AUTOMATIC PISTOL SHOOTING

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

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.

CHAPTER II

SELECTING A PISTOL

You must first decide for what purpose you want the pistol; a “general utility” one is about as much use as a hunter who goes in harness—not much good for either purpose. If you want a hunter, buy an English hunter; if a harness horse, buy an American trotter. In the same way, for whatever purpose you want a pistol, buy one, if by any means you can do so, especially for that purpose. Anyhow, it is useless to compete with a short-barrelled pocket automatic against target pistols. This class of pistol is intended only for self-defence at short range, and has no pretensions to accuracy.

A long barrel theoretically gives greater accuracy, especially at long range, owing to there being more length to burn the powder in, and to the sights being farther apart, which minimizes error in aiming; but practically this advantage is more than counterbalanced by making the pistol heavy at the muzzle, so that it therefore balances badly. The balance ought to be as near the trigger as possible. For a pocket pistol, a short barrel may be absolutely necessary for portability. In England some men use very long barrels, but I prefer shorter pistols, and I do not consider that anything over 7½ inches is a “Military” revolver nor should it be permitted in military competitions.

See that the trigger-pull is “sweet,” and has no “drag.” Also, have your trigger-pull as light as can safely be used. The pull is often left by makers very heavy, so as to be alterable to suit customers, and the shopman may forget to have this altered. If you are not hampered by rules, about three or three and a half pounds is the best trigger-pull for general purposes.

I do not like a double-action revolver, except for a pocket one, as it cannot do accurate shooting when cocking with the trigger.

For a man whose hands are apt to get moist, roughing the trigger may prevent slipping; but it may also make the finger sore if roughed too sharp.

Some pistols have too narrow a trigger, almost like a piece of wire; a wide, spoon-shaped trigger is best, as less likely to cut the finger, especially when coupled with a heavy trigger-pull.

Get a pistol which, when you grip the stock properly, has the barrel and your arm as nearly in a horizontal line as possible. Many makes of revolvers and automatic pistols have the stock much below the level of the barrel, which consequently is above the hand. This makes shooting more difficult; you are apt to cant the weapon to one side, and the recoil is more severe on your wrist. A man who holds a pistol properly does not need a big stock, even if he has a big hand.

For rough work, and in strong sunlight, a pistol is best blued. I temporarily paint the rib, etc., when target shooting on sunny days, with “sight-black.”

Revolver ammunition is usually made in the following calibres: .32, .38, .41, .44, .45, .455. Most of these can be had loaded with various smokeless powders, as King’s semi-smokeless, Riflite, Cordite, Walsrode, etc.

The Union Metallic Cartridge Company, U. S. A., have supplied me with great quantities of .44 “gallery ammunition,” loaded with both round and semi-round bullets. These have a small charge of black powder, and I should prefer this ammunition out of a Smith & Wesson Russian Model revolver for self-defence, as well as for competitions up to twenty yards, and I find it the most accurate for exhibition shooting. I believe most professional stage-shooters use it. It is a great pity this revolver is no longer made and can only be bought second-hand. If a second-hand one is otherwise good, a new barrel can be put to it. I suppose the various English makers of ammunition could supply “gallery” charges in any of their various calibre cartridges, but I know of none and should not advise the beginner to try loading this sort of ammunition in English cartridge-cases for himself. The dome of the cap is generally higher than in American cartridges; if, therefore, the small powder charge used in gallery ammunition be put in the case and the bullet pressed down, the bullet will come down on the dome, stop up the flash-hole, and cause a misfire. The way to obviate this is to take a wad of suitable calibre, make a hole in the centre, and push the wad down to the bottom of the cartridge before putting in the powder, so as to fill up the base of the cartridge and let the bullet “seat” on the powder, higher than the dome. Makers can do this properly, but an amateur may put the wad in too loosely, and a little powder get under the wad. The result would be that, on the shot being fired, the wad would be driven half-way up the barrel, and might at the next shot cause a burst.

Be sure to use only low-pressure powder, if you use smokeless, as high-pressure powders are dangerous in a “break-down” action revolver. Gallery ammunition in a .38 new model solid frame Smith & Wesson revolver gives good shooting.

Many people do not understand this difference in powder pressure, and injure their revolvers by experimenting with what become practically “blasting” instead of propelling charges.

CHAPTER III

CLEANING AND CARE OF PISTOLS

Always clean your pistol the moment you have finished shooting. If you leave it over till the next day, you may as well throw it away as expect to win prizes with it.

The larger the calibre, the easier it is to clean and the less chance is there of spoiling the rifling by jamming the rod in it. I prefer wooden rods as less apt to spoil the rifling, but the very narrow calibres require a metal rod (soft metal for preference), as the wood would have to be too thin and would be liable to break in the bore.

Clean from the breech, not the muzzle end if the make permits of this; the last fraction of an inch at the muzzle is where the rifling, if damaged, spoils the shooting most. For the same reason, it is as well to have the rifling “reamed off” at the mouth of the muzzle, so that the edge of it is protected. Examine the interior of your barrel at frequent intervals after cleaning, to see if there is any damage going on from corrosion.

Use the cleaning fluids recommended for the particular powder you are using, as what may be good for one powder is of no use for another.

The great thing is to clean very thoroughly. I use cotton-wool of the best quality rather than tow, and I do not use boiling water unless in very exceptional cases, for fear of overlooking a spot in drying, and getting rust in consequence. If necessary to use water to remove fouling, let it be as hot as possible, but this cannot be done if the barrel is not capable of being separated from the action.

Do not try to oil the lock, or put it right; send it occasionally to the maker to be seen to. It is also well to have a cleaning kit with wooden not metal (except for calibres of .32 or less) cleaning rods, cotton-wool, cleaning fluids, screw-drivers, etc., all in proper compartments, and to put them back when used. See that the cotton-wool is absolutely dry and clean before using it. Throw away such pieces after once using. Do not use too big a piece on your rod, such as would get the latter jammed in the barrel, as you may ruin the shooting qualities of the barrel by using force to remove it. Have the cleaning rods long enough, or you may bark your knuckles.

I do not care much for detachable stocks for pistols. They only turn a pistol into an inferior carbine, and the pistol is not meant for a long-range weapon.

I also do not like the cardboard cases in which American pistols are usually packed, for permanent use; they are not strong enough and are apt to injure the sights, especially fine sights. A holster, again, is not the thing in which to keep a pistol habitually, as the sights get knocked about; if the holster is used out-of-doors it gets damp inside and rusts the weapon. Great care should always be taken to see that the holster is absolutely dry inside before placing a pistol therein. To dry the inside of a holster, make some oats very hot in a saucepan and fill the holster with them, emptying them out when cold. Some American holsters are made of india-rubber, to prevent perspiration from the body rusting the pistol, but such an one is very liable to retain dampness inside after rain. The holster which I prefer (for wearing, not as a pistol-case) is a cowboy holster, without any button to the flap. If you fasten the flap, you cannot get the pistol out in a hurry. A lining of rabbit fur is useful in keeping out sand or dust.

My pistol-cases are good, strong, and solid, of leather, with brass corners like gun-cases. Each case holds four, placed either side by side, each pistol in its own compartment, or, with a tray, two in the tray and two below. If you have only two pistols, they can be put in a case without this upper tray, or the tray can be used for cartridges. Under all circumstances, use a good lock,—not the sort that any key fits,—keep the case locked, and wear the key on your watch-chain, so that you are sure nobody but yourself can open the case. Keep the case in a dry place, and look at the pistols occasionally, when they are not in constant use, to see that they are not rusting.

Keep your cartridges, if not in the same case as the pistols, also locked in a good leather case. This may be fitted with compartments for various calibres and loads. The word “loaded” may with advantage be inscribed inside the lid of the pistol-cases. People then feel less encouragement to meddle with the contents.

CHAPTER IV

SIGHTS

Sights are made in many forms. Some suit one man best; others another. You cannot decide which suits your individual case without trying each sort for yourself.

When you find one form which suits you, it is a pity to risk spoiling your shooting by changing to others; a beginner should never do so, as he will get into an uncertain way of taking his sights, instead of always the same, which is the only way to make reliable, consistent, shooting. Of course, all your sights may be useless if you are going to shoot in a competition, consequent on the authorities making some new rule as to “fit for rough usage”; and then you will have to shoot with whatever will pass the rules.

My patent sight has, so far, complied with every rule, and it can be used for hammering nails without sustaining damage.

The main point is to have a front sight at once easily seen, and of which you see each time the same amount; not sometimes more and at other times less, else you cannot keep your elevation.

Also the “U” in the back sight should have bevelled edges, so as to give a sharp edge, else it looks “woolly.”

