A very accurate pistol for gallery and short-range shooting is made by M. Gastinne-Renette of Paris and used in his gallery in that city. These are muzzle-loading and are very tedious and inconvenient to manipulate. For this reason they have not become popular. A few of these arms have been made up as breech-loaders, with a tip-up action similar to the Stevens, but operated by a side lever under the hammer and chambered for the .44 Russian cartridge. In this form with gallery charges the pistol has given very good results. (See [Fig. 17], facing p. 32.)
The revolver is not quite as accurate as the pistol, on account of the necessity of having the cylinder detached from the barrel. If the pin on which the cylinder revolves is not at right angles with the end of the cylinder, there will be more space between the cylinder and the breech end of the barrel in some positions of the cylinder than in others. The result will be varying amounts of gas escaping from the different chambers of the cylinder, and consequently irregular shooting. The accuracy of the revolver depends largely, too, upon the degree of perfection in which all the chambers of the cylinder align with the bore of the barrel at the instant of discharge. When the chambers do not align perfectly, the bullet enters the barrel eccentrically and a portion of it is shaved off. This is fatal to accuracy, especially when smokeless powder is used. Imperfect alignment of chamber and barrel is also a frequent cause of the “leading” of the barrel. Some very ingenious mechanical expedients are used in the best revolvers to reduce to a minimum the wear of those parts which operate and hold the cylinder in position.
The revolvers generally used for target shooting are the military arms already described, with longer barrels, chambered for special cartridges, fitted with target sights, special handles, and other modifications to suit the whims and tastes of individuals.
Some of these modifications are distinctly advantageous. One of the most recent fads is to skeletonize the hammer by boring away as much metal as possible and to increase the tension of the main spring. The combined effect is almost instant response to the trigger pull.
Fig. 13.—SMITH & WESSON PISTOL
Ten-inch barrel; weight, 1 lb., 8¾ oz., .22 cal.
Fig. 14—STEVENS PISTOL, GOULD MODEL
Ten-inch barrel; weight, 1 lb., 10 oz.; .22 cal.