February 7, 1914. 
FOREST AND STREAM 
167 
The New Automatic Pistol on the Border 
By Q. M. Sergeant Milton Heckert, Troop D, Fourteenth Cavalry. 
W HAT is probably the first deer yet re¬ 
corded in public prints as having been 
landed by the new automatic Colt .45 
pistol has been killed by a member of Troop 
“D,” Fourteenth Cavalry, which is now doing 
service as part of the river patrol along the 
Rio Grande. Sergeant Conely of the troop to 
which the writer belongs killed a buck with the 
new weapon at a distance of about thirty-five 
yards on December 30, while this troop was out 
on a special patrol down the river, the shot 
being made from the saddle as the deer burst 
from a mesquite clump and paused for a mo¬ 
ment in fright at the scattered array of troop¬ 
ers who were bearing down upon it. 
The pistols had just been issued to this or¬ 
ganization, and although the men had been care¬ 
fully trained in its mechanism and had fired 
about 100 shots each at the targets with the 
new gun, while they were at drill here in Eagle 
Pass, it was the first time the men had seen 
the weapon used on a living animal. The bul¬ 
let, probably because of encountering little re¬ 
sistance, made a comparatively small hole as it 
passed completely through the deer’s trifle back 
of the shoulders. It was instantly killed. 
The occasion on which we were marching was 
the report that a party of smugglers had been 
seen on the Mexican side of the river about 
sixtydive miles south of here, and that they were 
heading for the Alamita crossing, one of the 
few fords passable for wagons in a stretch of 
about seventy miles. The river elsewhere is 
either full of soft mud and quicksands or is 
bordered with bluffs and mesquite thickets that 
effectually prevent the passage of a wagon. 
Troop “D” was hurried out of here on an 
hour’s notice, and did not stop its forced march 
until it had strung patrols all along the river 
and had scoured the country for sixty miles be¬ 
low here. Evidently the troop was watched, for 
the band of men seen in the wild country on the 
other side made no attempt to pass, and the pa¬ 
trols could discover no tracks for many days 
thereafter. 
It was while the main body of the troop was 
returning, leaving its detachments to watch the 
river, that the deer was killed. Just how the 
new weapon would do for shooting at any long¬ 
er range I cannot say. But I notice that in 
the manual for its use, published by the United 
States Government, that its trajectory at 250 
yards is given as four feet at the midpoint of 
its flight. I remember that the older model of 
the weapon used to be advertised with a holster 
that could be used as a shoulder stock and, up 
to 100 yards, I think, this would be a very ef¬ 
fective weapon in this country, where the deer 
lie so close in the mesquite tangles that practi¬ 
cally all shots are at close range. 
While the troop was at Blocker’s Ranch, sixty- 
five miles down the river, several peccaries or 
native wild hogs, were killed. The males were 
so strong with musk that their flesh was not 
even attempted as an article of diet by the 
cooks, who had had previous experience - in sam¬ 
pling this meat. But two young sows, shot by 
Sergeant Ogle, furnished meat that was decidedly 
good and gamey, with a flavor just strong 
enough to lend a zest to a healthy, open air 
gppetite. The employes at Blocker’s have three 
tame peccaries, captured when the old sow was 
killed in a hunting trip, leaving them helpless 
soon after birth. The little creatures are per¬ 
fectly tame and prowled about the camp we 
made on the ranch property, freely eating out 
of the hands of the men. 
Several other deer were killed on the trip. 
At every mbal there was enough venison to 
feed sixty men, if all the troop had desired it. 
But as an indication that even the best of game 
food palls quickly on an appetite accustomed 
to other fare, I can remark that many of the men 
asked for beef after the second day and that 
the bacon fried for the morning meal was al¬ 
ways swept clean while plenty of deer meat re¬ 
mained uneaten. This was generally made into 
stew for a later meal and, when flavored with 
a sauce the Mexicans have down here, made a 
very tasty dish. 
Shooting in this region is the best I have seen 
in many a long year, so far as deer, ducks, 
geese and wild hogs are concerned. Many bob 
cats have been killed and the men have gar¬ 
nered many a coyote the last winter by shoot¬ 
ing them at long range with a .22 Hi-power 
that is in the troop. They get a small bounty 
for the scalp and the pelts also sell for a few 
cents at a hide dealer’s place here. This is 
practically all the “game” that is shot at long 
range, as the coyote is the sole creature that 
keeps warily away, the rest preferring to essay 
hiding in the thickets. 
