Ed McGivern's Book of Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting

by Ed McGivern

Ed McGivern needs no introduction to gun enthusiasts and serious marksmen. For more than 50 years he was revered as one of the top authorities in the field of small firearms. A world champion marksmen who made it into The Guinness Book of World Records, he trained scores of law enforcement officers and developed a system of teaching that is as effective today as it was when this book was originally published. It resulted from years of experimentation and research conducted by McGivern, who utilized electric timers and other devices to determine the angles and techniques that would produce the fastest, most accurate revolver shooting. Packed with handgun lore and original photographs from the first edition, this much-sought-after classic contains a wealth of facts for marksmen everywhere.

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

'''Edward ('Ed') McGivern''' was a famous exhibition shooter, shooting instructor and author of the book Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting. McGivern also performed extensive research into handgun shooting, particularly with the double-action revolver.

Ed McGivern is renowned as one of the greatest handgunners that ever lived. His Guinness world record for "The greatest rapid-fire feat" (set on August 20, 1932 at the Lead Club Range, South Dakota) still stands. He emptied two revolvers in less than two seconds. His accomplishments include "firing two times from 15 feet five shots which could be covered by a silver half-dollar piece in 45/100 of a second". His shooting was so fast, timing machines would malfunction in attempting to record his shooting speed.

Short, balding and stocky Ed McGivern did not match the cliched image of the steely "gunfighter", but in the real world he exceeded anything a fictional character could hope for.

Biography source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_McGivern

Reviews

[Andrew Post · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not at all ashamed to admit that I skimmed Chapters 17-31. Writing in 1936, McGivern is unfortunately long-winded and sesquipedalian, making this book very dry and dull. McGivern takes entire chapters to say what could be summarized in a sentence or two, and moreover seems to have written this book in response to criticism of his shooting techniques and general disbelief in his abilities, and the chip on the author's shoulder is plainly apparent throughout. Given that this was published 84 years ago, most of the equipment listed (timepieces, ammunition, scopes, holsters, belts, etc.) is no longer available for purchase or has been supplanted by something technologically superior, so McGivern's advice is way out of date. Also, many of the firearms he recommends are almost unobtainable for any price these days.

On a more personal note, this book put me about three books behind on my 2020 reading quota. Cross my heart and hope to die if I ever stick in a last-minute addition like this again.

[Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's no doubt he was one of the best shots of all time. And he had an outsize personality. But he was a terrible writer. Book is poorly organized. Material is highly repetitive, extremely chatty, and pretty light-weight in most places. It could've been a true classic with an authoritative editor and at about 1/4 the length.

[Shawn Fahy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished “Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting” by Ed McGivern (1937), which I learned about a long time ago as one of the classic books on shooting and a “must read” for any student of shooting or enthusiast of the history and development of shooting technique. I think that the protagonist of "Unintended Consequences" by John Ross is also depicted as reading the book as a child or teenager.

The book goes over ‘advanced’ shooting technique for revolvers and describes some of the feats that McGivern mastered and carried out for audiences in early 20th century performances. Probably the best part of the book was the “time capsule” element, which allowed me to explore an era where shooting performances were considered wholesome entertainment and a perfectly valid art form instead of being shrieked at as “gunviolence”, as is the knee-jerk NPC reaction from so many today, if such exhibitions are permitted at all. Some of the safety practices of that era were also questionable, but in context of the skill level of the shooters involved, perhaps this element of risk was kind of the point of this type of exhibition. Keep in mind that this was also the era of biplane pilots that would wing-walk and barn-storm for entertainment’s sake, so perhaps our bubble-wrapped present era is also deserving of some different kind of judgment?

The technology used at this time to measure split and reaction times was also very interesting to me: there were gadgets that could be affixed to the front of a revolver’s trigger guard that would record the times with the recoil of the gun. I’d never heard of such a device and had assumed - incorrectly, it turns out - that the advent of the modern electronic shot timer was the first thing of its kind.

It was also interesting to read about how some things never change: McGivern reminds the reader that buying new gear probably won’t make you suck less, especially if you won’t practice with it, a lesson that many 21st century shooters still haven’t completely internalized.

