Pistol Whip

Pistol-whipping or buffaloing is the act of using a handgun as a blunt weapon, wielding it as an improvised club. Such a practice dates to the time of muzzle loaders, which were brandished in such fashion in close-quarters combat once the weapon's single projectile had been expended. The term "buffaloing" is documented as being used in the Wild West originally to refer to the act of being intimidated or cheated by bluffing. The new use of the term developed because the act of hitting someone with their revolver was seen as an additional insult to the character of the victim. The modern terms "pistol-whipping" and "to pistol-whip" were reported as "new words" of American speech in 1955, with cited usages dating to the 1940s. The practice of using the handgun itself as a blunt-force weapon began with the appearance of muzzle loaders in the 15th century. It was entirely up to circumstance whether the user had time or chose to reverse the gun in their hand and strike a blow with its handle or merely swung the heavy weapon as a club or baton holding it normally. There are arguments as to the efficacy of either approach. Author Paul Wellman notes that clubbing an opponent with the butt of a gun held by its barrel, as seen in some Westerns, is problematic. Third, rotating a gun so that it can be held by its barrel takes extra time, potentially crucial in a conflict. To avoid the risk of damage or potential delay, pistol-whipping may be done with the gun held in an ordinary manner, hitting the target with an overhand strike from either the barrel or the flank of the gun above the trigger. It was a fairly common way to incapacitate a man in Western frontier days , known as "buffaloing", with the verb form being "to buffalo". The practice was seen as a means of avoiding fatal confrontations. The testers showed that using the long barrel of a weapon such as the Colt Single Action Army in a whipping motion produced enough force to fracture a skull and could potentially kill a man with a single blow. Pistol whipping may leave unusual lacerations on the body of the injured due to various protruding details of the pistol. When blows are struck using the butt of the weapon rather than its barrel or flank, semicircular or triangular lacerations on the skin may be produced. The magazine well at the bottom of a semi-automatic pistol and its surrounding base produce rectangular lacerations on the skin.