The complete 1943 annual of the issues of the WW2 wartime journal of the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs

< Previous64 T H E R I F L E M A NSeptember, 1943. Highest Possible Score Certiﬁcates (Unless otherwise stated, targets were ﬁred at 25 yards range.) Name P. - c . G r a y Insp. W. Edgley G. Windibank G. Efodges Mrs, M. Simmonds Date 30; 11/42 2/11/42 2/12/42 5/12/42 16/11/42 6/12/42 H. Lambton * 9/12/42 P.h:. Hainswonh 9/1 1/42 12/12/42 9/12/42 J. G. Barnett M i s s P. H u r s t W. R . E . G r a y Mrs. W . Fisher 18/12/42 G. S. Sturgess Club Competition Wisbech Division Police Club Match and Special Constables Wisbech Divisional Police Club Match and Special Constables W o o d a l l - D u c k h a m J u n i o r J u n i o r C o m p e t i t i o n , S e c t i o n M a j o r S e c t i o n Mid-Wessex Water Coy. S.M.R.C. W . H . D . , A y l e s b u r y U n i t Yds. 15 R. I. Pickworth A. A. Bolsom 17/12/42 19/12/42 • 2/1/43 20/12/42 20/12/42 6/1/43 10/1/43 11 / 1 / 4 3 3/Ij43 9/1/43 20/1/43 29/6/42 3/1 1/42 18/1/43 23/1/43 9/1/43 23/1/43 26/1/43 26/1/43 2ri/43 9,'2;43 G. R. Bostock R. Reekie Insp. G. S. Sturgess Insp. G. S. Sturgess J. G. Bamett G. Robertson L. J. W aller C/S/M. P. F. Davis C. C- Appleby H. McEachnie W. Simpson R. H. W arren G. Snape F. G . L l o y d R. C. Jacklin T. S . S m i t h F. D . M c D o n a l d R, M. W elis F. B a r b e r Maltby Civil Defence Services W.R. Constabulary H.Q. Hendon and Cricklewood Cardiff City H a w k e r A i r c r a f t Downe House M i d - W e s s e x W a t e r C o . Heston and Hounslow N o r w i c h C i t y S p e c i a l Constabulary Eaton R.C. B.T .H. (London) N o r w i c h C i t y S p e c i a l Constabulary Eaton R.C. W.H.D. Challenge Cup—First Stage. S.M.R.C. League News of World Trophy Competition 200 ex 200 News of World Individual Competition News of World Ind WxdutiX Competition 300 ex 300 News of World Challenge Cup Club Match 15 S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League Marksman Badge Competition Marksman Badge S.M.R.C. League Club Competition N o r f o l k W i n t e r S h i e l d Competition Marksman Badge Com petition T ime-Limit National League 50 and 100 • 4 0 0 \ 4 0 0 S.M.R.C. League News of the WorldTa^m N e w s o f t h e W o r l d 1 5 Aggregate score of 200 Club Competition West of Scotland Leagu.% H.G. Target M a r t o c k a n d D i s t r i c t R . C . S . M . R . C . L e a g u e H a w k e r A i r c r a f t F a l k i r k L o r d R o b e r t s H a w k e r A i r c r a f t R . C . 55th Kent H.G. British Legion, Mersea B a l o r n o c k H . G . B a l o r n o c k H . G . 9*2/43 H. Lambton 2/2/43 1/2/43 31/1/43 4/2/43 7/2/43 30/1/43 23 ■ 11 / 4 2 18,12,42 10 1 1 42 28 12,42 20.1,'43 29; 1/43 19.2/43 25;2/43 24; 2/43 6/3/43 7/3/43 N. Perry G. W. Caf ferata E. N. Eagle T. E . B e l l L/Sgt.A.G. Huggett Lt. A. A. Davie G. W . Caf ferata G. W . Caf ferata R. Priestley R. Priestley R. Priestley R. Priestley A. Naylor R. P. Haskell M i s s B . B u r n e t t - Stuart R. C. Jacklin B.T .H, (London) C a r d i f f C i t y R . C . L y t h a m S t . A n n e s Av r o I n s t i t u t e Av r o I n s t i t u t e Inland Revenue M a l t b y C i v i l D e f e n c e Maltby Civil Defence W o o d a l l - D u c k h a m R . C . Caf ferata and Co. Ltd. Agwi R.C. C i t y o f N e w c a s t l e R . C . 55th Kent H.G. 55th Kent Bn. HG. Caf ferata and Co. Ltd. Caf ferata and Co. Ltd. Caf ferata and Co. Ltd. Caf ferata and Co. Ltd. Caf ferata and Co. Ltd. Caf ferata and Co. Ltd. V i n e r s L t d . Wo o d a l l - D u c k h a m Downe House Lytham St. Anncs 14,3/43 21; 3/43 16/3/43 16/3/43 E. Barber : Norwich City Special Cdnstabulary Eaton R.C. Eaton R.C. Insp. G. Sambrooke 1 Sturgess G. Sambrooke Sturgess G. Sambrooke Sturgess J . F . B a r b e r , J n r . M a l t b y C i v i l D e f e n c e I4.'3/43 16/3/43 28,11;42 5/12/42 12 12,42 5/I2'42 21/11 '42 5/12,42 H. Lambton H. Lambton M i s s H . M i l l a r M i s s M . F. M i l l a r R. Wilson D. Gowrie A. B. Millar P. L u m s d e n 7/12.42 G. L. Brown 4/3/43 22;3'43 27/3/43 17/3/43 G. Snape W. T . W a t s o n J. Wilson Sgt. R. Forster M a l t b y C i v i l D e f e n c e M a l t b y C i v i l D e f e n c e Maltby Civil Defence Perth City and County R.C. Perth City and County P e r t h C i t y a n d C o u n t y Perth City and County P e r t h C i t y a n d C o u n t y Perth City and County Perth City and County B.T.H. (London) R.C. Ranalah R.C. M a l t b y C i v i l D e f e n c e R.A.F., Halton, R.C. S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. Master-Shot Competition S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League News of World Competition News of the World Competition S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League 20 S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League Midland Leaue Midland League Midland League Midland League Midland League Midland League S.M.R.C. League 20 S.M.R.C. League • S.M.R.C. League '5 S.M.R.C. Badge Competition Club Competition N o r f o l k C o u n t y Association League N o r f o l k C o u n t y Association Shield News of World Competition News of World Competition S.M.R.C. League N e w s o f W o r l d Competition N e w s o f W o r l d Individual News of World Individual Scottish Cup N e w s o f W o r l d Individual N e w s o f W o r l d N e w s o f W o r l d Individual N e w s o f W o r l d Individual S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League N e w s o f W o r l d I n d i v i d u a l Highe.st possible aggregate score. Date. Name. 25/3/43 Dr. J. R. F. Popplewel! 13/4/43 C. Young 13/4/43 H. Lambton 27/2/43 M. Fraser 3/4/43 H. A. Thomson 6/5/43 L. H. Pate 24/4/43 R. H. Veale 13/5/43 A. F. Topley April, 1943 J. D. Clarke 3/5/43 G. A. W ood 16/5/43 Insp. G. Sambrooke- Sturgess 23/5/43 E. Barber 8 / 8 / 4 3 M i s s E . M . P a r k e r 26/8/43 J. W. Pratt 24/7/43 Miss Maxine Bonxon B.T.H. (London) Club. Whittlesey R.C. M a l t b y C i v i l D e f e n c e Service M a l t b y C i v i l D e f e n c e Service L a r g s a n d D i s t r i c t Largs and District R.C. Wo o d a l l - D u c k h a m B.T .H. (London) W o o d a l l - D u c k h a m R . C . Handley Page R.C. L y t h a m S t . A n n e s -Norwich City Special Constabulary Maltby Civil Defence Services Cardiff City R.C. Tr i n g 14/8/43 E. Ed worthy 29/7/43 L. Plummer 21/7/43 A. O. Taylor 22/7/43 T. Vess'ey 28/7/43 H. S. W allis 20/7/43 C. Wickens 30, 7/43 A. Brazel 24/7,'43 C. A. C. Hillyer 26/6/43 A. Lush 19/6/43 F. C. Moorhouse I9/6'43 M. Mullen 19/6/43 VV. F. Richardson 2/7/43 W . Wilson 19/5/43 J. W. Banc 1 5 / 7 / 4 3 M i s s D . W a k e ﬁ e l d 15/7/43 W. R. Lavender 1 5 / 7 / 4 3 A . F. To p l e y ' 10/7/43 A. L. Jenkins 14/7/43 Insp. G. S. Sturgess 11 / 7 / 4 3 W . S . M a r t i n June/43 W . S. Martin July ,/43 R. Pickworth 29/6/43 a. H. Ladley 10/6/43 W. J. Higgs 29 5/43 C. Y oung 24/5/43 J. Dnbbs 15,5/43 R. Haworth 30/4 43 A. Lambert 16'4/43 A. Lambert 25/5/43 F. Barber , Jnr . 17/5,'43 L. H. Baldwin 21/5/43 H. O. Morris 29;5/43 J. Wilson 26'5/43 H. E. Howells 3/6/43 L. G. Blake 10/6/43 L. M. Plummer 10/6/43 J. P. Robinson 9/6'43 Insp. G. Sambrooke S t u r g e s s , ' 9/6/43 T . W . Millard T aunton March. 1943 F . G. Lloyd Cardif f City 16/5/43 Pte. A. MacQiliivray Cardiff City 2 9 / 6 , ' 4 3 J . D . R i c h a r d s o n B . V . P . M . & N . N . P . M . 11/6.'-3 J. Odell Competition. Yds. S.M.R.C. League 15 S.M.R.C. League News of World Competition We s t o f S c o t l a n d L e a g u e Junior Spring Comp. Aggregate score of 200 S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League 50 Club Competition S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League Club Compclitioh S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. L .gue S.M.R.C. League V/orthing M.R.A. Lge. Wo r t h i n g M . R . A . L g e . Wo r t h i n g M . R . A . L g e . B.T .H. (London) B . V . P . M . & N . N . P . M . Automotive Caf ferata &. Co. Ltd. C i t y o f E l y City of Ely C i t y o f L o n d o n P o l i c e Hendon and Cricklewood E C o y. 11 t h S x . B n . H . G . Chatswoft.i R.C. Worthing Police S o u t h d o w n M o t o r S e r v i c e s W o r t h i n g M . R . A . L g e . C a f f e r a t a & C o . L t d . S . M . R . C . L e a g u e City of Ely and District S.M.R.C, League W e s t w o o d W o r k s R C . C l u b C o m p e t i t i o n 1 5 C i t y o f L o n d o n P o l i c e S . M . R . C . L e a g u e W o o d a l l - D u c k h a m S . M . R . C . L e a g u e 1 0 0 West Riding Constab. H.Q. S.M.R.C. League Norwich City Spec. Con. S.M.R.C^ League Hendon and Cricklewood S.ls^.R.C. League Hendon and Cricklewood S.M.R.C. League 50 Hendon and Cricklewood S.M.R.C. League 103 Borough of Heston and S.M.R.C. League Isleworlh Elec. Dept. Tr i n g R . C . 