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Date	Original Topic
24th January 2005	Musketry standards By Richard How did the standard of musketry(thats what the British army still calls it) in the British army in 1879 differ from todays army? By this I mean did the Victorian army zero their weapons, and how much time did they spend on the range?
Date	Replies
24th January 2005	Adrian Whiting Richard, I'll e-mail you off forum to forward an article on to you that I wrote to cover some of this a while back. In brief there was an acceptance test for the Armourer to conduct to place a rifle out of service through innaccuracy, and examinations to place rifles out of service through corrosion/rust. Musketry instruction had commenced in 1853 (depending on what point you first count as "instruction" in the wider sense). The annual ammunition allowance for trained soldiers varied during the period, but was approx 60 rounds per year. In addition there was significant emphasis placed on range estimation practice. In fact, though a small prize and a distinguishing badge was awarded to marksmen, the best range estimator in the Battalion won a significant sweepstake ! Thanks Adrian
25th January 2005	Bill Harris Adrian, I would very much appreciate a copy of your article too. This is the kind of 'nuts and bolts' detail that doesn't seem to get covered much in literature about the Victorian army. Thanks, Bill H.
26th January 2005	AMB Adrian, May I also have a copy of your article? AMB