MUSKETRY IN THE BRITISH ARMY.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3510, 7 October 1882, Page 4

MUSKETRY IN THE BRITISH ARMY.

The London Globe says:—' It will be observed that in the encounter at Ramleh our troops appear to have aimed very much as they did in South Africa ; that is to say, at nothing in particular. Or, perhaps, it may have been that they formed most erroneous judgment as to the distance of the enemy, and so adjusted their back-sights that the bullets either struck the ground half-way, or flew over the heads of Arabi's brave warriors. Fortunately the sound alone sufficed to frighten the latter out of their wits, and the gallant horsemen who were, to all appearances, about to annihilate the 60th Rifles, bolted to a man. But the account says that although the enemy was only 500 yards distant, and although our men had everything in their favor for taking steady aim,*the only result of the volley was—one horse wounded. Nor was more harm done later on, when the action came to be renewed. There is less excuse for the bad shooting of our men on this latter occasion, inasmuch as they were under cover and firing independently as skirmishers instead of by platoon. Under similar circumstances, half the force of Boers would certainly have accounted for a considerable number of the enemy. It is scarcely to be expected, of course, that the wonderful skill of those unerring marksmen will ever be equalled by the British soldier. But the English public certainly have a right to look for better results than those chronicled, when it would have been exactly the reverse of the truth to say that every bullet had its billet, let our present annual course of instruction be continued, but supplement ifc by constantly encouraging the soldiers to get up matches among themselves, man against, man, squad against squad, company against company, and wing against wing. Were this done by commanding officers in an earnest spirit, we undertake to say that the shooting of our troops in the field would soon show sensible improvement.