What Is Palma? The 1,000-Yard Iron-Sight Match and Its Lost Trophy

A trophy built by Tiffany, a challenge to the riflemen of the world, a disappearance nobody solved, and a match that still asks shooters to read wind at 1,000 yards with iron sights.

A Centennial challenge

In the 1870s, long-range rifle shooting was a major spectator sport, and international matches drew crowds and newspaper coverage. According to Shooting Sports USA's history of the trophy, the United States had already beaten Ireland in long-range matches in 1874 and 1875. For the nation's Centennial, the NRA issued a challenge to riflemen around the world for a long-range match at 800, 900 and 1,000 yards, to be fired at the Creedmoor range on Long Island in 1876.

Australia, Ireland, Scotland and Canada accepted. The United States won in 1876 and again in 1877. No one answered the 1878 challenge, and for decades afterward the competition was held only irregularly.

The trophy

The prize was extraordinary. Tiffany built it, funded by private contributions, at a reported cost of $1,500 including 280 ounces of silver. It stood about seven and a half feet tall and was modeled on a Roman triumphal standard, the kind carried by legions. Where a Roman standard would carry the letters SPQR, this one carried the word Palma, the Latin for the palm, a symbol of victory, honor or glory, along with the words "In the name of The United States of America to the Riflemen of the World."

Its official name was the Centennial Trophy, but everyone called it the Palma Trophy, and the name stuck to the match as well.

The disappearance

The original trophy vanished after 1930. Shooting Sports USA's account says it was last seen in a corridor of the State, War, and Navy building in Washington, now the Old Executive Office Building. Correspondence confirmed it was NRA property, but nothing came of it. Material from the services moved to the Pentagon in the 1940s, and some went to a depot in Richmond, Virginia; a 1965 report of the trophy there was not followed up. A later search of a Smithsonian storage facility in Pueblo, Colorado, found nothing.

In 1988, a two-thirds-size replica built from the original Tiffany plans was donated to the NRA. The original remains one of the more intriguing unsolved mysteries in American sporting history.

Palma revived

Formal competition for the trophy resumed in 1966, hosted at venues around the world. Today the Palma Trophy goes to the winner of the long-range team match at the World Long Range Championships, held once every four years. Internationally, the discipline falls under the International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations (ICFRA). The SSUSA article cites Great Britain's win at Camp Perry in 2015 as its fourth consecutive victory; for later results, check ICFRA and national association announcements.

The modern match format

As described by Shooting Sports USA, the Palma team match works like this:

The targets are large: SSUSA describes six-foot-square targets with a 20-inch 10-ring and a 44-inch aiming area. At 1,000 yards with iron sights, that black aiming area is what you see, and the 10-ring is a small part of it.

Team wind coaching

Palma is a team sport in a way most rifle events are not. Coaches read the wind and make sight corrections for the shooters, and the team succeeds or fails on those calls. That is why Palma shooters are often described as some of the best wind readers in the sport. Our wind reading guide introduces the basics they build on.

Why 155 grains

The 155-grain .308 bullet is closely tied to Palma. Supplying every competitor with the same ammunition keeps the match about shooting and coaching rather than equipment. Keeping the bullet weight moderate also limits recoil over a long day of slow fire with a sling and iron sights. Heavier .308 bullets have higher ballistic coefficients, which is why other long-range disciplines often favor them; the trade-offs are discussed in our .308 grain comparison and our G1 vs G7 article.

The military side of .308 match ammunition has its own history, covered in the M118LR explainer.

For other options, see the .308 and 7.62 NATO category.

Iron sights at 1,000 yards

To a shooter raised on scopes, the idea of hitting anything at 1,000 yards with iron sights sounds implausible. Palma rifles make it work with aperture sights: a precise rear peep sight with fine click adjustments for elevation and windage, and a front globe sight that holds an interchangeable insert, often a ring sized so the black aiming area sits neatly inside it. The eye naturally centers a round target inside a round aperture, which is more precise than it sounds.

Because there is no magnification, the shooter cannot see bullet holes or wind flags through the sights. Coaches with spotting scopes watch the flags and mirage and call corrections, and the target is marked after each shot so the shooter and coach know where it landed. Sight corrections are made in clicks, and good shooters know their rifle's elevation for each distance from their scorebook, just as a scope shooter keeps a dope card in MOA or mils.

Getting started in fullbore

Palma is a world-championship event, but the shooting itself happens at club level too. Many long-range clubs run fullbore or "any sight" matches at 800 to 1,000 yards, and some offer loaner equipment and coaching for newcomers. Starting in F-Class with a scope and then trying iron sights is a common path. Expect to learn scorebook keeping, sling use, pit duty and, above all, patience with the wind.

Palma, F-Class and the fullbore family

Palma belongs to the fullbore target rifle family: long-range, prone, slow-fire shooting on large bullseye targets. F-Class grew out of the same tradition, adding scopes and rests. Palma shooters keep the iron sights and the sling, which is why many regard it as the purest test of long-range wind reading and shooting fundamentals.

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