Post by Old Ironsights on May 4, 2007 8:54:03 GMT -5
In 1900s I don't think you would find many "shooters" - i.e. people who only do range time/Gaming.
In the American Rifle, Ned Roberts wrote an article that was published in June of 1935 titled "The Rifles of Yesterday" and he described his upbringing with the rifle. His uncle Alvaro has been immortalized by Robert's writings, and Alvaro is the "favorite uncle" cited in the text.
"My favorite uncle, who taught me to shoot a rifle, insisted that a good rifleman with a good rifle should be able to hit a silver dollar at 10 rods offhand five times in succession, and at the same distance and shooting with a rest, he should hit a half -dollar every shot; while at 20 rods a real rifleman should keep all his shots in a 4 inch circle when shooting from a rest, or in an 8 inch circle at 40 rods. His muzzle loading .40 calibre rifle would shoot finer than this at these ranges, and for many years this was my standard of accuracy. I used to practice rifle shooting a great deal at 10 and 20 rods offhand in those days, and any rifle that would not consistantly show this degree of accuracy was regarded as "no good", and disposed of as soon as possible."
While it is easy today to find rifles that display this level of accuracy, it seems that we don't have a lot of riflemen who can shoot this well. For you youngsters 20 rods is 110 yards. Keep in mind that Roberts talks of iron sighted rifles.
So:
55yds = 1.5" Offhand, 1" Rested
110yds = 4" rested
220yds = 8" rested
And this from 1900's hunters - not 2000s "shooters"/Gamers.
In the American Rifle, Ned Roberts wrote an article that was published in June of 1935 titled "The Rifles of Yesterday" and he described his upbringing with the rifle. His uncle Alvaro has been immortalized by Robert's writings, and Alvaro is the "favorite uncle" cited in the text.
"My favorite uncle, who taught me to shoot a rifle, insisted that a good rifleman with a good rifle should be able to hit a silver dollar at 10 rods offhand five times in succession, and at the same distance and shooting with a rest, he should hit a half -dollar every shot; while at 20 rods a real rifleman should keep all his shots in a 4 inch circle when shooting from a rest, or in an 8 inch circle at 40 rods. His muzzle loading .40 calibre rifle would shoot finer than this at these ranges, and for many years this was my standard of accuracy. I used to practice rifle shooting a great deal at 10 and 20 rods offhand in those days, and any rifle that would not consistantly show this degree of accuracy was regarded as "no good", and disposed of as soon as possible."
While it is easy today to find rifles that display this level of accuracy, it seems that we don't have a lot of riflemen who can shoot this well. For you youngsters 20 rods is 110 yards. Keep in mind that Roberts talks of iron sighted rifles.
So:
55yds = 1.5" Offhand, 1" Rested
110yds = 4" rested
220yds = 8" rested
And this from 1900's hunters - not 2000s "shooters"/Gamers.
!!!!!!!!