"At the close of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, the American rifle movement took its rise in a series of articles, written for the only military paper of the country, by a militia officer. They appeared in the "Army and Navy Journal," and were written by Mr. George W. Wingate, a young lawyer of New York City. The history of the movement from the time when Wingate first published his articles to the time of the triumphs of Creedmoor and Dollymount is one of persistent effort against universal apathy. The only class that encouraged the attempt at first was the citizen soldiery of a single city, and even their support was by no means general. The first meeting for the formation of a rifle club was abortive, from the lack of sufficient numbers to constitute a legal quorum, and it was only on a second attempt that the club was formed. The first President of the "National Rifle Association," as it was called, was General Ambrose E. Burnside, who made a very good figure-head, but under whose leadership nothing was accomplished. It was not till the second year of its existence that any real progress was made. Then, by the efforts of the new President, Colonel Church of the "Army and Navy Journal," and the Secretary, Mr. George W. Wingate, the New York Legislature of 1872 was induced to appropriate $25,000 for the purchase of a range near New York city, the Association agreeing to raise $5,000 on its part." [The Story of Creedmoor, Frederick Whittaker, 1876]

Much effort went in to the search for a suitable site for the new range in the vicinity of New York to no avail. Finally the search turned to the plains of Long Island. Here the NRA bought a 70 acre site, at one time owned by a farmer named Creed. Colonel Henry G. Shaw, a member of the NRA range committee, is credited with coining the word "Creed-moor" having observed the similarities of the site with the moorland of Great Britain.

Creedmoor was opened in the spring of 1873 and was almost exclusively used by National Guardsmen, with shooting mostly at short range. The public interest in Creedmoor was slight, and the shooting poor when compared with that of the Volunteers in Great Britain. Contests and rifles there during 1873 were almost exclusively military, confined to members of the militia or men shooting with their rifles. The few "any rifle" competitions were offhand at 200 yards. The first season, however, witnessed the formation of a small club of enthusiasts, an offshoot of the parent association. George W. Wingate, with a few others, organized the "Amateur Club" of New York City. This club was designed to cultivate the use of the sporting rifle, and to develop marksmanship as an amusement, with no ulterior military purpose. This being the case, the Amateur Club speedily became a thriving institution, and many men joined it who would never have been caught in a militia regiment.

A challenge addressed to American riflemen in the winter of 1873 resulted in a match that brought the American rifle movement to the attention of the public. Since 1862 England and Scotland had been competing at Wimbledon for the Elcho Shield, the match comprising teams of eight, each man firing fifteen shots at 800, 900 and 1000 yards. In 1865 Ireland was first permitted to enter the match, and in 1873 took the Elcho Shield for the first time. Elated with their success, the Irish marksmen, issued a challenge to American riflemen to decide the 'championship of the world.' The Irish would all use Rigby muzzle-loaders and the Americans be required to use arms of US manufacture. The Amateur Club on behalf of the riflemen of America accepted this challenge.

Despite the invitation for riflemen to contest for places in the American team being published in daily papers over the United States, response was scanty. In the end it became clear that the Amateur Club would have to fight single-handed. The final team of six, three using Remington and three using Sharps breechloaders began to practice in earnest. They monitored their progress by calculating average scores for the Elcho Shield winners, and comparing their own.

The eventful day arrived, and on 26 September 1874 Creedmoor witnessed a crowd of over five thousand people all come to see the grand match. At 800 yards the Americans had a good lead. The Irish gained on them at 900 yards, and by the time they had finished shooting at 1000 yards were ahead of the Americans. In the end the match was to be determined by the very last shot fired by the Americans. Shooting a bull's eye at 1000 yards to score 4, the Americans emerged the winners on 934 points to the Irish team's 931.

This match was the forerunner of a series of international competitions held through the 1870's and 1880's, which included the first of the Palma Match series. Public interest eventually waned and the matches went into decline, until in 1890 Creedmoor was deeded back to the state of New York and the NRA became dormant. Activities were not revived again until 1900, and in 1901 the Palma Trophy was again shot for. The event continues to this day.