50 100 15 50 M a l t b y C . D . C a f f e r a t a & C o . L t d . Colne Electricity C i t y o f B r a d f o r d S . C . City of Bradford S.C. M a l t b y C i v i l D e f e n c e W o o d a l l - D u c k h a m R . C . M a t l o c k a n d D i s t r i c t M a l t b y C i v i l D e f e n c e Swansea R.A.F ., Halton B . V . P . M . & N . N . P . M . B . V . P . M & N . N . P . M . N o r w i c h C i t y S . C . 16/6/43 R. Cookson 20/6/43 T. Asquith Met. Police C Division L y t h a m S t . A n n e s R . C . Mappbwell and Disl. R.C. S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League Club Match Club Competition N e w s o f W o r l d C u p S.M.R.C. League Marksman Badge Compt. Ti m e L i m i t S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League National League National League S.M.R.C. League Club Competition S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League Club Competition S.M.R.C. League S.M.R.C. League Cluo Competition 20 50 100 Marksman Badge Competition {Continued from page 63.) " B " C L A S S . S/Sgt. Dunmore, 37th Detachment R.A.P.C. Sergeants' Mess; Sgt. F. W. Hunt, Yardley Wood; Cpl. R. A. Whitehouse, Yardley Wood; Pte. W. Womble, Yardiey Wood; Pus. Gobsll, 13th Bn. London Transport Home Guard; Pte. Dimmock, 13th Bn. London Transport Home Guard ; B. Leacey, Compton ; P/C Woolf, Cam bridge Borough Police ; G.L. Halford, AshorneHill. " C " C L A S S . W. Frisley, Birch; Miss M. Dore, Birch. JUNIOR OPEN SIGHTS. " A " C L A S S . L. Atkins, 962 Sqdn., A.T.C. ; W. A. G. Cathcaft, Epsom College ; S. A. Bris- low, Epsom College ; Sgt. Bolt, Hereford School ; L/Cpl. Arrowsmilh, Hereford School ; Cadet Ockey, Hereford, School ; Cpl. Faull, Hereford School; C,'S- M Rogers, Heref^ord School ; Cadet Skipp, Hereford School ; L. G. Leech, Hereford School. " B " C L A S S . J. M. Pinder, Epsom Coﬂege ; L/Cpl. Pefry, Hereford School ; Cadet Bateson, Hcrelbrd School. " C " C L A S S . R. Cock, B Coy., 1st Cadet Bn. WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKThe riﬂeman THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF MINIATURE RIFLE CLUBS. Vo l . X X X V ﬂ l . N o . 3 7 0 LONDON, DECEMBER, 1043 Quarterly 6d. Annaal Subscnptioo 2s. 6d post fre« Greetings and good wishes for the coming year to all readers of ^the Riﬂetnan. Wlien you see a claonce of gelling ALL-RAIUGE -22 A]HllHJ]\IlTIOI\I-Take li! IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED, LONDON, S.W.I A.M.lS. WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKii. T H E R I F L E M A N December, 1943. TA R G E T S (Carriage paid on target orders to value of 30/- and over. Paper targets post free.) Please give full description and length of range when ordering. d e c i m a l f o r 1 5 Y A R D S R A N G E . PerPer Paper 1,000 100 per 500 The S.M.R.C. 1 Target Practice ... P.T. 25/-2/9 8/- » » * , 5 , , „ . . .22/- 2/6 6/6 » . , 1 0 „ C a r d M a t c h33/-3/610/6 » „ 5 „ T i m e - L i m i t ( g r e e n ) . . . 27/63/- > . „ T i n H a t 1 0 P a r g e t C a r d s 70/- 7/6 22/6 Home Guard : Tin Hat 2-bull 22/-2/6 — D E C I M A L F O R 2 0 Y A R D S R A N G E . PerPer Paper 1,000 100 per 500 The S.M.R.C. 1 Target Practice ... P.T. I3I- 2/9 8/- » , , 5 T a r g e t M a t c n 27/6 3/-10/- „ „ 1 0 T a r g e t M a t c n 33/- 3/6 — . , „ 5 T a r g e t ( g r e e n ) T i m e - L i m i t 3 3 / - - - 3 / 6 — • > T i n h a t 5 i a r g e t C a r d s . . . 53/-6/- 17/6 Home Guard : T in Hat 2-bull 22/-2/6 — D E C I M A L F O R 2 5 Y A R D S R A N G E . Per Per Paper 1,000 100 per 500 N o . 1 S m a l l ( O l d D i m e n s i o n ) P. T. 18/-2/- The S.M.R.C. 1 Target Practice ... P.T. 25/-2/9 8/- » „ 2 T a r g e t P r a c t i c e22/-2/6 6/6 „ „ 5 T a r g e t P r a c t i c e25/-2/9 8/- > > „ 5 T a r g e t M a t c h33/-3/6 10/6 „ „ 5 Ta r g e t a n d S i g h t e r B u l l 33/-3/6 10/6 „ „ 5 Ta r g e t T i m e - L i m i t g r e e n ) . . . 45/- 4/6 Ungummed 1-Target Paper Centres ... P.7/- — S.M.R.C. Tin Hat 5 Target Cards 70/-7/6 22/6 L.D.V. Single Bull, Jin. diam 22/- 2/6 . Home Guard : T in-Hat 2-bul!30/-3/610/- " Scope Sight " Target 40/- 4/6 G o o d Luck N ove lty Ta rg e ts ... . .. P. T 30/- 3/6 — lO-bull 25 yds. Target 33/-3/6 Gill National Aiming Mark, 25 400 15/- Gill National Aiming Mark 5 Target 33/-3/6 — D E C I M A L F O R 5 0 Y A R D S R A N G E . Per Per Paper 1,000 100 per 500 The S.M.R.C. 2 Target Match 33/-3/6 10/6 „ „ 1 T a r g e t , c e n t r e 6 i n22/- 2/66/6 D E C I M A L F O R 1 0 0 Y A R D S R A N G E . PerPerPaper 1,000 100 per 500 The S.M.R.C. 1 Target Match Card with 12 in. centre 55/- 61-20/- The S.M.R.C. 1 Target New Pattern Centre 25/-2/98/- METRIC CARD T ARGETS. Per 1,000 Per 100 The S.M.R.C. IS yds. lO-bull Match 33/-3/6 ,, ,, 20 yds. 5-bull27/631- „ „ 2 5 y d s . 5 - b u l l , ,33/- 3/6 PIST OL T ARGETS. Per 1,000 Per 100 S.M.R.C. 10 yds . . . 25/- 3/- S.M.R.C. 20 yds 45/. 5/- B A T T L E P R A C T I C E T A R G E T S . Cut out Silhouettes Per 1,000 12/6 Per 100 1/6 T A RG ETS—continued. ARMY REGULA TION T ARGETS. No. 31—20/200 No. 32—25/200 No. 33—30 200 No. 34—20 500 No. 35—25/500 No. 36—30 500 No. 53b 25/200 Snap No. 54b 25/300 Snap No. 55b 25/400 Snap ITEMS MARKED P.T.—Prices include Purchase Tax. exempt. Per 100 I. 9d. 9d. 2/3 2/3 O t h e r P a t t e r n s Per 1,000 9/- IS/. 15/. 20/- 20/- R I F L E R E PA I R S . Parkeriﬂing .22 Riﬂes, with 25 yds. test group (Approximately 6 months) 11J6I6 Carriage Extra AMMUNITION. Details issued only to Secretaries of clubs and other units which are afﬁliated to the S.M.R.C. Supplies restricted (Carriage paid on 5,000 lots or over. Wood box charged, but returnable for credit) Riﬂes and Ammunition can be supplied only to Secretaries of afﬁliated u n i t s a p p r o v e d u n d e r t h e F i r e a r m s A c t , 1 9 3 7 . A l l O r d e r s m u s t be signed by the Club Secretary or his accredited deputy. We advise use of S.M.R.C. Duplicate Order Books, 6d. (post free). CARTRIDGE CASES. (Return Carriage Paid), 2id. per lb. for .22 Cases Give description and weight when sending. R I F L E S I G H T S . Plus "5 "Aperture Rearsight (for .22 S.M.L.E. rifles) £2/10/6 No. 7 Perfection Rearsight (for B.S.A. 12 rifles) £1/18/6 PH. IS Rearsight (for B.S.A.15 rifles) eyepiece extra ... £1/15/- Model 2 Foresight. FS.20 for Vickers rities complete with pj 21 for B.S.A. with block on barrel ho/9 each seven elements FS.22 ,, ,, dovetail in barrel Model 2 Foresight. Elements (levels, rings and blades) I/- „ E L E M E N T S F O R B . S . A . N o . 2 0 Blades and Rings Levels FORESIGHT . 1/3 each I / - . . R I F L E A C C E S S O R I E S . Eyepieces. P.M.52 six-hole dead-centre, "6/6 each Rubber Eyecups, REC. O. 1/6. Slings : Vveb iling, S16. P.H. Loop Slings, 12 6. Q u i c k l o a a e r s : D e t a c h a b l e Q L . 2 , 2 / 6 . Handstops : Winchester Type, 12/6. Rubber Fore-end Grips : RFG.2 (for B.S.A. and Vickers without open sight, 4/3; RFG.3 (lace-up), 4/9. Gibb head Rests ; GHR.2 (P.H. No. 7 and Vickers Perfect Sights) and GHR.3 (B.S.A. 15 Sight), 3/6. Glint Eliminators (B.S.A. riﬂes), 1/6. Wood Screw Revolving Swivel, l/IO. P r i c e s s u b j e c t t o ﬂ u c t u a t i o n w i t h o u t n o t i c e . A l l o r d e r s s h o u l d b e a d d r e s s e d t o — T H E S O C I E T Y O F M I N I A T U R E R I F L E jelegraphic Address;—Rifleshot, Phone, London. CLUBS. " MayLigh,' Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey Telephone :—Richmond 1444 WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKThe Riﬂeman THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF MINIATURE RIFLE CLUBS. Evacuation Address:—"-MkYUElGnr PETERSHAM ROAD, RICHMOND, SURREY. Telegraphic Address; " Riﬂeshot, Phone, London." Telephone : RIChmond 1444. Patron : H I S M A J E S T Y T H E K I N G . President : LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR ALFRED E. CODRINOT ON, G.C.V.O., K.G.B. H. H. ALDRIDGE, Esq. The Rt. Hon. LEOPOLD AMER Y, P.C., M.P. EDWIN LIONEL BELL, Esq. Col R. BODLEV, VD , Chairman, Union of South Africa R.A. ALFRED C. BOSSOM, Esq., M.P . G e n e r a l S i r A L A N B O U R N E . K . C B . , D . S . O . , M . V. O . M a j o r - G e n e r a i V i s c o a n t B R I D G E M A N , D . S . O . , M G . The Rt. Hon. S. .M. BRUCE, 0..\I., M.C. High Commissioner, Common wealth of Austral.a. Vi s c o u n t C A M R O S E . Admiral of the Fleet Lord CHA TFIELD, G.C.B., K.C.M.G., C.V .O., D.C.L. (Oxon). Coi. The Lord CO PTESLOE, C.B., V .D., T .D. C o l T h e R t H o n . S i r G B O R 3 E C O J R P H O P E , B a r t . , P. C . , M . C . , T. D . , M . P. C a p t . R I C H I E C R A W F O R D , P r e s i d e n t , N e w Z e a l a n d R . A , Brtg.