Some of them even go to the length of putting India rubber tennis racket grips over the pistol stocks. I have tried shooting one of their pistols so ornamented (?) and found it was like trying to shoot with a big potato held in my fist.

Others, in order to obtain this "firm grip," smear the stock of their pistol over with wet modelling clay, take a grip of it and then have a plaster cast made of their finger prints in this clay and get a stock cast from this. When they hold this monstrosity with their fingers embedded in it, they claim to have a perfect hold.

The idea they are working for is an entirely wrong one. The pistol should be held as a fencing foil, lying in the palm of the hand. Because the left hand gets burnt when many shots are fired in rapid succession from a rifle or gun, a hand guard was invented which slips over to the fore end of the gun and protects the left hand from contact with the hot barrels.

It was also claimed that, having to hold this guard made the shooter always hold his hand in the same place, and that this was a great advantage.

The rigid grip on a fixed spot is, as a matter of fact, a disadvantage.

It caused me to give up this hand guard and subst.i.tute an asbestos glove for the left hand.

In game shooting with a rifle, or gun, one shifts the left hand constantly, according to the angle of the rifle or gun to your shoulder.

For a high shot the left hand is thrust forward, for a low shot the hand drawn back.

To sit down and shoot off the knees, the left hand is much further back on the rifle than if you stand up to shoot off hand.

If you find yourself shooting under, you shift the left hand forward for the next shot so as to shoot higher.

You cannot do all these niceties (which make all the difference between first cla.s.s shooting, and merely good shooting) if your left hand is tied to one place. The same applies to pistol shooting.

The pistol should not be held in a "firm grip" as these inventors of potato-shaped stocks imagine.

A fencer does not keep a "firm grip," nor does a shotgun man.

All have their weapons lying in the palms of the hands loosely and easily, the grip of the foil is only tightened momentarily for parrying or thrusting and the game shot handles a rifle or shotgun as lightly as a woman nursing a baby.

A pistol stock which has all the fingers embedded in it stops all wrist play. It may answer for a long aim at a stationery target but for any rapid shooting it is impossible.

How can a man draw and shoot in one movement if he has to fit his fingers first into each hollow excavated in the stock? He might as well try to pull on a glove each time before he draws his pistol.

If he gets the hold the least wrong he will miss and probably also get his hand cut.

How can a man c.o.c.k or slip on the safety bolt if he first has to take his thumb out of the "dug out" in which it has taken refuge? He will most likely fumble the whole thing and drop the pistol.

Very many pistol inventions are the result of a man who, shooting for the first time, discovers difficulties merely due to his own clumsiness and inexperience, and instead of consulting a pistol shot, invents something to overcome these imaginary difficulties.

I have actually seen such an inventor shooting in a compet.i.tion with an iron rod up his sleeve attached to his pistol "to keep his arm steady."

An inventor came to me with something he said would stop all runaway horses, and was very angry with me because I would not try it on one of mine, although I told him mine were properly broken horses, not runaways.

The invention consisted of two India rubber bags which, un-inflated, were to be put inside the nostrils of the horse.

If there was any difficulty in stopping the horse, a pair of bellows was worked, attached to a rubber tube connecting these bags to the driver.

This inflated the bags, and the horse, according to the inventor, "at once comes to a standstill."

I told the inventor that a horse thus choked would throw himself about, and cause a fearful smash before he died. He probably thought, "what lack of imagination" hors.e.m.e.n have.

A wooden or vulcanite stock with a small clean-cut file pattern so as to give a non-slip hold is good.

A too small grip has the fault of driving the nails into the ball of the thumb; it should be just thick enough to avoid this, any thicker would be clumsy.

An ivory stock is heavy, but this may be an advantage if there is weight needed in the stock to counterbalance the barrel, otherwise ivory gives a good grip, if roughed.

The depth of the roughing depends on the tenderness of the hand of the shooter.

A roughing which would make one man's hand sore is hardly enough of a non-slip hold for a man whose skin is harder.

Sometimes screw heads and pins are not quite flush with the stock and may chafe the hand.

They and any roughness left on screw heads by the unskilful use of the screw driver should be filed down smooth.

A sore hand which gets hurt at each shot is very detrimental to good shooting and the shooter is constantly trying to get a fresh grip in order to save his hand.

Automatic pistols have almost universally a projection over the hand between the thumb and the trigger finger for the slide to work on.

This turns the stock into a "saw handle" which used to be common on English duelling pistols.

I have tried such a stock with very good results on a revolver, but it is in the way of one-handed c.o.c.king.

An objection to a "saw handle" is that it compels the grip to be always taken in the same place, and as I said before, the grip should be movable higher or lower, according as you find you are shooting too low or too high.

A little rosin ground fine and rubbed on the stock and hand gives a good non-slip grip if the stock is greasy or slippery.

Do not shoot with gloves on. It destroys the sensitiveness of the hand, especially the trigger finger. I am always afraid of being shot by accident when a man shooting next me wears gloves, especially the slippery so-called "chamois skin" ones.

CHAPTER LVII

TRICK SHOOTING

"Champion Shot" shooting on the stage must not be taken too seriously.

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

Unavoidable sources of accident are, a weak cartridge giving a low shot; a hang fire, or, as in one fatal accident, the rifle blows open, lowering the muzzle and the bullet entering the a.s.sistant's forehead.

Aiming to graze the top of the ball minimizes this risk but does not eliminate it.

A miss too high does not matter, but a miss too low means death to the a.s.sistant.

Managers of theatres are now very chary, since this accident, of employing "Artistes" who do real shooting. It is too dangerous and the police will not allow it. All sorts of ways to minimize risk are employed. When objects are held to be shot at, steel thimbles over forefinger and thumb are concealed under a glove.

A steel skullcap fitting down to the eyebrows with a rod some four inches long projecting from the top is employed to hold the ball, the steel skullcap concealed under a wig with low fringe of hair to cover the forehead. This is worn by a woman a.s.sistant, her high piled up head serving to hide the rod.

There are several other reasons for employing a woman a.s.sistant instead of a man.