Sixguns and Bullseyes and Automatic Pistol Marksmanship: A Comprehensive Manual on Target Shooting

Copyright © 1936, 1937, 2013 by Skyhorse Publishing Originally published by T. G. Samworth in 1936 and 1937. Special contents copyright © 1996, 2013 The National Rifle Association.

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-62087-372-4

Printed in the United States of America

"COME ON, RICKEY. GET HOT!

Make this last one a ‘Ten’ too!"

EDITOR’S NOTE

William Reichenbach’s

SIXGUNS AND BULLSEYES

AND

AUTOMATIC PISTOL MARKSMANSHIP

by Dr. Jim Casada

This volume of classic firearms titles brings together what were, in their original format, two distinct works. Their inclusion within the confines of the covers of a single book is eminently sensible. For starters, both efforts were written by the same author, William Reichenbach. Moreover, each of the treatments deals with handguns, and each was intended to complement the other. Indeed, when the two works were published by Thomas Samworth under the imprint of his Small-Arms Technical Publishing Company, Automatic Pistol Marksmanship was described, in the promotional literature printed on the dust jacket and issued separately, as "a companion volume and continuation … of Sixguns and Bullseyes." Together these small Sams, as they are sometimes called in the out-of-print book trade, have long been cherished by handgun enthusiasts. Now, after many decades out of print, they are again available in what is literally a two for the price of one situation.

It is somewhat surprising that these two slender volumes have remained out of print—and largely unavailable even in the used sporting and gun book trade—for so long. Certainly the works were positively received when first published, and they have subsequently been accorded positive evaluations by gun bibliophiles. For example, Brian R. Smith, in his important reference work Samworth Books: A Descriptive Bibliography (1990), offers insight on the enduring intrinsic and material values of the duo. Referring to Sixguns and Bullseyes, he writes, The methods [of shooting] expounded by the author are of merit and interest, and he finds Automatic Pistol Marksmanship to be an interesting little volume, recommending it as a worthwhile … addition to the handgun enthusiast’s library. Smith further notes that most of the subsequent works in the general subject area borrowed heavily from the methods and techniques Reichenbach presented.

Another noted student and bibliophile specializing in the shooting sports, Ray Riling, also has praise for the two volumes. In Guns and Shooting: A Bibliography (1982), he describes Sixguns and Bullseyes as a brief but satisfactory coverage of the art of handgun shooting. Riling rates Automatic Pistol Marksmanship as a solid primer for those interested in practical shooting with handguns.

The passage of some threescore years since these books initially appeared under the editorial and publishing genius of Mr. Sam, as Thomas Samworth was known to his close associates, has done nothing to dull their luster. But it should also be quickly noted that Reichenbach’s small Sams have always been something of bibliographical redheaded stepchildren in comparison with some of the larger, more popular Small-Arms Technical Publishing Company imprints, such as Roy F. Dunlap’s Gunsmithing or John Pondoro Taylor’s African Rifles & Cartridges. Unquestionably this circumstance is due in part to the fact that both works appeared when the United States was in the depths of the Great Depression. Many folks were far too busy trying to keep the wolf from the door to think about books that focused on recreational shooting. Therein, too, lies at least one reason the books so seldom appear in listings from the out-of-print trade.

Indeed, neither of Reichenbach’s efforts makes an appearance in one of the most commonly consulted guides to prices for books in this field, Richard A. Hand’s A Book-mans Guide to Hunting, Shooting, Angling and Related Subjects: A Compilation of Over 13,450 Catalog Entries with Prices and Annotations, both Bibliographical and Descriptive (1991). Given that Hand compiled the list from catalogs by booksellers, this is a sound indication of just how seldom the books are offered. I have seen Sixguns and Bullseyes listed for sale only twice, both times in 1989, the price in each case being $100 for a decent but by no means pristine copy. I acquired one of these copies, in very good condition but with a tatty dust jacket, and felt I had done reasonably well; but the fact remains that the price tag is quite a leap from the cost of $1.50, at which the book originally sold. Another indication that both Reichenbachs are not readily available is found in the pages of the National Union Catalog of Pre-1956 Imprints. Only a handful of copies of each book are located in major American libraries.

