pittguy12
02-10-2011, 09:38 PM
Did anyone else catch the latest episode of Top Shot on the History channel the other night? The first challenge was to use a "Sharps Breech Loading Rifle" to mimic the entry requirements for Berdan's sharpshooters during the Civil War (I believe it was a 4" bullseye at 200 yds). After reading a little on the net, it appears that they were actually using the 1874 model and not anything directly related to the actual war.
Even though they got the rifle wrong, it got me thinking a little more about what the "real" civil war sharpshooters and what they had to do to get into the unit.
I found a portion of an article done by Harper's Weekly who interviewed Berdan at an exhibition...
"Some idea of the rigidity of the test may be gathered from the fact that no man is admitted who does not shoot, at 600 feet distance, ten consecutive shots at an average of five inches from the bull's-eye. That is, the aggregate distance of the whole ten shots must not exceed fifty inches. Not a man is accepted under any circumstances who varies a hair-breadth from the mark. Remarkable though it may seem, many of the men exceed this proficiency. Colonel Berdan himself has, on a windy day, with a strange rifle, put ten balls within an average distance of one inch and one-tenth each from the bull's-eye, at 600 feet. At 1000 feet the Colonel made a string of 22 inches. Sergeant-Major Brown, under more unfavorable circumstances, made a string of 33 inches, or a little more than three inches each ball, at a distance of 100 yards, with a strange rifle."
That's pretty decent shooting. Especially the 1000 ft 22" string...quite impressive. I suppose the 100 yd requirement is similar to our hanging tiles (although ours are slightly larger) but going 10 / 10 is pretty good and certainy better than I could do.
Anyone know more about these requirements?
Even though they got the rifle wrong, it got me thinking a little more about what the "real" civil war sharpshooters and what they had to do to get into the unit.
I found a portion of an article done by Harper's Weekly who interviewed Berdan at an exhibition...
"Some idea of the rigidity of the test may be gathered from the fact that no man is admitted who does not shoot, at 600 feet distance, ten consecutive shots at an average of five inches from the bull's-eye. That is, the aggregate distance of the whole ten shots must not exceed fifty inches. Not a man is accepted under any circumstances who varies a hair-breadth from the mark. Remarkable though it may seem, many of the men exceed this proficiency. Colonel Berdan himself has, on a windy day, with a strange rifle, put ten balls within an average distance of one inch and one-tenth each from the bull's-eye, at 600 feet. At 1000 feet the Colonel made a string of 22 inches. Sergeant-Major Brown, under more unfavorable circumstances, made a string of 33 inches, or a little more than three inches each ball, at a distance of 100 yards, with a strange rifle."
That's pretty decent shooting. Especially the 1000 ft 22" string...quite impressive. I suppose the 100 yd requirement is similar to our hanging tiles (although ours are slightly larger) but going 10 / 10 is pretty good and certainy better than I could do.
Anyone know more about these requirements?