The so-called “modern” use of the pistol in close combat is anything but modern. Reproduced below is an excerpt from a book entitled
. This most excellent text was penned in 1875, yes, 1875. I have the entire treatise and it is an interesting read to say the least. With an open mind, please read the following and see how much of Practical Combat Shooting is really new and innovative. As well, note and compare the complexities introduced and touted by the gurus in the last twenty years or so and the simplicity of this “manual”.
1965 by William Henry (Bill) Jordan.
Should anyone be interested, I have the full version of The Pistol as a Weapon of Defence in the House and on the Road in PDF format and would be most happy the send you a copy.
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HOW TO HANDLE AND CARRY THE PISTOL.
In handling a pistol or other fire-arm, make it a rule, from which there shall never be any deviation, that, loaded or unloaded, the muzzle shall never be pointed at any living thing whose life you do not intend to take. Some persons have a foolish propensity for pointing what they suppose to be unloaded weapons at women and children for the purpose of frightening them. It is these (supposed to be) unloaded weapons that always kill people. In the State of New York there is a law which makes such an act a prison offence.
The best place to carry a pistol on the person is a matter of dispute. The modern pistol pocket, so generally used for carrying the pocket handkerchief, is perhaps the most convenient for this purpose.
At night never lay your pistol on a table beside your bed, and never place it beneath your pillow. To do so is to invite your assailant to disarm you. The best place is in the bed and between the mattresses, just so far down that the hand can readily reach it. Then if a burglar should find his way into your room at night you can, without appearing to act at all, slip your hand down to your weapon and obtain possession of it.
In attempting to get hold of a pistol under such circumstances, be very careful that it does not strike the wooden sides of the bed and make a noise. To prevent all risk of this it has been suggested to cover the wood, on the inside, with thick cloth, or to attach a small pocket to the side of the bedstead. The latter is an excellent plan, as it avoids the danger which may be incurred on making up the bed if the pistol is left in Us place.
Always carry your pistol at half-cock. The reason for this has been given in a previous chapter. And whenever a pistol is loaded, whether kept in the house or elsewhere, it should always be kept at half-cock, so that no accidental fall may cause it to explode. Some pistols—Colt's, for example—have a very excellent device for preventing accidents of this kind; when not in use the hammer rests between the chambers.
The necessity for a careful observance of these precautions will be evident to those who remember the many accidents which are occasioned by pistols falling out of pockets, beds, etc. Next to injuries caused by foolish persons presenting weapons recklessly at others, accidents from this cause are the most numerous and the most dangerous.
With the pistol, as with the shot-gun and rifle, it is frequently desirable to raise the hammer without making any noise. If raised in the ordinary way, the click of the sear on the tumbler is almost certain to alarm our antagonist, place him on his guard, and reveal our position to him. We have seen a young sportsman send a whole flock of ducks off by the noise made in cocking his piece. This is avoided by holding the trigger back until the hammer has been raised, when it (the trigger) may be released very gently, the hammer being, of course, held back by the thumb until the sear is in place. Those who wish to acquire, the art of doing this neatly and safely should practice with an unloaded weapon, as a beginner runs great risk of firing off his piece while attempting to carry out the directions we have given.
HOW TO LEARN TO SHOOT.To hold a pistol steadily at arms-length; to take deliberate aim, and to strike a two-inch ring every time at a dozen or twenty paces, is no great feat for a man who has a good eye and firm nerves. But such shooting, accurate though it may be, is not the kind that will stand us in good stead when we are attacked. And yet it is the practice that leads to this kind of shooting only that is exercised by the majority of those who handle the pistol. In other words, they regard the pistol as a small rifle, and use it as they would that weapon. Now, pistol shooting differs entirely from rifle shooting, in this, that while in rifle shooting accuracy is everything, and quickness but a secondary consideration, in pistol shooting quickness is everything, provided it be combined with a very moderate amount of accuracy. A two-inch ring is an easy mark to a rifleman at fifty paces; at the same distance the chances would be greatly against hitting it with a pistol, unless by taking deliberate aim. But while most shots with the rifle will be made at fifty paces or over, very few shots, except for practice, will ever be made with the pistol at greater distances than half a dozen paces. Neither is it ever necessary to hit so small an object as a two-inch circle. He who can hit a four-inch circle at six paces will be master of the situation provided he is quick enough. But the aim, if a-'m it can be called, must be taken with the rapidity of thought; there must be no dallying to find the sights; no hesitation in the hope of bettering the aim. Delay, however occasioned, may cost us our life. Not that we would counsel hurry or want of coolness, for this will inevitably cause us to shoot wide of the mark. There is such a thing as being rapid, cool and accurate, and this is what is needed.