-General The Lord CROFT, C.M.G. Major-General G. D.ALBY, C.B., D.S.O. T h e C o u n t e s s o f D . A L H O U S I E . M a j o r D P E R C Y D AV I E S . J P. M a l o r T h e L o r d D E N H W I , M . C . M a j o r C . E . E T C H E S . C . B . , O . B . E . - Colonel RA YMOND W . FFENNELL. A i r Vi c e - M a r s h a l S i r P H I L I P G A . M E , G . C . V. O . , G . B . E . , K . C . B . , K . C . M . G . , D.S.O. The Rt. Hon. E\RL OF HVDDlNGrON, M.C. t ^ s n e r a i S i r I A N H A M I LT O N , G . C . B . , G . C . . M . G . , D . S . O . T. D . VIscount llAMPDEN. K.C.B.. C.M.G. The Rt. Hon the Earl of H.AREWOOD, K G , G C.V.O., D.S O., T.D. W I L L I A . M . J . J O R D A N , E s q . , H i g h G o m m s s l o n e r, . N e w Z e a i a n u . V i c e - P r e s i d e n t s : General S i r W A LT E R M . S t . G . K I R K E , G . C . B . , C . M . G . , D . S . O . , D . L . , Chairman T .A,R.A, L t . - G o l . L o r d L O VA F, D . S O . , M C . Major-General R. M. LUCKOCK, C.B., C M G., D.S.O., Chairman, A.R.A. The Rt Hon VI.NCE.NT M.ASSEY, High Commissioner,Dominiou iCanada. G e n e r a l S i r I V O R M A X S E , K . G . B . , C . V. O . , D . S . O . Lord McGoW AN, K.B'.E. C o l . S i r C H A R L E S M E R R E T T, C . B . E . , V. D . , P r e s i d e n t C . - A . R . A . Field .Marshal Lord MIL.NE, G.C.B., G.G.M.G., D.S.O. M a j o r S i r G L I V E . M O R R I S O N - B E L L , B a r t , r i e r G r a c e T h e D o w a g e r D U C H E S S O F N O R F O L K . The Hon. S. M. O'KEEFFE, C.M.G., M.C., High Commissioner S. Rhodesia. C o l . C H A R L E S P O . N S O S B Y, T. D . , . M P. A i r C h i e f M a r s h a l S i r C H A R L E S F. A . P O R T. A L , K . C . B . , D . S . O . , v l . G C o l o n e l D E N E Y S R E I T Z , H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r, S o u t h A f r i c a . L t . - C o l . S i r P H I L I P W . R I C H A K D S O S . B a r t . , O . B . E . . V. U . SlrSA.VIJEL RUNGANADHA.S, Dewan Bahadur , High Comraissionei f o r I n d i a - F i e l d - M a r s h a l J . C , S M U T S , P. G . , C . H . , F. R . S . , P r i m e M i n i s t e r o f S o u t h Africa. Dr. EDITH SU.MMERSKILL, M.P. L t . - C o l . S i r H U G H T U R N B U L L , K . C . V. O . , K . B . E . C o l o n e l S i r A . L A M B E R T WA R D , B a r t . , C V. O . , D . S . O . , T. D . , M . P. S. F. WATERSON, Esq., late High Commissioner, South Africa. L t . - C o l . S i r W . E . G . A . W E l G X L i . . - l a i . K . C . M . G . , D . L . His Grace, THE DUKE OF WEST.MI.NSTER, G.C.V.O., D.S.O. F V V H i r A I C E / R E a S Q * Col. The Rt. Hon. The Lord WIGRAM, P.O., G.C.B., G.C.V.O., C.S.I. M i s s P A T R I C I A A . Y O U N G , M . B . E . • L t - C o i . S i r t . I O N E L F L E T C H E R , C . B . E . , R . M ». J. aKI'IS, Esq., M.C. A, C. BOSSO.M, Esq., M.P., J.P. • R f ) . F . K O O I ' M . E s q Major-General V iscount* BRIDGEMAN, D.S.O., M.C. Vi s c o u n t C A M K O S E . Major-General G. DALBY, C.B., D.S.O. J. al UAKI DA.NIELS, Esq. W. D R E W, E s q . vV . D. FINDLA V , Esq. M a j o r F. M A C I J R E G O R F R Y. A i r - V i c e M a r s h a l S i r P H I L I P G . \ M E , G.C.V .O., G.B.E.. K.C.B., K.C.M.G., D.S.O. • M a j o r K . W . G L E A D O V V . ^ Council Chairman. G. P . KAINES; Esq. A i r V i c e - M a r s h a l F. C . H \ L A H A N , G . M . G , , C.B.E., D.S.O., M.V .O. T. P . H A R T L E Y , E s q . N. C. HEADLAND. Esq. ROBT . B. HE.NDERSO.N, Esq. I. R. P . HESLOP , Esq., M.A. C H A R L E S L AY W O O D , E s q . , M . B . E . H. S. LO.NGHURST , Esq. D. McGILLIVRA Y , Esq. •CECIL MACK, Esq. •Col. M. K. M\rrHEWS. T.D., D.L., J.P Capt. J. L. MILNE. EDWIN L. BELL., Esq.. V ice-Chairman and Hon. Treasurer. Cf>l. C. G. VIOOitE, M.G., T .D. Superintendent M. PURBRIGK, M.B.E. •P . G. KlCilAiCDSON, Esq. L t . - G o l . S i r P H I L I P W . R I C H . ^ D S O N , B a r t . , O.B.E., V .D. Lt.-Col. i. H. SrOGKWOOD. •Lt.-Col. T . SUTT ON, M.B.E. L t . - C o l . S i r H U G H T U R N B U L L , K . C . V . O . D r . G . H E V G A T E V E R N O N . H i s G r a c e T H E D U K E O F W E S T M I N S T E R . G.G.V .O., D.S.O. Lt.-Col. K. WHIT T ON. Lt -Col. S. J. COLE, C.M.G., C.B.E., COLONIAL OFFICE. C o m m a n d e r H . I . I V G A K D . R O Y A L N A V Y R . A . L t . - C o l . R . S . T E E K . R O Y A L M A R I N E S R . A . C a p t . A . G . R U M B E L O W , M . B . E . , T H E A R M Y R . A . • E x e c u t i v e C o o i m i t t e c . E x - O f ﬁ c i o M e m b e r s ; Lt.-Gol. R. F. SYMONDS, O.B.E., T.D., R.A. C a p t . J . R . H E M S T E D , C . B . , R . N . V. R . , R . A . Squadron-Leader J. L. K. PEARGE. O.B.E., R^A.F R.A. Det.-Sgt. J. H. HERRING, SCOmSH POLICE S.B.R.A. Mr. GEO. PETHARD, M.B.E., Secretary of the Society and Editor of the Society's Journal, • T h e R i f l e m a n . ' Opinions expressed by our contributors are not necessarily those of the S.M.R.C. Vo l . X X X V I I I , N o . 3 7 0 . L O N D O N . DECEMBER, 1913, Quarterly 6d. Anaual Subscription, 2s. «3d. post free. Editorial POST-WAR Planning is in the air ! Never forgetting 1914—1939 we have to remember 1944—and onward. It is not sufﬁcient to " Look Forward " but we also have to Plan and Act for the future. There must be no "to-morrow" for anything we can do to-day. Concert pitch must be maintained and no time lapse must ensue in the change over from War to Peace either in the Nation or in the Society of Miniature Riﬂe Clubs. At the same time no relaxation in War work can be considered for a moment. Advances so often become reverses when it is attempted to rest on the way. In order to avoid such a danger as that, we have to consolidate our forces as we go if we are determined to reach our objective. Well, the. ob jective of the Society, as we know it, is to make every civilian a marksman. The task is immense, but at the present time we are on a wave of enthusiasm for .22 riﬂe shooting that, taken at the ﬂood, should ﬂow into i n n u m e r a b l e h o m e s t h a t w o u l d b e u n t o u c h e d f o r generations in normal times. For instance, it has taken us forty years to get where we are to-day and we regard our present 3,000 atﬂliated units, comprising half a million members, as a very small fraction of the potential. Undoubtedly the activities of the Society have been WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UK2 T H E R I F L E M A NDecember, 1943. haphazard so far. . Any kind of .22 riﬂe available plus any aids have been allowed in all its competitions. Besides these open competitions the time has now come for a restricted class in which the competitors .will have to use a .22 Military type of riﬂe and encourage positions other than the prone. The force we must consolidate by agreement in funda mentals and then activate with enthusiasm for progress is our present membership. This in the main can safely be left to the energies of their Club Secretaries and ofﬁcials, whilst the " Back Room Boys " i.e., inventors, manufacturers and club ideologists can come to the front in the pages of The Riﬂeman as well as in their local riﬂe clubs and newspapers. Certainly there should be an honorary press corre spondent in every club to publicise the doings of their t e a m s a n d m e m b e r s , a s w e l l a s t h e i r s o c i a l f u n c t i o n s . It is amazing how good the Press can be if brief and cogent paragraphs are sent them. Our daily batch of news cuttings are proof of this. It is for the Council to legislate on all matters of principle and be advised by the Advisory Committee on technical details of shooting. We are glad to say that Major R. W. Gleadow, of Hull, the Chairman of the Advisory Committee, is now busy compiling a questionnaire on .22 riﬂe shooting practice which should have far reaching effect on the future use of artiﬁcial aids and the shooting positions in competitions. S.M.R.C. Rule 20, is in question. Meanwhile the Chairman and Executive Com m i t t e e a r e i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h t h e m a n u f a c t u r e r s o f shooting requisites, on the questions of improvements and quick production. Undoubtedly the handicap placed on our efforts for the time being, are those of insufﬁcient .22 riﬂes, and not enough ammunition to meet the growing demands, especially since the Youth Movement and Civil Defence Forces are requiring .22 shooting practice now that these two forces have been ofﬁcially recognised, the latter as c o m b a t a n t . T h e r e a r e n o w o v e r 4 0 0 j u n i o r u n i t s afﬁliated to the Society, and many others that are not are being trained on our club riﬂe ranges. After eliminating tests of all boys in a unit for the ﬁrst stage 521 teams of ten boys have qualiﬁed and entered the second stage of the Army Cadet Force competition for the News of the World Challenge Trophy competition. Needless to say the Youth Moverr.ent has been warmly welcomed by the Council and the riﬂe clubs forming the Society. Many more women are keen to learn to shoot and that they can quickly become competent is particularly demon strated by the Women's Home Defence, inspired as they are by the leadership of Dr. Edith Summerskill, M.P.