These considerations do not, however, suggest that original copies of the two Reichenbachs are extraordinarily valuable. According to Brian Smith, foremost authority on Samworth books, later printings of Sixguns and Bullseyes are relatively common, and often seen in the dust jacket. First impressions are not all that rare, if one is persistent. He considers Automatic Pistol Marksmanship to be somewhat more difficult to locate. My opinion is that Smith understates their rarity, and certainly there is no denying the fact that both books are choice collector’s items. With some luck and, as Smith says, persistence, you can probably locate and acquire copies of both books, dust jackets intact, for a total of $250 to $300.

The printing history of Sixguns and Bullseyes is an interesting one. An earlier version of the book appeared in 1935, under the intriguing if somewhat misleading title The Elusive Ten: A New Deal in Revolver Shooting (the new deal comes from the phrase President Franklin D. Roosevelt used to describe his program to get the United States out of the grips of the Depression). It was published by an obscure operation, and in all likelihood the author under-wrote the publishing costs. Be that as it may, reviewers praised it as the best handgun manual ever written, and that likely explains why Samworth said that its excellence and general application were such that the edition was soon exhausted. The new version, published in 1936, was, as Ray Riling says, virtually a new edition, and in his preface to the new edition Reichenbach indicates that the book was completely rewritten. Perhaps more important, it also benefited from the keen, experienced editorial eye of Thomas Samworth, so much so that the author suggested that Samworth had taken great pains to ‘make the first edition look sick. ’ It might be added that the changed title was also an improvement in that it provided a better clue to the book’s contents. As mentioned above, there were several printings (or impressions) of this book — in 1936 (in addition to the initial printing) and 1943, distinguishable from the first impression by the ad page dates and the fact that the place of publication is given as Plantersville, South Carolina, rather than Onslow County, North Carolina.

There was but a single edition of Automatic Pistol Marksmanship (published in 1937), and to my knowledge this is the first time the book has been reprinted. There were, however, several printings of the first edition. Like Sixguns and Bullseyes, the first printing is readily distinguishable from subsequent impressions by the place of publication listed on the title page, the first impression having been made in Onslow County, North Carolina, the later impressions in Plantersville, South Carolina. The book is also quite fragile because of the thin, embossed cover (present in Sixguns and Bullseyes as well), and Smith recommends acquisition of a second copy for reading purposes.

Little in the way of personal information is available on William Reichenbach. He does not appear in any of the standard biographical directories. We can determine he was married because he dedicates Sixguns and Bullseyes to his wife, Agnes. In truth, though, the dedication to Automatic Pistol Marksmanship is more revealing, for it is redolent of an author who almost certainly deserves description as an eccentric if not an out-and-out curmudgeon. It reads: Dedicated to The Left Wing’ of Our Pistol Shooting Fraternity. That can be interpreted in various ways, from political leanings to (as I suspect was the case) the fact that the author was a left-handed shooter.

Reichenbach wrote in a chatty, almost conversational fashion, and some critics have condemned him for this. On the other hand, his down-to-earth style makes for easy reading and easy understanding, two key characteristics of manuals or primers, as these two books were intended to be. Reichenbach actually took considerable delight in flaunting his common man approach and said, It was not in me to talk highfalutingly to my brothers, and he reveled in blissfully ignoring all literary precepts. That may be overstating matters a bit, because whatever the author’s views, those of Samworth were indelibly imprinted on the published works. Samworth knew the gun fraternity backwards and forwards, and what he did was to make Reichenbach a readable author without robbing his books of their peculiar flair and homely appeal. Those hallmarks, along with the enduring value of the books’ contents, explain why the two works reprinted here have weathered so well the demanding test of time. Intensely practical, easily read, and retaining their timeliness to a surprising degree, Sixguns and Bullseyes and Automatic Pistol Marksmanship are now united in a single volume.

