Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-05-12
RIFLE MATCHES AT CAMP
PERRY DESCRIBED
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

WASHINGTON. May 12:-The
International rifle matches are to
he held this year at Camp Perry,
Ohio, September 18 and 10. Inter-
national sporting events do not come
often to any one country, and they
are correspondingly important. The
rifle matches are the only Internal
ional event to take place in the Uni
ted States until the Olympic Games
at Los Angeles in 1923, and this is
the first year that the rife compe-
tition has been held In this country
since 1918.
United States rifle experts hope
to make a better record for the coun-
try this year than they made in the
1913 match. Then, the Swiss sharp
shooters captured the trophy with
comparative ease. France won Sec
ond honors, and the United States
had to be satisfied with third place.
Since then our marksmen have
succeeded in beating tho almost I'M
beatable Swiss. Rifle shooting is the
real national sport In Switzerland,
and tho crack Swiss teams were able
to carry off every international
match from 1897 to 1920, with the
exception of 1898 when France a.
the victor. The real competition In
those years was for second place.
The United States did not even send
a team to the International contests
until 1921.
But in 1921 United States marks
men decided at the last minute to
enter the contest. a team was quick
ly selected from the Army, Navy,
Marine, and civilian rifle shots. The
men were given any rifles that hap
pened to be handy, and sent off to
Milan, Italy, to compete with the
formidable Swiss champions.
Perhaps the Swiss underestimated
American shooting ability, and did
not extend themselves to hold their
first place. Certainly the American
practice of using a sling to hold the
rifle gave our men al advantage.
At any rate the United States team
record for firing in the prone posi-
ton.
Last year too, the American team
retained the trophy, though the
Swiss climbed up to within twelve
points OF the winning score. The
Swiss marksmen have adopted the
use OF the sling, and it is prophesied
that this year they will probably
make a higher score than Jul team
won with last year.
To enable our team to shoot TO
the best advantage the barrels of
the match rifles are being made by
the finest barrel makers in the coun-
try, and the kind of ammunition to
be used has been selected by COM
petitive tests under Government
supervision. 1t is said that the am
munition chosen is the best ever de-
veloped for shooting 800 meters-the
fixed distance of the international
free rife match.
Regional Contests First
In order to select the American
team from rifemen in all sections
Of the country there VIII be a series
of regional tryouts between August
1 and Is. Successful competitors
from each of the regional ranges will
go to Camp Perry September l for
a brief course Of training after
which they will shoot in a final
match for places on the team.
The Swiss are rated the most SER
ious competitors with which the
American team will have to reckon.
The other countries that are expec-
ted to send teams to the match are
Great Britain, Italy, Sweden, Hol-
land, Denmark, and some South AM
erican countries. Belgium, Greece,
Portugal, Roumania, Poland, and
Czecho-Slovakia are all members of
the international federation, but I'M
settled home conditions may prevent
teams from these countries from
accepting the invitation to attend.
In addition to the free rifle match
by the international teams of five
men each, several other matches
will be included in the international
contest. The old Palma match, the
international long range team cham
pionship of the world, with ten men
on a team, is to be revived. This is
an 500. 900. and 1000 yard event.
As the Swiss specialize in short
range shooting, so long range firing
Is the American and English spec
ialty. England, Canada, and Aus
tralia will probably be able to pro-
duce teams to compete with the
United States for the Palma cham
pionship. Since 1913 It has been i'm
possible to stage this event first be-
cause OF the war and second because
the British and Canadians have felt
that they were automatically handi-
capped by the condition requiring
the use of the service rifle. This con-
dition will be changed to permit any
match rifle this year.
A % calibre match, known as the
Dewar championship, will also be
Lhald bStween the United States and