Scoring at Rifle Matches

Abstract

IN his letter to NATURE of August 17, Mr. Mallock appears to assume that there is such a thing as abstract “accuracy” in estimating the value of a marksman's score. The method in use at Bisley is, as I understand him, to be regarded as a rough approximation to the accurate method, whether the best available approximation or not. Is it not rather the case that the standard of accuracy is itself arbitrary, and what the authorities at Bisley have established is not an approximation to an ideal standard, but is to be regarded as a real standard of excellence?