Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-24
RIFLE SHOOTING
IS ON INCREASE
AMERICAN TEAMS LEADING
WORLD IN MARKSMANSHlP
CALIFORNIA TEAMS NOT UP TO
NATIONAL STANDARD
Interest Dwindled for Many Years, but
ReViVes - krag-Jorgenson
Rifle Is Perfect
Firearm
BY EDWARD c. CRossMAN

entitled to her title OF "A Nation of
Rihemen." Beginning in 1908, when
the first of the modern national rifle
matches We're shot, the country has
steadily become more and more inter-
ested in the sport of military rifle
shooting until 1909 finds the United
States leading the world for the eX-
cellence OF its national arm, the Won-
derfui scores made by its rife shots
and the number interested. Rifle
shooting has been practiced more or
/ less spasmodically up to recent years.
/ In the early days when hOrdes of dirty,
painted, sWaTthy faced bucks disputed
every foot of advance Of the Amer
| lean people to the west, rifle shooting
! was a necessary accomplishment to
keep ones hide and scalp in healthy
condition. With the disappearance of
| The Indian the rifle fell INTO disuse
| until even as far back as the civil war
! the statement that the Americans were
| d nation OF ritemen was nothing short
| of ridiculous. 1t would have been
! equally true-or untrue-to say that
| Americans were a nation of swords
| men.
/ Target practice was confined mainly
| to turkey shoots, and these among the
| backWoodsmen, where the rifle was still
! useful DIS ii meat StllGl. IsNNll up ~
| the '70s target practice in the army
was a thing unknown, while among
civilians rifle shooting was conducted
in more or less haphazard style, us
ing guns of all sorts and having no
standard for arms or targets on which
regular contests could be shot
Interest Wakes and Wanes
In the 'S0a interest in rifle shooting
took d sudden new lease OF life, the
great National Rifle association was
formed. target practice in the army
and militia began and We sent some
teams abroad that wiped up the ground
with the foreigners. Then the game
took another dOZe. With the advent
of the new small bore, high power,
military type of rife about $780, it
looked as though rifle shooting-par-
tcularly with the military rilie-nercr
could he pOpularizcd, SO inaccurate
We're the new rifles For ten years a
few enthusiasts struggled to find
combination OF cartridge and barrel
in the military rifle that would give
decent results on the target. The
problem was solved by thu genius of
Dr.. Hudson and other civilian ritemen
and our military rifles-then the krag.
Jorgenson-Were brought up to a high
state of accuracy, but not until the
Irish and Canadians had both wiped
up the ground with the hest teams
the Americans could find in two
matches in 1901 and 1902, the reason IN
both cases being the poor American
rifles ana ammunition.
The National Rife association came
to life again, and with the co-opera-
tion Of the government d national
match was held at Fort ailey, Kas.,
in 1903, open to teams from the militia
and the regular army and navy. About
a dozen teams took part the New York
team winning first place. This marked
the awakening OF the present interest
in rifle shooting, an Interest which is
not only not dying out, but is increas-
ing each year. The next year the
matches were shot at the great range
at Sea Girt. n. J., where the shoots
were held until 1908. New York landed
first place in 1904 and 1905, winning
from our regular army, marine corps
and navy teams each year. More
teams entered with each year, while
more individual Tilemen entered the
great prize matches. In 1908 the
matches were moved to the great range
at Camp Perry, o., on the shores of
Lake Erie. Here the state of Ohio
had built what is now the greatest
range in the world, equipped with over
200 separate steel framed targets miles
of target pits and having a climate
much more favorable than that of Sea
Girt.
In 1908 over 1900 men camped on the
range and shot in the great national
match and the various matches oIen
to individuals. Every state in the
| Union with the exception Of Montana
ana Nevada sent teams of fifteen men
to compete in the great national match,
open to teams from the militia and
regular service. Even little Hawaii
half way around the world from Ohio,
sent a team to take part, landing
twenty sixth place out of fifty entries.
Coming Matche~ of Interest
This year the matches will be far
greater than anything the world has
ever seen in the rifle shooting line. The
/ prizes are larger, rifles and ammuni-
tion have reached a stage of perfec-
| ton never dreamed of in the old days
and again the United States has taken
her rightful title as nation Of
rilemen."
In the matches shot up to the pres4
ent time the scores have outClassed
any shooting ever done by any coun-
try. Strings of sixty shots in the 20
inch bullseye at 500 yards and thirty
shots in the 36-inch circle at 1000
yards without a single break are eX
amples of what is being done on the
Camp Perry range this year In 1907
the United States entered team to
shoot against teams representing Eng
land, Australia and Canada for the
Palma trophy, the blue ribbon of the
military rife shooting world, formerly
won by Canada, This great match is
shot at 800, 900 and 1000 yards and is
the greatest long range test of the
rifles, ammunition and men of the diff
ferent countries that can be given.
Shooting over strange range at
Ottawa, Canada. the American team
walked away with their rivals, scoring
1712 points. Canada scoring 1871, Au
stralia scoring 1868 and England scor-
ing 1880, Entering another team in the
great Olympic games in England in
1908, using our new service rifle, the
new Springfield for the first time and
shooting over the tricky Bisley range,
our rifle team defeated crack teams
from England, Canada, Sweden,
France, Norway, Greece and Denmark
and won the worlds championship.
The ranges included 200, 300, 500, 500,
500, 900 and 1000 yards, a fair test Of
the ability of the teams at the differ
ent ranges. Only at the 900 yard range
was the American team headed, the