Jim Casada

ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA

Dedicated

to my wife

AGNES REICHENBACH

CONTENTS

PART 1

Venerables of the Olymp

First Off

Taking Stock

Enthusiasm

What Do We Face

Guns and Headaches

Hold

Stance

Relaxation

Moving Into Position

Sighting

Squeeze

Breathing

Discourse on Habit

Resolved Therefore

PART 2

Ascent to the Olymp

Unity of Hold and Squeeze

Synchronized Sighting

Flinch-Wobble Company

Inhibitions and Ghosts

Time and Rapid Fire

Adjusted Stance

Competition

Reputation

You and Your Gun

The Possible

Fun Galore

Some Kicks Ill

Sights and Sighs

Trimming Your Gun

Grips

Ammunition Wrinkles

Gun Legislation

Finis

PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION

We are in a position now to judge whether my idea of a Revolver Manual deserves a place in the market—The first edition of THE ELUSIVE TEN was sold out within a few months.

The original manual seemed quite a bold undertaking. The critics—the big shots, you know—stared at each other in sheer amazement at the effrontery of the unknown amateur.

What the h—? they muttered and—However, their fairness was above reproach! They gave the book a break!

After reading it, they were actually pleased over THE ELUSIVE TEN and they did not withhold their praise. But then, could they possibly have been Experts in our sport and be unfair at the same time? Our sport isn’t made that way!

There was one aesthetically minded bloke who, although quite taken with the matter treated, criticised my writing style—as being too conversational, as being too much at variance with academic concepts.

Nevertheless, the enthusiastic approval of all the many readers (from as far away as New Zealand) who took the trouble to send in their reactions, (Among them many ambitious police officers—bless their hearts) made me wonder who in h—could have been right?

No! It was not in me to talk highfalutingly to my brothers.

In this, the second edition which I rewrote entirely, I thought it best to go on pleasing the SHOOTER and not the professional Aesthet—since I do not seem to be able to please both at the same time!

Blissfully ignoring all literary precepts, therefore, I shall release this edition. Old friends will not recognize the manual in its present new form since it not only has been remodeled from the ground up, but it also has been considerably enlarged, in response to numerous requests. (Double its former number of pages). I have, among others, added several chapters on the dope hinted at in the first edition and have cut loose generally. The first-edition-readers should get a whole lot more out of this book and, doubtlessly, they will chuckle when they now find a more or less friendly dig here and there.

My publisher, to use his own words, has taken great pains to make the first edition look sick and I think that he has succeeded.

May this Sixguns and Bullseyes make me as many (and more) friends as the original one did!

WILLIAM REICHENBACH

Wantagh, L. I.

New York.

MY ALIBI

Ah—Life sometimes takes unexpected turns!—Permit me to tell how the first Elusive Ten came into being.

If some irresponsible companion had not induced me, after many years of estrangement from our sport, to take up handgun-shooting again, the idea of the manual might, forever, have stayed hidden in the folds of my brain.

As if I had been waiting for just such a slight impulse, I fell to shooting with considerable zest.

Being sort of thorough-going, I shot and studied at the same time. Although I shot well, I was not happy. The fact that many of my associates did not seem to catch on to the art was extremely disturbing to me. They assured me that they had studied all available literature on the subject. That they were trying, pains-takingly and untiringly, was obvious. I proceeded to give them some pointers. And lo and behold! (what it means I don’t know, but lo and behold!) they progressed.

And an idea was born.

Maybe, (I said to myself) there are other shooters who have tried and have never succeeded? Maybe I have a message to convey? Maybe I have stumbled onto something too valuable to be allowed to perish in obscurity? Maybe I can satisfy a demand for an illuminating treatise? Just try and stop me.

