sights strictly in accordance with service pattern.[1] Class II.—Match
rifles (M.R.): any breech-loading rifle complying with the
following conditions: maximum weight of barrel, 314 ℔; maximum
calibre, ·325; stock sufficiently strong for service purposes, and
without pad or shoe on the heel plate; minimum pull of trigger,
4 ℔; sights, of any description. Class III.—Military breech loading
rifles (M.B.L.); any rifle, that is either (𝑎) the regulation
military rifle of any country; or (𝑏) a breech-loading rifle complying
with the following conditions: maximum weight, exclusive
of bayonet, 834 ℔; maximum calibre, ·315; minimum pull of
trigger, 4 ℔. Sights may be of any description except telescopic
or magnifying, but must be fixed to the barrel and must be
strong enough for military purposes. Class IV.—Sporting rilies:
calibre, any; minimum pull of trigger, 3 ℔; sights, open or such
as are sanctioned by the council or committee. The Lyman back-sight
and the Beech combination fore-sight have been sanctioned.
No lateral adjustment of fore- or back-sight is permitted. The
miniature rifles allowed fall into two classes, “military,” with
open sights, only, and “any,” with no restrictions as to sights
except that magnifying and telescopic sights are forbidden.
Modern American Target Rifles.—In America, according to some authorities, there are three recognized departments of target shooting-namely off-hand shooting; shooting from a simple rest; and shooting from a machine rest, with telescopic or any other sight. For the first two classes small-bore rifles of ·380 calibre or under only are used. The usual weight is from 8 to 10 ℔, with 28- or 30-in. barrel. Light charges for the shorter ranges are used. In the ·380 bore only 55 grains of powder with a 330-grain bullet is employed. In the second-class contests, from a simple rest, the barrel is longer and the weight increased to just under 12 ℔. The bore is generally ·380. The usual range is 200 yds. The third-class shooting from a machine rest, generally with telescopic sights, is not much practised. Every kind of rilie is employed, usually of large bore and weighing from 20 to 60 ℔. The long-range breech-loading match rifle, with which so much fine shooting was done when wiping out after each shot was allowed, weighed about 10 ℔; the breech mechanism, any falling block, as the Sharp, Farquharson, Deeley, and Edge or Wiley, that admitted the insertion of the cleaning rod at the breech; length of barrel, 32 to 34 in.; seven or more grooves ·003 to ·005 in depth with a complete turn in 20 in. A sharp continual spiral and very shallow grooves constituted the feature of the American plan. Rigby’s plan was similar, with one turn in 18 in. and eight grooves, the lands being about half the width of the grooves. In the Wiley the grooves were fewer and wider. The Metford is an increasing twist, starting with one turn in 60 in. and finishing with one in 20, or sharper. The usual bore of the American long range rifle was ·458 or ·461; powder, 76 grains of special “fouling” rifle powder; elongated cylindrical bullet of 540 grains. The pull-off was under 3 ℔. During recent years smaller-bore smokeless-powder rifles have also been used.
Continental Match Rifles.—The target rifle used by continental marksmen for medium ranges is a modification of the old pattern Swiss rifle, with scroll guard, hollowed butt plate and hair trigger. This latter, a mechanical device to free the tumbler from the sear without sufficient pull on the trigger to influence the aim, is disallowed in military arms.
