This style of shooting would rule the United States smallbore scene for most of the next forty years during which commercial stock styles would remain virtually unchanged. The military style stock of the time was of little concern to competitors as it was adequate for prone competition. By 1922 the Springfield Armory had developed a smallbore rifle for training that was so like the 1903 service rifle that it had common parts. Consequently early smallbore target rifles were designed along military lines in regard to length, weight, and trigger pull. The original courses of fire were 25 yards for indoor shooting and 50, 100, and 200 for the outdoor competitions, all in the prone position.Īt the time the smallbore rifle was viewed as an inexpensive method of training for center fire military competition. The lead editorial in the Septemissue of Arms and The Man stated that, “The appointment of a committee to consider the standardization of the small-bore game…may be expected to result in a rapid and healthy growth in this sport in all parts of the country.” Two weeks later the magazine reported on the efforts of the committee to establish the fledgling sport. So popular proved smallbore that the National Rifle Association immediately appointed a committee to make recommendations for the standardization and introduction of smallbore rifle shooting into its program. Crossman was charged with conducting what was then known as ‘miniature’ rifle shooting competition in the shadow of the service rifle matches.
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Conducted in late August, at the United States Navy’s range near Caldwell, New Jersey, the program called for a series of reentry and squadded slow, timed, and rapid-fire matches in various positions, at distances from 50 to 100 yards.
It was then that Savage and Winchester introduced specialized 22 caliber target rifles, the Model 19 NRA Match Rifle and the celebrated Model 52 respectively, for the first smallbore competition held at the National Matches. Smallbore shooting, as we know it in the United States, dates from 1919.