2-995-593 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Plan and arrangements of the rifle-shooting contest on Wimbledon Common, 1860. National Rifle Association event in London. 'There were ten pairs of targets on the ground, each pair supported by a butt of earth, the latter divided by a space of eighty yards. The ranges varied from 200 to 1000 yards. At the lesser distances the targets are six feet by two feet, with a bull's-eye of eight inches; and at the greater ranges the targets are six feet square, with a two-feet centre and no bull's-eye. The following code of signals has been adopted: When a bull's-eye is hit, a red and white flag is shown and three points are scored; when a centre is hit, a dark blue flag is shown, and two points are scored: when an outer - that is, the target outside the centre - is struck, a white flag is shown, and one point is scored...the various competitors of the day were drawn up in line in the vicinity of the Royal marquee, the ground between which and the Queen's shooting-tent was lined, at short intervals, by a deputation of some sixty Swiss riflemen, twenty of whom have come over from their native valleys to compete for the prizes offered by the association, the remainder being residents in London, but proficients in the use of their national weapon'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.