
Bingley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire :—Brad-
ford Volunteer Artillery, with two 9-pounder field
guns (horse), under the command of Capt. Ham-
mond ; the Bradford Rifle Volunteers, under the
command of Captain and Adjutant Lepper, in the
unavoidable absence of the field officers ; the Skip-
ton, Settle Guiesley, Keighley, and Bingley Rifle
volunteers, under the command of Major Morrison,
M.P. The weather was very fine, which enabled
the combatants, and at least 10,000 spectators, to
spend a very pleasant afternoon. The reviewing
officer expressed himself highly satisfied with all he
had seen, and everything passed off most satisfac-
torily. Mr. and Mrs. Ferrand entertained the offi-
cers commanding the different corps at dinner in the
evening.

On Friday afternoon the Cumberland, Westmore-
land, and Dumfriesshire Rifle Volunteers were re-
viewed at Carlisle by Col. Erskine, Inspector-Gene-
ral of Volunteers. The Westmoreland and Cum,.
berland Yeomanry Cavalry and the Cumberland
Artillery Brigade 'with two field pieces were also
present, and the troops on the ground numbered
1,790. The day being brilliantly fine a great many
spectators from Carlisle and the surrounding dis-
trict were attracted to the Swifts, where the review
took place, their number being computed at about
10,000. After Col. Erskine had inspected the rifle-
men a sham fight took place, in which all the forces
on the ground took part. In the evening Colonel
Erskine was entertained at dinner by the officers of
the various corps. In responding to the toast of his

* 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,