Sporting Rifles.—Prior to 1845 smooth-bore guns with double charge of powder and an ounce spherical ball were generally preferred to rifles for sporting purposes and for large game; 16-bore muzzle-loading, rifles were occasionally used by British sportsmen in the East Indies before that date, firing 112 drs. of powder with a spherical ounce ball. These rifles were sighted to 200 yds., but the trajectory was high and the penetration weak; they were also difficult to load when foul. The twist of the rifling was also too rapid, causing the bullet to strip with heavy charges of powder. According to Captain Forsyth and others, up to 1860 there was no known rifle suitable for sporting purposes in India. Rifles of 12-bore gauge, firing a spherical ball, were subsequently made, with broad and shallow grooves making one turn in 10 ft. The bullet, of the same diameter as the bore, was loaded with a thin patch that took the grooving. These rifles proved very successful, possessing velocity equal to a smooth-bore of the same calibre, accuracy for sporting distances, flat trajectory and great striking power. In 1855 W. Greener produced the “Cape rifle” for South African sport, calibre ·450 or ·500; rifling, two deep grooves with one turn in 26 in., with a lianged bullet to tit the grooves; weight, 12 ℔; sighted up to 1200 yds. This rifle was successful, and others were built by Purdey, who in 1856 named the pattern “Express Train.” Since that date the word “express” has been generally used to denote a rifle possessing high velocity, flat trajectory and long fixed-sight range.[2] In America small-bore rifles were used earlier in the 19th century. The celebrated Kentucky rifles were of various sizes, firing spherical balls of 90, 60 and 40 to the ℔, and were renowned for their accuracy and fixed-sight range up to 100 yds. Some maintain that the express rifle was developed from the Kentucky model. The modern express rifle may be defined as a breech-loading rifle with a height of trajectory not exceeding 412 in. at 150 yds., with a muzzle velocity of at least 1750 f.s. These rifles are usually 5- to 7-grooved, double-barrelled, with 26- to 28-in. barrels of ·360, ·400, ·450, ·500 and ·577 bores, weighing respectively from 612 to 7 ℔, 7 to 8 ℔, 734 to 9 ℔, 814 to 10 ℔ and 1014 to 12 ℔. The respective average charges are: bullet, 150 grains; powder, 50 grains; 209 and 82; 270 and 110; 340 and 130; 520 and 160; the fixed-sight ranges, 130, 160, 150, 130 and 120 yds. Double and single express rifles of ·303 bore with 26-in. barrels are also made.
Since the invention of cordite powder and the advent of the small-bore high-velocity rifle for military purposes, the variety of sporting rifles with different-sized bores has increased. Sporting cordite express rifles are now made, both single- and double-barrelled, of the following calibres: ·256, ·265, ·276, ·303, ·510, ·360. ·370, ·375, ·400, ·450, ·500, ·577 and ·600. Some of these calibres, such as ·500, ·577 and ·600, are seldom used with cordite. The ·450 cordite express is the largest bore high velocity rifle recommended.
The modern small-bore military rifle already described possesses all the best qualities of an express sporting rifle—namely accu-racy, flat trajectory, high muzzle velocity and long point-blank or fixed-sight range up to 200 yds. The muzzle velocity of the ·303 bore with black powder is 1850 f.s.; with cordite, 2100 f.s. The hollow-pointed or slit expanding bullet is generally used in these high-velocity rifles, as in the black powder express, for ordinary sporting purposes, with the solid metal cartridge-case. The pointed bullet is also sometimes used, generally with the ·375 and ·475 calibre rilies, and gives an increased muzzle velocity of 2500 f.s. The trajectory of the cordite rifle is stated to be 10 in. flatter at 200 yds. than that of a black-powder rifle of similar calibre and corresponding charge. The variety of bores in sporting rifles is due largely to restrictions on the importation of arms of the military calibres (especially ·303) into India and South Africa.
The sights of sporting express rifles are of some variety, and are usually designed and made with special care. The open V
- ↑ The N.R.A. have recently sanctioned the use of the aperture sight in service rifles, provided it be attached to the weapon by the hinge-pin which fastens the ordinary folding leaf.
- ↑ The term “point-blank range” is often used in this connexion. Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as “point-blank range,” the bullet commencing to drop immediately it leaves the muzzle of the rifle. The path or trajectory of the bullet if fired horizontally is therefore always a downward curve. The higher the muzzle velocity the flatter is this curve. The “fixed-sight,” or so-called “point-blank” range, is usually taken at such range, generally 100 yds. with black powder, and with such elevation as render the amount of drop of the bullet or curve of its path practically immaterial for sporting purposes, say a maximum of 412 in. At shorter range this curve would therefore take the bullet so much above the line of fixed-sight aim, and must where necessary be allowed for. With the high-velocity small-bore rifle the fixed-sight range can be increased to 200 yds. for the sporting rifle; and for military purposes in the field to 500 yds. and (with pointed bullets) even more.
