Death of Sir Henry Halford

We record with a regret which will be shared in many circles, and particularly amongst those who have taken an interest in the development of rifle-shooting in this country, the death at Wistow Hall, Leicester, yesterday, after a long illness, arising from a heart affection, of Sir Henry St. John Halford, of Wistow.

Death of Sir Henry Halford

We regret to record the death of Sir Henry St. John Halford, C.B., which occurred at Wistow Hall, his residence at Leicester, at two o’clock yesterday afternoon after an illness of several months’ duration.

Memoir of William Ellis Metford

This Memoir was privately printed in May, 1900. It was written by W.E. Metford’s friend and contemporary Henry Brunel, C.E. and Major the Hon. T.F. Fremantle (later Lord Cottesloe). Metford’s work, whether in India or at home, was worthy of wider appreciation than it received, and he left in the world of those interested in rifle-work a gap which there is none to fill.

On Riflemen

Long-range experts find a perennial source of enjoyment in the rivalry and keen competition of the rifle field. They do not think they have exhausted all the pleasure a good rifle can bring when a single season’s shooting is over. Each opening year brings a new zest for the sport, and each closing season only brings a determination to be ready, prompt, and early for the following year of pleasurable duty.

Obituary: William Ellis Metford

William Metford worked closely with the Bristol gunmaker George Gibbs, the manufacturer of the Gibbs-Metford muzzle loading match rifle and the later Farquarson-Metford breech loading rifle. This obituary was published in Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, in 1900.

William Ellis Metford (1824-1899)

INDEX. G.T. Teasdale-Bucknell in his book “Experts on Guns & Shooting” (1900) referred to William Metford as the ‘father of the match rifle’ and ‘the father of modern rifle-boring.’

William Metford worked closely with the Bristol gunmaker George Gibbs, the manufacturer of the Gibbs-Metford muzzle loading match rifle and the later Farquharson-Metford breech loading rifle.

The Long Range Riflemen’s Reunion, 1901

The Amateur Rifle Club of New York, whose members had made notable victories in the short series of international long range rifle matches in the period 1874-1877, never formally dissolved, although by the later 1800s it had faded away. Col. Leslie C. Bruce, a member of the USA Team that beat Great Britain in 1877, gathered many of the long range veterans together for a reunion in December 1901

19th Century Riflemen

INDEX. The 19th Century saw a huge growth in interest in rifle target shooting. Queen’s Prize winners were hailed as hero’s and thousands of spectators turned up to witness the long range international matches. Who were these riflemen that attracted such public attention….?