Automatic Pistol Shooting Part 6

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.

The man I prefer in a team is one who always shoots a good consistent score,--never brilliantly, yet never badly; you can always rely upon him to shoot up to his form. If you have two such men, let one of them shoot the first score,--if possible against your adversaries' best man,--so as to give your team confidence that they are likely to hold their own.

Reserve yourself--or your most reliable shot, who can be trusted not to lose his head--for emergencies, such as these: to shoot last, when everything depends upon making a good score; when the light is bad and likely to improve later; if there is a wind that may drop later; for pulling up a score when the other team is leading; for getting the sighting when you retire to the fifty-yards range; to shoot, "turn and turn about," against the most nervous or dangerous man of the other team, etc.

You should specially notice if any of your team are getting nervous; prevent their watching good shooting by their adversaries, or looking at and comparing scores. Encourage them to think that their own team is so strong that their own individual shortcomings do not matter. You can, in this way, "nurse" a man along who is on the verge of "going to pieces."

If possible, do not let your men know how the scores stand. If there is a wind, rain, or bad light, consult with your most "weather-wise" man, and decide how to "place" your bad shots so as to give them the easiest "shoot." That is to say, if the wind is likely to drop later, shoot your strong shots when the weather is unfavourable.

It is also a good thing to have a reliable member of the team stand behind each one who is shooting, to "spot" for him, keep time for him, and otherwise coach him, watching the time constantly, so as to let his man know _instantly_--if he asks--how much longer the time-limit allows him.

Coaching is allowed in team shooting, _but not in ordinary individual compet.i.tions_.

Do not let any member of your team leave the range on any account till the compet.i.tion is over.

Have a man or two extra, in case of anything disabling or preventing one of your team from shooting.

Do not let two men shoot with the same revolver, as both men may be wanted to shoot at the same time.

Do not scold a man, however badly he may be doing; you only flurry him, and it does no good.

Do not have any refreshments for your team until the compet.i.tion is over.

CHAPTER XIII

SHOOTING IN COMPEt.i.tIONS

When shooting in compet.i.tion, be careful not to spoil your opponent's scores. Never approach or leave the firing-point while he is aiming or about to shoot. If he is about to shoot, and there be time, reserve your shot till he has fired; and do not fidget with your revolver or cartridges or get your target drawn up whilst he is aiming. Keep perfectly still and silent till his shot has gone off. Do not speak to him at any time, except to answer some question of his. If he is at all nervous, you might by a slight movement or word ruin his score.

Read carefully, _before_ shooting, the rules of the compet.i.tion in which you are about to engage, and be sure you comply with every detail of them.

If you find you have, inadvertently, transgressed a rule, report to the range officer at once, and get your score cancelled.

Write your name very distinctly on your score-card; I have known a man to lose a prize owing to his name being illegible on the score-card. See that your shots have been entered properly and rightly added up and corrections initialled.

Have your target dated and signed by the range officer, with the name of the compet.i.tion also inscribed, and keep it as evidence in case your card should get lost. Be sure you do not by mistake have a score entered on a ticket belonging to another series.

Before shooting in compet.i.tion I put a weight in a chemist's scale equal to the _average_ weight of one of my loaded cartridges. I weigh each cartridge against it; put all of the correct weight aside for Bisley, and keep the others for practice. By this means I minimize the chance of a weak or too strong shot.

When you are at the firing-point, pay no attention to what any one else is doing, or to what scores have been, or are being, made, or to any of your scores being beaten; the great thing is to have the average all round high for the aggregate prizes. If you are constantly watching the scores of others, rushing from range to range as your various scores are pa.s.sed, you will have much less chance of making good scores than if you keep plodding on, constantly adding a point or two to your aggregate. You can afterwards try to beat individual scores, if necessary. Of course, if you at any time, in any one series, get a score which you think is up to the limit of your skill, you may let that series alone till you have reached your limit in another series. Never watch a good man shooting; it will only make you doubt if you can beat him. It is also tiring your eyes uselessly.

Do not read or use your eyes any more than is absolutely necessary. When resting, dark gla.s.ses will be found a great relief to the eyes. I find that if I am getting tired of shooting, a half-hour's gallop on a horse that does not pull freshens me up, and helps to divert my thoughts; others may prefer lying quietly down and shutting the eyes.

If you find yourself getting stale, drop the whole thing, even for several days. It will not be time wasted, as you will shoot better afterwards; and you will certainly get worse if you keep on without rest.

Never protest or dispute a score or decision. The range officers are doing their best under very trying circ.u.mstances. If you think any decision wrong, say nothing about it and forget it; you will only spoil your shooting if you worry about it. Just set your teeth and make a score a point better than the disputed one ought, in your opinion, to have been.

The protesting man is a nuisance both to himself and everyone else.

Should you see a man infringing the rules, leave it to others to protest.

CHAPTER XIV

DUELLING

The mere word duelling appears to shallow minds a subject for so-called "humour," like mothers-in-law and cats, but a moment's thought will show that, in certain circ.u.mstances, the duel forms the only possible solution to a difficulty. And it is not an unmixed blessing that duelling is abolished in England as "Vanoc" in _The Referee_ truly says. "For some reasons," he writes, "the abolition of duelling [he means in England] is a mistake. Insolent and offensive language is now too frequently indulged in with impunity.... The best rule of all is never to take liberties yourself, and never to allow liberties to be taken with you, and to remember that self-defence is still the n.o.ble art."

I think, though, that the still n.o.bler art is the defence of others, and there are cases--which need not be gone into here--when a man _must_ fight.

One of the reasons for this "humorous" att.i.tude in the English mind (it does not exist abroad) is because sometimes abroad young men, wishing to advertise themselves, or their political ideas, fight duels, all the time never intending to hit each other, and in fact intentionally firing in the air.

When two good shots "mean business," a pistol duel is a very deadly affair, as is shown by the number of men who have been killed in them.

A duel with swords gives more advantage to a younger or a taller man, or to a man in the pink of condition, but a pistol duel will enable a much older man to hold his own.

The challenged has the right to choose weapons, and if he choose pistols it is understood that the meeting should be conducted with single-shot duelling pistols.

The British public are accustomed to confuse the words "pistol" and "revolver," and most pistol duels are described as "duels with revolvers"

by those not understanding such things; but the revolver is not recognized as a duelling weapon, and any fight with revolvers would on the Continent lead to a trial for murder if any one were killed.

In challenging, the person considering himself aggrieved asks two of his friends to act as his seconds, and these he sends to his adversary. The latter at once appoints two seconds for himself, and the four seconds then make all the necessary arrangements.

First they call upon a gunmaker--combatants in a duel are not allowed to use their own weapons--and two single-shot muzzle-loading duelling pistols of regulation pattern are chosen.

In the presence of the seconds these are loaded by the gunmaker and put into a case, which is then sealed.

This case is taken to the duelling ground by the gunmaker and the seal is not broken until everything else is ready, the reason of course being to prevent tampering with the pistols, or loads, or obtaining practice with that particular pair of pistols.

A doctor is present at the duel with all necessary appliances.

On the ground the seconds draw lots for where their men are to stand, it being of advantage to have sun and wind at one's back, or left rear.