Rifles were in use from the 16th century onwards, but were fairly uncommon until the 18th century, and only became really possible as mass-produced weapons with the creation of modern machinery in the Industrial Revolution. 'Rifle' seems to be first recorded as a verb for cutting the grooves in a gun barrel, in 1635.

My suspicion is that 'rifle range' is a modern term for a phenomenon that goes back long before the rifle, or even (probably) guns. The term which is probably more likely to reflect target ranges is 'butts', and certainly it is still in use for open-air gun (and archery?) ranges. I assume that many of these older archery ranges were simply developed further as gun ranges, and that it is in the period from the Boer War to the first World War that there is a real upsurge in rifle ranges, when adults were actively encouraged to use fire-arms as a means of developing a skilled pool for purposes of warfare.

It might be worth contacting the NSRA and the NRA. The Queen's Cup at Bisley began in 1860, so there must have been lots of users and ranges already in existence then.

So it may be worth looking into 'butts' (or 'butt'?) to find early examples of shooting ranges.
Malcolm J Watkins, BA, AMA, MIFA
Strategic Cultural Manager
Culture, Learning and Leisure
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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From:   CARLISLE, Phil[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Reply To:       CARLISLE, Phil
Sent:   19 August 2004 10:14
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: Rifle Ranges

Sent this a couple of days ago but I think I only sent it to John

Dear John

I've done a quick trawl of the National Monuments Record Database and the earliest I can find is a circular mound on Roundway Down in Wiltshire which is marked as a Rifle Range on the 1^st edition OS map which dates to about 1810-1815 (according to my man in the know). This obviously only proves that the range is earlier than the map.

 

All the other records indexed as Rifle Range only give a period of POST MEDIEVAL, with most appearing in the mid-late 19^th century.

 

Interestingly there was a rifle range on Maiden Castle but I would suggest that a prehistoric date for a rifle range may be stretching it a bit!

 

Another thought. Rifle ranges can't predate the use of rifles so when did we start using rifles? My guess is sometime after the American War of Independence. The Experimental Corps of Riflemen was formed about 1800 so it's unlikely that we'd have a rifle range before then.

 

Phil Carlisle

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: John Wood [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 17 August 2004 10:39
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Rifle Ranges

 

Does anyone know of the earliest surviving or recorded rifle range in the UK?

 

I am particularly interested in non-military sites, though any military sites would be useful.

 

Regards,

 

John Wood of Lowland