A GIRL AND A REVOLVER. 



JACK PATTERN. 



Miss Creedmoor is the daintiest bit of 

 womankind that ever drew trigger. Tommy 

 is a disreputable specimen of the genus 

 small boy. One Sunday morning Miss 

 Creedmoor, Tommy, the revolver, the 

 camera and I all started for the shore of 



HER FIRST BULL S EYE. 



Newark bay. Miss Creedmoor is a born 

 shot ; that is, she has natural sense of di- 

 rection and is capable of becoming a cham- 

 pion some day. Chevalier Ira Paine used to 

 say one had to have a little of the devil in 

 him to win with the pistol. The Chevalier 

 was right to a certain extent, but Miss 

 Creedmoor has a quality that is every bit 

 as useful as deviltry; a cool, placid tem- 

 perament. She is not disturbed if she 

 misses the whole target, nor does she show 

 the least elation on making a bullseye. 

 As she has also perfect eyesight, steady 

 nerves and good physique, she needs only 

 practice to become a great shot. 



Up to the Sunday morning mentioned 

 Miss Creedmoor had not fired over 35 shots 

 in her life. I had previously given her one 

 lesson in the handling of a revolver. The 

 weapon, a 44 Russian, single action, was 

 made especially for target shooting, with 

 light trigger pull, 6]/ 2 inch barrel and Paine 

 sights. The ammunition was the usual 

 gallery load for the 44 Russian, 7 grains of 

 ffffg. powder and a round bullet. This load 

 gives practically no recoil in a heavy 2Y2 

 pound revolver. The grip of this revolver 

 is unfortunately much too large for Miss 

 Creedmoor's hand. She is scarcely able to 



secure a comfortable hold. That must be 

 taken into consideration in judging her 

 work. 



On arriving at the shore we set up the 

 target against a high bank of earth, a per- 

 fect natural butt. I then hauled out the 

 shooting paraphernalia, loaded the revolver, 

 and gave Miss Creedmoor her instructions: 

 Stand in an easy position, right foot point- 

 ing at or a trifle to the left of the target, 

 feet turned out naturally, heels not over 8 

 inches apart, left hand resting on the hip 

 or hanging as desired. Grip the revolver 

 in the right hand, rest the right elbow 

 against the body, point the revolver a trifle 

 upward and to the right, and cant it about 

 45 degrees to the right ; loosen the grip, 

 throw the thumb well over the cocking 

 piece of the hammer, keep the forefinger 

 extended and let it slip through the guard 

 as far as convenient, but do not let it rest 

 on the trigger. Cock the revolver and shift 

 the hand back to the proper grip. On the 

 model of revolver which we were using 

 the perfect grip is obtainable; that is, in my 

 opinion. The portion of the hand between 

 the thumb and forefinger should just touch 

 the thumbpiece of the hammer and the 

 thumb should be fully extended beside 

 the hammer, of course on the left 

 side, and in line with the barrel. 



IO SHOTS AT 15 YARDS BY MISS CREEDMOOR. 



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