American Rifle - Alexander Rose [104]
Meanwhile in Britain, where target shooting as a sport was longer established, an Irish team jubilantly beat the English and Scottish squads. The Irish victory counted as a major upset, for the English were traditionally regarded (at least by themselves) as the best shots in the world. Having achieved the highest score ever seen at Wimbledon, the Irish then vanquished Canada and Australia and were considered unbeatable. Their muzzle-loaders—you could always tell the old-school shooters by their antiquarian preferences—had been specially made for them by John Rigby, the finest gunsmith in Dublin (and also a member of the team) and were equipped with exquisitely sensitive Vernier elevation sights and wind-gauge scales.
Looking for fresh laurels but unaware that the NRA existed, the Irish captain, Major Arthur Leech (or Leach), issued a plucky challenge to the “Riflemen of America” in the pages of the New York Herald on November 22, 1873: one six-man team (plus a nonshooting captain) versus another, using only domestically made rifles, at ranges of 800, 900, and 1,000 yards. Despite its inexperience, the NRA’s sixty-two-member Amateur Rifle Club could not refuse the good-hearted provocation and canvassed widely for the best riflemen to come to Creedmoor and give the cocky Irish a lesson in how to shoot.
The slack response sorely disappointed the NRA. Most of the newspapers in the West had carried its advertisements, but hardly a doughty frontiersman replied. Given the distance they were expected to travel at their own expense for a mere competition, this may not have been so surprising; but the appearance of the Winchester Models 1866 and 1873 also meant that the repeater was gaining adherents and that fewer men did know how to shoot.
Over subsequent heats the thirty men who volunteered were winnowed down to seven. Wingate served as captain; the others were Colonel Bodine (who had won the 1873 competition), General Dakin, Lieutenant Fulton, Colonel Gildersleeve, Mr. L. Hepburn, and Mr. Yale. (These ranks were mostly honorific, dating from the Civil War and Guard duty.)29 The question arose, which rifles to use? American gunmakers came through for their boys: Remington and Sharps, desperate to claw ground back from Winchester, turned out special customized breech-loaders, both firing .44-550-90 loads. The Amateurs split equally in their choice of rifle: Bodine, Fulton, and Hepburn selected Remingtons, while Yale, Gildersleeve, and Dakin picked the Sharps. The sights were of excellent quality. The front sight was minutely adjustable for wind, and the rear included precision-adjustment scales. Part of the assembly was adapted for optimum sighting in different weather conditions.30
By this time, to Church and Wingate’s delight, the upcoming match was unexpectedly attracting national interest. In so many ways it made for prime entertainment. The Americans were certainly the underdogs, so their even accepting the Irish challenge had a charming element of “supremest American cheek,” as Forest and Stream magazine put it.
Unfortunately, what the NRA had originally thought would be a fine opportunity to demonstrate the progressive benefits of marksmanship was interpreted rather differently by the media. Many newspapers pitched the story as a tale of gruff, grizzled Americans up against effete foreigners. The editorialists at Chicago’s Inter-Ocean enthused that while the Irish “have been practicing under scientific teachers, and pop-ping away at a bull’s-eye in a carefully constructed gallery, our boys have been shooting buffaloes