—an appropriate name for her ! In the following page 6 it will be seen that the W.H.D. have just completed a most successful Summer League 1 In London alone there are 92 units of the Civil Defence Force, all of which want to form clubs and acquire .22 riﬂes and ammunition. In Glasgow, and in all parts of the country, similar demands exist. The Police all over the country are also forming riﬂe clubs. All Home Guard personnel do not intend to be separated after the war, as many units have already formed .22 riﬂe clubs to maintain their comradeships. For the third S.M.R.C. Home Guard Competition we have received 2,461 teams of ten—a record. Hence our foregoing remarks. Gradually but surely the future operations of the Society. are formulating. Probably there will be three types of competition, viz. :— (A) With Military pattern bolt action .22 riﬂes either new or converted Service riﬂes ﬁtted with orthoptic rearsight and blade foresight, and allowing the use of a sling. (B) With all .22 riﬂes ﬁtted with any metallic s'ghts and aids as hitherto. (C) With all .22 riﬂes plus telescopic sights. Besides the prone position there will be introduced! as ranges and policy permit, competitions for standing, sitting and kneeling positions. Apart from Service require ments in musketry all four positions will enable us to compete with other nations more readily. Time limit and other competitions of that type will be considered for revival. In this way it is thought both more national purposes will be served and more variety of interest introduced, whilst the newcomer or novice entering the restricted class A type of competition will feel that he is not handi capped by reason of some of his fellow competitors using much better riﬂes and aids than those he has himself. The Council of the Society has elected Capt. J. L. Milne to their number. In the early days of the Society he was a member of the Southﬁelds Riﬂe Club, which was the ﬁrst club to use the orthoptic sights on .22 riﬂes after Mr. E. J. Newitt had advocated the use of this invention by Lyman, of the U.S.A. Capt. Milne is also an energetic and far seeing member of the Council of the N.R.A. He acted as adjutant to the N.R.A. team which visited Australia. The panel of Vice-Presidents of the Society has been still further enhanced by the acceptance of the following gentlemen to lend their names and inﬂuence to our cause, viz. :— Major C. E. Etches, C.B., O.B.E., (late secretary of the N.R.A.), Col. Raymond W. Ffennell (who inaugurated and ﬁnanced the Imperial Challenge Shield Compe- tion for boys of the Empire), Lord McGowan, K.B.E. (Chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd.), The Hon. S. M. L. O'Keeffe, C.M.G., M.C., High Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia, Field Marshal the Rt. Hon. J. C. Smuts, P.C., C.H., F.R.S., Prime Minister of South Africa. In accepting our President's invitation General Smuts' Secretary wrote :— " General Smuts has asked me to thank you for your letter of the 14th November, and to say that he will be glad to become a Vice-President of the Society of Miniature Riﬂe Clubs. " The Prime Minister has been very interested by your account of the activities of the Clubs during the last and present wars and hopes that the good work will be continued in the future." Another splendid challenge trophy has been gifted by the Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. This one is to be known as " The Industrial League Trophy." A picture and full description of it appears on page 29 in this issue. We are deeply grateful for this handsome contribution to our list of challenge trophies. a ^oc£) Jiuae IbopeUil Ipcar to l^ou WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKDecember, 1943. T H E R I F L E M A N 3 Reloading and Adapters PA R T 2 By A. G. Banks The interest in Part 1 of this series was rather surprising, and very pleasing. It makes me believe that in our country too, interest in all kinds of riﬂes and in experimenting with various hand- loaded cartridges for them might become general, as it is among our friends the Americans, if we could only revert to that state of freedom in which an honest citizen could buy a ﬁrearm and acquire or make a cartridge without ﬁrst submitting to a depressing and irksome system of formalities and enquiries by the Police. Such interest would be very much to the encouragement of riﬂe shooting as a National pastime, with resulting improvement in our military efﬁciency in time of war. However, as I have little doubt that after our present generation has passed, there will come again the same wave of paciﬁsm and anti- militarism as followed the last world struggle, and with similar results in the future, such freedom is little likely to be attained. We spoke last time of the value of the Hornet cartridge for long shots in difﬁcult conditions of wind and terrain. Hunters using high power riﬂes have always found, however, that circumstances occur when the regular cartridge is unnecessary, and a reduced load, for short shots or small animals or birds, is required, for use in the same This is easy enough when the regular cartridge is of the size of, say, the .303 British or the .30/.06 American. You can purchase an adapter, or " Auxiliary cartridge " as Messrs. Marble call them, whereby a small, low power central ﬁre cartridge using a lighter bullet of tlie same calibre is held in the nose of a steel dummy cartridge case and struck by a ﬁring pin passing through it. The .303 Adapter uses the .32 Colt pistol cartridge in this way, and so on. With the Hornet we found the same need. But it possessed uitﬁculties which the larger riﬂes do not. The obvious, and, indeed o.ily, reduced load cartridge to use is the .22 Long Riﬂe R.F. ; for the Hornet barrel and riﬂing are perfectly suited to this. But the trouble is that the Hornet chamber is so comparatively small that there is not room to introduce a steel dummy cartridge case with the 22 R.F. entirely within its nose. You can get it into the back of such a dummy, and let it ﬁre thorugh a length of smooth bore into the bore of the riﬂe ; but if you push the R.F. cartridge forward so that its bullet comes to the correct place at the lead or throat of the chmaber, then the rim of the R.F. case completely ﬁlls the diameter of the Hornet chamber (at about) half way along, and leaves no space for a steel shell outside it. Actually there is a clearance of a few " thous," but not enough in which to work. I therefore decided to make the adapter in two pieces. It has a •' sleeve," shaped to fit the front end of the Hornet c lamber, and just the length of the .22 R.F. case wUhoiU the rim; and a separate " breech block " shaped like the rear end of the chamber which ﬁts up against the back of the R.F. cartridge and ﬁres it on the rim by means of a joggled ﬁring pin passing through it, which is struck in the centre of the rear face by the central ﬁre striker of the Hornet action. It may readily be understood that the making of this two-piece adapter was a work of no mean skill. However, my friend P. T. produced it in his workshop to the greatest perfection, and it gives .22 R.F. shooting from the Hornet equal to that of a good .22 R.F. riﬂe. The difﬁculty in use, however, is that of extraction. The sleeve and cartridge case can only be extracted by pushing a cleaning rod through from the muzzle, which is no great hardship if they come out together. Sometimes, however, the case comes out and leaves the sleeve jammed in the chamber, necessitating its extraction by means of a special threaded tool which has to be screwed into it from the rear, and does it no good. After trying many expedients, we found it impossible to remedy this defect. It seemed more practical therefore, if not so efﬁcient as regards accuracy, to try the smooth-bored solid adapter which could be extracted in one piece, by the hook-extractor of the riﬂe. In this, as the R.F. cartridge ﬁts in at the rear, it is necessary to have a rim ﬁre striker in the riﬂe. The system would therefore not be possible for use in the ﬁeld with any type of action other than the bolt action which I have ; because to use this adapter it is necessary to carry with you a spare