The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-15

the weapon. The tendency since then has
been to shorten the barrel and increase
the size of the grip so as to make the
revolver easy to carry, and these changes
have detracted greatly from the weapons
usefulness. The demand seemed 10 be for a
gun which should have large caliber and
short barrel. to be heavily charged. The
consequence was that the heaviness OF the
charge and the weight of the bullet pro-
duced a>bg recoil. which could not be pre-
vented on account of the short hand-hold.
Say" circulated the secret service of
fcer, suddenly, did you ever reflect on the
reason why so many shots that are fired
with deadly intent fail of result? I'll tell
you why it is. You see the average man,
when he flies into a passion and wants to
shoot somebody, whips out his pistol -four
ishes il around I'm the air and then brings
it down to a level with his opponents head
and fires it. thinking, doubtless. that the
head is the best place at which TO aim
Then the defects which l have mentioned
get in their work and the recoil elevates
the revolver above the would-be victims
head and the bullet sails merrily UP into
the sky or ceiling. as the case may be.
THE POOREST TARGET.
Now, that is ali wrong. The head is the
smallest part Of the body and, of course
presents the poorest target. The best place
to shoot a man to put him out of action
and the place where you are surest to
strike him-where, in fact, you can scarce
ly miss-is the lower part Of his body In
the region of the stomach. Instead of flour
ishing a revolver around in the air and
bringing IL down. the way to do is to quiet
ly draw the weapon from the pocket, drop
it towards the ground, then make an up
ward motion with the weapon, catching
line along the ground or floor up your OPP
ponents leg, stopping at the stomach
where there Is little or no protection
against a pistol ball and the chances of re-
cOvery from a wound are small. Here you
have the whole vital region of the body in
range. II you happen TO shoot a little high
er than you intend. you are pretty certain
to strike vital spot and disable your op-
ponent. and If you shoot lower-say ip the
groin-you have him in about as bad shape.
In handling a revolver in this manner you
get rid of the unnecessary downward mo-
ton. Another advantage is that the move
ment can be executed so quickly and east
" that 1t catches man off his guard. He
does not have time to prepare himself for
the attack
do the secret service officers have to
furnish their own revolvers?" Captain
Halls was asked.
NO" he replied, tho government sup
plies the weapons to Us and they are the
best makes to be obtained"
How long does revolver last your was
the next question.
"A good revolver. handled with care"
he answered, will, of course, last for
years, but where man carries it constant
ly, especially If he rides on the railroad
and horseback very much, there is a tend
ency for the barrel Of the weapon to be-
come loose in the hinge just In front Of
the cylinder. and this detracts somewha.
from the accuracy of the shooting AS soon
as L find my pistol in this shape 1 lay 1t
aside and get new one"
II notice that your revolver is not nickel
or silver-plated." was suggested to the Sc
cret service officer.
HIS FAVORITE WEAPON
MY favorite weapon" he replied, 'has
always been the kind that has a blue bar
rel. and this for several reasons, the first
being that with nickel or silver-plated re-
volver the sunlight reflected from the shiny
barrel gets in ones eyes and interferes
with the correctness of the aim. Then, at
night, a man often desires to protect him
self without advertising the fact that he
is carrying a revolver, and he could not do
this very we'll with weapon that gave off
glitter whenever light fell upon it,
Among the improvements that have been
made in revolvers," continued Captain
Halls, ARE the loading of shells with
smokeless powder and the discarding of the
hammer. The latest patterns of revolvers
are not only self-cocking but hammerless
| as well. and. in addition they have a
| safety device which prevents the weapon
being discharged by any accident, such as
dropping il on the floor or ground.
"A revolver is a very dangerous weapon,
would rather face revolver any time than
a knife in the hand of an enraged man. a
| knife in such a situation is the most dan
gerous of all weapons and the hardest to
guard against
AS he said this, Captain Hallss face took
on such an air of solemnity that his visitor
instinctively scented" an experience did
you ever face a man with a knife in his
| hand?" was asked.
Il did" was the reply. land I shall never
| forget the experience. I once had occasion
| to attempt the arrest of a desperate named
| Barker. L had been told that Barker said
| he would kill me on sight and I knew he
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