Brett Gibbons shoots the first British general service rifle - the P51

Before anybody reminds me that the Baker rifle came in at the turn of the century, it was only the Rifle Regiments that got it - the .702cal P51 was intended for general infantry issue

Mention is also made of the incredible five-part series in the Battle of Inkerman, by Rob Enfield of British Muzzleloaders - all well-worth some serious looking at.

Spent the morning reading in the museum library at the British NRA HQ at Bisley near London, open Tuesdays, well worth a visit if you are passing. A couple of items caught my attention:

• In the 1859 edition of "The Volunteer Rifleman and the Rifle" by John Boucher, captain,1st Surrey Rifle Volunteers, he writes about the .577" Enfield P1853 muzzle-loading rifle (page 86):
  "Soldiers of the line are trained at ranges from 150 up to 900 yards, but the rifleman should be trained at all ranges up to the highest effective range of the rifle, for the express purpose of picking off artillerymen and horses, and reconnoitering parties: or for annoying columns (of infantry) under or forming for attack: for at all such ranges every bullet from a well made rifle ,in properly trained hand, would tell. All manner of positions should be assumed.... the power of doing injury at the greatest distance being the primary consideration."
• Four years later, the 1863 "Regulations for the Volunteer Force" (War Office) lists the 6 courses scheduled at the School of Musketry at Hythe that year aiming to graduate 1120 "Instructors In Musketry" to teach long-range shooting at 150-900 yards to the Regular and Volunteer forces of the British Empire.

So, try shooting that Enfield at BIG targets at LONG range like the School of Musketry intended.

Stutzer51 said:

Spent the morning reading in the museum library at the British NRA HQ at Bisley near London, open Tuesdays, well worth a visit if you are passing. A couple of items caught my attention:

• In the 1859 edition of "The Volunteer Rifleman and the Rifle" by John Boucher, captain,1st Surrey Rifle Volunteers, he writes ..... ..... .....
• Four years later, the 1863 "Regulations for the Volunteer Force" (War Office) lists the 6 courses scheduled at the School of Musketry at Hythe ..... ..... .....

So, try shooting that Enfield at BIG targets at LONG range like the School of Musketry intended.

Click to expand...

Boucher was a prolific and opinionated correspondent, with many letters published in the Volunteer Service Gazette. I have the book you refer to, plus his 1856, 'A Treatise on Rifle Projectiles.'

'Instruction of Musketry' (Adjutant-General's Office, 1 January 1856) notes at para. 45 - "The troops will fire at every distance of 50 yards from 100 to 900 yards'.
'Drill and Rifle Instruction for Volunteer Rifle Corps' (by Authority of the Secretary of State for War, 1859) covers Volunteer rifle practice 150 - 900 yards.
With the publication in 1861 of 'Regulations of the Volunteer Force' the above 'Drill and Instruction' was phased out in favour of 'Regulation for conducting the Musketry Instruction of the Army.' The latter had been published in 1859 (and revised in 1864) and referred to practice 100 - 900 yards.

Yes, been enjoying competitive target shooting with the Enfield, 50 - 600 yards (occasionally 800 yards), for 25 years with the Muzzle Loaders Association of Great Britain. I won their 50m/100m Aggregate this year, plus the 200, 300, 500 and 600 yard Aggregate. Whilst some seem to 'have-a-go' at long range, I'm still not aware of regular matches with percussion military rifles at a national level outside of the UK! I'd love to be proved wrong... as it's a great discipline.

David

The problem we have, Sir, is that apart from the occasional civil war, America had nothing to do with any Enfield rifle save those bought for its citizens to slaughter each other, and the history of long-range shooting in the United Kingdom began long before that sad event took place.

Long -range shooting of service arms for actual military use, or for leisure/militia training was confined, AFAIK, to the British Isles. January of 1856 was over six years before the ACW even began.