Only Hits Matter

Old West gunfighters had two secrets for accuracy when shooting the Colt Peacemaker.

Skill was the defining aspect of both the gunfighter and the exhibition shooter, for despite Hollywood’s emphasis on speed, only hits matter in a gunfight. Herein I will divulge two secrets they had—one an open secret and the other the most closely guarded. One known only to a handful of men back in its day.

The first is point shooting, called instinct shooting today. You can actually hit far faster and more accurately this way than you can with sights, but this method, unlike using sights, requires constant practice to keep the hand/eye coordination and muscle memory working right for it. Buffalo Bill referred to it, saying that you fired “when the gun felt right,” while Doc Carver could break 100 straight glass balls thrown in the air with a shotgun fired from the hip. In the 20th century, Ed McGivern set many of his records with his guns held below his line of sight. Clear proof of point shooting.

Elmer Kieth used to use empty cartridge cases as targets for his point shooting.

In the old days, learning this method required incessant practice, but the late Lucky MacDaniel developed a way to teach it quickly by starting out with strict form like shooting an English longbow. Later you will be able to shoot from any position but not in the beginning.

Lay out a row of matchsticks, empty cartridge cases or other small targets as far away as you can easily see them. Assume the classic duelist stance with your body sideways to your target. This position also makes you the smallest target for return fire. Fully extend the arm with the elbow and wrist straight and lay your chin against the shoulder of the gun arm. The next part is critical. TOTALLY IGNORE THE SIGHTS! Lock your eyes firmly on the target ignoring all else. Fire at each one in turn. If you miss, keep going on to the next one or you will just miss again in the same place. Keep firing and you will soon start hitting. Concentrate only on looking at the target and pointing. Your body points better when fully extended, which is why the rigid stance works so well.

The greatest secret, known only to a few, is the gunfighter’s secret grip. This makes point shooting much more effective as it maximizes the bond between the shooter and the gun. Before trying this, take a file and a stone directly to the sharp spur of the SAA where polishing leaves it extremely sharp or you will get blood on the gun which can cause corrosion. The higher the grip the better the SAA points. Begin by cocking the revolver with the thumb held crossways on the hammer instead of longways like you would with a double action revolver. This throws the hand high on the gun, whereas the latter throws it low and is also more prone to slipping off the hammer—a mistake that can get you killed in a gunfight. The palm of the hand is against the back strap of the pistol as much as possible, as opposed to being beside it like how an M1911 is held. The hand is jammed up hard against the hammer spur while the base of the trigger finger and the thumb are angled down, pressing against the Colt logo panels at the top of the grip. The trigger finger is wrapped around the trigger at the first joint so that the tip of the trigger finger is touching the tip of the thumb.

To fire, squeeze both Colt logo panels with the thumb and the base of the trigger finger. This aligns the gun with where you are pointing without using the sights. Press the tip of the trigger finger against the tip of the thumb ignoring the trigger to fire.

This method compensates for the heavy hammer fall of the SAA and also eliminates the gun rolling back in the hand. It is the greatest secret to shooting the SAA revolver.