I recently acquired an issue of the Thrilling Western pulp magazine from January 1937. I bought it because it featured an article by Col. John J. Boniface (1874-1943), of the US Cavalry, on “How to Be A Good Pistol Shot”. That article was part of a series he wrote called “Straight Shooting”.

In the 1930’s, radio, movies, and pulp magazines were the dominant entertainment media, and Westerns were very popular. From the 1930’s to the 1960’s, gun ownership was common and normal, so it made perfect sense for a magazine full of cowboy stories full of shootouts and gunfights to include non-fiction articles about firearms. Western Story magazine’s “Guns and Gunners” column, mostly written by Charles Edward Chapel and Philip Sharpe, was in every weekly issue from 1931-1949.

To transpose this to the modern era, it would be like a major network putting a youTube video about new guns, shooting skills or other real world gun topic as an insert in a TV action show like S.W.A.T., Navy SEALS, or any other program that included shootouts in every episode.

January 1937 1st Installment

The advice provided in the 1st installment of the series is as valid today as it was then, except for the guidance to squeeze all the fingers of the hand while working the trigger, which is now considered a problem to be corrected, not a habit to be cultivated.

After I purchased the Jan 1937 edition, I began searching for the other issues. I found a scan of the Feb 1937 issue, but as of yet have not found a print copy or a scanned issue. According to comments made in the third installment, part 2 was mostly rifle and shotgun advice.

March 1937 3rd installment

I found print copies of the March and April 1937 issues, and those installments of the article series are shared below.

Note the advice to always carry on an empty chamber. This was and still is conventional wisdom for single action revolvers, where carrying with the hammer down on an empty is the correct approach.

If you look at old pictures of actual cowboys, or read articles by historians, you’ll find that the low slung gun belt and holster common to movie cowboys (and discussed in this article), were not as common as simpler designs worn on the belt holding up the cowboy’s pants.

Fast-Draw Holsters Are Mostly a Lie — Here’s How Real Gunslingers Packed Their Pieces

The idea of not standing square to a potential threat, to minimize potential target area, has been around for a long time, but mostly disappeared from modern handgun training in the 1980’s and 1990’s as more police began wearing body armor and technique changed to favor both arms fully extended.

The technique of resting the gun on the left forearm was a baby step in evolution of technique.

As the writers of the early 20th century liked to explain, the revolver was a “HAND gun”, not a “HANDS gun”, and should be gripped and fired using only one hand. Typically gripping the gun with two hands was something women, children and the disabled might do, but adult men were expected to shoot one handed. Resting the gun on the forearm eventually led to the 1950’s “cup and saucer” technique, which finally led to Jack Weaver gripping the gun with both hands to win Leatherslap matches in the early 1960’s.

The classic 6″ bullseye (now commonly known as the B-8) was the target of choice in the 1930’s as well, with a larger 10″ bullseye target used for shots past 25 yards. Boniface encourages users of the semi-auto (1911 .45 ACP pistol) to carry it loaded, cocked and locked, and to learn to shoot with target focus, using both eyes.

April 1937 4th Installment

The final article in the series was published April 1937.

The most interesting part of this article is his advice about shooting from horseback – a skill that he was considered a expert in. His advice to “always aim low” because “ricochets count” may have been conventional wisdom of that era, but isn’t taught as a general rule today.

Other Writing

Boniface wrote the classic text “The Cavalry Horse and His Pack”, which embraces the practical details of cavalry service, back in 1903. That book is available in PDF format from archive.org.

https://archive.org/details/cu31924030758688

Boniface was also a prolific pulp Western author under the pen name “Wilton West”. His pulp bibliography can be found here

http://www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/n01/n01024.htm

http://www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/n01/n01025.htm

Here’s a scanned issue of Thrilling Western (Jan 1936) that includes one of his novelettes. This site has a large archive of scans of classic pulp magazines for free download.

The Boniface family has a long tradition of military service spanning many generations, as noted in his son’s obituary.

As the saying goes, if you want to learn something new, read an old book.