Career
McGivern performed extensive research into the art of handgun shooting, particularly with the double-action revolver. Editor 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 Clube 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. His shooting was so rapid, timing machines would malfunction in attempting to record his shooting speed.
McGivern was capable of many amazing 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 lieutenant He could shoot the spots out of playing cards at 18 feet, or even split a playing card edge on. He could shoot a dime on the fly.
All of these executed with either hand using a factory Smith & Wesson Model 10 double-action revolver (purportedly his favorite handgun).
Competition shooter Jerry Miculek has attempted, and broken, some of McGivern"s long-standing records, such as the record for 60 shots fired from 10 revolvers. Although Miculek holds a number of records, his attempt to beat McGivern"s 5-shot record resulted in a time of.57 seconds.
A testament to McGivern"s ability was the fact 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.
While Keith was primarily interested in hunting, McGivern was more interested in police use of the revolver.
McGivern demonstrated that with proper sights and use, the.357 Magnum could be used on man-sized targets at ranges of up to 600 yards. 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.
McGivern went on to instruct police agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in his shooting techniques.
In 2010, McGivern was inducted into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame. by Editor McGivern Editor McGivern"s on Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting, Springfield, Master of Arts: King-Richardson, 1938.