It is evident that in making shots of this kind we have no time to look along the barrel and bring the sights into line. The aim must be taken in the same way that the boy throws a stone, or the wood-chopper strikes the exact spot where it is necessary that the axe should fall. How is this done? Simply by steadily fixing the sight on the object (not on the weapon), bringing the pistol quickly up, and firing the moment hand and eye both tell us that it is in proper position. This requires practice, but it is an art that is not nearly so difficult to acquire as would at first appear. Almost every man is in the habit of performing operations which require the exercise of the same faculties that are here brought into play. The following remarks, taken from the well known little book,
Shooting on the Wing* though intended to apply to the use of shot-guns, are so clearly to the point that we cannot forbear to quote them.
* Plain Directions for Acquiring the Art of Shooting on the Wing by An Old Gamekeeper. Now York: Industrial Publication Company.
The truth is that the great secret of success lies in perfect sympathy between the eye and the hand. The archer does not shut one eye and look along the arrow when he wishes to strike a mark, and yet many savage nations are so expert with the bow that they kill small animals when running, and even bring down little birds on the wing with this weapon. Vaillant informs us that the boors in the neighborhood of the Cape of Good Hope, when following the plow, are frequently accompanied by numbers of small birds, that pick up the worms and grubs thus exposed to view, and so dexterous are these men with their long whips, that any of the little fluttering objects to which their attention is directed, will be struck by them with the greatest nicety possible. In doing this they never shut one eye. Neither does the carpenter when he drives a nail, or the blacksmith as he swings the ponderous hammer. The fly-fisher, when he casts his fly lightly to the very spot where the trout lies, does it with both eyes open; and those who, at base ball, try to catch or strike a ball, never shut one eye. All these are cases of sympathy between eye, hand and finger. That this may exist in very great perfection when only one eye is used is undoubtedly true, but those who have to learn from the beginning had better learn with both eyes open.
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One of the great points is to learn to shoot rapidly, that is to allow as little time as possible to elapse between the formation of the resolution to fire and the act of firing. He who raises his gun (or pistol) and dawdles with it, is a poking shot; he who always fires on the first impulse is a snap-shot; but he who with perfect coolness makes all his calculations rapidly, and then with lightning-like dexterity discharges his piece, is a quick shot and a good sportsman."
Practice alone can give the requisite skill in this case, but we think it will be found that the amount of practice necessary is not greater than that which many men now devote to the pistol, though they give it in such a desultory way, and it is of such a radically wrong kind that the time thus spent is wasted or worse than wasted. That such practice may prove of any benefit at all it is necessary that the system in which the learner, is attempting to perfect himself be the correct one, and that the course of practice be so judiciously arranged that it shall result in his pursuing this system as a matter of habit. No amount of mere “pistol-firing “will do this.
The first thing to be done is to acquire a thorough familiarity with the weapon. The learner should familiarize himself with the processes of loading, cleaning, and above all of handling the pistol, as directed in previous chapters. And until this familiarity has been acquired he should not trust himself with ball cartridge. "Where a pistol using loose ammunition has been selected, let him use powder alone; where the pistol is adapted to the use of fixed ammunition, the copper shells, without either powder or ball, serve every purpose. The shells which remain after firing the ordinary cartridges are just the thing, and should be saved for this purpose. Remember it is not only the mere mechanical ability to place a cartridge in the pistol and fire it off that is needed; we want a fixed habit of doing things right, and this can only be acquired by continuous, intelligent and observant practice. By observant practice we mean that the learner shall, during the whole process, think of what he is doing and the reason for doing it. Then, after a short time, the mental and physical efforts so blend as to form a fixed and involuntary habit.
