SWISS RIFLE SHOOTING AND RIFLE RANGES.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVII, Issue 1378, 26 February 1861, Page 5

SWISS RIFLE SHOOTING AND RIFLE RANGES.

We have received, per Salsette, from the author, by the courtesy of Mr. Whitfield, gunmaker, King-street, a most interesting pamphlet entitled "Rifle Kanges at Geneva." The writer ii Mr. J. Latham, a gentleman who lately visited Switzerland, under the auipices of Lord Vernon, to report upon the cantonal shooting •hooting match »t Geneva. This little work contain* much information of a kind that will be found both useful and interesting at the present time ; and we have therefore made the following extracts from it* pages : — "The Tir Cantonal of geneva is, as its name implie* an assemblage of the marksmen of the Canton, though all oomers are welcome to compete. The Tir F6deral, which takes place every two yean, ii an assemblage of the marksmen of all the Cantons, and is, in this respect, more like our own gathering at Wimbledon. But the meeting* for the pacUas of rifle shooting which are held weekly in the towns and village* of each canton, are the schools in which the riflemen of Switzerland are formed, and it v, therefore, the Tir Cantonal which possesses the greater interest for an Englishman. "We construct our target* of iron and our butts generally of brickwork*, both among the ino«t expensive of the materials available ; they are employed to stop the bullets, and they perform this office so effectually, that it is unsafe to be within a doxeu yards of the target, from the spiay and rebound of the lead, which • diverge* laterally after concussion with gr«at force, often to a distance of forty to fifty feet, We are con'Df^uently obliged to place our markers in a box, where -they can. only see the target at an angle, and even then they are not quite safe. In another point of view, brick and iron are, the very worst material* that can be used, tin.cc any bullet that doe* not happen to not strike them point foremost will glance or be thrown' off in a qew direction. f Tfco Swiss, on the oontrary, adopt the principle of "catching 11 ' the bullet, or m resting its progress by a yielding and gradual resistance, instead of asuriden and violent stop. For then targets they employ wood canvas, and paper ; and for the butts, wood and earth ; all materials easily procured, or transported from place to place, and which effect the same object with greater safety, at a fraction of the cost.

