Queen Victoria’s Amazing 400 Yard Shot, July 2nd, 1860In the 1850’s and 1860’s the British Whitworth

Queen Victoria’s Amazing 400 Yard Shot, July 2nd, 1860In the 1850’s and 1860’s the British Whitworth Company made some of the most accurate muzzleloading rifles in the world.  The Whitworth Rifle was made most famous as the weapon of choice for deadly Confederate snipers during the American Civil War.  However the Whitworth company was never able to acquire lucrative contracts with the exception of the Confederacy and limited orders from the French Army.  In 1860 the company founder, Sir Joseph Whitworth, came up with a marketing scheme to boost his company’s selling potential.In 1860 the first meeting of the British National Rifle Association was held in Whimbledon.  Somehow Whitworth was able to get Queen Victoria herself to fire the opening shot of the meeting with a Whitworth rifle from a bench rest.  Incredibly Queen Victoria’s shot hit 1 ¼ of an inch from the exact center bullseye at a range of 400 yards using open sights, an amazing shot considering Queen Victoria was not a shooter and had little experience with firearms.  Whitworth touted the shot as a clear demonstration of his rifle’s effectiveness and accuracy.  However, Whitworth failed to mention to the press that the shot was taken from a special machine designed to hold the rifle sighted in on target.  A complex device, the rifle was clamped in place, sighted directly with the bullseye, and featured a set off hanging counterweights which absorbed the recoil of the gun.  All that Queen Victoria had to do was sit down and pull the trigger, no matter she did, her shot was going to hit the bull.  After all it would have been very bad form for the Queen to have missed. -- source link
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