THE 1908 DUELS

Spectators at the 4th Olympiad in London in 1908 had the opportunity to witness the short-lived sport of pistol dueling. Unlike pistol dueling in the 1906 Intercalated Games (which many considered to be an unofficial version of the Olympics, albeit one not sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee), the contestants did not fire at dummies dressed in frock coats with bullseyes on their chests. Each match instead consisted of two opponents facing and shooting at each other using real pistols.

Well, perhaps some additional details would be helpful. The bullets were made of wax, and the propellant consisted only of the fulminate in the primer caps and not a charge of black powder or smokeless powder. Because the wax projectiles could still inflict serious injuries, each player wore heavy coveralls to protect his body, a thick leather flap to shield his neck, and something akin to a welding helmet to save his face and eyes. The pistols themselves were equipped with guards to protect the exposed hands of the shooters after a participant in an earlier competition had been injured by the wax bullet passing through the web of his hand.

Wax bullets do not maintain their shape very well when place inside a pistol which has been heated up by prior shots. Consequently, the weapons, when not actually being fired, were placed in iced champagne coolers during the matches.

Walter Winans was the organizer of the 1908 pistol matches and opined “There will be just enough risk in these duels to make them exciting, though not really dangerous.” It is unlikely that Olympic officials would now consider them "not really dangerous" enough to include them in future Olympiads, although I personally would feel a lot safer having someone lob wax bullets at me while I am inside a protective suit than trying some of those death-defying gymnastic crazy stunts in the current games which would for sure put me inside of a hospital.

Winans was also a good showman. He intentionally held his competition in London at the same time as the 1908 Olympic games in order to maximize exposure to his sport. However, despite the belief of many to the contrary, pistol dueling was NOT an official part of the 1908 Olympics and, like the 1906 dueling games, was also not associated with the IOC.

Interest in pistol dueling evaporated after World War I. Understandably, many veterans and their loved ones had lost all enthusiasm for participating in events involving actual people shooting at each other.

Library of Congress