Contemporary of Gates, B, to attempt firearms practice (8)
I believe the answer is:
musketry
'contemporary of gates b' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both groups as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'attempt firearms practice' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'attempt' could be 'try' (synonyms) and 'try' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for musketry that I've seen before include "old weapons" , "Armed soldiers" .)