Again, if you are not able to see daylight each side of the front sight when it is in the “U,” you cannot be aware that you are not covering part of the front sight on one side or the other, and, therefore, whether your aim is in horizontal axis with your barrel.

The reason I prefer a “U”- to a “V”-shaped notch in the hind sight is because in the “V” you do not see this daylight so well.

As soon as you can shoot well enough to know whether bad shots are the fault of the sighting of the revolver or of your own holding, you can sight the pistol properly for yourself; and in this way you can do the sighting much more accurately, and with greater nicety, than by taking it to a gunmaker and saying: “Alter the sights to shoot three inches higher and two to the left at twenty yards, and open the ‘U’ a little,” etc. To do this, have front and hind sights made of horn, put in temporarily, without any “U” in the hind sight, and both hind and front sights a little higher than you think necessary. Then go to the range with your pistol and several files of various sizes, including some that are round. Make a slight “U” in the measured centre of the top edge of the back sight. Shoot a few shots at the range you want to sight for (taking care that you do not go clean over the top of the butt, owing to being sighted too high), and then keep working with the files, first at one sight and then at the other, till you get them approximately right.

Do not cut the “U” down too close to the barrel, as it will then give you a blurry aim, especially when the barrel gets hot. If you find you shoot too high, unless you cut this “U” down take out the front sight and put in another higher one, rather than file the “U” unduly low.

Remember when filing: Filing at the bottom of the “U” makes you shoot lower; filing at the top of the front sight makes you shoot higher; filing on the side of the “U” or the front sight makes you shoot towards the side on which you have filed. Therefore, by filing a very little at a time, where necessary, you can at last get your sighting perfect. Be sure to file a very little at a time, or you will overdo it. As in sculpture, you can easily take off, but cannot replace. If you have taken off too much anywhere, you may be able to correct this by filing so as to alter the direction. For instance, if you have been shooting too much to the right, you can correct this by filing on the left of the front sight or the left of the “U,” whichever makes the more symmetrical job; but if, by doing so, you make the front sight too small or too narrow or make the “U” too wide, there is nothing to do but to put in a new front or hind sight and begin shooting and filing again.

When you have got the sighting perfect, work carefully with your file (taking great care not to spoil the edge of the “U” nearest to the eye when aiming), and give a chamfered or bevelled edge to the other side of the “U,” so that it has a knife-edge. This is to make the “U” look clear and yet allow the back sight to be strong. On this principle, you can let the hind sight be strong and over a quarter of an inch thick, and yet have a nice, clear “U.” Do not have the “U” deeper than a semicircle. If this “U” is too deep, it hampers your view of the object aimed at. In fact, it should not be quite a real “U,” but a semicircle. You can also file all round the front sight, giving it a taper toward the muzzle, but keeping unaltered the silhouette that you see when aiming, so that the outline shall then stand clear to the eye.

A gunmaker’s vise (padded, so as not to bruise the revolver) is a useful thing, as it leaves both your hands free to use the files.

I cannot tell you how much you may undercut the front sight, assuming you intend to use it in competition, as the rules alter so from year to year. I have an undercut bead-sight which some years was allowed at Bisley as “Military,” and in other years not. The best plan, if you are in any doubt as to its passing, is to send your revolver to be passed by the committee before competing.

When you have finished, and have had a final shoot to see if this finishing has not spoilt your elevation, etc., you can send your pistol to the maker, and ask him to make your sights precisely like your model ones, and to fix them permanently on the pistol without screws, if for Bisley use, so as to comply with the rules. When you get the pistol with these sights, if the work has been properly done, a very little more filing will put the matter right.

Should you not be shooting at Bisley, or at any of those clubs which shoot under Bisley rules, you can, of course, get a pistol with Smith & Wesson’s “Ira Paine” adjustable sights. Carry a miniature folding gilt screw-driver and sight-case on your watch-chain, as I do, and you will then be able to shoot in any light, at any range, or in any style of shooting, by merely giving a slight turn to the adjusting screws to alter your elevation or direction; or take out a sight from your little case of sights, if a sight breaks or you want a different size or shape. Public opinion has not yet been educated to the point of considering this “a practical military sight,” but this will come—in time.

EXTRACTS FROM SPECIFICATIONS OF WALTER WINANS’S REVOLVER FRONT SIGHT

“Great difficulty has hitherto been experienced in seeing the same amount of front sight each time aim is taken, unless the base of the sight is sufficiently undercut to form a ‘bead-sight’; such undercutting being, however, detrimental, as it weakens the ‘sight’ and renders it very liable to injury, and is not permissible in Bisley revolver competitions. The object of my invention is, therefore, to overcome this difficulty, and to this end I make the ‘sight’ of metal, horn, wood, or other hard substance, with a strong, wide base, preferably of the ‘barleycorn’ or triangular section.

“The face of the upper part of the ‘sight’ facing the marksman (as much of it as it is desirable to see in aiming) is made vertical, or inclined slightly towards the marksman, so as to cause it to appear black, as if in shadow. The visible part of the sight below the face inclines forward from the marksman, and downward, so as to reflect the light and enable the face of the sight to be at once distinguished by its difference of shade from the lower part. It may be polished or plated to assist in reflecting the light, while as a contrast, the vertical face is cross-filed, or ‘roughed,’ or may be hollowed out so as to be in shadow, and give it a ‘dead’ black appearance.

“In the drawing, I have shown what I consider the best means of carrying this out. Fig. 1 is a side view, full size, of a portion of a revolver barrel fitted with my improved ‘front sight.’

“Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are sections of the barrel at A B, showing two forms which the sight may assume in section, one having straight sides, the other concave. I show in Figs. 4 and 4*, on a larger scale, for the sake of clearness, a side and plan view of the sight shown in Fig. 1, and in Fig. 5 a modification of this shape. Figs. 6 and 7 are end views, showing two sectional forms of the sight, and corresponding in size with Figs. 4 and 5. In Figs. 1 and 4, it will be seen that a is the vertical face of the sight, which is designed to present a dark appearance to the marksman; and b is the polished, inclined surface, which takes a rounded form. In the modification, Fig. 5, the face a is slightly inclined towards the marksman, and the bright or polished surface b takes the form of a flat incline.”

CHAPTER V

LEARNING TO SHOOT

It is assumed that you have procured an accurate pistol, properly sighted. It is best to use a single-shot pistol or revolver as an automatic pistol cannot well be used as a single loader and for a beginner is very dangerous with the magazine charged.

First, make sure that it is unloaded. Always do this before handling a pistol.

Take a bottle of sight-black and paint both sights over with the liquid. I have seen men try to compete, with their sights in a shiny state, which made it impossible for them to make good shooting on a white target with black “bull.”

For game shooting, or for military purposes, of course, a “dead” white (ivory for choice) tip to the front sight is preferable, or my patent military front sight, which answers the purposes both of a light on dark, or dark on light sight.

With a pistol the first thing to consider is safety. It is, owing to its shortness, one of the most dangerous of firearms to handle. Even an expert must exercise great care; and in the hands of a beginner or a careless person it may be fearfully dangerous. I have had many very narrow escapes in teaching men how to shoot; it is not even safe to be behind them; they will turn round with the pistol at full-cock, pointing it at you, and say: “I cannot understand why it will not go off; see! I am pulling as hard as I can at the trigger.”

It is indispensable to have a safe background. Some people think that if the target is fastened to the trunk of a tree it is all safe, since the bullet will not go through the tree. This may be so if the tree is hit, but the bullet will, most likely, go past the tree when the beginner fires; or, what is just as dangerous, graze the tree and go off at an angle. Also, in shooting with round bullets, and light gallery ammunition, the bullets may rebound from a hard tree and come back on the shooter. This I have actually seen happen.

A good background is a high sandy bank, a thick pile of fagots, or, if not closer than fifty yards, a high brick or stone wall. The target may be stood some fifteen yards away from the wall to prevent danger of a bullet coming back on the shooter, and then the shooter can be far enough from the wall, if the wall is a background. If a lot of shooting is done, it is not very good for the wall, and if many shots hit the same spot they may gradually make a hole. Iron butts are expensive, especially for the large surface required by a beginner; at twenty yards, a beginner could not in my opinion safely shoot at a background less than twelve feet high and some ten in width. Even then there should not be any one beyond it within half a mile, lest he should happen to let off by accident. Shooting out to sea is safe, if one keeps a good lookout for boats; but the glare from the water is bad. A sand or chalk pit is a good place to shoot in, or one can shoot against a high chalk cliff. It is dangerous to shoot anywhere where people cross unexpectedly, as from round the corner of a building.

The great thing is that the pistol should never point in any direction where it would matter if it went off by accident. This rule should be observed even with an empty pistol, because so many “I-did-not-know-it-was-loaded” accidents occur.