bolt with a rim-ﬁre striker bolt head, but a Hornet extractor . To make an adapter like this which ﬁts perfectly all over inside an existing chamber of Hornet shape is so difﬁcult as to be almost impossible. Also, the metal is so thin at the fore part that any part not actually ﬁtting hard up is blown into contact by the pressure of the explosion, thus increasing the bore diameter at that place. The correct bore diameter is very critical. It should be exact y -223 and no more or less at the front, but can taper to .224 at the bullet. Failure in this respect means windage or " gas-cutting and very poor "'"^Aftw one or two indifferent attempts, therefore, we ﬁnally made an adapter to ﬁt as perfectly as possible externally, but left the bore of it in front of the cartridge well under size at ﬁrst, actually about .220. I then ﬁred a dozen or more shots through to give it its ﬁnal expan sion," and then lapped it to the correct 223 throughout the throat. This did the trick, and resulted m an adapter with a perfect hore which led the bullet into the riﬂing with practically no windage. The accuracy is not quite so good as with the two-piece model, but it is good enough for its purpose. That is to say, it will give 2 minute groups with a very few " ﬂyers, ' but not better. One of the objections to the alternate use of an adapter and the full charge is that the sighting has to be completely different for the two cartridges. With my Lee Speed riﬂe correctly sighted for Hornet, the 22 R.F. from the adapter groups about six minutes low and two minutes right. This is, of course, on account of the totally different ﬂip produced by the small charge, resulting in a different line of projection. , . , . , Thus it is necessary to use some kind of dual sighting, or else a rapidly adjustable backsight. The simplest way would be to have a 'scope sight on high mounts for the Hornet, and iron sights below adjusted for the .22 R.F. Another method would be to use a ﬁxed aperture sight adjustment with a Beach or similar cornbination foresight, having the bead sight adjusted ﬁx Hornet and the blade off-set and of correct height for .22 R.F. The rnethod which I am actually employing is a modiﬁcation of this in that I use a Parker Hale Optical foresight with the spot sighted for Hornet, and a separate iron blade foresight adjusted for .22 R.F. It is, of course, a ﬁddling business getting this auxiliary foresight adjusted correctly but the results are quite satisfactory ; provided you do not, in the excitement of the stalk, use the wrong foresight, as I did on one occasion . Another point to watch is that you rnust not shoot a high speed jacketed bullet like the Hornet through a barrel fouled by lead- bulleted rim-ﬁre ammunition. The fouling may not build up sufﬁciently to constitute a dangerous obstruction, but it will certainjy cause inaccuracy. There is always a certain amount of metallic fouling from lead bullets, and if many have been ﬁred it is n^ssary to clear this out throughly before ﬁrmg the full charge In the ﬁeld when only ﬁring a few shots, it is sufﬁcient to pull the barrel through once or twic™perferably with " spit and dryf' This t.p, which vvas given me by a famous old shot, is well worth knowing, if you have not heard it. If you put a patch in your mouth and soak it in saliva, "t mfkes a very good substitute for the Aqueous Solvent which rnos of us use for cleaning (two parts water one part Young s .303 Cleaner) Saliva tas an alkaline quality which makes it a good emergency cleaner. One " wet " patch followed by one or two dry ones, leaves your barrel in perfect condition for the full charge cartridge. Hornet re-loads are still in the experimental stage, so I will pass on to the other of the two systems which I mentioned, of dealing with uncertain winds and awkward conditions. This consists of going to the other extreme, and instead of using a high velocity bullet which beats the wind by its speed, use a ve^ low velocity one of heavy weight and smashing power which beats the wind by virtue of travelling at less than the ^Pefd of air sound-wa^ and thus avoids the treacherous belt betwpn 1,200 and 1,500 ft. per second, in which bullets seem to be blown about like feathers.. (Anyone requiring the reasons for this please see my books.) The critical soeed, i.e., the velocity of sound in air, is 1,142 ft, per second Thus the 2'> R.F. " Standard " velocity of 1,060 is suitable, or anything in tharregion. Even Kleanbore at 1,110 is deﬁnitely i n f e r i o r i n t h i s r e s p e c t . , . . , The 40 grain bullet of the .22 R.F at this low velocity >s perhaps a bit light for instantaneous kills, and I prefer A grain bullet of the .300 Rook Riﬂe, which has a velocity of 1,100 but a fesser velocity delay than the .22RF. You can " lob a slow heavy (Coiitimied on page 10.) WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UK4 T H E R I F L E M A N December, 1943. Now We Learn Again C.B.L. in The American Riﬂeman, fully endorsed by the S.M.R.C. A ? concerning the war's technical developments is hard to obtain through the screen of censorship. There is, however, one bit of intelligence which is becoming more and more evident in press dispatches and ofﬁcial statements. It is the same development that has become evident in every past war as the contes tants have gained experience and the battling has become more intense It has never been a military secret on the ﬁeld of battle, but It has been a secret as far as many ofﬁcers are concerned during training cainp days. What is it ? Just this—the only gun worth having on the ﬁeld of battle is a gun which is inherently accurate equipped with sights that make it possible to hit the target, ﬁring a- projectile that will get results when the target is hit, and manned by a gunner who recognizes the correct sight picture when he sees it. The gun may be a pistol, riﬂe or carbine ; a machine-gun or pom pom ; an artillery piece or a rocket launcher. The " sights " may be simply designed for direct aiming or complicated ﬁre control instru ments replete with split images, cross hairs, registration points or spirit levels. The " gun mount " may be ﬂesh and bone, or steel and concrete. The gun may be ﬁred from the ground, from a rolling ship, or trom the pulsing frame of an aircraft. The basic requirement remains the same—to kill your enemy, knock out his pill-boxes and bunkers, destroy his guns, sink his ships or knock his planes out of the sky, you must hit him hard. The Marines have recognized this simple axiom in peace-time training as in war. They have recognized, too, the value of small arms instruction as the cheapest way to build accuracy into the gunner by indelibly impressing him with the need for a correct sight picture They have used the riﬂe range to hammer into Marines some of that basic ﬁre discipline which is another war-time requisite seldom fully appreciated until the shooting starts. The Navy has recognized the need for accuracy and ﬁre discipline, but most naval ofﬁcers have failed to recognize the basic training possibilities of the riﬂe range. The Army has always had its powerful peace-time group which sought " volume of ﬁre " through faster ﬁring weapons, reduction in weight of ammunition so that greater quantities could be carried to the guns, and more mechanization of gun mounts. Too often they have overlooked the fact that tanks, tank destroyers, aircraft are not worth the expense, effort and overhead they entail unless they deliver accurate, powerful, hits when they get within range of their target. This throw enough stuff at 'em and you'll knock 'em out " clan, are either converted, or put where their theories can do no more harm when the nghtmg really gets tough. Comes then the plea from the ﬁghting fronts for greater accuracy, greater penetration, greater demolition eirect, better sight equipment^ better gunners. It has happened in every previous war. \\ is happening now. _ The Air Corps pioneered accurate bombing, then trained its gunners in a scatter-gun technique. Now the Chief of America's sky legions points to the development of the " computing gun sight " as a contri- bution to victory equal to the development of the computing bomb sight. Note that word sight ! Air Force gunners as well as bom bardiers are at last learning the meaning of " accurate sight picture.