I was certain, almost from the very beginning, that the cause for the poor performances generally seen in revolver shooting, was to be found in inadequate knowledge of the true technique. Coaching, with rare exceptions, was done along antiquated lines, wholly lacking in results. My studies had convinced me that only a radical departure from the trodden paths of outdated teaching would provide the solution to the difficulty.

Should I let it rest at that?

No, the trouble with me was that I was so serious about this thing that I could not keep it for myself. I felt that I must relate my own experience so that others may benefit. If the reader should suffer my book in silence, and if I could not stir him out of his lethargy and force him to take the matter just as seriously as I do, then my writing technique must be blamed. The matter itself, I know, was worth any one’s while.

The question, therefore, seemed to be less one of justification for the conception of this book than one of finding apologies for its style, or lack of style. Although old-timers might shoot me on sight, I had to gamble on being useful to you, my dear reader. You alone were to be the judge.

I prided myself in calling my brain-child a manual. It probably is one. It sounds rather nice. To start with, I had made a firm resolution to let the manual deal solely with the technique of holding, aiming and firing a revolver. I did not want to talk about loading and unloading a gun nor about the procedure for inspection. Furthermore, if the reader were to seek information on internal and external ballistics, I felt that I could safely advise him to ask one of the gun-cranks down the block. They are more numerous than wild rabbits. The bit of technical stuff which might be found in my manual was just thrown in to impress the student.

As for the title, I believed it should have reference to the exasperating goddess of the confirmed target shooter, namely, The Elusive Ten. The Ten referring, of course, to the Ten-Ring of the target. But why should the Ten be described as elusive? If the reader did not already know the answer, he soon would.

Satisfaction at having realized a latent propensity for writing, can be complete only when the driving factor is the honest urge to submit knowledge gained in study, knowledge which we know is lacking in many quarters.

It seems simply unbearable to know that with the excellent material we have in our country, we should have so few successful revolver shots.

The irony of it!

The revolver was invented and perfected right here and it actually played an important role in the building of our vast empire and yet we are essentially not a nation of revolver shots.

Europe has been much more consistent. There the modern automatic was perfected and the actual percentage of fine marksmen over there brings home, quite forcibly, how really sad the picture looks in our country. What is the cause of that? It cannot be blundering legislation alone, controlling the distribution of hand-arms, because Europe too has legislation of various kinds. Am I to believe that it is nothing but lethargy, pure and simple? Indifference toward a sport which imposes so much control over one’s self? Are we Americans really steeped so much in nervous haste, in impatiently tackling the more vivacious sports only, sports which demand feverish action? Football, baseball, boxing, etc.? Not quite! Take fishing, or its more scientific branch: Bait Casting. We have there many thousands of really good performers. Why should that sport which surely demands skill, patience, knowledge, nerve control to a high degree, produce so many experts? The answer is simple: The equipment and the technique have been developed methodically and logically. Cannot we say this about Revolver Shooting also? I am afraid that the answer must be partly in the negative. Without a logically developed technique we discourage too many aspirants. It appears as if only sporadic efforts have ever been made on the part of those that should have been leaders, namely the experts in our sport. It is true that we have had and still have some remarkable shots, but they either tackled the job of distributing their knowledge in quite an unsuitable or dispirited, way, or not at all.

I have made an effort in this manual to fill the gap and do hope that interest will be stirred up among the coming experts to cause them to take a leading roll in the development and the distribution of the true technique of Revolver Shooting.

We in America still cling to the revolver, as witness our vast police forces, guards, most clubs, etc. How vitally important then is it to provide them with revolver technique something which up to now they evidently do not possess.

This new Manual contains much controversial matter. There may be criticism galore. At least, I hope so. That would be fine! Anything should be better than the present indifference on the part of our should-be-leaders.

We need new blood!

New ideas!

PART I

VENERABLES OF THE OLYMP

Webster will concur that I imply no slur.

