There are two makes which, from personal experience, I can recommend; one is the Colt .45 which has been adopted by the United States Government for army and navy purposes. This has a grip at the proper angle for shooting. Hardly any other automatic pistol is properly designed in this respect, their grips being too much at a right angle, so that the barrel tends to point too high, this creating a strain on the wrist, since the wrist must be held in an unnatural position.
The Colt automatic of the U. S. Army pattern has a stock as pleasant to aim with as a duelling pistol.
Next, it has a hammer which can be put to full and half cock, just like that of an ordinary pistol or revolver.
It has, besides, two safety appliances; one a slide which can be moved with the thumb just before firing, like the safety bolt of a shotgun, the other a safety bolt which is pressed by the palm of the hand in the act of squeezing the trigger, like that of the Smith & Wesson safety revolver, later described.
The pistol is, therefore, as “fool-proof” as it seems possible to make it, but yet there is the danger of a cartridge being left in the chamber when the magazine is taken out. I again warn all shooters of automatic pistols to bear this fact constantly in mind whenever handling an automatic.
However, I do not like the sights of this Colt automatic. The front sight is a black, upright, narrow rod when aiming, and the notch in the hind sight is far too small. This arrangement of sights may be all very well for deliberate aiming at a black bull’s-eye on a white target, but it is of no use for practical shooting in a bad light.
The front sight should be a “shotgun” silver “bead,” and the hind sight a large “U”-shaped notch that will show the full bead in it with a little to spare at the sides.
With these alterations, I think the U. S. Regulation Colt automatic is the best automatic I know.
The Savage automatic is also very good, and I can confidently recommend it, especially for those who find the .45 Colt too large for their purpose.
The following chapters on learning to shoot with the revolver and duelling pistol apply equally to the automatic pistol, except that the butts to be shot against should be more solid when using the automatic, owing to its penetration, and the shooting with it should take place only out-of-doors, as the noise is very bad for indoors.