-' Those ofﬁcers in all branches who tried to teach their recruits that ﬁxed sights were better than adjustable sights must now be somewhat embarrassed as the adjustable receiver sight makes its appearance on all of our shoulder arms. The drafting board experts who held out lor less powerful small arms ammunition so that more could be loaded in each truck must be amazed at the willingness of the Doughboy to carry heavier loads of ammunition if it will only pack the yvallgp needed to kill Japs and Jerries through log bunkers, cocoanut trees and metal car bodies. The pity is that so many months are always wasted, so many of our best trained ﬁghters lost before we relearn the same lesson that we learned in the same way in the previous war. Stand to your guns and ideals, you men of the Riﬂe Clubs ! Basic small arms instruction, correct sight picture, ﬁring line discipline, arc still indispensable items in the training of America's ﬁghting men ashore, aﬂoat and aloft. H AV E Y O U P L A N N E D Y O U R WINTER TRAINING? DO NOT LET BLACKOUT, LONG NIGHTS, BAD Impair your EFFICIENCY TRAIN INDOORS WITH WEA THER THE SWIFT TRAINING RIFLE AND SA VE TIME, TRANSPORT, AMMUNITION Particulars from T H E S W I F T 67-68, St. Aldate's, Oxford Tel. ; OXFORD 2003, 48908, 2039 Telagrams : SWIFTRAIN, OXFORD R I F L E C O . , L T D . London Ofﬁce : 29, Palace Gate, London, W.B and Demonstration Room WESTERN 1959 WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UK5 Looking Back, No. 5 By A. G. Rickarby. IN all the many Small Bore Riﬂe Meetings held under the auspices of the S.M.R.C. throughout the United Kingdom and covering a period of many years, until his unfortunate illness at Bisley in 1938, we have had hardly any changes in our Chief Range Ofﬁcer and for this reason, one name stands out by itself. Can you guess who that is ? There is little need to ask a second time, as every riﬂeman knows the one and only Charlie Laywood. Fair, square (also almost in stature!) and a real hard worker he was most popular, ever ready to help and encourage the merest novice, putting into practice, as was his duty, his authority to deal with those strange oddities of competitors who were wont to try to put one over and get the advantage of another competitor. Woe betide the fellow who was caught red handed! He himself, will call to mind the occasion at a Cleethorpes Meeting, when at 100 yards a competitor jie.xt to me let go a shot immediately the "commence" whistle had sounded. ] saw a cloud of sand ﬂy up in front of the target and could not refrain from glancing at my neighbour who was again on aim with 9 cartridges still in his block. As it was he ﬁred 11 shots and upon my reporting his number to Charlie he said " Don't you know who that js ? He's " so and sc) who won the Championship at " so and so " Meeting." I told him I didn't care a tinker's cuss who he was but that he had ﬁred 11 shots and ought to know better. As this fellow was carrying on, two men were posted to watch his next series of 10 shots, when he was caught out, having another extra shot—in otfier words, a blow olT shot. "The resijlt, as you may guess was disqualiﬁcation for the whole Meeting and forfeiture of'any prizes he might have been entitled to. That gives you an idea as to what a Range Ofﬁcer is up against and how all sorts of dodges had to be countered. Why, even when the ﬁrst set of box frames to hold the double screen targets were put into use, and they were held together by black bolts through the frames, some of the bright sparks decided to use them as a mark for a sighting shot. After that they were painted to match the frames. If you wanted to see Laywood in his clement you should have seen him at a Bisley Meeting breaking in a squad—an awkward squad—of regulars sent to him for range duty, getting them tuned up m the morn ing only to ﬁnd another new squad dumped on him in the afternoon session. " If ever a man suffered!" (with apologies to Mr. Lovejoy) wrong cards, wrong tickets, yet you never saw Charlie turn grey. He may have turned red or turned on a few real North country ex pressions that did not sound like " what a pity." In more recent years the ﬁnal inspection of the ranges before the opening of these Meetings was one of Laywood's specialities, every thing had to be ready, not like at one of the Welsh Meetings 1 attended, some 30 years back, when having landed the night before the Meeting was to be opened, the ofﬁcials had not then made up their minds in which direction they were going to shoot! The comfort of the com petitors at the ﬁring point was also studied by our old friend who was not above lopping oft" a piece of long grass that happened to be stick ing up in a tantalizing position. I have been at Meetings in the early days when we have sprawled in water, dumped down on reeds cover ing boggy ground, or on ﬁring points like the side of a mountain, but OKI- Range Ofﬁcer would get over such obstacles as these as much a s p o s s i b l e . , , v . • i The old time Miniature riﬂe events at Bisley run by the National Riﬂe Association were invariably in charge of sundry Army ofﬁcers, some of whom had the most strange ideas of conducting a prize Meeting. Can any of ourpresnt day Marksmen imagine a competitor in the middle of a series of shots at 100 yards letting drive at a rabbit scooting across the range, thereby providing a dinner for one of the Bisley target changers, then going on to complete his target ? Very tempting no doubt, but what would Charlie Laywood have said ? At those Bisley Meetings, on the old 100 yards Miniature Range, the targets were run down on trollies, the targets themselves being made of expensive, heavy paper covered strawboard, the .22 bullet after passing through leaving a shot hole, the value of which was most difﬁcult to assess, if it was close up to a scoring ring, and if you got two or three cutting shots in close proximity to the bull you could bet your bottom dollar they would all invariably be given oft". At some of the Meetings the Range Ofﬁcer gave the scores marking up your target, whilst you waited, in a space at the top right hand corner, so many 6's (centre carton.s) so many 5's, etc., then adding them up. Needless to say there were some quaint ideas on scoring, especially so if the whole series of 7 or 10 shots could not be plainly distinguished when you were deemed to have missed. You were penalised for good grouping and I've seen many an inquest held upon a target between one or two ofﬁcers and the interested competitor. Before the introduction of the 5 bull target (25 yards) and the twin "bull at 50 yards, with no screen targets at the back, there was always trouble as to whether the exact number of shots had been ﬁred, when close grouping was made, hence the reason for only allowing the value of the shot holes that could be actually seen. No such thing as cart ridge blocks in those days, even so they would have been no protection against the sharp practice of cutting a hole with a number of shots then putting one over the top of the target or elsewhere. Another game we had to contend with was that as often as not, having ﬁred 7 or 10 shots, you were turned out by the Ofﬁcer in charge, for some one else to have a go, and even if there happened to be no one else waiting you had to get up, turn over to another target, or turn round 3 times like a dog before he settles down, all according to the whim of the Ofﬁcer on duty, but when a lady competitor put in an appearance, fairlv rare in those days, there seemed to be an inﬂux of Range Ofﬁcers all dancing attendance like ﬂies round a jam pot. She seemed to be allowed to be glued to a particular target as long as she jollv well liked, whilst little acts of gallantry such as dropping a ground'sheet over the lady's legs seemed to be one of the duties of the Range Ofﬁcer, although 1 have seen Laywood perform silimar kind acts, which perhaps were even more necessary in the later days, as skirts got shorter. The trigger testing at some of these meetings kept the range ofﬁcer extremely busy, it being a rule that if you made a possible or one less, you immediately had to have the pull oft" tested, and if your riﬂe failed to lift the weight (41bs. in those days) the weapon was kept for 10 minutes and if it would not then pass, the target was ciisqualihed. 