Having got a butt, the learner should take a firm, narrow wooden table and place it some ten yards from the target. This target is preferably a “Bisley fifty-yards target,” four-inch bull’s-eye. The Bisley cardboard targets are cheap; and, by pasting white patches on the white and black on the bull’s-eye bullet-holes, one target can be used for a long time. I refer to the fifty-yards target because this four-inch bull’s-eye is very easy to hit at ten yards’ range. The Bisley revolver “bull’s-eyes” count, at all ranges, seven points; the concentric rings counting one point less, each, till the outermost one, which counts two points. The highest possible score, therefore, for the six shots is forty-two, or six times seven. It is best to shoot at this very big “bull” at ten yards, as making “bull’s-eyes” encourages the beginner; and, as he gets more proficient, the two-inch twenty yards “bull” can be substituted. This I think preferable to going back farther from the target as your skill increases; also it is safer, for the nearer the shooter is to the butt the wider his shots would have to be for him to miss it; whereas, if he goes back to fifty yards he may easily shoot over a very high butt.

Place your empty pistol on the table, the weapon lying on its left side with the muzzle towards the target. The table is preferably a narrow one, so that, during the process of loading, the muzzle points to the ground beyond the table and not to the table itself, an accidental discharge being thus immaterial; a foot wide is about right; the length does not matter, so long as it will hold your field-glasses, cleaning things, and cartridges.

Position.—The position for shooting which I am now going to describe, is the one in which I shoot and the one which I have found from experience suits me best. This position, however, will have to be modified according to the build of the shooter; a stouter or shorter-necked man than myself might have to stand more sideways.

Stand facing the target; the right foot pointing straight for the target, or perhaps a shade to the left (if the ground is slippery, this gives you a firmer foothold); the left heel distant from six to nine inches to the left of the right foot, according to your height (my distance is eight inches), and about an inch farther back; the feet turned out about as much as is natural to you when standing.

Stand perfectly upright, not craning your head forward; the left arm should hang down straight and close to the side in the position of “Attention.” Some people bend the left arm and rest the hand on the hip; but I think this looks affected, and it is not as workmanlike as if the arm hangs straight down.

If you are trying to “hold” an especially important shot, and find yourself wobbling off your aim, it is a great help to grip your thigh hard with your left hand; this especially applies in a gusty wind.

Now lift the pistol with your right hand (the weapon is empty, remember) and cock it. There are two ways of cocking: one using both hands and one using only the shooting hand. I do not refer to the double-action revolver cocked by pulling back the trigger, as I do not think shooting with much accuracy can be done by this method; and it is, moreover, the cause of half the accidents happening with the “I-did-not-know-it-was-loaded” shooters. The cocking by the trigger is only useful in a revolver for self-defence at very close quarters.

To return, this single-handed cocking is done by putting the thumb on the hammer and by the action of the thumb muscles alone bring it to full-cock. Take particular care that the first finger is clear of the trigger, or else you will either break or injure the sear notch, or have an accidental “let-off.” With practice, this way of cocking becomes very easy, and can be done with great rapidity. I personally can also let the pistol down to half-cock (manipulating the pistol with one hand, with the trigger finger and thumb); but I would not advise a beginner to try this, except with an empty pistol and even then only one that he does not mind the chance of spoiling, as he is very apt to break the nose of the sear if he bungles it.

By practice, the thumb and forefinger muscles (abductor pollicis and adductor indicis) develop enormously, and you need not mind if at first it seems difficult; but stop at first as soon as they feel tired, or you may strain them. Pistol-shooting is good also for the flexors of the forearm and for the dorsal muscles. A small hammer with short “fall” is easiest to cock, as well as to make good shooting with, for such a hammer takes less time in falling, and the aim is, in consequence, less likely to be disturbed.

The beginner will find that it assists the cocking to give the pistol a slight tilt to the right and upwards, taking great care to bring it back with the hind-sight horizontal afterwards, as holding the sights tilted is one of the chief causes of bad shooting.

For double-handed cocking, assist the right hand by taking the pistol barrel in the left hand; keep the barrel horizontal and pointed at the target, not towards your left-hand neighbour (if you are competing), as is often done; and, while it is thus steadied, cock gently, not with a jerk, bringing the hammer well beyond full-cock, so that it sinks back into the bent with a well-defined click, keeping the first finger clear of the trigger.

Now, stand with the pistol in your right hand, just clear of the table; right arm full stretch. The first finger must be outside the trigger-guard (not touching the trigger) during this stage.

Some Englishmen shoot with the second finger on the trigger and the first along the pistol; but this is a clumsy way, and the first finger is apt to be burnt with the escape of gas from the cylinder, if a revolver is used. The habit was acquired from shooting the Martini rifle, the clumsy “grip” of which made this manner of holding necessary.

The great thing is to have your grip as high as you can on the stock, in line with the axis of the barrel, or as near this as is practicable. With the Smith & Wesson Russian Model (now no longer manufactured) I have it actually in line with the bore of the barrel.

Some pistols for the British market often have specially long, big handles, or stocks, because of the habit (or is it the Regulation Position?) of holding the stock low down with the little finger beneath, prevalent in England. Now this sort of position makes the recoil come at an angle to the wrist, throws the barrel up at the recoil, spoiling the accuracy, and puts more strain on the wrist than is necessary. I remember a very strong-wristed man firing one of my heavily charged fifty-yards revolvers and spraining his wrist at the first shot, owing to holding it in this way; whilst I have fired hundreds of rapid-firing shots straight on end with it without hurting myself. I take the recoil just as a man catches a hard-thrown ball, letting arm, hand, and wrist fly up together.

The pistol barrel, hand, and arm should all be nearly in one line, the thumb along the left side, so as to prevent jerking to the left in pressing the trigger (in the same way as the left arm is fully extended in shooting with the shotgun), and not crooked, as all beginners insist on holding it.

You must be constantly on the watch that you do not crook your thumb, until the extended position becomes second nature to you. Some makes of pistols, however, have the extractor lever in a position which renders this grip with extended thumb impossible.

For the benefit of beginners who are not target rifle-shots, the following explanation may be necessary: The target, for the convenience of locating shot-holes, is supposed to represent the face of a clock. The top of the bull’s-eye (which we term “bull” for brevity) is called XII o’clock, as that is, of course, where the numeral XII appears on a clock face, and so on for all the other numerals: half-past four, for instance, is half-way between where the numerals IV and V appear on a clock. I was once shooting in the presence of a foreign naval officer, and when I made a “half-past five” “bull” shot he said, “South-east,” his professional instinct making him liken the target to the face of a compass.

First take a deep breath, and fill your lungs. Now slowly bring your right arm to the horizontal, keeping your eyes fixed on the bottom edge—at “six o’clock”—of the “bull”; whilst you are doing this, put your forefinger inside the trigger-guard, and gradually begin to feel the trigger and steadily increase the pressure on it straight back, not sideways. Whilst you are doing all this, also gradually stiffen all your muscles so that you are braced up, especially about the right shoulder, as though you were walking along the pavement and saw a man coming towards you whom you meant to shoulder out of your path.

You may breathe naturally until the pistol is levelled, then hold your breath; if you cannot get your aim satisfactorily before you feel you want to take a fresh breath, lower the pistol, take a deep breath, and try again. If you have followed these directions carefully, you will find, when the hind sight comes to the level of your eyes (closing your left eye or not, as you find best, without any lowering of the head), the front sight will be seen through the middle of the “U” pointed at the bottom of the bull’s-eye, the top of the front sight just touching it at “six o’clock.” If everything has been done perfectly, at the moment this occurs the pressure on the trigger will have been increased sufficiently to cause the hammer to fall, and, after it has fallen, you will see the top of the front sight still just touching the bull’s-eye at its bottom edge.

If the pistol had been loaded (assuming, of course, that it was an accurate shooting one and properly sighted), you would have had a central bull’s-eye for your shot. Most likely, however, you will find that the pistol came up all of a tremble, and that, as the hammer fell, the front sight was jerked very wide of the “bull” and perhaps even hidden by the hind sight.

Do not be discouraged, but cock and try again. By the way, it is best to use a “dummy” cartridge or an exploded one whilst doing this “snapping” practice, as otherwise the jar may do damage to the plunger and perhaps break the mainspring. There are dummy cartridges, made with a rubber “buffer,” for this practice.

If you still find your hand shaky (and it is not naturally so), it most probably arises from your gripping too hard.

The action of “letting off” should be like squeezing an orange—a squeeze of the whole hand. Start with a light grip when your hand is down, and gradually squeeze as you come up, the trigger-finger squeezing back; and the hammer will fall without the least tremor or without the sights moving off the point they covered during the fall of the hammer. The main thing of all in pistol shooting is to squeeze straight back. Whenever you find yourself shooting badly see if you are not “pulling off to one side”; and in nine cases out of ten you will discover that this was the cause of your bad shooting.

