Somewhere between sporting and effective

Deerstalking has generally been an early adopter of improvements in firearms technology, many of which are a result of the constant development of military small arms. That has certainly been the case with sighting devices.

As the accuracy of rifles improved in the early 19th century, there was a clear need for a better sighting system for precision marksmanship. While there had been a number of early experiments with telescopic sights, the first reliable riflescope was invented by Lt Col David Davidson, who exhibited his new design at the Great Exhibition of 1851, where he demonstrated it to keen deerstalker Prince Albert.

Davidson patented his invention in 1862. It was applied to Whitworth’s new muzzle-loading rifles and was successfully used by Confederate marksmen in the American Civil War.

Riflescopes were also made by Edinburgh opticians for use on the Scottish hill, and by 1887, when Henry Holland took out