The Evening Star THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2736, 23 November 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1871.

Although the late rifle match has gone against Mr Christie, it cannot be said that he has in any wise suffered in reputation as a marksman. He has had to contend with one who has learnt the value of scientific aids, and how to use them, and who, from the care with which even the most minute circumstances were attended to, capable of aiding in or detracting from accuracy of aim, shewed that the use of the rifle had been made his special study. The few points of difference in the two days’ shooting, assuming the minutiae in Mr Walker’s preparations to be of any avail, seem to indicate that Mr Christie is the better marksman of the two. This is worthy of remark, for it tends to point to those circumstances which add value to the rifle as a weapon of defence. First, the trajectile force of a given quantity of powder of ascertained strength must be known, and the precise amount necessary to propel a ball of certain weight at a given elevation of the weapon must be used. In order to secure the requisite of elevation, Mr WALKER has attached s spirit-level to the sight?, so that deception of vision, arising from inequality of ground may be avoided. The liability to err in the estimate of level is thus more easily overcome than the allowance for the wind, which, even with the best appliances must always be a matter of practice. But in muzzle-loading, there is a risk of more or less powder adhering to the side of the barrel in its passage to the breech. Two evils result from this—the barrel becomes foul after a few discharges, and the initial velocity of the ball is reduced by friction ; and this is still further lessened through the reduction in the quantity of powder that reaches the breech. In order to retain the full expansive force of the charge, therefore, Mr Walker has adopted the expedient of using a charging tube, by means of which the powder is placed in its proper position in the breech, without the possibility of its touching the sides of the barrel. The advantage derivable from this attention to minute details is shewn in the splendid shooting of Monday and Tuesday—shooting, we suppose, never excelled in any country. Matches of this description have thus their uses: they point out what is possible where time and appliances are available ; where men can choose their own practised position, and where an object is lixed. But these conditions are never present in warfare. The distinctive qualities requisite both in men and weapons are quick adaptability to circumstances. As a matter of course, the appliances for loading adopted by Mr Walker would bo but incumbrances. The soldier or volunteer must not depend for accuracy of aim upon practise in any special position. In battle, the enemy are not so ceremonious now a-days as the old French Generals used to be, who, when all was ready on both sides, politely advanced, raised their caps, and invited Messrs I’Anolaise to lire first. Even long shots with tolerable accuracy are useful, and the more rapidly men can fire with any decent aim, the better chance there is of success. Target practice is good as a beginning, but we cannot avoid thinking it ought not to end there. The soldier has to aim at objects in rapid motion, and must, to a certain extent, possess the attainments of the experienced sportsman, whose practised eye can judge so accurately of distance, as to prevent his throwing a shot away, and whose ready hand, almost by instinct of the muscles,

points his piece with deadly aim upon the object. These qualifications are attainable by practice only, and means should be devised for securing them; for no matter how firm the nerves may be, we never knew a sportsman yet who was not fluttered the first time he heard the whir of a covey of partridges rising ; and the same sense of new conditions must of necessity induce shakiness when persons accustomed to fire at fixed objects only, are called upon to deal with objects in motion. For these reasons, wo do not think matches such as have just taken place, good train ing for volunteers. The small-bore, muzzle-loading rifle is not the weapon to win battles with. According to the best professional evidence the fire-arm wanted for defence purposes is a breech-loading rifle of uniform pattern, accurately sighted to 1000 or 1200 yards. If a tolerable degree of precision of aim is secured, the troops that can load and fire rapidly are the most effective. The time lost in muzzle-loading is equivalent to the loss of so many men, supposing that an enemy can load and fire twice or three times as fast. Experience has proved that this quickness can be secured by breech-loading weapons, and that, when well made, they stand an amount of wear and tear which the small-bore rifles cannot bear. We think it is in this direction that efficiency must be looked to ) and the best authorities affirm that the necessary training can be acquired by the ordinary class practice, and good skirmishing and judging distance drills. Splendid therefore as has been the shooting at the late match, it has been of an exceptional and ornamental character, if the simile is allowable. It has shewn what may be done under the most favorable conditions, but must not form a standard for imitation by our Volunteers, whose services, if ever called into requisition, will liave to bo rendered under every variety of adverse circumstances. It is for these that they must prepare.