Some men can never squeeze the trigger straight back, and have to allow for this by getting the hind sight “set over” to one side to correct it; but this is a slovenly way of shooting, and, as the pull to one side may vary according to the “jumpiness” of the shooter, it prevents his being a really first-class shot.

Keep the hind sight perfectly horizontal; beginners are prone to cant it on one side, which puts the bullet to the side towards which you cant.

After a little practice, you will be able to “call” your shots, that is to say, you will be able, the moment the cartridge explodes, to say where the shot has struck the target, as you know where the sights were pointed at the “squeeze-off.”

After six shots, make a pencil-cross over each bullet-hole, so as to know where your former shots hit. After twelve hits it is best to take a fresh target. At the end of the day’s shooting, you can cover the holes by pasting black patches on the bull’s-eye holes and white on the rest, and use the target again.

I will now say why I insist upon the importance of a table being before the shooter. The usual procedure for a beginner with the pistol is this: He cocks the pistol with both hands, pointing it at the spectators on his left whilst doing so; he then holds it with his right arm close to his side, pointing it to the ground at his right foot. He then brings it up with a flourish, high above his head, and lowers it to the target, jerks the trigger, and “looses off.” Of course he does not hit the target, but makes a very wild shot. After a few more shots on this principle, getting more and more wild, and making bigger flourishes with his pistol, he finally lets it off by accident whilst his arm is hanging by his side; and he is lucky if he does not make a hole in his right foot.

I remember once a man telling me (he professed to be an expert with the revolver) that I was wrong in keeping my revolver pointed in front of me towards the target when preparing to shoot. “You ought to hold it like this,” he said, letting his right arm hang close to his side and keeping the revolver pointing downwards; “then it is quite safe.” At that moment it went off and blew a big hole in the ground within an inch of his foot!

By my system of having a table in front of the shooter, close to which he stands, and from which he lifts the pistol, he cannot shoot down into his feet. But he must never turn round or leave the table without first unloading the pistol and placing it on the table; nor, on any account, must he let any one go up to the target or be in front or even get level with him whilst the pistol is in his hand.

Now, as to the trick of lifting the pistol above one’s head before firing: I cannot understand why people want to do this. It only frightens spectators; besides, the shooter is running the risk of shooting himself through the head; and in competitions or in self-defence time is too valuable to waste in such antics.

When you are pretty confident that you can keep your sights properly aligned at the bottom edge of the “bull” while the hammer is falling, you can try a few shots with a loaded pistol. It is best to load only some of the chambers, if using a revolver, irregularly spin the cylinder round, after the revolver is closed and at half-cock, so as not to know which chambers are loaded, and every time you find you jerk off with a shot, return to the snapping-empty-cartridge practice. This latter is good practice, even when you become a skilled shot.

Place the box of cartridges beside, and to the right of, the pistol. Use only a very small charge (gallery ammunition for choice) at first, as nothing puts a beginner off so much as the fear of recoil. Stand behind the table, the pistol being between you and the target, and take the pistol by its stock in the right hand. Do not turn the muzzle to the left, but straight out towards the target. Put it in your left hand and load it. This procedure varies with different makes of revolvers; with the Smith & Wesson, Russian, and Winans models, you lift the catch with your left thumb and press the barrel down with the same hand till it (the barrel) is perpendicular, pointing to the ground. But whatever the mechanism, when the pistol is open for loading, the barrel should be pointing downwards, yet in line for the target.

If a cartridge projects too much, remove it, as it is dangerous and may explode prematurely from friction against the breech of the revolver. In loading, of course have the pistol at half-, not full-cock. Close it by elevating the breech with the right hand, not by raising the barrel with the left, as in the latter case the cartridges may drop out. This rule applies also to the hand ejecting revolvers. See that the snap, or other fastening, is properly closed. If your shot goes wide of the bull, be sure, before you alter your aim for the next shot, whether it is not your “squeeze-off” which is wrong.

A practised shot can correct the shooting of his pistol by “aiming-off” enough to rectify any error in sights. But the beginner had better not attempt this: he will find enough to do in trying to hold straight under the bull.

Do not mind if your score does not “count” much; those who do not understand shooting judge the goodness of a score by how much it counts, or by how many shots are in or near the bull’s-eye. In reality, it is the group which constitutes a good score. One score may consist of the highest possible,—forty-two points (all six shots bull’s-eyes),—and another may only count twelve points; and yet the latter may be far the better “shoot.”

I will explain: In the first case, the shots may be “all round” the bull, “nicking” the edges; they would require, therefore, a circle of more than four inches (on the target you are at present shooting at) to cover them. The other score may consist of all six bullet-holes cutting into each other at an extreme edge of the target, but making a group which could be covered with a postage-stamp. The first “shoot” is a wild, bad score for ten yards’ range at a four-inch bull, although it counts the highest possible in conventional scoring. The other is a magnificent shoot, that any one might be proud of; the fact of its being up in the corner merely showing that the sights were wrong, not the shooter’s “holding.” A few touches of the file, or knocking sideways the hind sight, will put this error right. Never mind, therefore, about scoring many points; merely shoot for group. You will gradually find your groups getting smaller and smaller as you improve; it is then merely a matter of filing to get good scoring.

As your four-inch bull’s-eye is too large for real shooting at ten yards, you must remember that the sighting of the pistol should put the bullets one inch only into this size bull at “VI o’clock,” not into the middle of it. The reason is that, practically, the trajectory of a pistol is the same at twenty as at ten yards; and as the English regulation bull at twenty yards is two inches, you want the twenty-yards sighted pistol to put the shots into the centre of the two-inch bull when you aim at the bottom edge. In other words, you want it to shoot an inch higher than your aim at that distance. Therefore, if with your four-inch bull, aiming at the bottom edge, you go into the bull one inch up, it means a central bull’s-eye shot on a two-inch bull. The reason I recommend aiming at the bottom of the bull’s-eye instead of at the middle of it is that if you try to put a black bead in the middle of a black bull’s-eye, you cannot see either properly; if you whiten the bead of the fore sight, then you cannot see it clearly against the white of the target in “coming up” to a bull. Nobody can hold absolutely steady on the “bull” for more than a fraction of a second; you have to “come up” from below and “squeeze off” as you get your sights aligned.

It is best to have your cleaning appliances on the table, or otherwise handy, when shooting, and every now and again to have a look through the barrel and a wipe-out; you might otherwise be inclined to attribute to bad shooting what may be caused by leading or hard fouling in the barrel. I have a little cupboard under my table with a lock and key, in which I keep my cleaning apparatus, cartridges, etc. (but not the pistol), to save the trouble of carrying them to the range.

Always clean a pistol as soon after shooting as possible, and clean very thoroughly.

For real work, I prefer a pistol when it is half worn out, as everything then works smoothly and there is less danger of jambing. Rust in the rifling may entirely spoil accuracy, as, if you work it off, the bore gets enlarged and the bullets “strip.” I never like to compete with a perfectly new pistol; all pistols have their peculiarities, and it is necessary to get used to one, to “break it in,” before trusting it to obey one’s slightest hint.

It is sometimes useful to be able to shoot with the left hand; as, for instance, if the right hand is disabled, the right arm held, etc., and for an officer with a sword in his right hand. If the novice has resolution enough to divide his practising, from the beginning, between both hands, he will be able to shoot nearly as well with his “left” hand as with his right. I have put quotation marks round “left” as I mean by this the hand not usually employed; a left-handed man’s right hand being in this sense his “left.”

I have also noticed that a left-handed man can shoot more evenly with both hands; that is to say, he is not much better or worse with either hand, not being so helpless with his right hand as a normally handed man is with his left. In all the directions for shooting, for left-handed work merely change “right leg” to “left leg”; “right arm” to “left arm,” etc.

CHAPTER VI

RAPID FIRING

Rapid firing, in my opinion, is the most practical style of shooting; a pistol is not a weapon for deliberate shooting, but for lightning rapidity at short range.

If you are using a revolver it is necessary to get one which works as loosely and as easily as possible. A half-worn-out revolver is best, as it works freer. Next, file the mainspring as weak as it is possible to have it without risk of too many misfires. If it has one misfire in every twenty shots, or so, it does not matter, the great thing being to have it cock easily. An automatic pistol is the weapon for this, a revolver being quite out of date. A very big front sight and a big “U” in the back one are advisable.

As the target rises, “come up,” quickly, increasing the pressure on the trigger as you “come up,” so that the pistol goes off the moment it is horizontal and the sights are about right. I say about because there is not time to correct the aim.