1 remember making a succession of ﬁve 25 yard possibles without leaving the ﬁring point, and after each target handing in my riﬂe tor trigger testing. What would some of our present shots say if they were made to get up, hand in their riﬂe for testing after each 99 or 100, then be posted, perhaps, to another target ? Very few squadded events for Miniature Riﬂes were staged at the Bisley Meetings, most of them being unlimiteds, but the prizes in these were quite respectable so that there was the incentive to keep at iL out unfortunately the scores were not published until the end so that no one had any idea as to how things were progressing. You had to guess if the score you had put up would car^ you in the Prize list or not with the result that one often found that when the Prize Lists were posted a reasonably good score would have carried you well into one prize list, whilst in another competition your extra good score, you had been banking on, was fairly well down the list. I used to adopt the method of having with me the previous year s Bisley Prize list, and was quite satisﬁed if 1 put up a score that got into the Prize List of a similar competition at the previous Bisley Meeting. Maybe, one of the funniest happenings that Laywood will call to mind occurred at the Beverley Indoor Meeting of or 1913. Having got through an unlimited card at 25 yards I handed in my Championship ticket which was pasted to the ordinary ﬁve bull card ﬁring my ﬁrst shot at the top left hand bull. Phut went the shot and naturally 1 said " Dear me!" (1 don't think) that s torn it! when Charlie who was sitting at a table behind the ﬁring point, eye g ued to a telescope watching how I was shaping, asked me which bull I had ﬁred at. When 1 told him, 1 thought he was never going to stop laughing, as the " dud " had dropped to the bottorn left hand carton and 1 ﬁnished the target for 99 with a " dud cartridge in the series. Also he will remember the long range man with his Match Riﬂe (who apparently wanted to test his gun) handing in an unlimited icket at 50 yards at Bisley. This merchant popped down on he next target to me, let drive with his shot, and almost blew me off the ranw Gosh! I thought the world had come to an end! Needless to sav he didn't get a second shot in, Laywood saw to that, and wasn t there something said. I believe our old friend Norman Headland was on the rTnge at the same time, but on this I'm not quite sure. A free copy of each issue of this magazine is sent to every afﬁliated unit. It should be kept at the Club Room or Range WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKT H E R I F L E M A N D e c e m b e r , 1 9 4 3 . A Method of Measuring " Precision " in Riﬂes By E. J. D. Newitt. IT is essential when testing the precision of arms and ammunition to eliminate all extraneous factors, which inﬂuence direction. It is true that, weather permitting, a competent marksman can occasionally shoot groups of a few shots small enough to prove considerable precision in the combination he is testing, but the process is slow, fatiguing and too costly for the requirements of manufacturing. The Machine rest so long as it is rigid in itself, and holds the riﬂe rigidly, ensures absolute constancy of direction, but in many cases restrains the vibrations of the riﬂe unnaturally thereby introducing a source of inaccuracy otherwise non-existent. The best of Machine rests are complicated, expensive, and ponderous pieces of mechanism, which most users would be glad to dispense with, were other equally efﬂcaceous means available. The late Lord Kelvin in a treatise on Geometry stated in effect that a perfectly unconstrained rigid body has six degrees of freedom. In addition to three independent translations, viz., (1) upwards and downwards (2) backwards and forwards (3) sideways, moreover a rigid extended body can rotate on three axes, viz., O - { y Supposing such a body is caused to maintain touch with any ﬁxed point it at once loses its three possible motions of translation. Six immovable points may now be so arranged relatively to each other that when touched simultaneously by an extended rigid body (such as a riﬂe) it will be restrained in its three possible directions of rotation, and can then be replaced pointing in precisely the same direction an i n d e ﬁ n i t e n u m b e r o f t i m e s . Curiously enough these principles, somewhat obscured by the heavy scientiﬁc language in which they were announced by Lord Kelvin some 50 years ago, admits of the construction of the ideal riﬂe rest, and the world is deeply indebted to the late Col. J. H. Hardcastle, R.A., the eminent British BaUistician, who was unques tionably the ﬁrst to interpret the meaning, and apply Lord Kelvin's principles to practical uses. His six point Rest, as it is called, is at once the simplest, and most perfect appliance for ammunition testing, while it is so inexpensive that 50 might be made at the price of one Machine Rests of the older type. Fig. 1 is a photo of a Hardcastle six point rest made and erected at the Southﬁelds Riﬂe Club range, about the year 1908. FIG. I It is made of wood and bolted to a solid base of suitable height by a single bolt and washer passing through a hole bored in the centre of the base immediately in front of the front V support, a second V support is shown near the breech with 5th point touching the trigger guard, while the 6th point is the bolt projecting through the board and touching the stock. The necessary elevation is provided for by the adjustable front V . f j The six points of contact are made as follows ;—four between the barrel and the sides of the two Vs, the 5th between the trigger guard and the block protruding from the rear V, and the 6th is the bolt passing through the board shown on the left side of the stock For low power riﬂes ﬁring only .22's no appreciable recoil exist*. In ﬁring, the riﬂe is felt up to the contact points, the shooters left hand pressing lightly upon the middle of the barrel, and ﬁring by pinching the trigger and guard together with the thumb and foreﬁnger of the right hand. Up to about 1906 all .22 long riﬂe cartridges had the old blackpowder as the propellant and the cases were not crimped. Once inserted into the breech it could not be extracted without leaving the bullet in the riﬂe and spilling the powder into the action. Then arrived from Germany the R smokeless long riﬂe cartridge, which proceeded at once to outstrip all other makes in existence. It was to prove this that the writer introduced the Hardcastle six point rest.. Many thousands of 10 shot groups were made on this at 100 yards. It was demonstrated to a number of makers of riﬂes and ammunition, and became exceedingly popular to the Mem bers of the Southﬁelds Club when trying the riﬂes they had bought. Nearly every .22 Riﬂe known was tested on this Rest with a great variety of .22's short, long, and long riﬂe, also the Morris tube with both of the two lengths cartridge, moreover many of the tests were made at night with no attempt to light the butt. It is of course possible to apply this principle to the construction of rests suitable for pistols, also for the Service Riﬂe, but a butt must be substantial enough to stop the bullet of the latter. In the Text Book of Small Arms, 1929, is an excellent illustration and the following description of a six point rest is given :— It is merely a box nailed down on to a ﬁrm table and provided with two V cuts and a knob of wood. The six points of contact are clearly numbered and a riﬂe is shown in position. Provided the riﬂe is " dumped " into the two V's, and is then run up," till the trigger guard touches No. 5, and is then slightly rotated clockwise till the side of the trigger guard touches No. 6 the riﬂe must be in one and only one exact position. It is then loaded and ﬁred, taking reasonable care to keep the six contacts made it will throw the best group of which the gun is capable. This should interest the Home Guard. W. H . D . R i ﬂ e A s s o c i a t i o n T h e ﬁ r s t y e a r ' s - a c t i v i t i e s o f t h i s n e w l y f o r m e d A l l - Wo m e n ' s Association has been very successful. The Prize Giving was held on Saturday, 4th December, at Victory House, Leicester Square, where Dr. Edith Summerskill, M.P., the Chairman, presented the prizes to the winners. Bad.ges were won by the Winners of each of the eleven divisions :— Div. I, Stirling A ; Div. 2, Shirley ; Div. 3, Hendon ; Div. 4, Watford ; Div. 5, Altringham A ; Div. 6, Badgers Mount ; Div. 7, Taunton North Town ; Div. 8, Edinburgh C ; Div. 9, Aylesbury B ; Div. 10, Post Ofﬁce Savings Bank ; Div. 11, Colchester. Of these winners the four with the highest aggregates qualiﬁed for the ﬁnals and Watford, rather unexpectedly, came through unde feated to win the League Trophy 1. Wa t f o r d ' s . 