Ed McGivern

Edward McGivern (October 20, 1874 – December 12, 1957) was a famous exhibition shooter, shooting instructor and author of the book Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting. McGivern performed extensive research into the art of handgun shooting, particularly with the double-action revolver.

Book

The book Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting, first published in 1938, is still printed by Skyhorse Publishing as a reference to handgun shooters. In it McGivern covers his career from early experimenting with single-action revolvers, his career in exhibition shooting, his police training, and his experiments in long-range revolver shooting.

Exhibition shooting

Ed McGivern is renowned as one of the best 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 2 seconds. He set another record on September 13, 1932, shooting five rounds from a double-action revolver at 15 feet in 2/5 of a second, and covering the group with his hand.

McGivern was capable of many shooting feats, most of them well documented in his book. To name just a few:

He could break six simultaneously hand-thrown clay pigeons (standard trap targets) in the air before they hit the ground. He could hit a tin can hand-thrown 20 ft in the air five times before it hit the ground. He could drive a tack or nail into wood by shooting it. He could shoot a dime on the fly. A testament to McGivern's ability was that the 5-shot record was set in 1932, when McGivern was 57 years of age. Soon after that point, arthritis ended McGivern's competitive shooting career. McGivern experimented with different types of iron sights, including peep sights, and telescopic sights. His preferred type of iron sight for this use was a small-diameter rear aperture and a post with a gold bead for the front.

Book by Ed McGivern

Ed McGivern's Book on Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting, Springfield, MA: King-Richardson, 1938.