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Outing, vol 17, No 1 (?) Oct 1890 pages 69-70

Women's Guns And Gunning.

Athletic girls are by no means rare nowadays. Beginning with the dignified croquet, which required neither unusual attire nor undue exertion, women have gradually but rapidly worked their way to the front ranks in all exercises where actual physical strength is not the only criterion. In tennis they hold their own easily ; they bowl well ; they swim and skate more gracefully than their brothers. Making allowances for difference in endurance and muscular strength, American women often make records in outdoor sports of which they may be justly proud.

But I think, with all this progress, the inborn feminine antipathy to a "gun" is not yet overcome. Of course the exceptional woman who was brought up in the backwoods, and to whose baby ears the sound of firearms is as natural as the crow of the cock, cannot understand this feeling. But I know it is almost universal among women. There is a shock in the terrible suddenness of the discharge of a gun that many women can never overcome ; and even if they conquer the fear of the weapon sufficiently to fire it off, the recoil is so unpleasant and alarming that the first attempt often proves the last. I firmly believe that many women who have had both desire and opportunity to learn to shoot have abandoned the idea for these two reasons. Of course many have conquered these difficulties, and have learned to use the ordinary light weight rifles and shotguns successfully.

Within the last few years there have been made several light, small weapons which perfectly fit all feminine requirements and which still produce skill and a full bag of game. First among these for a woman and a beginner is a light pocket rifle. It looks like a toy, is about as heavy as a parasol, and in action is as accurate and deadly as any firearm made. The discharge of the bullet causes no more noise than a clap of the hands, and there is not the slightest perceptible recoil. It is shooting with every possible unpleasantness eliminated.

Nothing could be better for a woman to begin with than this little weapon. The ammunition is very cheap and consists of two distinct kinds, the conical bulleted caps and the long .22 calibre bullets. The former are excellent for practicing, as they will not go through a board an inch and a half thick yet are perfectly deadly to small birds like larks, robins, quail. The latter are the new long bullets for which this little rifle is especially chambered. They mean death every time to ducks, geese, rabbits, squirrels and, in fact, very much larger game.

With my rifle of this pattern, not long since, against a strong wind and on rough water, I shot a large loon that was fully one hundred yards distant. Last spring, with two shotguns and a rifle in the same house with me, I watched whole flocks of ducks, and never once could make up my mind to try at them. Now I am quite sure that, once having tasted the delight of putting a bullet just where I wanted it, I would use an old-fashioned blunderbuss if nothing else were handy, and I think any other woman would feel the same way. The shock from the noise and the dread of the recoil would be quite forgotten in the confidence in her own power to take a cool, straight aim and in the excitement and anticipation of killing her bird.

Another advantage in the lightness of the report is that very often a first shot which fails to hit will not frighten the bird away, and one may get two or three shots before the bird flies ; whereas a .32 calibre rifle is certain to thoroughly alarm any creature at This little weapon weighs less than three pounds and is most convenient to carry. The skeleton stock can be detached, and the whole thing, wrapped in a woolen cloth, can be carried under the arm as easily as a pair of skates, or, put into a music roll, forms as correct and innocent looking a parcel as any lady could wish to carry.

Very likely a woman once becoming expert with this rifle will soon of her own accord undertake to use a larger weapon, and finding all the old nervous dread vanished feel that the gun is in her power and must do her bidding. In her subsequent anxiety as to the result of her shot she will be apt to quite forget both noise and recoil.

I think, beyond a doubt, that anyone who uses this little rifle will agree with me in that it is the most perfect and desirable weapon that could be put into a woman's hands to begin with. It is inexpensive and with proper care will last a long time, and although she may partially discard it in favor of more pretentious arms, it will not outgrow its usefulness, but on many occasions can be taken on an excursion or tour when the carrying of a larger weapon would have been impossible.

With all the various devices for indoor shooting with harmless missiles there is an inevitable disappointment in the thought that it is not real shooting ; that were you in the open air your shots would mean nothing. But with this little rifle you will find a different experience.

Practice indoors or in the yard with the .22 short cartridges and when in the field use the .22 long cartridges.

I should like, before closing, to give one little piece of advice to all girls and women who wish to shoot. Shoot quickly. By this I do not mean to jerk your rifle up to your shoulder and bang away. But raise it deliberately, fit it snugly into your shoulder, hold firmly with both hands, and the instant the object is covered pull the trigger. You may find this very difficult at first, but once having become used to your gun, and cool enough in its handling to be perfectly composed and quiet, you will do much better work than by taking a long aim. The position of holding a gun, however light, with the arms raised, is intensely difficult, and it would be years before such control of muscles could be gained as to insure your holding it steadily more than two or three seconds ; so that the longer you are in taking aim the less steady your grasp and you diminish your chances for a good shot

The rifle is for stationary or running game ; the shotgun for wing shooting.

The sixteen gauge, five-pound shotgun is not too heavy for women, and it can be loaded with a charge that will not cause any more recoil than a .22-calibred rifle. When firing any gun hold the stock tight to the shoulder ; then, if there be any recoil, it will only gently turn you about. If you do not hold the gun tight to your shoulder it will, of course, strike you.

For wing shooting —that is shooting game when on the wing—the shotgun is the proper weapon. For stationary work the rifle comes in play. There is immense sport in both. While we may gallantly bag game in any manner with the rifle, so long as it is in season, whether the bird be on the wing or stationary, we should not kill stationary objects with the shotgun's scattering charge. It was because the rifle had but a single ball to let down the game that the shot gun was invented for wing shooting.

Alice Stead Binney.