Pistol Bullseyes

Year Published: 1940

Creator: National Rifle Association (NRA)

Complete Record: A training film for shooting pistols produced by the National Rifle Association (NRA). Starts with demonstrating proper gun posture, showing a park ranger or policeman holding a psitol, aiming it at the camera. Then the narrator discusses the proper way to align and use a gun’s sight. Then it covers the right way to hold a pistol, using lots of close ups and slow motion footage. A safety precaution: when you’re out on the shooting range put cotton in your ears.... We see the park ranger put cotton balls in his ears. Then it shows us how to build a layer of soot from a kerosene lamp onto the gun sight. Then it goes into more detail about the shooting position. A man in a pith helmet lowers and aims his pistol. Later, we see a nice demonstration of trigger squeeze. A hand holding a pistol is set against a black background and a graph that looks like a spedometer. As the trigger is squeezed, the arrow moves along the graph to show proper use. Very nice graphic design! Later we see the park ranger helping the man in the pith helmet aim properly. Next is a section on timed firing and we see closeups of hands firing pistols rapidly. The park ranger helps more students, including a woman in sunglasses. She looks great in her skirt and a pistol. We learn that you can practice at home by aiming at a clock.