The Modern Pistol and How to Shoot It

It is human nature to keep on in the same old groove, to try to avoid change, even if that change is for the better. This habit is owing to it being so much easier not to have t...

I put this chapter after the preliminary one on learning to shoot as, although sights are vital for good, quick, accurate shooting, the beginner is too occupied with other matte...

When they get there they go down a dark staircase, into a long, dark cellar with a glimmer of light at the firing point and a glimmer of light at the far end, illuminating a ser...

No one can keep on shooting at small objects on a man’s head or held between his fingers without an occasional bad shot, and if it misses by only half an inch, such a miss may c...

The best weapon for this purpose is a 12-bore shotgun loaded with No. 5 shot but even as small as No. 7 shot is very deadly if fired at a range of not more than four or five fee...

What the maker of the automatic pistol has to do is to restrain the sudden smashing blow of the explosion on his mechanism and have it operate gently. (See Plates 13 and 14.)

It is no use carrying a pistol in your pocket for self-defence, and to have it go off and kill yourself, or much worse, shoot the person you are trying to save.

A man who drinks heavily may for a time be able to shoot well, but this does not last. He can never be depended on not to “crack up” and he collapses at critical moments.

Ninety per cent. horsemanship and ten per cent. pistol shooting skill will beat the finest pistol shot if he has only ten per cent. horsemanship to his ninety per cent. shooting...

When I wrote my book on revolver shooting, in 1900, I caused indignation amongst many, by saying that the time wasted over games would be better employed in learning to shoot.

There is no direct danger to the eyes in pistol shooting, that is to say, with a good pistol there is no chance of a blow back of fire into the eyes, as there is in a cheap, rim...

In revolver shooting there was the danger of making a bad shot through a badly fitted or dirty cylinder not turning quite into place, and causing a shaving of lead to be taken o...

Such pistols, it must be remembered, have great penetration, and if fired in a room the bullet can go through a closed door or a thick partition, as if they did not exist.

There are two opinions as to the proper calibre for a military pistol. England, having to fight savage tribes, had always preferred a large bore pistol with stopping power. Fana...

Tell him that as there is only one barrel, it would be difficult to align it without this sight, pointing out to him that his double barrel shotgun can be aligned without this a...

An expert shot can be trusted with a trigger-pull so light that in the hands of a less skilful or careful shot there would be great danger of the pistol being discharged acciden...

Some men have fat flabby perspiring hands, others have cold damp hands, both of these seem to be able to hold a mother-of-pearl grip comfortably, but they do not suit a man who...

I know a man who never has even a shade of annoyance pass over his face whatever happens. He is in constant request for shooting in teams, and he can be depended on always to sh...

In England big game has been practically exterminated. There are a few fallow deer left in parks, and a few red deer are wild in Devonshire and Somersetshire, and Scotland, but...

They have now reduced the rifle to a small bore with an extremely heavy charge and therefore the rifle has to be made very heavy to be safe from bursting.

In France there are man targets of iron, the natural size of a man in profile, which can be stood on the ground in front of the butts. These are the best I know for shooting at...

Before purchasing an automatic pistol it would be well to try shooting several makes. Inventors have not yet arrived at anything like a standard shape. The grip, angle of stock,...

The pistol being meant for use at close range at objects one sees only for a moment, or which are in rapid motion, I do not advise getting too much into the habit of taking long...

The duelling pistol, although shooting the same gallery charge, needs slightly less allowance at fifty yards, as there is none of the escape of gas the revolver has at the cylin...

The faster it is going the further it goes before this drop is sufficient to be noticeable. Gravity acts through time, so if a bullet goes twice as fast as another, it goes twic...

There are several styles of single-shot pistols (see Plates 2, 9, 10, and 17). I will not give a list and description of all makes, like a gunmaker’s catalogue. I will merely de...

Rain, as far as the actual shooting goes, does no harm to shooting. In fact, if your adversary has to wear glasses it gives you a great advantage over him as his glasses get cov...

Right and wrong are not, as some suppose, clearly defined, as are black and white. Right and wrong so overlap that it is difficult, except for a clergyman, to decide which is wh...

One novelist makes his hero see “a flame zigzagging in the darkness,” he, not troubling to ascertain who was carrying the light, friend or foe, without hesitation “drew his pist...

As the revolver had a short stock with an acute curve and was muzzle heavy, the grip I recommend for it is not suitable for the duelling pistol or automatic.

With the two latter the stock does not get properly imbedded into the shoulder when wearing a stiff shirt, but in pistol shooting as long as the neck and right shoulder are not...

