The faster “lock time” also made hitting fast-moving aerial targets with a cloud of tiny lead pellets (“shot”) fired from a smooth-bore firearm a real possibility. The closed design of the percussion system materially improved reliability of the firearm, especially in rainy or damp conditions. This shortened ignition time, which is referred to as “lock time” was (and still is) a very important factor in target shooting.
This made getting smaller shot groups on the target more attainable as the possibility of the firearm moving off the aiming point after the shooter pressed the trigger was lessened. Although percussion ignition did not add to the accuracy of the firearm, the time between when the firearm firing mechanism (or “lock”) started the sequence that lead to the ignition of the propellant in the barrel, was shortened drastically. Many flintlock firearms were also subsequently converted to the percussion system, which was a relatively simple procedure that could be accomplished by local gunsmiths. Along about 1820, percussion caps, and the locks that ignited them, became available, and nearly all new firearms began to be constructed using this ignition system. German gunsmiths in Pennsylvania began to manufacture Flintlock rifles in the 1720s, which became especially popular among hunters because of its long-range accuracy. Contestants would pay an entry fee, and everyone who killed a tethered turkey at 110 yards for muskets or hundred and 65 yards for rifles could keep the bird. Turkey shoots were popular after harvest time. The Scotch Irish settlers on the frontier favored shooting matches sponsored by Tavern keepers.
Target shooting was a favorite sport in colonial America, with the New England Puritans regularly testing their shooting skills for recreation and at militia training days. The National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom (NRA) was founded in 1860 to raise the funds for an annual national rifle meeting "for the encouragement of Volunteer Rifle Corps and the promotion of Rifle-shooting throughout Great Britain". Historically, shooting game and target shooting has been limited to the upper-class and the gentry, with severe penalties for poaching.