McGivern also had an interest in training good guys to shoot bad guys, something quite common in the year 2024, but rather unfashionable in the USA in his time. A lot of the drills and techniques discussed in the book are in line with practical (?) martial skills for winning fights, not just entertainment. Interestingly, it seems that McGivern also did some “red force” training, e.g.: how to steal a cop’s sidearm and make accurate hits with it while in handcuffs. This was to put oneself in the mind of the bad guy and to anticipate what tactics he might use against police, a very valuable thought experiment. Going back to the differences in eras, I couldn’t help but imagine outcry at such experiments today among even a large subset of the American gun culture; I fear the modern widespread allergy to nuance would spawn cries of “you’re giving ideas to bad guys!” without ever pausing to consider that the baddest of the bad guys have already conducted such research and that the good guys (especially the squeamish or square) haven’t caught up yet.

One of the things that hampers the readability of this book the most is the run-on sentences and meandering explanations combined with the flowery prose. This combination caused my attention to evaporate in record time. One of the reasons that it took so long to read this one is that I would read only one or two pages at a time before putting it down again, as that’s all that I could pay attention to in one sitting.

There are some techniques outlined in the book for a variety of trick shooting feats (the most interesting of which was shooting aerial targets with handguns) but the long-windedness of the descriptions left me with little information or inspiration to try such (additionally, places to practice such a thing safely and without harassment are very rare indeed). McGivern also lists some drills to try out but fails to share critical information on things like what target size to use, what distance to place them at, par times, and so on. I suppose it could be fun to fill in those blanks by figuring out how best to set the drills up through experimentation, but one probably shouldn’t have to when reading a “how to” book.

Writing style, that intangible and indefinable quality of any book, can make me enthralled with a subject I’d ordinarily not care about or, in the case of this book, take a subject that I’m obsessed with and make me barely want to read about it. McGivern seems to have been a much better shooter than he was a writer, which is a pity, since it makes the lessons that he learned over the course of many years and rounds fired that much harder for even the most dedicated student of weaponscraft to learn. I’m sad to say I didn’t really enjoy reading this one much, especially with all the hype leading up to it. Perhaps my contribution to the craft could be selecting the most intriguing elements of the book and trying them out at the range to see how well my skills could match up to McGivern’s. Perhaps I could also write down my thoughts in a more readable way?

[Checkman · Rating 4 out of 5]

As stated by other reviewers the writing is dated and difficult to read for any length of time. Ed McGivern did not have a college degree in English so he tends to have a wandering style of composition. I rather doubt Mr. McGivern had much more then an eight grade formal education. He was born in 1874 and standards of education/literacy were different.Try not to judge him by 21st Century standards.

Much of what McGivern put in his book is still applicable for today's shooter. Advice on trigger control, proper grip, sights, ammunition, holsters etc. All of these things are still applicable. Yes shooters now use some techniques that McGivern wouldn't have though of back in the 1930's (the Weaver stance and the Isocoles Stance for example). Yes much of the technology that he spends so much time on (electric timer etc.)is obsolete.And yes much of what is in the book is basic,but all shooters can stand to review the basics. I was also surprised to see that some of his techniques are not only still being used but have actually been brought back into vogue by the current crop of "tactical" handgun shooters.

Yet, what I really like about the book, is in regards to it's historical worth. The book was written in the late thirties. It is a wealth of old photographs, information and is rich in the overall atmospheric feeling that it invokes of the Depression era and the shooting culture ,as it existed, during that time. It's great.

There are also photos that are a real kick. A Montana State Trooper standing behind a pane of bulletproof glass while McGivern shoots the glass with a .357 magnum and the photo of McGivern's assistant holding clay pigeons in his hands while McGivern shoots them. The caption to the photograph states that adding the Human element to target shooting can really spice things up. That stuff is terrific and hilarious. It's made even better by the knowledge that people just accepted those things without considering hiring a lawyer.

So in closing the practical value that one will obtain from the book is still there, but it will require patience on the part of the modern reader. However as a historical artifact/ primary source material it's worth is tremendous. If you are a proud member of the American (and international) "Gun Culture" and are curious about those who came before you give Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting a look. You might enjoy it.

[Fritz Dekat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book several times and rated it with 5 stars because of the wealth of information it contains. I do agree that this does not read like a Louis L'Amour novel, but then, it isn't a Louis L'Amour novel. It is an indispensable reference book that will help you develop your pistolero skills.

[Leonard Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

The definitive text on the art of the fast draw by a guy who holds tons of records for trick shooting. Of course it's informative, but it's also got surprisingly lively writing.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horrible writer. Can't read it for more than ten minutes at a time. But he is unique and anything he says is worth listening to.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book if you want to learn how to shoot trick shots.