i'-LuSoctiteda Exercks vhnu del' TrtjiicluK et de la Naviyation, under whoso directions and lit whose expense the whole arrangements at Geneva are carried out, has * pwotice- ground at the Coidouvrenure, a suburb of Geneva, opposite the bend of the river, and upon the narrow strip of land which separates the Rhone and the Arve just above their junction. Close to the range, are ■everal workshops and manufactories. Behind the butt* in a »hort strip of market gardens, and several cottages, ■whose unconcerned inhabitants, not having the fear of riflemen before their eyes, or else confident in tho exoalcent precaution! which are taken, may frequently be seen at work in the fields while the filing is going on. _ " The building itself, or ' Stand' as it is called, consists of one large hall about sixty yards in length, with a line of moveable windows occupying the whole of one side, and extending from the roof to the barrier or shelf on which the guns are placed, after loading, to await their turn in the firing. Opposite the barrier are twentyfour targets, each one yard apart ; but from the arrangement of the scieens, or paraballes, which will be explained afterwards, only one target id visible from any point of the barrier. " The first thing whioh strikes a sti anger on entering the stand at Geneva, while the shooting ia going on, is the tremendous echo and reverberation. of the shots. Accustomed to the report of our own Endfield rifles, of muoh larger calibre, lie cannot at first understand how weapons, so much smaller, can make bucli a deafering noise. The hollow space between tho roof and the ceiling constitutes an excellent sounding 1 , board, and the hollow below the flooring, and the quantity of glass m the windows, increase the effect, which is at first veiy startling. "On approaching the barrier tho stranger is again puzzled at the sight of a solid stone _ wall, about ten yards in front of him, and against" which the shot appears to be directed. It is only by taking a position exactly behind the person firing that he can perceive a small bbarded opening, about a foot square, through which he sees another stone wall, some fifty yiuds bV yond, with a similar opening just large enough to admit' a view of the target only, with a number corresponding with that at the Secretary's desk- The boarded openings are merely to avoid confusion, by rendering it impossible for the shooter to see and consequently to fire at, any target but his own. With 24 targets, having only a yard between each, some such arrangement is necessary. " The stone walls, or para-ballca, are a most valuable safeguard against accident. They are about 20 feet high, and the depth is calculated from the trajectary, so as ]ust to allow sufficient space for any boll fired at the right elevation for the target to p.vas under them. If the shot is fired at an elevation which would cause it to pas* over the target, it is immediately stopped by the first 01 second screen. If the elevation is too low, it is stopped by a soft turf bank under each screen, which prevents all ricochet. The stone employed is of a very porous and friable kind, so as not to allow the ball to glance off, but having sufficient cohesion to completely arrest its progress, even at ten yards from the mu/.zle " These precautions ha\ c been adopted after many years' experience and numerous trials, and are found to answer so effectually that in an open carpenter's workshop and a watch factory, both looking on to the shooting ground, and within a few yards of the taigets, I saw several men pursuing their work quite undisturbed by the firing, or the bullets passing in front of them. "It would, perhaps, be difficult to apply these screens to the very long ranges, from the gieat height that would be required, and consequent expense ; but for all ranges up to 800 yard», the distance* at which we began to practice, and where accidents are most to be feared, they are very valuable. " For any practice grounds in the neighbouihood of large towns, they are absolutely necessary, and I am convinced, from what I have seen, that with such »n arrangement it would be perfectly possible to have a 300 yards' lange in any of our London parks, oi in Piccadilly itself, if the space could be found without the slightest danger or fear of accident. " Each target consists of a pair of wooden flames, strengthened with iron, and working in two parallel grooves, one behind the other, arranged by means of a cord and pulley, so that when one is elevated the other is depressed. They are covered with coaise canvas and an outer coating of black paper ; so that a ball striking them, passes through and goes into the butt behind, which i« formed of logs of wood placed endways so as to receive and retain the lead. This anangement avoids all spray or waste of the lead, and all danger to the marker, who sita in a wide covered trench in front opposite the lower target, which is concealed from the shooter, who sees only the upper one. The Marker being in front of the targets sees cleaily every part of them and there can be no dispute as to where a ball has struck, since the hole it makes is the clearest possible evidence. " Upon receiving a signal from the secretary, who touches the bell close to his hand, the markei indicates, with the usual ' maiking bat,' the e\act point wheie the bullet has struck, and immediately lowers the target which has been hit ; the other at the same time lisiug to take its place He then repairs the hole made by the bullet, by passing over it a small patch of black or ■white paper, as the case may l'equire. "The caiton, or bull's-eye, is a circle of white cardboaid, 10 i inches in diameter, and is fastened by four small hooks to the front of the target If this is hit, the marker signals the number to the secretaiy, who registers it and delivers a corresponding ticket to the shooter. The card is then marked with a similar number and placed in a sealed box, to be measured and classified according to its value , and a fresh centre is placed on the target. "Thus the target being lopaired after eacli shot, there is no time lost in the process of white washing and black-washing, and the marker, who never quits his trench, is free from all danger of receiving a salute from some enthusiastic beginner who is too eager or too nervous to notice the red flag. "At Geneva, eveiy carton is measured by an cv tremely ingenious and delicate machine, or by the simpler but quite as effective method of a pair of com. passes, and a graduated scale. The value as signed to each shot is in accordance with its distance fiom the centre. Every one who can hit an 8-inch chele at 200 yards distance, receives a prize ; but if his shot is a "plum centre," he will obtain perhaps a small article of silver, value 40 frank* ; if he has only just touched the edge of the bull's-eyes, he may get a poitemonnaie, value 5 fiaucs. Hence results a great saving of time, since on our plan of marking, the two shots I have chosen for illustration would have been " a tie," to be shot for perhaps half-a-dozen times, until one or the other of tho competitors missed the bull's eye. "As regards the para-balles, I am convinced that they would be a most valuable addition to our own practice grounds. That so few accidents have hitherto occured in our open ranges is no doubt to be attributed to tho admirable system of training in use at the School of Musketry at Hythe, and adopted in all volunteer regiments by which the use of the rifle is taught befoie any practice with powder or ball is permitted. But whilst remaining this, we may certainly introduce any additional safeguard which experience has shewn to bo beneficial."