Author"s winning score for Gastinne-Renette Compet.i.tion, April 7, 1910.]
This sort of thing is worse than useless. If you leave a man alone he will most likely leave you alone, but if you annoy him by banging at him, he may lose his temper and hurt you.
A reasonably long barrel is therefore necessary for a beginner, and a reasonably heavy weight.
The cartridges may have light loads. Unfortunately the easiest pistol of all, to shoot, is now impossible to be had except from a dealer in second-hand firearms. I mean the "Flobert" duelling pistol, formerly made in France and Belgium, shooting bulleted caps of about .2 calibre.
The duelling pistol, in all its calibres, is the best balanced and easiest to shoot of all pistols (see Plates 2 and 5).
The stock is at just the right curve and angle, is large enough for a big hand, and yet does not feel clumsy in a small hand.
By taking the grip of the hand higher or lower, the same effect is produced as in having a gunstock straighter or more bent; one can, therefore, by altering the grip of the hand, find a place to hold which makes the pistol come with the sights aligned on raising it, just as a well-fitting gun "comes up."
Next this pistol balances perfectly. The length of the barrel does not make it top heavy, as the barrel is fluted, to lighten it forward, and the stock weighted.
Most pistols, automatics especially, are muzzle heavy. There is really no pistol except the duelling pistol which balances properly, and the automatic will have to be altered in this respect before it can become the ideal weapon for rapid shooting.
The ideal pistol is the Gastinne-Renette duelling pistol, which is of .44 calibre muzzle loader or shoots a centre fire cartridge, with French "Poudre J" and a round bullet (see Plates 2 and 9).
This is the most accurate pistol in the world and a number of men have made a score of 12 shots in a bull"s-eye the size of a sixpence, in succession at 16 metres (17 yards 1 foot).
This pistol has very little recoil. If the beginner cannot get a "bulleted cap" duelling pistol the ordinary .44 gallery ammunition duelling pistol will do almost as well.
Now arises the question of expense, as these pistols are expensive.
If economy is necessary, then the only way is to get one of the American single-shot pistols and add wood to the back of the stock, so that the grip comes further back and the trigger is thereby further from the hand and allows the trigger finger to be extended.
Then either cut down the barrel to lighten the pistol forward, or have flutes made in the barrel to take weight of the metal off, and put lead in the stock.
I have described the ideal way of learning to shoot a pistol but of course any single-shot pistol which does not have too heavy a recoil will do to learn with, so as to become a fair shot.
With the long reach to the trigger of the French duelling pistols the trigger finger can be held outside and along the trigger guard (as with a shotgun when walking up birds). With the trigger so far back, as it is in American single-shot pistols, it is difficult to introduce the finger into the trigger guard whilst holding the pistol with one hand, and one gets into the dangerous habit of keeping the finger inside the trigger guard.
I will not describe these various single-shot pistols, as (in my own case) I find shooting them does not do me any good, but teaches a cramped style.
The pistol which is no longer made, but can perhaps be picked up, is a regulation French duelling pistol, full size, which shoots, instead of the .44 duelling charge, a bulleted cap of .2 calibre, with fulminate only, and a round bullet, and is exploded by a cross bar on the hammer which has a flat striking surface. This flat bar strikes across the whole face of the cap, indents itself into the cap, and having an undercut surface extracts the empty cap after it is fired, as the pistol is c.o.c.ked.
The pistol has no recoil and hardly more noise than an air gun.
The manufacture would be resumed if there were enough demand for such pistols, and in my opinion they ought to be made as they are infinitely preferable to modern .22 calibre pistols.
[Ill.u.s.tration: COLT AUTOMATIC PISTOL, POCKET MODEL, CALIBRE .32]
CHAPTER XI
LEARNING TO SHOOT
Having a pistol and ammunition, the next thing is to find a place to shoot in with safety and comfort.
The usual procedure is as follows:
A says "I want to learn pistol shooting."
"I know a place," says B.
They go off and find a shooting gallery.
When they get there they go down a dark staircase, into a long, dark cellar with a glimmer of light at the firing point and a glimmer of light at the far end, illuminating a series of minute white cards with a microscopic black dot on each. Men lie down on mats, to which they have to grope their way, shooting miniature rifles at these minute spots.
Why, when a man wants to learn to shoot, has he to go into a coal cellar and ruin his eyesight seeing, as one shooter complained, "three front sights and two back ones"?
To shoot one needs all the daylight possible.
One sees fine big public buildings, and is told "They have a Shooting Range for their employees, is it not nice of them?"
You go to it. There is a big bar, with plenty of daylight, rooms with plenty of daylight for games, meals, etc., and then the inevitable dark staircase into a black cellar called the shooting-gallery.
If you cannot shoot in daylight do not shoot at all; you will only ruin your eyesight and never learn to shoot properly.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 4. COLT AUTOMATIC PISTOL .22 TARGET MODEL
Capacity of magazine: 10 shots. Length of Barrel: 6 inches. Length over all: 10 inches. Weight: 28 ounces. Finish: full blued; checked English walnut stocks. Sights: bead front sight, adjustable for elevation; rear sight with adjusting screw, adjustable for windage. Distance between sights: 9 inches. Cartridge: .22 long rifle, rim fire (_greased cartridges only_). We strongly recommend the use of either Lesmok or Semi-Smokeless.]
All these artificial-light rifle galleries, to teach the public to shoot, are worse than useless. The Gastinne-Renette Gallery in Paris is an ideal gallery (see Plates 15 and 16).
Learning to shoot is surely more worth while than playing bridge or golf, and who would play bridge or golf in the dark?
Choose, if possible, a range out of doors, or at least in a well-lighted room (lighted by daylight, _not_ artificial light), but if there has to be artificial light, let it be at least as light as in a ball-room.
Next, there must be a safe b.u.t.t behind the target; a b.u.t.t which will not only stop bullets which hit or go near the target, but which will stop a bullet which goes wide of the target.
It should be so arranged that if the pistol goes off by accident the bullet can do no harm.
If there is a narrow stall, opening towards the target and high enough at the sides and narrow enough to prevent the shooter turning with his arm extended, it would be a great safeguard, as it will make it difficult for him to turn round and speak to others with his pistol pointing at them.
A thick ceiling will prevent his doing damage if his pistol goes off accidentally into the air, and soft deal flooring will stop bullets shot too low. A hard floor may cause dangerous ricochets.
The beginner is very apt to look only at his front sight and instead of getting it down into the V or U of the back sight, fire with his front sight alone on the target, so great care must be taken to protect against high shots off the target.
Out of doors, a b.u.t.t six feet high is very little protection as the beginner is almost certain to let off shots over the top.
With the bulleted caps there is, of course, not much danger if a shot goes over the top of a b.u.t.t, especially if there is a wood, or shed without windows, beyond, to catch the bullet.
Another point is to have a table or shelf in front of the shooter, so that he can lay his pistol and cartridges on it, and if it is of thick wood, it prevents his shooting into his own feet.