AUTOMATIC PISTOL SHOOTING
[Illustration]
[Illustration: AUTOMATIC PISTOLS]
AUTOMATIC PISTOL SHOOTING
TOGETHER WITH INFORMATION ON HANDLING
THE DUELLING PISTOL AND REVOLVER
BY WALTER WINANS
CHEVALIER OF THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN ORDER OF ST. STANISLAUS
COMMANDER OF THE ROYAL SPANISH ORDER OF ISABELLA THE CATHOLIC
COMMANDER OF THE ROYAL ORDER OF THE CROWN OF RUMANIA
OFFICER OF THE STAR OF RUMANIA
OLYMPIC CHAMPION FOR DOUBLE-RIFLE SHOOTING IN 1908
GOLD MEDALLIST FIFTH OLYMPIAD, STOCKHOLM, 1912
REVOLVER CHAMPION, FIVE YEARS NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF
GREAT BRITAIN
SEVEN YEARS OF THE SOUTH LONDON RIFLE CLUB AND TEN YEARS OF THE
NORTH LONDON RIFLE CLUB
ONE YEAR DUELLING PISTOL CHAMPION AT GASTINNE-RENETTE'S, PARIS
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL RIFLEMEN, LIFE
MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION, LIFE
MEMBER OF THE UNITED STATES REVOLVER ASSOCIATION AND
OF LE PISTOLET CLUB OF PARIS
PRESIDENT OF ASHFORD RIFLE CLUB, ASHFORD MINIATURE RIFLE CLUB AND
THE SURRENDEN MINIATURE RIFLE CLUB
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press
1915
COPYRIGHT, 1915
BY WALTER WINANS
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
PREFACE
Though my last edition of _Hints on Revolver Shooting_ was published only
four years ago, I find it now necessary, owing to the advance of the
automatic pistol, to revise it thoroughly and to add new chapters.
Till quite recently, the automatic pistol had many defects, both as to
balance and as to safety, chiefly in the latter respect, so that only a
very careful expert could handle one without danger to the public and to
himself.
This has now been altered, and with safety bolts and external hammers
several automatic pistols are quite safe for the use of experts.
They are still very dangerous in the hands of ignorant persons; a revolver
is dangerous enough in such cases but the automatic is much more so.
I shall try to explain how any one possessing mechanical knowledge can, by
observing certain precautions, safely carry and shoot an automatic pistol.
Of course, some men who, for years, have shot small game, and who are good
shots, are still very careless in handling a gun. Such men should never
touch an automatic pistol.
I have made the above remarks as I do not want to be responsible for any
accidents with automatics; and I advise any one not sure of himself to
confine himself to revolvers and single-shot pistols.
The automatic pistol is gradually replacing the revolver except as a
gallery pistol.
Up to the present no automatic pistol can shoot gallery, or light-charge,
ammunition, and the full charge, because of the noise, is very unpleasant
in a shooting-gallery.
It is a great pity that the .44 Smith & Wesson break-down model of
revolver (shooting gallery ammunition) is no longer made, as it is still
the best revolver for gallery shooting.
M. Gastinne Renette, of 39 Avenue d'Antin, Paris, for his gallery, uses
them still, together with his duelling pistols of the same calibre and
powder charge.
I mention this as he is the only dealer who can now supply the old Smith &
Wesson revolvers.
WALTER WINANS.
17 Rue de Tervueren,
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--THE AUTOMATIC PISTOL 1
II.--SELECTING A PISTOL 5
III.--CLEANING AND CARE OF PISTOLS 10
IV.--SIGHTS 14
V.--LEARNING TO SHOOT 21
VI.--RAPID FIRING 40
VII.--TRAVERSING TARGET 43
VIII.--GALLERY SHOOTING 48
IX.--TWENTY-YARDS STATIONARY TARGET 52
X.--DISAPPEARING TARGET 61
XI.--STATIONARY FIFTY-YARDS TARGET 77
XII.--TEAM SHOOTING AND COACHING 79
XIII.--SHOOTING IN COMPETITIONS 82
XIV.--DUELLING 85
XV.--SHOOTING OFF HORSEBACK 98
XVI.--PISTOL SHOOTING FOR LADIES 102
XVII.--STAGE SHOOTING 106
XVIII.--TRICK SHOOTING 116
XIX.--SHOOTING IN SELF-DEFENCE 120
XX.--SHOOTING IN THE DARK 131
Automatic Pistol Shooting
CHAPTER I
THE AUTOMATIC PISTOL
This is the pistol of the future and the revolver has now to give place to
it, just as the horse has to give place to the automobile for traction
purposes.
Still, like the horse, the revolver seems still to have before it a future
for certain purposes, and one uses a revolver where one would not care to
use an automatic pistol.
The superiority of the revolver consists in its being adaptable to reduced
charges and also in its being less complicated and less apt to be
discharged accidentally by an ignorant person.
At one time, the revolver was considered the most dangerous fire-arm in
existence, but the automatic far surpasses it in this respect. When the
chambers of a revolver are emptied, it is harmless; but when the magazine
is taken out, after an automatic pistol has been charged, _one cartridge
still remains in the chamber_. This has been the cause of several
accidents; a man thinks the pistol is safe after he has extracted the
magazine.
The automatic pistol is barred from gallery shooting by the fact that the
mechanism is operated by the recoil from a full-charge cartridge only, and
this full charge makes too much noise.
I do not advise the purchase of any automatic pistol which does not have
at least one safety bolt and which does not have also an external hammer.
There are two makes which, from personal experience, I can recommend; one
is the Colt .45 which has been adopted by the United States Government for
army and navy purposes. This has a grip at the proper angle for shooting.
Hardly any other automatic pistol is properly designed in this respect,
their grips being too much at a right angle, so that the barrel tends to
point too high, this creating a strain on the wrist, since the wrist must
be held in an unnatural position.
The Colt automatic of the U. S. Army pattern has a stock as pleasant to
aim with as a duelling pistol.
Next, it has a hammer which can be put to full and half cock, just like
that of an ordinary pistol or revolver.
It has, besides, two safety appliances; one a slide which can be moved
with the thumb just before firing, like the safety bolt of a shotgun, the
other a safety bolt which is pressed by the palm of the hand in the act of
squeezing the trigger, like that of the Smith & Wesson safety revolver,
later described.
The pistol is, therefore, as "fool-proof" as it seems possible to make it,
but yet there is the danger of a cartridge being left in the chamber when
the magazine is taken out. I again warn all shooters of automatic pistols
to bear this fact constantly in mind whenever handling an automatic.
However, I do not like the sights of this Colt automatic. The front sight
is a black, upright, narrow rod when aiming, and the notch in the hind
sight is far too small. This arrangement of sights may be all very well
for deliberate aiming at a black bull's-eye on a white target, but it is
of no use for practical shooting in a bad light.
The front sight should be a "shotgun" silver "bead," and the hind sight a
large "U"-shaped notch that will show the full bead in it with a little to
spare at the sides.
With these alterations, I think the U. S. Regulation Colt automatic is the
best automatic I know.
The Savage automatic is also very good, and I can confidently recommend
it, especially for those who find the .45 Colt too large for their
purpose.
The following chapters on learning to shoot with the revolver and duelling
pistol apply equally to the automatic pistol, except that the butts to be
shot against should be more solid when using the automatic, owing to its
penetration, and the shooting with it should take place only out-of-doors,
as the noise is very bad for indoors.