The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-16
IGNORANCE RIFLE SHOOTING.
New stimulus for Americans to
Take II Up Again.


SEA GRIT. y. j.. Sept. I6.-The loss Of
the Palma trophy TO the Canadians and
the defeat of the Am. ricau team boy the
Irish rifemen promise To bring about a
revival Of Ioug-distauce target shooting
in this country. Several lessons were
taught at the recent match on the Sea
Gfrr range. and the American marksmen
an, convinced that with careful training
for future matches they can regain the
lost Iaurcls.
When the Irish challenged the Ameri-
cans 10 a Iong-rauge target contest in
1875 there was not lcug-raugc rifle in
the country. to say nothing of men who
knew how to shoot them. An cutcrpris-
ing firm guaranteed 20 turn out salts
factory rifles. and the challenge was &C
cepted. There was "A deal of careful prsc-
tice before the match The American
marksmen caught the spirit Of the sport
and managed 20 develop a team which de-
featcd the Irish visitors. For few years
there were annual matches. and the wear
ers Of the shamrock continued TO be beat
en- at their own game. Finally they tired
Of continued failures and no additional
matches could be arranged
LOng-rangc rifle shooting speedily be-
came n back number The manufacturers
Of arms did not keep up their expert
Then came the proposal for "a lOng-rauge
match this year. The conditions were the
same as I'm 1874. No one knew how To
shoot. and there were no improved guns
ans gyeriuE TO the new conditions. A gun
under BIZ Callbre was required for all
distances. while the American guns for
500 and 1000 yards were usually 40 caIibTe.
High-preSsure guns were furnished by
the Government. however. and the rifle
men again began hurried preparation
They had 10 contend with ammunition
M b #n Fsa s.
der that they made as good showing ass
they did against the weLl-praCIcsd visit
Just how unprcpared the Americans
were is well told ~ Frank Hyde, who
Three weeks before the match ! was
invited by General Spencer 10 come down
and give the merksmeu the benefit OF my
experience. ] then had uo thought Of
entering the match. 7 found four or five
men trying 90 'nuu an sHJ-yar4 target
with the rifles then available. From fiji
teen 20 twenty shots We're fired boy each
man before The target was hlt al all
This was not an encouraging outlook for
meeting the veterans from across the
water. who had been IN constant pTac-
tiCc an the way from five TO forty years.
with the exception Of a few shots two
years ago / had not taken rifle IN hand
for twenty years ! made a few shots
with the Government ammunition, and
saw az once that u was NOT reliable
enough for good shooting at long range,
but II was too late 20 change The match
was lost for want OF team practice. The
new guns came only week before the
match and the team was not definitely
settled upon until an hour before the
shooting began. only two or three Of
us had ever shot i'm 4 similar contest
We shall begin operations AZ once look
Ing TO bringing the cup home next year"
Makers Of high-Class arms are confident
that they can turn out as good high
pressure gun FOR lOug-rauge targets as
the .Z56 Calbrc Mauuuchers used by the
Irish team. They viii not guarantee 70
DO u, however. on a few weeks notice.