Be sure to squeeze back—not jerk off. It is possible, with practice, to get this “snap shot” into the “bull” or touching it. As this first shot goes off, be especially careful to take all pressure off the trigger. Unless you are very careful you will keep a slight pressure on the trigger with your first finger, and if you are using an automatic the next shot will go off before you mean it to.

Your right arm—and in fact, the whole of your body—should be immovable. Your aim at each shot ought not to be disturbed enough to be more than a few inches off the “bull.”

After each shot begin a steadily increasing pressure straight back, and without a jerk, trying at the same time to get your sights as near the “bull” as you can before the pistol goes off again. You can fire as quickly as you can get your aim.

If using an automatic pistol, all that you have to do is to release the pressure on the trigger the moment each shot goes off, and instantly begin to squeeze again as you get your next aim. Do not keep on too long; half a dozen practice scores are ample at a time. One only gets erratic and wild if one continues too long, and the pistol also gets hot.

The sighting may have to be different in this from that required for slower shooting. Some men shoot up in one corner when snap-shooting with the heavy trigger-pull of the automatic pistol; and it is preferable to have the sighting so that one can aim straight under the “bull,” instead of having to make allowance for the jerking off. The trigger-pull should be as light as is deemed compatible with safety, but the automatic pistols so far on the market have a very heavy trigger-pull.

Wearing glasses to protect the eyes against half-burnt powder fumes is very important in shooting an automatic.

CHAPTER VII

TRAVERSING TARGET

Target Moving Across the Line of Fire at Twenty Yards

This is not so difficult as rapid-firing. The chief difficulty is that when your aim is right horizontally, you may be wrong vertically, and vice versa.

When first practising, have a target made with a black band two inches wide running down the middle of the target, instead of the usual bull’s-eye. Begin your practice at this, having it first put up with the black band vertical, and then with it horizontal. Shooting at it vertical will show you if you are getting the right allowance in front in your aim. When it is horizontal, it will show you if your elevation is correct. This can be elaborated by having black bands painted or pasted on the back of an ordinary target, and, with its back towards you, shooting at them. Then, by turning it over after the six shots have been fired, you will see what score you would have made on a regulation target. The reason for this practice is that there are two things to attend to. One is the “allowance” in front, the other is the “elevation”; and if a beginner tries to think of both at once, it will confuse him.

If, after you have got pretty certain of your “allowance,” you go to “elevation,” you will most likely lose your “allowance,” and have to go back to the vertical band; and so on, alternately, till you can trust yourself at the regulation bull.

Most people, unless they use alternate hands, find the “run” one way easier than the other.

I prefer higher elevation in sights for this competition. Instead of aiming to touch the “bull” at “VI o’clock” to get a central “bull,” the aim should be at the actual elevation you want the bullet to go, so as to enable you to aim off at “III o’clock” and “IX o’clock” for right and left runs respectively.

Some people who are slower on the trigger—that is, who take longer to give the order to the trigger-finger when their eye says the aim is right—may need more allowance.

There is in astronomical work a technical term (“reaction time”) for the process of timing first contact in eclipses, and each observer deducts his own personal error, which seems constant to him. This allowance varies in revolver shooting with different men.

Some men aim at a spot, and wait for the target to come up to it; but this is useless, as any one knows who has shot moving game with a gun.

Stand absolutely square to the front, or perhaps a little more toward the side on which you find it most difficult to follow the target. Plant the feet slightly farther apart than for other competitions, and swing the whole of the upper part of the body from the hips. Do not swing your right arm, keeping the rest of the body still. The shoulder-joint does not give so smooth a horizontal swing as swinging from the hips. Moreover, if you swing the arm, you have to turn the head, or else have to look out of the corners of your eyes, instead of straight before you.

Let the whole of the upper part of your body be held rigid, and swing only on the hips. Lift your pistol from the table as the target appears, and swing with the target, bringing up the pistol on a diagonal line (this is the resultant of the vertical rise from the shoulder and the horizontal swing of the hips). Let the sights come horizontal to the eyes a little in front of the proposed allowance; and, as you keep your arm moving in front of the bull, gradually let the bull overtake you, till it is the right allowance behind your sight; and still keep on swinging. All this time be gradually squeezing the trigger, so that it squeezes off just when the aim is right. Be sure not to stop swinging before the pistol goes off.

I do not think there is any advantage in keeping your arm up between runs of the target; it tires the arm, and you cannot make the diagonal swing up to your spot in front of the bull.

I do not think it is of any use deciding to fire upon a certain part of the “run”: it is best to fire when you feel you are aiming right, and you may get this feeling sooner in the “run” on some days than on others.

There is a tendency to “follow” too long, and then, owing to lack of time, to jerk off just as the target disappears. I have made “bulls” when the target was almost out of sight, in fact, I did so in my record shoot, at Bisley, where there used to be such a competition: but this is a bad habit to contract, and a risky sort of shot, as it is almost sure to be too far behind, or even to be fired into the shield in front of the target; though, of course, if you have not a good aim, it is better to delay as long as possible, rather than to shoot earlier with a bad aim.

Be sure in your range that your shield is bulletproof, or you may get into the habit of making “bulls” when the target is “sitting” behind the shield, by shooting through it. To economize space, you can have this target run in front of your disappearing-target apparatus, putting the latter out of the way when not needed; this latter will also serve for stationary-target purposes, and to hold the fifty-yards target. Do not have a target which runs by gravitation, as shooting at a target which is running downhill requires quite different sighting from that needed with one running horizontally.

CHAPTER VIII

GALLERY SHOOTING

A private gallery can easily be fitted up in the cellars of large country, or even town, houses. All that is needed is a gallery of a certain length—ten yards will suffice at a pinch, with the targets and butt (such as I describe in the chapter on Stage Shooting) at one end. The targets should be lighted from above, preferably by a skylight in the daytime, and by gas, lamp, or electric light at night. When artificial light is used, it should be screened, so that from the firing-point the targets are distinct, but the source of light invisible. At the firing-point it is difficult to get a satisfactory light. If this gallery is not made in a greenhouse, which, of course, would give ample light to sight by in the day, I think there is no use in trying to get the light to shine on your sights. If it is behind you, you stand in your own light. If enough above you to prevent this, the light only shines on the top edges of your sights, and is thus worse than useless. I find it best to have enough light behind you to enable you to load by, and to trust to seeing the sights in a black silhouette against the target. You may, for this reason, have to alter your sights from the elevation which suits you out-of-doors.

You should have a ventilating shaft straight above the muzzle of your pistol, and, if possible, a fan to draw off the fumes and smoke; one worked by electricity or water-power is best.

It is expedient to use only the lightest gallery ammunition, and it deadens the sound if you have the walls covered with some material hung loosely. Boiler-felt is very good for the purpose. Also, if you shoot through a hole in a partition screen, it helps to deaden the sound.

I prefer a big-calibre pistol in competition, as it gives a better chance to score; a shot which would be just out of the bull with a small bullet, may just cut the bull with a large ball. The bullet-hole is also more easily seen, but the bullet must be spherical, or you will have to use too heavy a charge of powder to propel it.

The self-registering targets, such as are used for miniature .22 calibre rifles, I do not find very satisfactory; the larger size of the bullet makes it liable to strike two compartments at the same time, giving you a double score, and the impact of the bullet is, moreover, too heavy for the mechanism. I prefer card targets or the Gastinne Renette target which registers hits at the firing-point.

On no account have targets that necessitate any one’s going down the range, or coming out from a mantlet, to change. There is sure to be an accident sooner or later. Have them made to draw up to the firing-point for examination and change, and never let any one turn round with a pistol in his hand. In fact, observe all the rules as to table to fire from, etc., which I give in the chapter on Learning to Shoot. All these rules apply equally to gallery shooting.

As the gallery is generally narrow, it will be difficult to have traversing targets, but you can have the Bisley targets.

Such a gallery will be an endless source of amusement in the winter evenings, after dinner; and the ladies can shoot as well as the men.

It is advisable to handicap the good shots, so as to give all an equal chance.

Gallery shooting is by far the most scientific style of pistol-shooting, if you use a very light load, fine sights, and hair-trigger; therefore you can have smaller bull’s-eyes and subdivisions than the Bisley ones. The American and French targets are better subdivided for this purpose. Messrs. De La Rue make me special “ace of hearts” packs of cards for use as targets. For experimental work also, a gallery is much more reliable than shooting out-of-doors.

When shooting gallery ammunition in which the bullets are “seated” low down, it is best to have a groove line impressed in the cartridge shell to prevent the bullet working up; if you have not got this impression in the shell, look into the cartridges before putting them into the chambers, as a bullet may have worked itself up, which would cause a weak, low shot. Push the bullet down with a loading rod, or pencil, before you insert the cartridge into the chamber, if you find it shifted. Also, if, after firing a few shots from a revolver with this ammunition, you, for any cause, stop and want to re-load the chambers which have been fired, it is as well to take out all the cartridges that have not been fired and examine them, as the jar of firing may have started some of the bullets.

