An Olympic shooting story from 1908|General Discussions & Questions|Forum|Winchester Collector

The Plater Incident. (copyright of “Rifleman.org.uk) a very interesting site

Olympic history is full of hard-luck stories, but few can match the misfortune suffered by British marksman Philip Plater in the individual small-bore event in 1908.

The conditions of the competition permitted twelve entries from each country but, as the entry forms for George Barnes, the nominee of the Twenty Two Club, went astray, Philip Plater was named as the twelfth British entry in his place. Shortly afterwards, the entry form for George Barnes arrived and, as the U.S.A. had been granted an extension to the closing date for entries, a similar facility was given to Great Britain and Barnes’ entry was duly accepted. This meant, of course, that Britain had 13 official entries instead of the permitted twelve, but greater confusion was to follow.

When the competition got underway, the British team officials lost count of the number of British marksmen who had shot in the competition. Thinking that only eleven men had already fired, Plater was called on although there was only half an hour to spare before the time limit for the competition expired. Plater ran to the firing-point and in varying light, a gusty wind and fine drizzle, he moved from mat to mat and fired his 80 rounds in less thn 30 minutes. In his 40 rounds from 50 yards, Plater fell only five points short of the maximum possible and at 100 yards he dropped only four points. His total of 391 points was a new World Record and, in the initial results list issued by the National Rifle Association, Philip Plater was shown as the winner of this competition and the Olympic Champion.

It then transpired that the British team officials had made a major error and, at the time Plater shot, the permitted number of twelve British marksmen had already taken part. It took some days to decide whether the score of Plater or that of Barnes should be excised from the records and eventually George Barnes was declared the official British entrant. In October, Philip Plater was presented with a special gold medal and a record diploma by the British Olympic Council, but his amazing feat of marksmanship remains unrecorded in the official Olympic records.

Those intrepid few shooting .310″ Cadet rifles in the Service and Classic Classes in the Leagues ( and at the Imperial and Trafalgar Historic Arms Meetings ) will appreciate the achievement illustrated above at 50 and 100 yards. It must not be forgotten that the propellants and primer technology have much improved since the early Twentieth Century. Such diagrams would though, even now, be difficult to emulate at these ranges. Some of you have attained a significant mastery of their .310s. If anyone has an equivalent or better target and scores made recently, we would be pleased to show it here for comparison.