Neither is the title meant as a compliment for the old-timer! Or as Homer used to wail:

Oh, you silly stick-in-the-mud,

Why keep your nose so high,

When weary feet are shuffling the rut

Of oblivion? Oh, tell me why?

Why, if you are good with the six-gun,

Guard your knowledge with concern?

Why not grant the youngsters fun,

Give them a chance to learn

The art of target-revolver shooting?

Are you afraid they might start hooting

The high priest of a simple art,

If the mystery should depart?

Maestro, dear Old-Timer, where, oh where, is the crop of successful shooters which your ability should have developed?

I wish to say here that I admire nothing more than an expert revolver shot, and, naturally, my deep admiration includes you Old-Timers. However, I must ask now: How much of your experience have you divulged, you rascals? Were not most of you satisfied to play cock of the walk, soaking up the dumb admiration of the small fry? Facile princeps.

It is true that some of you have written books, but because of their high prices, they were inaccessible to the army of revolver enthusiasts. Some of you have approached the matter in a scientific way, which is so much Greek to us dubs.

Were we beginners not left more or less to our own devices?

What we wanted and needed were precise instructions, available to every one—directions guiding us step by step, not the agony of having to find out things by our lone selves, by the trial and error method. How else were it possible that we still have so many thousands of enthusiasts who have never achieved even the mediocre?

Take the vast number of army men, police officers, guards etc., the majority of whom handle their guns in such a desultory fashion, that, to break their necks, they cannot even hit the proverbial barndoor.

Will my little book be a good mentor?

I aim to address only men and women of intelligence, thereby reducing the number of possible failures by a great percentage.

I believe that the group which proves to be intelligent enough to digest my treatise will get somewhere. They may not all turn out to be champions, but they will give good accounts of themselves.

I plan to use a suggestive method, cloaked in conversational language, hoping it will prove to be helpful. It has been, where I have instructed personally.

The written word, naturally, cannot fully replace actual demonstration. We all know that. But, for intelligent people, great elaborations or endless repetitions will not be necessary.

Although I trust that I am offering a concise system of my own, there is no issue at stake between you Old-Timers and me. I ask no indulgence from you. Things such as preponderance of hold over squeeze, or vice versa, are only matters of opinion and should not be subjects of dispute.

I could point out the fact that systems, any systems, are debatable but their only criterion must be their success or their failure.

And, my dear Old-Timers, we do really have too many, entirely too many dubs—shall I say, in spite of you?

But: let’s get on!

FIRST OFF

You newcomers to our circle—Let’s get acquainted!

We will get on faster if we understand each other!

Whether you are the city-editor on some paper, or perchance, a mechanic in a garage, or a millionaire with callouses on your hands from cutting coupons, in one respect you are all alike. All of you have tinkered with guns—or have thought about them.

There is a fascination about hand-guns which, I believe, is entirely sentimental. Maybe, one of your forefathers rode a cavalry horse and scared the poor animal with some great, big and frightfully heavy horsepistol—Or, he might have been embroiled in some elegant duel about this sweet thing or the other—Or again, he may have emptied his six-shooter over his shoulder while urging along a purloined pinto.

We all like to think these things and talk about them. And say: Haven’t we all read those exciting Wild West and Detective stories? Oh, what those fellows couldn’t do with their guns—And, although we know now that the weak-hearted authors laid it on a bit, now and then, just hand us a story with some good shooting in it—and we will read it even now, doddering as we are. The writers have become a little more careful nowadays—And our modern guns are different and they are being improved constantly. Yes, the pot is boiling!

True, we may have become a little more practical, a little less easily moved, a little skeptical, but we still cherish deep in our hearts a desire to be deadly marksmen with a six-gun and to be known as such.

But we dismiss the thought as just a little foolish. What would be the use? And, anyhow, it would be too difficult.

Dear Readers, young and old, why should such a desire be foolish? True, we would not want to reinstate the rather wild and lawless times of the gold rushes,