Designed late in the Second World War, the unit was shown here advertised in 1950,

with an option of using two - on top and one bottom - to hold larger targets.

A good sales ploy.

The holder was still on offer well into the 1960s.

The unit is shown below holding a set of the figure targets

used for military training on 25 yard miniature ranges.

These are scaled to represent targets at 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 yards.

Hover over or Click image to bring up hi-res file and magnifier

From left to right these are:

Target "64 - M.G.in action 500/25 yds"
Target "63 - M.G.in action 300/25 yds"
(Machine Gun team)

Target "47 - Fig.3 - 600/25 yds"
Target "46 - Fig.3 - 400/25 yds"
Target "50 - Fig.1 - 600/25 yds"
Target "49 - Fig.1 - 500/25 yds"
Target "45 - Fig.3 - 300/25 yds"
Target "44 - Fig.3 - 200/25 yds"

Below are represented singleton prone riflemen and indistinct standing figures.

From left to right these are:

Target "55A - Fig.4A -400/25 yds"
Target "54A - Fig.4A - 300/25 yds"
Target "53A - Fig.4A - 200/25 yds"
Target "35A - Fig.11/59 - 300/25 yds"
Target "35 - Fig.11/59 - 200/25 yds"

Below are a modern figure target and two post war snap-shooting targets used in timed details.

The author used these snap targets on a cadet range in the 1950s

firing both the Lee-Enfield No.8 rifle and the BSA Century target riflle.

 

From left to right these are:

A 21st. Century Figure 11 target - ref: "6920-99-931-7820" for "300/25 mtrs."
"No.32 Small and Large Snapshooting" for 100/20 and 200/20 yds.
"No.33 Large Snapshooting 100/25 yds - Small Snapshooting 200/25 yds."

The No.33 target also states "Top Circle for No.4 Rifle" when a full service .303-inch calibre rifle could be used on the 25 yard walled out-door range; although .22RF No.4 rifles were also available in the services - either the Lee-Enfield No.7 rifle of the R.A.F, or the N.9 rifle of the Royal Navy.

Later snapshooting targets No.24 and No.39 became available,

representing 100/25 yds. and 300/25 yds., on each of which was printed the specific text

"For use with .303 ammunition, the sight should be set at 200 yards; with .22 in accordance with the board kept in the miniature range"

............

 

Another similar target for snapshooting gave scoring instructions and details of usage.

This was a Canadian version for use with the Canadian C No.7 rifle

"SCORING: INNER 4 PTS PER HIT"
Outer 3 pts per hit
Target Miniature and 25 yard range

Snapshooting .22" rep 200/25 yds: with
offset scoring rings for No.4 rifle
CAMT 7-40 APPXs "b. "C" & "D"
Offset scoring rings for No.4 rifle with sight setting 300 yds."

 

Below: target on the left could be used to represent a figure, a building or a vehicle.

Target "36 - Fig.12/59 - 200/25 yds"

That on the right represented a moving figure carrying a rifle.

Target "56 - Fig.6 - 400/25 yds"

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There was also a target for a light tank for very short range practice.

"Light Tank 300/10 yds. BCM/MCQZ."

 

A target specifically used with a particular rifle was a Commonwealth version

for shooting with the Canadian C No.7 rifle at, unusually, 30 yards.

Target "No.9C Small 200/30 yards"

 

There was also a ten diagram version on a larger card for straight 30 yard employment

by the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Various sizes of scaled rubber tanks were also used on miniature ranges,

being fitted with screw-eyes back and front to enable them to be moved on cords

across the butts for practice in judging "lead" on crossing targets.

See: the L2A1 conversion of the No.8 rifle for aiming practice.

 

A quite early pair of silhouette targets,dated around 1906,

are made of a wood composite, and illustrate

an obvious link to times in which cavalry still operated.

 

FOR CHAPTER & VERSE ON ALL THESE TARGETS

and many more

See Dave Clark's long out of print volume covering practically all

military, and mmany of the civilian targets used between

the mid 19th. Century and the Millenium.

BRITISH TARGETS

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THE SOLANO SYSTEM

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Designed by Captain E.J. Solano, an Engineer officer on the Imperial General Staff prior to the First World War, and used to train recruits and provide miniature-calibre short-range rifle practice over the next three decades or more in various emulated derivative guises, this basic system was in common use - even at the Musketry School at Hythe in Kent. Solano wrote much material on infantry training, and had a number of training papers and manuals published, particularly in the Imperial Army Series published by Murrays of Albemarle Street, London.

 

He had earlier written to Lord Roberts about his targetry designs, and Roberts replied on Christmas Day 1908

telling Solano that he hoped the latter's system would be accepted by the military authorities.

 

* A year in which Great Britain held the Olympic Games, with both success and some controversy in shooting competition.

See "The Plater Incident" on the linked page.

 

Roberts' letter is reproduced below.

 

 

 

The Solano system was subsequently officially approved by the Army Council for military training.

 

As well as being used for Landscape targetry, the framework upon which that system relied could also be used for elementary practice on standard targets , or on the specially designed range of Solano targets based upon the quite reasonable premise that, by comparison with a circular aiming-mark, firstly, the triangular aiming-mark resulted in a more realistic representation of the human form on the battlefield and, secondly, that the triangle presented a more accurate indication of hits that might have been scored on the human frame in the field.

