Evening star., 1916-09-10

The need for .22-caliber miniature
service rifle among the civilian rife
clubs is becoming more and more ap
parent, according to the National Rifle
Association. Neither the .22-caliber
Krag, although it is chambered and
bored for .22-caliber ammunition, nor
the new type of small bore Springfield
rifle issued by the army meets the re-
quirements of the indoor range, accord
ing to enthusiasts of the rife game.
The .22 Krag, although a fairly ac-
curate arm, is claimed to be only
makeshift, and the small bore Spring
field is time loser as well as 1t is
sometimes Inaccurate Cartridges must
be inserted in holders, sometimes called
clips" In order to be shot from the
Springfield small bore rife. for the
arm is chambered for the service car
fridge. A great deal of inaccuracy on
the part of this rifle when bored for
small shells may be traced to defective
holders.
Although there are number of good
small bore rifles on the market. none of
them have all the military features of
the Springfield service rifle. The bolt
action is. most noticeably absent in
most cases, and many of these rifles do
not have the same weight as the Spring
feld- The style of sight used the
service rifle is entirely lacking on the
other rifles.
The .22-caliber rife, while II will not
educate a civilian to the requirements
of sharpshooter or an expert with the
full charge rifle. Will be the means Of
fnstilling many of the basic principles
OF rifle shooting \ .22-caliber rifle.
in all respects like the service rifle,
might be called prime necessity.
The full-charge range under the East
ern market has been closed for repairs,
but will be open tomorrow. The back
ing behind the targets has not proved
sufficient, and a stronger boarding up
has been found necessary. The bullets
formerly penetrated the outer boarding
of the backing with ease. and the as
phaltum behind the wood would leak
through The backing Of sand behind
the asphaltum also leaked away when
bullets, after penetrating the asphal-
tun. passed through the second board
ing.
The backing has proved practically
the only source of trouble al this range.
1t was expected that probably some of
tho target carriers might be shot away,
but there have been hardly any cases
Of this happening. Pending the OPEN
ing of the Eastern market range. rife
shooters Will have to content them
selves with small bore shooting on the
Poll Theater range.
According TO the National Rife Asso-
citation, NJ. b. Saunders. who claimed
that he was member of the Army and
Navy Union Rife Club, qualified as an
-; expert rifernan on the Winthrop range
recently, bu- officials Of the club have
. stated that there is no such name on
their rolls. The association wishes that
= Mr.. Saunders would communicate with
! the headquarters. 1ioS Woodward build
ing, in regard TO this matter.
. H D. Reddirnan Of the Crop Estimate
Rife Club OF the Department of Agri-
culture has qualified as an expert rifle
: man on the Winthrop range He made
a score Of ninety points on slow fire
and hfty-four points on changing po
sitions fire. Il total os - points.
More high scores were made on the
small range under Polls Theater
last week. II. +. HIugEOn Of the Sec
retary's Office Of the Department OF
Agriculture made the highest score,
As out of possible 80 points, stand
ing. II Wendali Of The Monotype Ri
fe Club made the best rifle score iu a
prone position, shooting % out of a
possible 100 points Mr.. Wendall also
made the best pistol score OF the week,
running UP IS out o: It possible 100
points.
Other high rife scores. all standing
positions. were: s. r Hazard. Secre-
tary's office. Department OF Agricul-
ture. IS out OF 50 points; l.. Minnich.
Army and Navy Union. ZIG out Of 225
points; J. D. Eggleston. IS out Of so.
and whitney Leary. Army and Navy
! Union. IS out of so Other high scores
I ford, 7s out of 100: l.. N.uich "a out of
100. and Whitney Leary. u out Of 100.
Several hundred men ard women shot
on the range during the last week.
Sergt. 6. Il. CornweIl Of the mounted
police of the District Won watch foh
for Qualifying as an indoor marksrna n
over the prescribed y. Il. 4. course. He
prone. 100 points in each case being the
perfect score.