To be able to strike an object quickly and certainly, we must acquire the ability to do two things: First, we must be able to direct the pistol accurately and instantly; and secondly, we must learn to draw the trigger the moment a correct aim is obtained. The second point is quite as difficult to acquire as the first, and it will be found that more shots are missed on account of not drawing the trigger at the right time than from any other cause. In a regular course of practice the second point should be studied first. Therefore, after having acquired such a habit of handling, loading and firing our piece that we run no danger of injuring ourselves or others, the next step is to acquire that sympathetic concord between the hand and eye, upon which all success in shooting depends. To do this we must begin by using an unloaded pistol, or, at least, one that is not charged with powder or ball, and after presenting it rapidly at any given object, draw the trigger just as we would do if we intended to shoot. The reason for using an unloaded pistol at first is that almost all beginners flinch a little, until they become used to the explosion. This flinching causes a slight hesitation, and every shot fired under such circumstances confirms this bad habit. If, however, the attention is not distracted at first by the noise and shock of the discharge, one soon acquires the habit of drawing the trigger at the moment of bringing the pistol up full to the mark, and when a change is made to powder and ball this habit is not disturbed.
We must, however, guard against allowing the hammer to strike either the cylinder or the nipples, unless some softer substance (such as copper) has been placed between them. Therefore, if we employ a pistol in which fixed ammunition is used, an empty copper shell, should be placed in each barrel or chamber; if the pistol is made for loose ammunition, it is well to use copper caps.
There are two modes of presenting a pistol: one is to raise it to the level of the head and then lower it until it comes to the mark; the second is to raise the pistol from a position below the elbow. Both methods have their advocates. The first is the regular system adopted in duelling, but on ordinary occasions the second will be found most effective and convenient. Men do not go about with pistols elevated in their hands, and most frequently we have only time to draw the pistol, present and fire it. To raise it first, and afterward lower it, would be a waste of time, and would involve a needless exposure. And as it is well to adopt one system and stick to it, we would advise the learner to begin by raising the pistol to the mark, and not by lowering it.
As soon as the learner has acquired the knack of drawing the trigger the moment the aim is taken, he should proceed to perfect himself in aiming, and this can be tested only by loading with actual powder and ball. If any signs of flinching or hesitation should appear, the preliminary practice should be changed to an exercise in which very light loads, without ball, are used, and in this way the nerves may be gradually accustomed to the explosion, and as soon as the sympathy between the hand and eye is no longer disturbed by the shock, the learner should proceed to test the accuracy of his aim. This is done by simply loading with ball, raising the pistol as usual and firing. If the aim be accurate—that is, if the object aimed at be struck—nothing further is needed; but if the bullets do not go sufficiently near the mark, it is probably because the mode in which the pistol is held is not right, and we must either change our method of grasping the weapon, or make proper allowance for its influence. To do this we must go on firing, but with greater deliberation. By so doing we can gradually correct our error, and afterwards we must continue to practice until we have re-acquired our former rapidity.
As just hinted, the mode of holding the weapon, so as to secure accuracy of aim, is a point of considerable importance, and will depend somewhat upon the form of pistol which we use. A pistol with a saw-handle stock requires a grip very different from that which is suitable to an ordinary military pistol; and if, after having practiced much with the one, we should change suddenly to the other, our aim would most certainly be very much disturbed.
Therefore it is a good plan to keep always to the same pistol. Select a good one in the first place, and then never make any change. There is an old Latin proverb which tells us that the man of one book is to be feared; much more is there reason for fearing the man of one pistol.
The importance of being able to take aim with the pistol without looking along the sights will be at once obvious when we remember that in most cases in which the pistol is used for defence there is not light enough to enable us to see our weapon. If we wish to be able to repel the attack of a burglar at night, or of a footpad in a dark street, we must learn to use the pistol instinctively as it were; that is to say, we must learn to hit the mark with the pistol in the same way that a boy hits an object with a stone. Indeed it is a very good plan to practice in the dark, which may be done as follows: Take a common flour barrel, and over one end tie a sheet of white paper of cloth. In the bottom bore a hole large enough to admit the hand, so that after the barrel has been laid on its side a lighted candle may be placed in it. Set this up against a wall on a dark night, and you will have a distinctly illuminated target to aim at, while no light will reach you from the candle. Of course, great care must be taken that the bullets do not fly wild and do mischief.