The basic target frame setup is shown below, along with two contemporary advertisements for the targets and the system respectively.

 

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Here follows a self-explanatory extract on the Solano Targets from a Musketry manual of 1915.

The targets are shown at near actual size to permit an opportunity to try them on your range.

A confirmation scale can be gained from the actual height dimension of Elementary Target No.1 ( Fig. 67), which is 106mm.

VIII. SOLANO ELEMENTARY AND INSTRUCTIONAL TARGETS.*

1. In Musketry Regulations, para. 361, it is laid down that in carrying out training on miniature ranges due regard must be paid to the visibility of service targets, and bull's-eye targets must be used for the first few rounds only. In para. 206 (iii) of Musketry Regulations (see Sec. 17, para. 4 of this book) focussing the eye on the fore-sight of the rifle instead of on the object is indicated as a common fault which instructors must guard against in elementary stages of training. This error is common when bull's-eye targets are used, and unless remedied will adversely affect shooting at service Targets, on which the eye must be focussed, and which must be watched closely when firing.
2. Elementary Targets (Figs. 67 and 68).-The Solano Elementary Targets have been designed to counteract the tendency to focus the eye on the fore-sight instead of on the target, and may be used for grouping and application practices after firing at the bull's-eye target. These targets are coloured green, brown, and grey, instead of white, to accustom the eye to the tints of natural

backgrounds against which service targets will be seen. The aiming-mark in No. 2 is less distinct than in No. I, to accustom the eye gradually to focussing on indistinct targets when aiming.

* The illustrations of these Targets in this section only show the aiming-marks and scoring diagrams. These are printed in the centre of square card surfaces of convenient size in the usual manner, the cards being green, grey, or brown, instead of white.

3. Triangle Aiming and Scoring Diagrams.-

(i) Triangles have been substituted in these targets for concentric circles as aiming and scoring diagrams, because they have a truer relation to the shape

of the human figure in both lying and upright positions. The triangle on No. I target has relation to the human figure in an upright position, and the triangle on No. 2 target to the human figure in a lying position. The dimensions of the triangles on these targets correspond with the regulation grouping standards of the British Army.

Fig. 69.-A CIRCLE (3 INCHES IN DIAMETER) AND A TRIANGLE (3 INCHES EQUILATERAL) SHOWING THAT THE TRIANGLE AS AIMING AND SCORING DIAGRAM INDUCES CLOSER GROUPING THAN THE CIRCLE BY ALLOWING LESS MARGIN FOR BOTH VERTICAL AND LATERAL ERRORS REPRESENTED BY THE DOTS.

(ii) For elementary instruction in aiming the important six o'clock line, the centre of the base of the triangle is, on these targets, an indicated instead of an imaginary line, as in the case of the circular bull's-eye. More consistent grouping is induced by the triangle owing to the fact that it allows a much narrower

margin for lateral errors, while its conical shape and straight base considerably curtail the scoring area for vertical errors off

the six o'clock line as compared with the circle (Fig. 69). The triangle, moreover, as an aiming and scoring surface puts a
premium upon a low point of aim and from the first inculcates in men, as a habit, this vital principle of marksmanship in war.

(iii) The centre triangles are not made smaller, firstly, because it is not desired to encourage the habit of slow aim which is engendered by individual practice at very small marks, and which militates against efficiency in snapshooting and rapid firing ; and, secondly, because it is not desired to encourage men to attain a useless and disproportionate degree of excellence in firing at

elementary targets which is merely preparatory for practice at service targets.

4. Instructional Targets (Figs. 70, 71, and 72).-

(i) These targets are also coloured green, grey, and brown, the colour of the uniform of the figures on them corresponding in each case with that of the target. The figures are accurately scaled down to correct size at 25 yards for the actual distances, so as to help men in judging close range by accustoming the eye to the ap¬pearance of men seen at different distances against backgrounds which harmonize with the colour of their uniform. It must be remembered that the figures on these targets, though necessarily depicted in fixed postures as stationary marks, represent men in movement during which they are seldom stationary or seen in a fixed posture, except, possibly, for a few seconds while lying down to fire.

(ii) Accordingly, marks are not given for hits scored on any particular part of the figures depicted in fixed postures, which would usually be seen in movement, but for shots grouped in areas of comparative value as regards probable assurance of fire effect, chosen in the light of experience of war as the best aiming points for firing at figures in movement which frequently and suddenly alternate between the upright and lying positions. The centre triangles, representing the most valuable of these grouping areas, are purposely made fairly large for the reasons stated in connection with the elementary

Below: an actual target, illustrating the colouring intended to best represent that to be expected in the field.

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A particularly early targetry system was invented by Lt. Col. George Peters,

and which must have been one of the earliest automatic scoring arrangements

ever produced, being described as "self-registering".

Details were given in an article in the August issue

of the ENGINEERING journal of 1906.

Of the two units illustrated in the article, the large ground-mounted one is for out-door full-bore use at ranges in excess of 100 yards, and the smaller pedestal-mounted model is for in-door miniature range use.

A further write-up of the equipment was published
in "The Scientific American" the following year,
explaining the system in great depth.

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SEE ALSO: ... LANDSCAPE TARGETS......... .SWIFT TRAINING RIFLE TARGETS.........NOVELTY TARGETS.........LEAGUES TARGETRY...... SMRC & NSRA TARGETRY

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