History
Prior to 1851 the majority of British soldiers were issued with the "Brown Bess" Land Pattern Musket, a smooth-bore, muzzle loading musket which had seen duty in one form or another since 1704. Lack of accuracy was compensated for by the practice of firing in volleys. Musketry, as shooting was known, was more like parade ground drill and as such was a matter for the Drill Sergeant.
More accurate rifles did exist (indeed the principle of rifling the barrel had been known about since 1515) but took so long to reload that it was deemed unwise to have them on general issue. At this point only a few regiments had been equipped with rifles, notably the 60th and the 95th whose special rifle drill stems from this time.
In 1849 a Frenchman, Claude-Étienne Minié, produced a rifle named after himself which, although still a muzzle loader had an expanding bullet that greatly reduced the time required for reloading a rifle. Re-equipment of the Army with this new weapon began in 1851.
The consequence of this was that the Army now had a weapon that was not only more accurate, but had a longer range. For the first time since the demise of the bow and arrow true marksmanship was possible. Shooting ceased to be a drill and became an art based on personal skill. Elevation, windage and ballistics now played a part.
In order to study these new problems and introduce a shooting doctrine for instruction in Rifle Shooting it was decided to form a special Corps of experts, who would also develop and improve the rifles. In March 1853 the Army Estimates included the princely sum of £1,000 (about £74,200 today) for Lord Hardinge to form an "Establishment for the instruction of the Army in rifle and target practice."
Read more about this topic: Small Arms School Corps
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