3 W. 2 D. 1 L. 0 P. 5 i^if- 2. T, Shirley Stirling A 3 3 2 1 d I 1 1 4 3 1414 1420 4. Hendon3 0030 1381 Shirley won the " Summerskill " Consolation Cup, while Stirling A and Hendon received Finalists Consolation Cups each. The " Salter " Cup awarded for the highest individual average in League Matches was won by Mrs. C. A. Crossland of Stirling A with an average of 98.14 per cent. The Individual Championships resulted as follows :— C h a m p i o n s h i p C u p . — M r s . D . T h o m l i n s o n ( E d i n b u r g h ) w i t h a score of 198/200. Mrs. Thomlinson was awarded the Association Medal for the best all-round performance, as she also ﬁnished second in the League Averages with 97.71 per cent.. Miss Dodds (Edinburgh) last year's champion, was second with 197/200 and Mrs. Starke-Page (Watford), third with 196/200. Both the Intermediate and Novices Cups were won by members of the Hoylake and West Kirby Unit, Mrs. Hastings Rainford, win ning the former with 100/100, and Miss Mackintosh the latter with 50/50. Next season's matches start in early April, and entries should be sent to Mr. J. C. Salter, 97, Caithness Road, Mitcham, Surrey, by February 18th, 1944. WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UK7 More and Better Riﬂe Ranges By R. A. Kelso Riﬂe shooting is now undoubtedly one of the strongest and most popular sports in War-time Britain, but further development and expansion is being retarded mainly because of the fact that we have insufﬁcient small-bore riﬂe ranges. I It has always been a great obstacle in the formation of new clubs to secure suitable and easily adaptable premises at a nominal rent. This handicap has to a very large extent curtailed greater development of the Riﬂe Club Movement. But this state of affairs continues to exist purely because of the apathy of the riﬂe shooting enthusiasts. Why ! is it that the other popular national sports, such as football, bowls, j golf, swimming, etc., are so advantageously provided with suitable j sporting facilities ? The answer is obvious, it is because the followers of these recreations have always been clamant in their call to the local authorities to provide them with their football ﬁelds, bowling greens, etc., but for some inexplicable reason the followers of our sport | have been very self-effacing. Their timidity has, of cousse, had the effect of causing their local authorities to take very.little interest in p r o v i d i n g f a c i l i t i e s f o r t h e i r r e c e r e a t i o n . ^ The time is now long overdue when this state of affairs should be ^ adjusted. Concerted and organised action must be taken by riﬂemen j throughout Britain to bring pressure to bear upon their local authori ties, either individually or as a body, to show a greater appreciation of the valuable work being done, and always has been done, by the ; riﬂe clubmen of the United Kingdom. Municipal and rural ranges, | maintained by the local authorities on a similar basis to their main tenance of the Council playing ﬁelds, must be our aim. Fortunately there are a few more progressive cities in the country | who have already made provision in this direction, Walsall, Brighton, Eastbourne, etc., but these few isolated instances of local support are not sufﬁcient. We must get greater help than has been given up till now . The average British subject fully appreciates now, after four years of war, that one trained riﬂeman is a greater asset to the countrys' defence than a score of highly skilled and proﬁcient footballers, or cricketers. In the Riﬂe Club Movement the nation possesses its greatest and most eﬂective reservoir of semi-trained co.mbatants. The late Field Marshal Lord Roberts fully appreciated this aspect of the subject. He, in common with tens of thousands of other Britons, had learned this lesson expensively in the Boer War, where for long years a numerically and materially inferior force had with stood the power and might of the British Imperial Forces. Analysis of the lesson of the Boer War, established in this great soldier's mind the irrefutable fact that it was the highly efﬁcient marksmanship of the Boer civilian which had played such an important part in this campaign. The Field Marshal returned to Britain with the strong desire to see his own nation develop into a nation of riﬂemen and riﬂewomen. Unfortunately his great dream never fully materialised, but today it is nearer accomplishment than ever before in history. If we could overcome the handicap of inadequate range accommodation, then we would not need to be super-optimists, to contend that within a reason ably short time, we would have doubled, or even trebled, the number of riﬂe shooting followers in Britain. A start in this campaign for recognition and assistance has already been made by the very progressive Lanarkshire Small-Bore Riﬂe Association which is at the present moment busily engaged in attempting to persuade the city fathers of Glasgow to provide a suitable municipal riﬂe range. Their efforts can be assisted by the whole hearted co-operation of the entire movement. Make this campaign nation-wide ! Let all lend a hand ! Contact,all inﬂuential sources, spread the propaganda of the importance of our movement and sport. We riﬂemen, above all other sportsmen, are assets to the nation in time of war, when a riﬂe in the hands of a soldier is meant for one purpose only. A war-time Army must be raised rapidly, training is cut to the minimum ; musketry training is insufﬁcient. A riﬂe clubman, when called to the Forces, quickly proves himself to be an asset to his country, due to his earlier experience in the handling of a riﬂe. Let us cease to be the Cinderella of the national sports. Whether the present state of affairs is to be rectiﬁed or allowed to continue depends greatly on your personal reaction. I s t h e P i s t o l a D o d o ? Extracted from The American Rifleman—October 1943. WITH the Army seemingly switching its allegiance away from the pistol to an assortment of carbines and sub-machine guns, a lot of handgun addicts are wondering whether the pistol is a dead duck, doomed to obliyion along with the pike and the long bow . M y a n s w e r i s N o ! In fact, I'll even go out on a limb and predict that the handgun and handgun competition will hit new heights after the war, as a direct outgrowth of war conditions. In spite of the nostalgic indignation of pistol lovers over the much publicized trend in some military circles away from the hip-artillery, more thought and more complete information should convince that there ate arguments on both sides of the question and that after all, no really fundamental change is taking place. The pistol has never been a basic military weapon—except in the Cavalry, where for a time, it shared honors with the saber in the equip ment of " light cavalry " units. Even there, by the time of the Ameri can Civil War, the carbine had muscled in on the pistol. The cavalry man became to all intents and purposes a mounted riﬂeman. But the pistol still rode in Cavalry holsters and (especially after it became a repeating arm) it provided many a salutary lesson to Plains Indians and others who thought that, having drawn the ﬁre of the riﬂes, they could ride down troops who should have been busy reloading! That was in-ﬁghter. There the'pistol shines! As an in-ﬁghter the pistol starred in World War One. Here again it was not a basic weapon but an auxiliary one, a personal side- arm, issued to ofﬁcers and non-coms, to specialists, and to certain units not armed with .riﬂes. But many men to whom no pistol was ever issued carried a pistol. They were the most prized item in the loot of battle and no handgun ever remained very long in a dead man's holster! Plenty of world war one veterans will tell you of instances of lives saved and individual engagements won with the handgun. Similar instances will come (and have come already) out of the present war. But the fact remains that these incidents come out of close in-ﬁghting. While the pistol is supreme in close combat it is still auxiliary to the longer ranged basic weapons. WA R - B I R D H U N T E R . A prize surpassing even hunters' dreams was bagged by a youthful Marine during the initial Jap bombing of Dutch Harbor. Pfc. Dick Fannett, who had learned to use a riﬂe shooting ducks on Old River, near Cove, Texas, and had perfected his marksmanship on a marine riﬂe range, was stationed in a foxhole armed with a 30- '06 riﬂe. , " I didn't have enough room to operate my weapon, he related " so I climbed outside and started ﬁring at a Zero only about 200 feet away. The Jap was attached to thirty-ﬁve waves of enemy bombers each having six planes, that ﬂew low to strafe us. " I had eight shots and 1 pulled the trigger as fast as I could. I believe the fourth shot hit the gas line and killed the pilot. Anyway, the plane crashed right behind me, with an impact that knocked me " It was just like shooting at ducks with a .22 when 1 was a kid. 1 just happened to get in a lucky shot." That the action was not ofﬁcially considered luck is attested by the fact that Pfc. Fannett was highly commended and awarded a citation for his exploit. WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKNext >