String Measure

There is a myriad of targets available to the rifleman for his use and there are just about as many available to those running the various shooting competitions. Most are good for purpose, some better than others, but when it comes quantifying the real accuracy of a rifle, or the ability of the man behind it, there is no technique that beats the old-time method of “string measure.”

Many riflemen have heard of string measure but are unsure as to what it really was. In the very early pioneer days, string measuring of shots on the target consisted of putting pegs in the bullet (ball) holes and running a string around the outside. The rifleman with the shortest “string” was the obvious winner. While this may have been the case for a while on the frontier, very soon the string measure of a group of shots was determined by measuring with a string from the center of the bullet hole to the exact center of the target. The aggregate of the various string measurements was then calculated and the shortest one was the winner. As time went on, the “string” was abandoned for the more exact system of measuring with dividers to allow for more precise measurement. As one would expect, this technique has progressed to the use of Vernier calipers allowing the target scorer to measure reliably down to hundredths of an inch.

One of the drawbacks to the string measure technique is that it is time-consuming. In the late 1800s, however, benchrest shooters relied on string measure to determine the winner when regular ringed targets (much easier to score quickly) would have been too coarse and resulted in many ties. It is not impossible to have a tie when using string measure, but in my years of shooting I’ve only seen it happen a few times.

String measure is also a completely unforgiving method of scoring shots. One bad shot and a string is completely out of the money. There have been many instances in old-time double rest (benchrest) competitions where one competitor has drawn out of a match before finishing simply because there was no way to compensate for an off shot. Any powder and lead spent trying to make a comeback was simply a waste. In this way, string measure was the ultimate method to determine accuracy and precision, accuracy being the ability to put shots closest to the center of the target while precision is the ability to group those shots close together. Modern benchrest shooters generally are only concerned with precision and group size, whereas many other matches are concerned with the accuracy of a rifle/shooter and their ability to get close to the center of the target, scoring the most points. That score is directly dependent upon the size or width of the scoring rings; a “close” 10, or a “solid” 10, are both still scored as 10 points.

The various silhouette and “gong” competitions (black powder, modern center fire, and rimfire) have what can be best described as an “all or none” scoring method where any hit on the target that knocks it down or rings it scores the same. A winning score in silhouette can be very mediocre when plotted on a German Ring Schuetzen target, for example, and worse still when calculated using string measure.

The National Rifle Club, which was first organized in 1858, and had the famous rifleman/gunsmith Norman Brockway as its secretary was probably the best-known collection of benchrest shooters that used string measure to determine the outcome of their matches. These gentlemen were very serious about their shooting and many times shot personal challenge matches for significant amounts of money; $100 a side was a typical wager amongst top-flight competitors. Not an insignificant amount of money, especially when one realizes that $100 in 1880, represents the purchasing power of $3,086 in 2024. Club matches were frequently shot for a $20 gold piece, which is worth roughly $2,450 today. You can see why these riflemen demanded a precise form of target scoring.

What were good strings shot in match competition? Generally speaking, at 220 yards (40 rods), which was the most popular match distance, if one kept each shot within an inch of center, he would be hard to beat. So, a 10-inch string for 10 shots at 220 yards would represent an average of no more than one inch from the center of the target for each shot. To do this consistently, a shooter needed a 1½ MOA rifle at the very least, along with the ability to accurately dope changing range conditions. Remember, these are 10-shot strings, not the five or three-shot groups that are common in the shooting periodicals of today.

A match report from the National Rifle Club submitted to Shooting and Fishing magazine from their May 29-30, 1889 match gave these string measure results and some other interesting information as well:

“With this I hand you the report of the spring meeting of the National Rifle Club, held at Vernon, Vt., May 29 & 30:

1. N. S. Brockway, 10 12/16; D. A. Brown, 15 5/16; L. Peck, 15 9/16.

2. N. S. Brockway, 8 8/16; William Hayes, 10 2/16; Charles Henry, 14 6/16.

3. N. S. Brockway, 8; William V. Lowe, 10 6/16; William Hayes, 11.

4. William Hayes, 8 2/16; N. S. Brockway, 8 7/16; B.F. Bingham, 8 7/16.

5. N. S. Brockway, 9 9/16; D.A. Brown, 9 15/16; William Hayes, 10 2/16

The medal given for the shortest aggregate for 50 shots was given to N. S. Brockway, whose 50 shots measured, under the rules of the club, 45¼ inches, and the actual measure of the targets, with no allowance for weight of gun was 46 ½ inches.     This is the shortest aggregate for 50 shots ever made in the history of the club, which has been in existence for over thirty years. These targets, and the measurements of the same, will bear careful examination by some of the advocates of the modern breech-loader, who think they have about reached the acme of perfection.