CHAPTER IX

TWENTY YARDS STATIONARY TARGET

I have already described how to stand and shoot at a stationary target. There are a few points to be observed, however, which specially apply to this range when shooting at Bisley. Before competing at any one of the limited-entry competitions, it is well to be sure that you are shooting up to your proper form, as mistakes cannot be corrected after once commencing.

Personally I think it best (if shooting every day or most of the ten days) not to enter in a limited-entry competition till after the first two days of the meeting, as one gets steadied down by then and grows more accustomed to the surroundings.

As sighting varies from day to day, and even from hour to hour, it may be as well to have a pool shoot for sighting purposes first; but I personally never do so, as I think it is a pity to chance wasting a good score in pool. The moment you have “found the spot,” leave off pool; do not stop to finish a score.

I prefer doing my sighting on an “unlimited-entry” competition ticket, so that in case I make a “highest possible,” that score is not wasted.

The early morning, from 9 till 11 A.M., is the best time for shooting; and then, perhaps, late in the evening. One should watch for a good time when the light is favourable; often the wind will drop late in the evening, half an hour before “gunfire,” after blowing hard all day.

There is often a good light after rain. I rather like shooting in the rain, and have made some of my best shots in it. The light is then good; and there is then no glare on the target; bullets make very big, ragged holes on a wet target; and sometimes a shot which would not cut the bull on a dry target may do so on a wet one, owing to its making a larger hole.[1] The flat-topped bullets make very big, “clean” holes.

If you have a target with a doubtful shot, that is to say, one for which you think you are entitled to a higher count than the range officer gives you, do not touch it, or thrust anything (your finger or a pencil) into the hole to demonstrate that the shot cuts into the bull’s-eye or the line you claim. If you push anything into the hole you will spoil its outline and destroy all evidence of the point at which the bullet had cut. In doubtful cases, the range officer puts a bullet of the same calibre (which has been pushed with a rod through a revolver barrel previously) into the hole, and examines it whilst in this position with a magnifying-glass.

Accept the range officer’s decision as final; never “protest” a decision of his.

Look at the target through your glass and see that it has no bullet-holes in it before you begin to shoot; and refuse to shoot at a patched target, except at pool. A patch may fall off a shot made by a previous competitor and confuse your score, besides making the target indistinct and throwing doubt on a record score by you if you should happen to make one on such a target. Also see that the bull’s-eye is black; some are badly printed, and the “bull” is grey and indistinct.

Shoot very slowly and deliberately. There is no hurry. The time limit of two minutes would be ample within which to fire twenty-four shots—and you have only to fire six.

If you are dissatisfied with your aim, or your arm is getting tired, or a gust of wind comes, put the revolver down without firing. Look down on the grass to rest your eyes, and wipe your hands; a little sawdust is a good thing to rub them with on hot days.

When it is gusty, putting up the pistol just as you think a lull is coming, instead of waiting for the lull, gives you a better chance of being “up” when the lull does come, and you can then “snap” the shot before the next gust.

If you have to shoot in a very high wind—as in a match, or in shooting off a tie—it is best to “snap” your shots (see chapter on Rapid Firing) and not try to hold against the wind.

If a shot strikes a little too high, or too low, or too much to either side, aim “off” the “bull” the next shot to correct it.

Do not keep altering the amount you see of your front sight if you hit too high or too low; you will never make a good score in that way. If you are out half an inch at “X o’clock,” aim your next shot at half an inch off “V o’clock”; if you hit half an inch above the bull at “XII o’clock,” aim half an inch below “VI o’clock” with your next shot; do not take a “coarser” sight. This is where a practical shot has the advantage over a mere “target shot.”

If a shot is in the “bull” (I will assume you can easily see shots in, or partly in, the “white” at twenty yards; I can see them at fifty), and you are not sure of its exact locality, examine it with your glass.

If you are “holding” exceptionally steady, and have shot well into the “bull,” though not actually central, do not aim differently to try to get the actual centre with the next shot; as a rule, if you are anything more than half in the “bull,” it is better to let well alone and “hold” the same as before. I remember on one occasion I had five shots in one ragged hole at “V o’clock” in the “bull” on the sliding target; and for fear lest I should put my last shot through the same hole and have it counted as a miss, I tried to hit the “bull” at “IX o’clock” clear of that hole, and got just out of the bull.

If you have several bullets in one ragged hole, it is advisable, if there be time, to draw the range officer’s attention to this before you fire the next shot, so that in case you go into the same hole or group again, he may record it and not think it a miss. If he watches the target whilst you shoot, through his glasses, he will see where your bullet goes, even if you do go into this group.

At the stationary targets, and at those only, it is advisable to use both hands in cocking. In cocking, if using a revolver, if there is not a distinct click, or if the action feels “woolly” or soft, put it back at half-cock, and open the revolver and see what is the matter. Most likely a bit of fouling, or piece of metal from a cartridge or bullet, or a cartridge with too thick a head or protruding cap, is the cause.

When the revolver is at full-cock, take the cylinder between the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, still holding the stock in the right hand and keeping the muzzle towards the target, and gently try to revolve the cylinder towards the right. This, at least, is the normal direction, though some makes revolve to the left. You will, perhaps, once in a dozen times, find that it goes over an appreciable amount till it locks.

Any revolver, even the best, may sometimes not bring the cylinder round quite true to the barrel; and if it does not coincide, the shot will not be accurate, owing to the bullet not going into the barrel true, and thus getting a small shaving taken off its side. A bit of fouling, metal from cartridges or bullet, “proud cap,” or thick cartridge-head may cause this. By attending to the cocking in the elaborate way I have indicated, this cause of inaccuracy is avoided. (This is very important in cases where a miss would be dangerous: as when shooting objects off someone’s head, or those which are held in the hand or mouth, or for the last shot on which everything depends in a match or a record score.) Also every time you open the revolver, look to see whether the caps have been hit absolutely true in the centre.

By my way of cocking, even if the revolver is not acting quite perfectly, the chambers ought to come true. If they do not, clean them very carefully. If, in spite of this, the caps are still hit on the side, it is useless to continue with that revolver until the maker has put it right.

Shoot with the smallest charge, lightest bullet, and largest calibre the rules allow, as it is easier to shoot with a small than with a “kicking” charge, and the bullet of larger calibre is more apt to cut into the bull. (This applies to all competitions at ranges not over twenty yards; beyond that distance, a big charge is more accurate. See chapter on Fifty-Yards Target.)

I do not like too small a front sight. I think that one which, in aiming, you see easily is the best. The semicircular “U” of the hind sight should be wide enough to enable you to see all round the bead of the front sight.

In pistol-shooting, the chief difficulty is in “holding” and “squeezing off” without disturbing your aim. There is no need to strain your eyes with a microscopic front sight and it makes you slow and every fraction of a second is valuable in practical shooting.

Another fault of too fine a front sight is that it is liable to get bent, just enough to spoil your aim, yet not enough to be noticeable until too late. If you try to straighten it, the odds are that you break it off and then have to waste a day or more getting another fixed, which, most likely, does not suit when done.

I always have my Bisley sights made solid with the revolver, without any screws, and have some made to shoot higher, others lower, each on a separate revolver. If I find that the light, or my shooting, does not suit one sort of sight, I take another revolver. I have some fifteen revolvers prepared in this way.

The permission to have a hind sight adjustable by being hammered to one side is worse than useless. The sight works loose, gets knocked askew, and when you begin shooting you find it is constantly shifting and spoiling your shooting. I do not call it by any means a practical military sight. If you only have one pistol have it with my front sight, sighted to your normal or average shooting, at twenty or fifty yards, to whichever you decide to confine yourself, and both back and front sights made fixtures.

Wear nailed boots, or those with corrugated rubber soles, so as not to slip. The rubber, however, is rather apt to get cut in standing on spent cartridges. A broad-brimmed cowboy hat, or sombrero, is the best headgear, except in a wind, as it keeps the glare off your eyes. I took to using these years ago, and now I see them in use by nearly all shooting men, as well as in the English army, though (unlike in the U. S. army) often rendered less serviceable by having the brim looped up on one side. I keep some of various widths of brim, and use the one most suitable for the occasion. Also a Swedish leather jacket is very good when it gets chilly, as it is very light and does not hamper your right arm as a heavier coat would do. If you do not possess one, an extra waistcoat will serve, as this will leave your arm free. An overcoat or mackintosh hampers your right arm. You are freer in a flannel shirt with turn-down collar, loose round the wrists, and no braces. A silk handkerchief tied loosely round the neck, cowboy fashion, keeps the sun off the nape of your neck.