One reason for the abundance of game is the 
immense size of the ranches and the few persons 
who traverse them. Strangers are viewed not 
only with distrust down here, on account of the 
Mexican cattle runners and smugglers who make 
a business of running cattle across the Rio 
Grande, but a person unknown to the owner 
would certainly be halted by one of the fence 
riders and turned to the nearest deputy sheriff 
if he could not give a clear explanation of his 
business. The trouble in Mexico has caused 
the border to become infested with bandits alert 
to steal cattle and horses, and a stranger desir¬ 
ing to visit a ranch should always get some per¬ 
son known to the ranchmen to take him out. 
They are extremely hospitable to strangers and 
are sincerely glad to get a visitor on the lonely 
ranches. But it is a simple business precaution 
to watch all unknown persons carefully so long 
as cattle can be rushed across the Rio Grande. 
One other reason that has made the city 
sportsman unpopular is the fact that so much 
stock has been killed by the high-powered rifles 
when deer were being hunted among the cattle. 
Moreover, in the dense brush of this locality 
a cow seems much the same as a deer to a 
novice. With beef selling at its present price 
mistakes of the kind are costly and the ranch¬ 
men have united for mutual protection in limit¬ 
ing shooting on their places to those who have 
permission. 
This condition has given the game time to in¬ 
crease, and it is seldom disturbed except when 
one of the fence riders goes ou't to get some 
venison. The soldiers are always cordially wel¬ 
comed down here. Their mere presence drives 
every suspicious character under cover for days 
at a time, and the men are allowed all the hunt¬ 
ing privileges they wish. It might be remarked 
that Blocker’s Ranch has an acreage of nearly 
90,000, that the Indio Ranch, just above, ha© 
nearly 150,000 acres and a frontage of forty-five 
miles on the Rio Grande; and that, on the 
march of sixty-five miles made by this troop, 
we passed through property of only three 
ranches, each with but a single house. The only 
ranch house we visited were the Indio and 
Blocker’s in the entire trip, the rest of the ride 
being by trail through unbroken mesquite pas¬ 
ture. The fence riders follow the line of fences 
and the banks of the Rio Grande, and depend 
on the trail to inform them of cattle running 
or unknown visitors. So the interior portion of 
the ranches are visited but seldom and the game 
thrives greatly. 
At San Ambrosio Creek, where we camped 
the first night out, Corporal Seeley killed a deer 
with an automatic rifle within 200 yards of the 
camp before we had been in the neighborhood 
twenty minutes. At the widely scattered water 
holes (tanks they are called down here) ducks 
and geese were abundant. This was in contrast 
to earlier in the season when they were decidedly 
scarce. 
By the way, is there anything unusual in deer 
being killed with a .22 rifle? I mentioned in a 
previous article two cases that had come under 
my observation of deer being killed with this 
gun. One was killed by Private Gruber, of 
Troop F; the other by Cook John J. O’Neill, of 
Troop D. Both were shot at short range. But 
the ranchmen down here assure, me that they 
know of many cases of the men killing deer 
with .22’s when they only had this weapon avail¬ 
able if they were looking for ducks at the water 
holes. Of course, all were shot as they jumped 
out with the hunter nearly on top of them. 
I notice in a recent publication that the Smith 
& Wesson firm has issued a new .35 calibre au¬ 
tomatic pistol. I will await reports of the work 
of this gun with great interest. 
There is one thing I want to say about auto¬ 
matics. I mentioned in a previous article in 
your paper that several sergeants of this troop 
valued highly the little .25 Colt’s automatic they 
possess, as it is small yet powerful, and is a 
handy weapon to slip into the trouser’s pocket 
on the occasions when the soldiers have worked 
in civilian clothes with the customs officers, both 
at the train depot here and on the bridge which 
spans the Rio Grande between this city and C. P. 
Diaz or Piedras Negras, Mexico. (The town is 
known by both names.) 
But all of them would prefer the gun to be of 
larger calibre. Some years ago I noticed in the 
Chicago Record-Herald an account of what the 
detedtives of that city wished in the automatic 
line. And I find that the customs officers here, 
the deputy sheriffs and the men of my own 
troop, who have to do “plain clothes” work occa¬ 
sionally, all express the same preference. 
This is for an automatic but little larger in 
s'ize than the present .25 Colt, but of larger bore 
—.380 at the least. The old idea of the Rem¬ 
ington double-barrel derringer of .41 rim fire is 
still alive here. If an automatic could be pro¬ 
duced no bulkier than that old arm and made in 
a good size calibre, I believe it would have a big 
sale. The .41 rim fire is not liked simply because 
the ammunition is used so little that it does not 
pay dealers to keep a fresh supply on their 
shelves, and the rim fire cartridges are frequently 
