ADDENDA AND CORRECTIONS

Add to first paragraph page 25:

The Colt Automatic Pistol is now supplied with the automatic grip safety in all models. This prevents the discharge of the weapon unless properly held.

Insert before last paragraph page 29:

The latest addition to the target arms is the Colt .22 cal. Automatic Pistol. It has a longer barrel than any other automatic pistol and is fitted with adjustable sights. It has good balance and the long distance between the sights makes excellent work at the target possible. (See Fig. 17a, facing page 32.)

Add to first paragraph top of page 35:

This model is supplied with an additional safety which prevents accidental discharge in the event a cartridge is left in the barrel when the magazine is withdrawn.

Insert after Match F, page 177:

The following new matches have been added to the annual contests of the U. S. R. A.:

MATCH G—NOVICE LIMITED RE-ENTRY MATCH.—Outdoor Event.—Open to all amateurs who have never won an important prize in our branch of sport.

Winners of honors in our National Championships, first and second place honors in our State Championships, National honors in this match, professional shooters and those who have won place in important matches other than those of the U. S. R. A. are barred.

Score: Twenty-five shots in five strings of five shots each.

Time: Thirty minutes.

Weapon and Ammunition: Any allowed in Matches A and B.

Prizes: National—As in Match A.

State: As in Match F.

An honor medal will be given for a score of 210 or better that wins no other prize.

Entrance Fee: First entry $2. There may be four re-entries at $1.00 each. As yet we have a silver cup for only the Indoor Match.

MATCH H—REVOLVER HANDICAP.—Indoor and Outdoor Event.—Arm, any revolver within the rules for Match A. Ammunition any. Twenty-five shots in strings of five shots each. Time, thirty minutes per score. Entrance fee, $3 to paid-up members, $5 to all other persons.

The possible, 250, will be taken as a basis and a contestant allowed a handicap thought likely to be necessary to make his score in this match equal the possible. The fifty-shot and twenty-five shot revolver records of the contestants on file with the secretary will be taken as the basis of handicapping. The fifty shot records will be reduced to twenty-five shot equivalents.

Prizes: National medals as in Match A. If the whole number of contestants in this match exceeds twenty, then state medals will also be awarded as in Match A.

A bronze honor medal will be awarded for the highest score less handicap if it wins no other prize.

Winners and Scores

MATCH I—PISTOL HANDICAP.—Indoor and Outdoor Event.—Arm, Colt .22 automatic and any pistol allowed in Match B. Ammunition, any. Entrance fee, $3 to paid-up members, $5 to all other persons. Twenty-five shots in strings of five shots each. Time of score, thirty minutes.

Prizes as in Match H.

Each entrant may name his own handicap. It must be claimed and mailed in a letter bearing a post mark prior to the shooting of the match.

Scores with handicaps exceeding the possible will be penalized three points for each point of excess.

Winners and Scores

MATCH J—POLICE TEAM MATCH.—Indoor Only.—Limited to members of a uniformed police force who must furnish credentials to the effect that they have been enrolled one year or more. Five men teams.

Arm, any revolver with a barrel not more than 4½ inches long, trigger pull not less than three pounds, calibre not less than .32. Twenty shots per man. Five-shot strings. Time two minutes per string. Time to be entered on target and signed by timer. Ammunition, the full factory charge for the most powerful cartridge the arm will chamber. Entrance fee, $10 per team.

Prizes: Medals for the members of the first three teams. Gold and silver; silver; bronze. Six or more entries required to fill the match. Entry fees refunded if “No contest.” With ten or more teams entering, silver medals emblematic of state championship honor will be awarded for three contesting teams from one state. With four or more teams from one state, silver medals will be given the first team, bronze medals the second. National medals take precedence.

Ties will be decided by the fewest shots of low count.

Winners and Scores

Substitute for subject matter under U. S. Navy Target Practice Regulations, pages 204 and 205, the following:

The new firing regulations and prescribed course of practice with the automatic pistol are as follows:[22]

Each officer or man may fire the pistol course for credits once per year while attached to each division.

The firing in the pistol course may be done at any range.

Any target may be used.

The course is as follows:

All men are eligible to compete for prizes in this course once per year while attached to each division.

The value of a prize in the pistol course is $1.

When scoring in the pistol courses, in order to prevent the markers from knowing the names of the individuals who are firing, the name of the firer will not be announced by the scorer, but the number of the target he fires upon will be substituted for his name.

Before automatic pistols are brought to a range, the magazines should be removed and kept removed at all times except while the pistol is in actual use at the firing point.

Under no circumstances should any one handle a pistol, loaded or unloaded, except when he is on the firing line fully abreast of the firers, and the pistol should never be pointed in any other direction than the front.

NOTES ON PISTOL PRACTICE

When a pistol is first taken in hand it should be examined to make sure that it is not loaded.

Both the front sight and the rear sighting groove should be blackened. When the pistol is aimed the front sight should be seen through the middle of the rear sighting groove and the top of the front sight should be flush with the top of the groove. The part of the target to be aimed at must be determined by practice. With most pistols at 25 yards the aim is usually taken at the bottom edge or in the bottom part of the bull’s-eye, and at 50 yards in the center or in the upper part of the bull’s-eye.

Grasp the stock of the pistol as high up as you can so that the barrel, hand, and arm are as nearly as possible in one straight line. The thumb should be extended along the upper part of the frame. The second joint of the forefinger should be on the trigger.

Start with a light grip and gradually squeeze with the whole hand, the trigger finger squeezing gradually back as the grip is tightened, and continue squeezing without a jerk until the pistol fires. Decide to call the hold and to keep the right eye open.

If the hits are bunched to one side they can be moved to the right by increasing the pressure of the thumb against the left side of the pistol or to the left by decreasing the pressure.

Snapping—that is, aiming and squeezing the trigger with the pistol not loaded—is most valuable practice. No man should load and fire until he has snapped several times to get acquainted with the trigger pull of the pistol. Expert pistol shots do a great deal of snapping instead of a great deal of firing. Steady holding can be acquired only by much snapping practice.

In the prone position the right elbow has excellent support on the ground. In the kneeling position the firer may kneel on either knee. Kneeling on the left knee affords an excellent rest on the right knee for the elbow. In the squatting position both elbows rest on the knees. In the standing position face the target squarely, or nearly so. Stand upright, not craning the head forward, and extend the arm to its full stretch.

A coach should be at each firing point. In addition to the general duties of a coach, his specific duties in pistol practice are: (1) to stand slightly behind the right side of the firer in order to prevent the pistol being pointed away from the front, (2) to see that the pistol is not loaded until the proper time, (3) to require the firer to explain the line of sight, (4) to see that the firer takes the proper position and holds the pistol properly, (5) to require the firer to snap several times and to call the hold, (6) to see that the firer loads properly, and (7) to see that the pistol is unloaded before it leaves the firer’s hands.

THE END