It is pretty well understood by the readers of this paper how this shooting is done. For the benefit of the few uninitiated I will state that all of this shooting was done at 40 rods, or 220 yards, from double rest- that is, machine rests; that the rifles used varied in weight from 15 to 20 lbs. each, and all were fitted with telescopic sights. The object of each shooter is to make the shortest string. Ten shots are fired upon pasteboard targets twelve inches square, and the distance of the center of each bullet hole from the center of the target is its score. The aggregate measure of the ten shots constitutes the string.

The especial feature of the shoot was the most excellent shooting done by Mr. William Hayes. He shot the .33-calibre Ballard Schuetzen rifle, which was cut over and fitted for using lubricated bullets by George Schalck of Pottsville, Penn. This rifle has many a victory scored to it, and is very familiar to frequenters at the various Schuetzen festivals. When it is stated that this rifle has been fired nearly twenty thousand shots and still appears to shoot as well as most heavy target rifles, intelligent riflemen will better appreciate some of its merits. This rifle was not once cleaned from the first shot to the last, and the last shot was certainly no worse than the first one. Part of the shooting is due to the peculiar form of the rifling adopted, which is a modification of the Henry rifling – a large part is due, however, to the very excellent system adopted by Mr. Hayes in the preparation of his ammunition, and in the manipulation of the rifle. The rifle is fitted with a false muzzle, and is to all intents a muzzle-loader, although fitted to a Ballard action.

The weather conditions were very fine, the air being moist, and very little wind. Mr. Hayes and Mr. Hiram W. Smith, also Mr. C. H. Remer, showed us last fall that it is not necessary to use the heavy rifles, and have conclusively proved that the allowance given the lighter guns much more than offsets any difference in shooting which mere weight gives.

Come, boys, “get your gun,” practice double-rest shooting, and come to Vernon the first Wednesday of next September, and show us what the breech-loader will do. The man who has not practiced double-rest shooting has yet to learn a most enjoyable branch of rifle shooting; while for testing the accuracy of a rifle there is no other known method which will compare with it.”

– William V. Lowe

Lowe mentions in his match report that a handicap was given to rifles over a certain weight. Generally, this was done to put the extremely heavy bench rifles on even footing with rifles weighing much less, and could result in up to 1⁄10 of an inch per pound in favor of the light rifles. The cutoff weight was usually 15-20 pounds although the Andover, Ohio, club sometimes used a 30-pound cutoff. This handicap system had to make scoring more difficult; some clubs did not use it, recognizing that handling a 30-pound muzzleloader all day at a match was penalty enough!    

How does one accurately do string measure today? Using a dial caliper is the simplest and quickest way. One simply puts the point of one jaw on the bullet hole center and extends the other jaw to the center of the target. The “string” will be read in thousandths of an inch and once you get the right touch, it can be done very quickly. Measure the string for each bullet hole, add them together and you have the aggregate string for the match.

Personally, I prefer an old-time a string measure match and feel that it gives a more honest picture of the abilities of both the rifle and the shooter. A few short years ago, 40-rod string measure matches were being conducted by the riflemen in Cody, Wyoming, using the National Rifle Club rules. Muzzleloaders and breechloaders using straight black powder and lead bullets were in attendance and some really fine strings were shot, even compared to those shot by the Old Masters like Warner, Perry and Hayes. That is not to say that the string measure scoring system cannot be adapted to modern centerfires or rimfires; some very enjoyable shooting was done in Cody, using any rimfire rifle at 20 rods distance as well.

Give a string measure match a try at your next club shoot and I think you’ll find out why they were so popular amongst serious riflemen wanting to hone their ability for both accuracy and precision.