The Modern Pistol and How to Shoot It Part 14

CHAPTER XVII

RUNNING SHOTS (_Continued_)

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.

At first bring up the pistol very slowly, and swing with the object for a moment after your sights get on it. Do not first aim at it and then move in front of it.

Gradually come quicker and try to fire the instant your pistol comes up.

Speed in coming up does not help you. Most men come up in such a hurry that they wobble all over the place. Save time by firing the instant your sights are aligned, not in bringing up your arm.

Start slowly, increasing your speed as you raise your arm, not in abrupt jerky movements like the English Military salute.

Do not raise it with a jerk. It spoils your aim. A good engine driver starts the train so that you do not feel the start. That is the idea for raising the pistol. The faster the object is moving the faster, as a rule, the arm has to be raised.

But if the object is coming from a distance, and will be in sight for some distance as it pa.s.ses, this rule does not apply.

You can take your time raising your arm, only your following swing must be fast and of course your "allowance" in front of the object greater than at slower moving objects.

As you get proficient, increase the distance you stand from your target and increase its speed.

It is a mistake to have a small target for practising. When you miss you cannot see if you have missed behind or in front, and you get to dwelling on your aim.

As to the distance to aim in front, that is a matter of experience and, other things being equal, the man who has this experience can beat another shot who can hold closer on a stationary object, but does not know how far to aim in front of a moving one, or how to swing and time.

The difference between shooting at an upright man moving and an animal is that, in the former case, the most important thing is to judge the proper distance to aim in front; in the latter case, to keep one's elevation so as not to miss over or under.

When shooting at a running man target, the man being narrow, one is very apt to miss just behind the back.

At a running deer one cannot, if at all a decent shot, miss him behind his tail (though one may miss past his chest in trying to shoot forward enough), but it is easy to miss over his withers, or under his brisket.

Keep on practising at moving objects, varying the distance and speed constantly, and the direction from right to left and left to right, till you can judge how far in front you must shoot for each case.

It is best to always use the same pistol and charge. If you use at one time a .22 pistol and then the .44 duelling pistol, you will get confused, as the .22 goes up much faster and consequently needs less allowance in front of the target.

As long as you keep to the same pistol, you need not mind how slowly the bullet goes up. You know how much to aim in front but, if at one time you must aim an inch in front and next time four inches for the same speed, you can never learn to judge where to aim.

The various rifles I have used at the Running Deer at Bisley since the early days vary in allowance in front from four feet down to merely aiming at the point of the shoulder.

The faster the bullet goes, the easier it is to judge how far you must aim in front at moving objects, but here comes in the inevitable "compromise."

The faster the bullet goes, the more force it needs to propel it, which means more recoil and shock to the shooter.

You have to make a compromise. If you are strong and have good nerves, and don't take alcohol or smoke, you can stand a strong recoil without its spoiling your shooting. If you are not strong, it is better to have to aim further in front and save your nerves, by using a lighter load.

I am not speaking from theory but from experience. I have specialized and made record scores on the "Running Deer" at the National Rifle a.s.sociation of England's Meeting since I was a small boy.

When I first began, an older man shot a very light charge and kept winning, although he had to aim an enormous distance in front of the "deer" to make up for the slow speed of his bullet. But, as there was little noise and no recoil to worry his nerves, he put up wonderfully good scores.

I, knowing no better, tried to get my bullet up quickly by shooting a tremendously big charge. The bullet went up quickly but the recoil nearly knocked me down, and in consequence my shooting was very erratic.

I have since experimented from very small charges up to the heaviest, having a velocity of over three thousand feet a second.

The year I won the World's Champions.h.i.+p at the Olympic Games, I had arrived at a "compromise" between speed of bullet and recoil, which enabled me to win, but since then I have yet a still better compromise, which enables me to make highest possible scores.

Formerly, in revolvers and pistols, one had to bear the full recoil. Now, automatic pistols, which utilize part of the recoil to operate opening, loading, ejection, and reclosing, have less recoil when shooting heavier charges than revolvers did.

The automatic pistol has a softer recoil than a pistol or especially a revolver, owing to this absorption of recoil.

It is more of a push, less of a blow.

Therefore, when you have found the heaviest load you can stand in a single-shot pistol, you will find you can use a heavier cartridge in an automatic pistol, without any more discomfort.

You will therefore not have to aim so far in front with an automatic pistol when shooting at moving objects, and not have to take so high an aim at distance objects to allow for the drop of the bullet--as with a revolver.

CHAPTER XVIII

SHOOTING AN AUTOMATIC PISTOL

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 cartridge the mechanism will not operate. A weaker cartridge than that for which the pistol is made will prevent its working properly or, in fact, working at all, unless the closing is a.s.sisted by the hand, and then it ceases to be an automatic pistol.

It is best to begin practising single loading. The best way to do this is through the magazine so as to get familiar with the magazine. Take out the magazine, put in only one cartridge, put back the magazine, and operate the slide. The pistol is now a single loader, ready to shoot.

Do your shooting a few times like this, till you get used to the pistol.

You will find the recoil different from that of a single-shot pistol or a revolver.

Instead of the recoil coming back directly on you it will be softened and, even with the best of automatics, the pistol will have a tendency to wriggle and "tap," not recoil back in one clean kick.

When practising, make a point of putting the safety bolt on and off, using this safety bolt as you would in putting a single-shot pistol to half-c.o.c.k.

There is this difference. Whereas, in English makes of guns and sporting rifles, the safety bolt puts the weapon automatically at safe each time it is reloaded, having to be taken off before each shot can be fired.

Military firearms are only at safe when the safety bolt is purposely put on with the thumb.

The usual automatic pistol is made on the military idea. The safety once off, it remains off till the user puts it back at safety, no matter how many shots he has fired in the meantime.

The Colt automatic pistol, like the Smith & Wesson hammerless safety pocket revolver, remedies this defect by having a _second_ safety which makes the pistol safe, even if the first safety slide is not at safe. This consists of a lever at the back of the stock which is at safe till the hand presses it in firing and which keeps the weapon safe till the stock is gripped in actual firing.

Any one who is a pistol shot grips the stock instinctively when shooting, but I have known men unused to firearms, unable to shoot a pistol having this safety grip, as they pull the trigger without squeezing the stock.

I was asked to give expert opinion as to whether a good revolver-shot had shot a man accidentally or on purpose.

The pistol he used was a Smith & Wesson hammerless safety pocket pistol.