CHAPTER X

DISAPPEARING TARGET

This target, which has the two-inch bull’s-eye, like the twenty yards stationary target, appears and disappears at intervals of three seconds—three seconds in sight and three seconds invisible—and is shot at from a distance of twenty yards.

The rules forbid the pistol being raised from the firing-table before the target appears; and it must be lowered to the table after each shot.

Shooting in this competition is the groundwork of all the competitions other than at stationary targets; so I shall go very fully into the way of becoming proficient at this, as the other competitions should then come comparatively easy.

In order to do the best possible work, you ought for practice to have an exact copy of the disappearing mechanism used at Bisley; and also (and this is very important), the range should orientate as at Bisley and should have the background of the same colour.

At Bisley, at one time in the afternoon the shooting is against the setting sun; at which time the wise shot takes a rest and lets others waste their entries, as it is impossible to make good shooting under these circumstances. By having the points of the compass the same as at Bisley, you will soon find out which sort of light suits you best, and at what hour of the day it comes. Personally, I find the light from 9 to about 11 A.M. (during which time it is more or less over one’s left shoulder) the best for shooting in July. As the sun comes round, you will find that the point to aim at varies gradually as the light strikes the front sight more or less on the side.

Variations in elevation, owing to varying intensities of sunlight, can also be remedied by having several pairs of spectacles with plain glass (unless, of course, you need optical glasses to see clearly with), of different tints of smoke or yellow colour. You can then, when you find a certain strength of light best for your shooting, keep to this strength artificially, whatever the real light may be, putting on glasses of a shade sufficient to modify the light as required. The glasses should have round, and not oval, frames, and these should be a good two inches in diameter, so that the rims do not interfere with your view. Large round goggles, with plain window-glass, are a great protection against particles of burnt-powder, especially in a head wind; and after a hard morning’s shooting, the surface of the glass will be found covered with adhesive black spots. It is as well to have one pair of plain white glass (i. e., ordinary window-glass), and to wear either these or one of the smoked or yellow pairs whenever shooting, or even looking on at shooting, as the powder blowing back constantly into the eyes irritates them; and a sudden dab in the eye may even spoil a score by making one flinch at a critical moment. I have known a man incapacitated from shooting for several days through getting his eyes inflamed from particles of powder and smoke blowing in his face in a head wind, and from the irritating fumes of the nitro-powders; and the look of many competitors’ eyes towards the end of the shooting shows how it affects them. A solution of boracic acid and rose-water (of course you must get a chemist to dispense the right quantities) is a very good thing to bathe the eyes with during and after a hard day’s shooting, and it makes the eyes feel very comfortable the next day.

Also, it is important to protect the ear-drums from the constant banging, else you get your ears “singing” and finally become more or less deaf. A pistol is worse than a rifle or gun in this respect, owing to the shortness of the barrel and the consequent proximity of the concussion to the ear. The left ear is more apt to suffer than the right, which is more sheltered by the arm, and a neighbour’s shot, for which the ear is unprepared, affects it more than one’s own. This is particularly noticeable if your neighbour stands slightly behind you. Some use cotton-wool in the ears. I find it apt to mix with the natural wax in the ears, a small amount of the cotton-wool remaining behind each time the wool is removed; and, what is more, it does not sufficiently deaden the sound. For practising in private, a pair of small down pillows tied over the ears deaden the sound best, or a racing motorist’s skull cap with ear shields but both are very hot in warm weather and cannot be worn in public. “Elliot’s Perfect Ear Protectors” are the best I have yet found; these are made in the United States and sold in England by Gieve Mathews & Seagrove, The Hard, Portsmouth. The concussion of pistols, bad at all times, is of course aggravated by the use of the heavy military ammunition obligatory at Bisley.

If you cannot get a copy of the Bisley disappearing-target mechanism, the next best thing is to have the target hinge over and be brought up again by some mechanical means. If this is not practicable, a stationary target may be made to answer, as I shall presently show.

My reason for wanting the actual Bisley arrangement is because that comes up with a jerk (some of the men operating it are very jerky), and the target “wobbles” for a fraction of a second, both just as it gets upright and just before it disappears, and this is apt to disconcert any one not used to it.

Next, get a metronome, with bell attachment. Set it to beat half-seconds (be very particular to get the time absolutely correct), and set the bell to ring at every sixth beat. You have now intervals of three seconds marked with a “ring” at the end of each. Count the beats to yourself when the metronome is working: “One, two, three, four, five, six”; “one, two, three,” etc.

Get your man to work the lever which actuates the target (the lever in every case being a yard or two behind you, so that there is no danger of shooting the man or of burning his eyes with the side flash from the chambers of the revolver). Let him, at the stroke of the bell, bring up the target sharply, so that it comes with a bang, and lower it at the next ring in the same way, and keep it down till the next ring, then jerk it up, and so on; jerking it as roughly as the mechanism will allow.

If you have to practise on a stationary target, pretend to yourself that it disappears at each alternate ring of the metronome. The firing-point must be like the Bisley one; it will not do to stand with the revolver hanging at your side; it must rest on a ledge the same height as at Bisley, or else your practice will be useless for Bisley, as quite a different way of working the muscles and resting them between shots is in use in the two styles of shooting, and it takes less time to “come up” from a ledge than when the arm is hanging by the side. Owing to the slope of the ground at Bisley, some of the ledges are higher than others; choose the one that suits you best, and have your practice ledge that height; and when shooting at Bisley, do so from the ledge you have previously chosen.

Stand squarely, well behind this ledge. You will only get disqualified if you get into the way of resting the lower part of your body against the ledge; or even if you stand close to it and your coat happens to hang in front; or if you happen to have a “corporation” some competitor may have you disqualified as resting against the ledge.

The position of the legs and body is as for the twenty-yards stationary target, except that the rod which works the target is best kept between the feet, and these have to be a little wider apart. (N.B. If you are a short man, it is better to stand to one side of the rod.)

Stretch your arm out its full length, and, holding the pistol with the sights uppermost, rest the lower side of the barrel lightly against the ledge. The part of the barrel adjacent to the chamber is the part to rest on the ledge, as it is less likely to slip. There is a notch between the barrel and lower part of the frame of the revolver, and when this is resting on the edge of the table, and the arm is straight, then you are standing at the right distance from the table.

If you have to stretch too much or to lean forward, move slightly closer until you are comfortable; if your arm is bent, move backward till it comes straight. (All this is done with an empty revolver.)

Now stand in this position, watching the target go up and down, and counting all the while, “one, two, three,” etc., to yourself, till you get the rhythm of the thing. Keep your eyes all the time fixed on the bull’s-eye when it is vertical to you; do not follow it down with your eyes, but keep a mental picture of it, while it is away, on the background. You will gradually be able to know exactly where it will be, and when it will be there, and you will then be able to aim at the imaginary spot; so that when the target appears the sights will not have to be shifted to the bull’s-eye, but the bull’s-eye will come to the sights.

Now, cock the pistol, of course using only your right thumb, and not shifting your left hand, body, or pistol in the slightest.

(If you cannot do this neatly, cock the pistol first, and then “set” yourself at the ledge.)

Now, at the word “one,” slowly (i. e., without hurry or jerk) bring your arm up, quite straight, till the revolver is level with your eye, and you are looking through the sights.

If you have been following the above directions carefully, you will find you are aiming at the bottom edge of the bull’s-eye, without having had to shift your hand or to align the sights; the sights and also the target have, in fact, “come up” to your eye, not your eye to them. The speed with which you raise your arm should bring the sights touching the bottom edge of the “bull” at the word “two”; but it is better, at first, to be slower: as long as you get the sights touching the “bull” before it disappears, it will do—for the present. At the word “six,” lower the pistol to the table, but keep your eyes on the imaginary spot at which the “bull” disappeared. Keep the pistol down while you count six, and then raise it as before. After a few minutes of this drill, begin to squeeze the trigger slightly while the pistol is resting against the ledge. With practice you will be able to regulate the squeeze so that it will require only half a pound more pressure to fire the pistol. Then as you lift the pistol, gradually tighten the squeeze, and keep gradually tightening it, never diminishing the pressure, but not increasing it if your aim is getting wrong, and beginning to increase it again as you correct your aim. If you are increasing the squeeze properly, you will find, just as your aim is perfect, and a fraction of time before the word “six,” the hammer will have fallen and you will not have jerked or moved off your aim. With an automatic pistol there is no need to cock it after the first shot, but with a revolver the instant the hammer has fallen, cock quietly with your right thumb, and lower your pistol to the table as before. In all cocking, I mean it to be understood that it must be done with one movement of the right thumb, the finger well clear of the trigger so as not to break or wear the sear-notch, and the left arm, left hand, and body not moved in any way, as already illustrated. After you have done this a few times, and have confidence, you may load several chambers of the revolver, having exploded, or empty, cartridges in the other chambers, so as not to injure the nose of the hammer or the mainspring. The cartridges, loaded and unloaded, should be put in in irregular order, and the barrel spun round, so that you do not know when you have a loaded one to fire.