There are several types of inventors of firearms, including those who invent real improvements, and those who delay invention by making all sorts of things which are not only us...

Before everything else, be sure you have the right cartridges for the pistol you are using. If you have too strong a cartridge you may have a fatal accident. If too weak a cartr...

It is best to stand with the feet slightly apart and facing rather where the object is going to, than from where it comes, as your shot will go off towards the end of its run.

It cannot be used in an automatic pistol loaded through the magazine as there is no recoil to operate the mechanism, but it can be shot from a magazine pistol if used as a singl...

Most targets are very imperfect, not only from the bull’s-eye being a wrong size, but the scoring on them is very rudimentary, and does not show the real value of the hits. For...

There is now no use learning revolver shooting. That form of pistol is obsolete except in the few instances where it survives for target shooting, or is carried for self-defence...

Down on the cartridge, “half-cock,” and “full-cock.” The latter is when the pistol is ready to be fired, when at half-cock it cannot be fired by pulling the trigger and is suppo...

Probably it was abolished, owing to some agitation by a few cranks, like that against stag-hunting and Sunday amusements, and even at the time of the abolition, there were many...

In a sword duel the duellist can parry; in a pistol one, he cannot parry, but he can shoot first. If his adversary is a good shot and intends to kill him, his best chance is to...

In order that each competitor shall compete against each other competitor, there are printed scoring-cards on the lines of longitude and latitude in maps, so that by running the...

Now that the pupil has learned how to handle the single-shot pistol with safety to himself and others, he can be trusted to learn how to shoot the automatic pistol. (See Plates...

This gallery has been in existence for some seventy years and is constantly improved and it is the best gallery I know of in any country. In describing it I will be describing w...

The back sight of a revolver is held further from the eye, as compared with a rifle back sight, and the object to be hit is under fifty yards’ distance. The eyes best suited for...

The single shot .22 pistol is much used in the United States for small game shooting for the pot, when camping out after big game. It does not make much noise and also has the a...

On the Continent most men of the upper classes have at least a rudimentary acquaintance with the foil and duelling pistol, but in the English-speaking nations a man has rarely e...

A slight, wiry man, whose hands and muscles are in hard condition, and who “gives” to the recoil will be able to shoot a pistol having a recoil which would knock all the shootin...

The mere word duel raises a smile amongst the empty headed. Hardly any one thinks for himself; he takes his thoughts ready made, like his tea when he gets up in the morning.

A row of white squares, each with a black bull’s-eye on it, and men aiming, aiming, and finally letting off their pistols at them, is such a mistaken idea of learning pistol sho...

In the book I gave details of how to do legitimate stage shooting, and also exposed the devices of those who perform conjuring tricks, which the public mistake for genuine shoot...

By snap shooting I do not mean the sort of competition where you are given three-seconds intervals. That is merely “fast deliberate aim,” in fact is as slow as allowable for pra...

Even an unloaded pistol should never be left about. Someone is sure to “snap” it and ruin the lock, lugging at the hammer and pulling at the trigger at the same time, just as pe...

It was won first by Dr. Louis Bell, then after two others had won it, it was finally won in 1894 by Roundsman Petty of the New York Police Force, who twice successfully defended...

If a man is found in the house at night, he can be generally captured by getting the drop on him, that is to say, getting an aim on him before he aims at you, and make him hold...

Pistol shooting in competitions or for practice is conducted either under cover, in the open, or partly under cover. The latter is much the best way, so I will keep this to the...

The man target we used at the Olympic Games at Stockholm in 1912, was a coloured paper target of a soldier standing at attention, full face. This was pasted on a wooden board cu...

This practice can be made still more difficult if as many man targets as your magazine holds cartridges are placed at various distances; hit all of them in the shortest time, ta...

The person considering himself aggrieved sends two of his friends as his seconds, to see his adversary. The latter if he accepts the challenge appoints two of his friends to act...

Pistol shooting is made as dull and uninteresting as possible, and then surprise is expressed that hardly any one takes a pistol in his hand, except when compelled to do so, and...

Pistol shooting is not merely the mechanical art most people think it is, a man who does not use his brains and think out things will go on making the same mistakes all his life...

In the black powder days cleaning was, comparatively, a simple matter. Now, with the smokeless powders, especially cordite, incessant care has to be taken to avoid the pistol sp...

Every make of pistol has ammunition which suits it best. In fact, to shoot what was made for it. In the case of automatic pistols, they will not work properly unless their own a...

Trying to judge speed by counting or getting someone else to count half-seconds is very unreliable. Where everything depends upon making your last shot a good one the counting i...