PRACTICAL USE OF THE PISTOL.Having acquired dexterity in loading, handling, aiming and firing the pistol, so that inanimate objects may be struck with certainty and rapidity, we have gone as far as we can in actual practice, and must now depend upon good judgment and calm consideration to guide us in deciding what to do under circumstances of danger. Great assistance in this direction will, however, be derived from a careful previous consideration of the subject. Few things are more desirable or more necessary in cases of great emergency than coolness and presence of mind. The man that keeps cool always has a great advantage over one that is liable to become excited, and that which will most effectually enable any one to keep cool is a thorough knowledge of what is to be done. The man that knows exactly what to do is, by virtue of his knowledge, perfectly self-reliant, and hence the importance of previous thoughtful preparation, so that we may not have to hesitate and think when the moment for action arrives. In most cases where the pistol is used as an instrument of defence, our antagonist is probably armed with the same weapon, and therefore it becomes quite as important that we should protect ourselves from his assaults as that we should inflict injury upon him. It is, of course, obvious that if we can at once deal him a disabling wound, we take altogether the most effectual steps toward self-protection, and hence the great necessity for acquiring quickness of action, and the advantage of being armed with a weapon capable of inflicting such a shock as will instantly induce paralysis. The latter point lias been fully discussed in a former section, and nothing now remains for us but to give such hints as will enable us to carry out in practice the principles formerly laid down. "When an assailant shows by his actions that he means to inflict serious personal injury, no time is to be lost. Bullets fly with wondrous speed, and while we axe taking a single step or assuming a new attitude we may receive a fatal wound. The moment, therefore, that we feel that the occasion for the use of the pistol has arrived we must lose no time. Of course, if we can, without delay and great exposure, secure good cover, it is our duty to do so, and we may then be able to hold the enemy at bay until succor arrives, and thus perhaps avoid the necessity for taking life at all. For it must be borne in mind in every case that both upon moral as well as legal grounds, we are bound to shun the fight as long as possible, and not to take life unless it is absolutely necessary so to do.
When our antagonist is at a considerable distance from us, say fifty paces or more, it is not difficult to avoid his pistol shot by rapidly stepping aside. At one hundred yards distance the best rifleman in the world could not hit an active man, who had a good cover within three feet of him, and for this reason: The time required for the flash of the explosion to travel one hundred yards is practically nothing, while the time taken by the bullet is more thanone-tenth of a second. Now in that space of time it is easy for an active man to slip behind a tree or wall. The Indians on the Western plains are so expert at this that they slip from their saddles and hang by the side of their horses, making a cover of the latter—this being done after the flash and before the bullet reaches them. Few persons have an idea of the length of time that it takes for a bullet to travel two or three hundred yards, and those who will stand in a safe position, and observe the time that elapses between the flash of the rifle and the thud of the bullet, will be surprised. As in most cases the velocity of a pistol bullet is less than that of a bullet from a rifle, this interval is of course greater in the case of the former. Many persons will laugh at the idea of dodging bullets, but the sportsman who has sometimes to shoot as much as twenty feet ahead of his game in order to hit it, and who has over and over again seen a wounded duck or a loon dive at the flash, is well aware that it may be done.
* The impossibility of successfully doing it in open ground, however, arises from the fact that but few of those who use the pistol are able to send their bullets where they want them to go, and the old joke about the safest place being in front of the target is too real. Unless we can step behind good cover, to move from our place may be to step right into the path of the bullet.
In every case where we are exposed to fire, however, much may be done by exposing ourselves in the best position. This undoubtedly is sideways to the assailant, with the left arm hanging straight down, and for these reasons: In this position the body presents the smallest mark; the left arm covers, in a measure, the most vital parts, and will often turn a bullet aside; and lastly, the right arm, upon which our hopes of a successful defence is placed, is still further protected. Left-handed persons will, of course, reverse these directions, and it will be well for those who practice with the pistol to adopt the system of standing and firing in this position.
* The reader will find this subject very fully and accurately discussed in " Plain Directions for Acquiring the Art of Shooting on the Wing," formerly referred to in this work.Most persons have very erroneous ideas as to what constitutes a good cover. Ordinary boards, for example, such as doors, etc., are no protection at all. A pistol bullet will go through them as if they were so much pasteboard. The same is true of common lath and plaster, and, in fact, anything except brick, stone or heavy battened doors. It is true that these objects afford concealment, and thus baffle the aim of an assailant, but if he should fire half a dozen shots at random, we run great risk of being struck. It will not do, therefore, to conceal ourselves behind such meager defences and remain inactive; we must take vigorous measures to silence the enemy's fire.
The worthlessness of common walls and doors as a source of protection is an important fact to be remembered by those who occupy a house exposed to the fire of military or a mob. The ordinary siding of a wooden house affords no protection whatever against a musket bullet or even a pistol bullet. A ball from a good rifle will pass clean through an ordinary wooden dwelling. In such houses the safest place is in the cellar or in the upper stories Those who take refuge in the cellar should keep close to the walls on the side that is exposed; in the upper stories the safest position is when lying down near the rear wall, as the bullets, before reaching persons thus placed, must pass not only through the front walls but through the flooring, and will very likely be deflected from their path.