Now, go through the same drill as before; most likely, if the first cartridge is an empty one, you will be surprised to find you jerked it off instead of squeezing, owing to fear of the recoil; but if this is so, expecting your next shot to be also an empty cartridge, you will give a nice, smooth, gradual “let-off,” with the result that you will get a “bull,” or close to it. The following shot, in consequence of your being too eager, will almost certainly be a very wild one, most likely below the target. This is caused by jerking the trigger, which results in bobbing the muzzle down. It is curious that, contrary to the usual idea that in firing quickly with a pistol one is prone to “shoot over,” the exact reverse is the case, and that snatching at the trigger generally gives a low left shot. I have my pistols for rapid-firing competitions sighted to shoot higher than the others, to counteract this.

After a little of this sort of practice, you can get to loading all the chambers of a revolver. Now the great thing is “time.” Time and shoot like a machine. At Bisley one sees men fire one shot directly the target appears; the next too late—after the target has begun to go down; and whenever a shot goes wide, they dance about, stamp, or swear, and shift their position constantly, half raise the pistol and lower it again, and more antics follow in the same fashion. A man who shoots in this style may as well go home, for all the prizes he will win. I never trouble to look at his target; seeing his “form” tells me what his target must look like.

By your constant practice with the metronome, you ought to get the “time” so impressed on your mind that you could work the target at the proper intervals without any metronome to indicate the time. Your hand “comes up” simultaneously with the target; you fire just before it disappears (some of my highest possibles were made with the target just on the “wobble” of disappearing as I fired each shot); every instant must be utilized for the aim, and there must be no hurry or flurry. In fact, you become a “workman.”

Do not get into the trick of “coming up” too soon before the target appears. There is nothing to be gained by it, and you might be disqualified. If a shot goes wrong or there is a misfire (you are allowed another shot for a misfire), keep on just as though nothing had happened; pay no attention to the number of shots you have fired in the score, or how many more you have to “go.” I have often started to “come up” again for a shot, not knowing that my sixth had already “gone,” so mechanical had my shooting become.

In practice, never fire if you feel you are “off” the “bull”; better “come down” with the target, without shooting, and fire the next time the target “comes up.” In this way you will perhaps “come up” ten times for your six shots; but you will have good shots for those that you have fired, and will be encouraged much more and get better practice than by firing a lot of wild shots, which as you fired, you knew were badly aimed.

At Bisley, I find this the easiest competition of any, more so, if there is no wind, than the stationary twenty-yards target, but one can only keep it up for a short time. One gradually gets into the swing of it, till one can “throw” each shot right into the “bull’s” centre. This keeps up for a few entries; as one’s arm tires, one begins to lose the absolute precision. It is then useless to continue shooting and it is time to take a rest.

You need a large front sight and open “U,” so as to get your aim quickly. My favourite revolver has very coarse sights,—a front sight which, in aiming, seems nearly as large as the “bull.”

I like the sun as much behind me as possible for this and any other quick-firing or moving-object competition, as you can then at once see the hit on the target and can correct it, if necessary, at the next shot. At a stationary target, this seeing the hit at once does not matter, as you have plenty of time to locate your shot with your telescope.

In any competition in which unlimited entries are allowed, it is best to give up shooting an entry at your first bad shot and to start a fresh entry instead of shooting out the full six shots. Many men say, “It is better to keep on, as it is practice.” In my experience I find that everyone has strings of better shots than his average and these may commence at any time. If you have a three, for instance, as your second shot of a score, you may have four sevens to finish up with; then your next score may begin with two sevens and then a two. There are thus two scores spoilt, whereas, if you had retired at the shot counting three in your first score, and started another score, you would have had a string of six sevens in your second score, making a highest possible score of forty-two. I have so often seen this sort of thing happen to others (though I have never allowed it to happen to myself) that I am sure it is false economy at Bisley, except in the limited-entry series, not to stop and begin afresh the moment you get a shot out of the bull.

Another thing men do is to keep shooting pool to “get practice,” as they call it, till they shoot themselves out and make bad scores in competition. The place to practise is at home; there is no economy in paying half-a-crown for every six shots at Bisley, when you can shoot as much as you like at home for nothing. The rapid-firing and fifty-yards competitions being more difficult, you may allow yourself one or two sixes in a score before beginning again; but stop at the first shot scoring less than six points.

If possible, choose a time when there is no one shooting at the target next you; as, even if you do not find yourself “letting loose” at the sound of his firing,—he most likely, timing himself all wrong,—the smoke from his shots may drift across you, and spoil your view of the target.

Do not shoot whilst a man is “arranging his things,” or “bringing up his target” next you; it will distract your attention.

Shoot one entry in each series of competitions,—disappearing, rapid-firing, etc.,—and then take the competition in which you have done worst (comparatively worst, should be said, as thirty-six in the rapid-firing is equal to forty-one at the stationary twenty-yards) and beat that score. The moment you have beaten that sufficiently for one of your scores in another series to be the worst, go at that one; and so keep pushing the worst along. This gives you a better aggregate than any other system, and prizes are given for aggregates.

Be sure to look through your barrel after each entry, and wipe it out frequently. Quick shooting, especially in hot, dry weather, cakes and leads the barrel and spoils accuracy. If the pistol sticks or grates, however slightly, it is apt to spoil one’s “time.” At Bisley, you must not “wipe out” during the shots of an entry. Where, however, there is no rule against it, “wipe out” after every shot at stationary targets, and use only one of the chambers if using a revolver. When you open the revolver after each entry, look carefully to see if the caps were struck in the centre, especially if you have made a bad shot. Should they be hit on the side, clean the revolver; if this still continues, take another. It is useless to keep on while this is happening.

Be very careful to see that you are using your own ammunition, the proper sort for each particular pistol, and not taking some other that happens to be lying about. Also be very particular to have your pistol passed, the trigger-pull tested, and ammunition examined before shooting, by the official appointed for the purpose by the National Rifle Association, whose office is at the firing-point. This should be done every day, morning and afternoon,—as the trigger-pull may have altered,—so that there shall be no chance of disqualification after a good score is made.

Although it is, as a rule, best to finish your shooting at one class of competition, either moving or stationary, the change from one to the other gives a rest if you find yourself getting tired or discouraged. Moreover, as above explained, you secure a better “aggregate” by shifting from one series to another, though such changing would easily confuse a beginner. For the beginner, therefore, it may be as well to study one particular competition and compete in it only at Bisley the first year. This will probably place him high in the prize-list, and encourage further perseverance another year.

CHAPTER XI

STATIONARY FIFTY-YARDS TARGET

Now we come to the fifty-yards target.

To shoot in this series (known as “The Long Range”) you require the smallest and finest sights which you can see clearly without trying your eyes. There is no advantage in having them smaller than you can see properly.

Also, it is well to have several pistols with sights of different sizes, and differently sighted: some high, some low, some to the right, and some to the left, so as to suit varying light.

By the Bisley rules, you are not allowed to adjust your sights.

I have experimented with peep-sights; but one cannot hold a pistol steadily enough to get the full advantage of a peep-sight.

Have a Zeis glass and locate each shot, correcting the next, if necessary, by altering your aim—as the rules will not permit you to alter the sights; shoot very deliberately; rest your eyes frequently; stop at every breath of air, and only fire when you are “dead sure.” Clean after each entry.

Do not keep on too long at this range. A few entries now and again are best, as it is very straining to the eyes and trying to the muscles.

I prefer a heavy charge, as giving more accuracy at fifty yards; but one cannot stand many shots with a heavy charge without feeling the consequences.

I do not think this deliberate shooting at fifty-yards at a stationary mark worth practising as a pistol is for quick shooting at a moving or momentarily appearing mark.

CHAPTER XII

TEAM SHOOTING AND COACHING

When you are a member of a team, do exactly what the captain of the team directs you. Never mind if you think that he is wrong, and that you could do better work in your own way. It is “his show,” and he alone is responsible; merely shoot as well as you can in his way. Of course, if he should ask your advice, that is a different thing. Should another member of your team ask your advice, refer him to your captain.

If you are captain of a team, and have the choice of men, select, preferably, men whose nerve can be relied upon; a veteran who does not get “rattled,” even if only a moderate shot, is preferable to a brilliant beginner who may go all to pieces at a critical moment.