Trees make about as good cover as can be found, and in the absence of trees it is always well to place, if possible a lamp-post between ourselves and our assailant It is true that the lamp-post does not afford perfect shelter, but it protects the most vital parts and serves most efficiently to confuse the aim of all except the very best shots. A man standing fully exposed presents a single mark, and an aim at the centre of this mark is the only thing that his assailant has to think about. A man standing behind an iron bar two inches in diameter presents two marks each half the size of a man. The shooter will almost certainly aim at the centre of these individual marks, and ten to one he will shoot outside of them.
In many cases, however, it is impossible to secure good cover, and it then becomes necessary that every effort should be used to kill, or at least disable our antagonist. Assuming that our pistol is a good one, and that we are able, without taking deliberate aim, to strike a five-inch ring every time at a distance of ten paces, we are tolerably safe if we know where to send the bullets.
It is a curious fact that the majority of those who attempt to use the pistol, either for attack or for defence, fire at the head, and it is a fact which is equally well known to military men and others that the head is the very last place at which we should take aim, if we wish our shots to be effective. The reason why the head is generally selected as a mark is not difficult to find. We instinctively aim at the place upon which the eye is fixed, and we almost always look in the face of an antagonist. Knowing this and bearing in mind that the head is difficult to hit and hard to penetrate, let us avoid it. That the head is more difficult to penetrate from the front than other portions of the body is well known. Men in battle have been struck even with rifle bullets, and the missile, instead of piercing the skull, has turned from its path, passed round the head and out at the back! We speak not now of such skulls as Euloff's, which was so thick that, after his death, pistol biullets fired at it point blank failed to penetrate it. We refer to the skulls of those ordinary roughs who would be likely to attempt robbery or an atrocious assault.A part of the body at which aim is frequently taken is the lower part of the abdomen. This, however, is a felon shot—a murderer's aim, and for these reasons : A man wounded here is not immediately disabled, and if excited, courageous and armed, he will have abundant time to kill - his assailant before he himself feels the effect of the wound. For we must remember that unless some large blood vessel is cut, or the nervous system is seriously affected, a bullet wound is not generally immediately painful or disabling, as the writer knows by experience. It was shots of this kind that killed Richardson and Fisk, and the very manner of shooting shows that these men were approached with murderous intent, and that they were both caught at a time when they were unprepared or unwilling to defend themselves. After receiving his death wound, Richardson coolly remarked that McFarland had "improved in his shooting;" and if he had chosen to do so, the same coolness would have enabled him to send a bullet through the heart of his murderer; that he had strength to do this was shown by the mere fact that he did not fall, or even stumble.
Undoubtedly the place in which a missile will ordinarily prove most effective is the chest, and the most judicious aim is that taken at the portion of the body ordinarily covered by the exposed part of the shirt bosom. A bullet planted there can hardly fail to lacerate some of the great blood-vessels and shock the nervous system. Those who have seen a cat, a dog or a deer struck behind the fore shoulder, the direction of the bullet being forward, must have noted how quickly paralysis and death ensue in such cases. This, therefore, we regard as the most instantly fatal wound that can be inflicted, except perhaps a shot through the brain; but as we have previously remarked, the latter requires greater skill than ihe other. For since the skull is convex, unless the bullet strikes it fair in the centre, it is very apt to glance off without inflicting a serious wound. A wound in the lower part of the head may be painful, but it is not usually very dangerous and does not immediately disable.A wound inflicted in the chest is almost always fatal. Is there no way of disabling our assailant without killing him ? There may be, and yet we can think of no really effective wound which does not involve this risk. Perhaps a wound in the shoulder would be least dangerous and most likely to disable, but in order to inflict a wound which will disable without killing, we must be very expert in the use of the weapon. If we can shatter a large bone, the enemy will be placed hors du combat very effectually, but this requires close calculation, and even under the most favorable circumstances we run great risk of cutting a large artery, an accident which will probably prove fatal. It may be noted in this connection that there is in general least danger of cutting an artery when the shot passes outside the central line of the limb. The large arteries run on the inside.
A consideration of these facts must impress every right- minded person with the importance of the utmost caution in the use of this terrible weapon. After the trigger has once been pressed, no human power can modify the force of the missile, and therefore a pistol should never be used, except on occasions of the gravest importance.
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