Wiktionary
vb. (present participle of pistol-whip English)
WordNet
v. beat with a pistol
[also: pistol-whipping, pistol-whipped]
See pistol-whip
Wikipedia
Pistol-whipping or buffaloing is the act of using a handgun as a blunt weapon, wielding it as if it were a club or baton. "Pistol-whipping" and "to pistol-whip" were reported as "new words" of American speech in 1955, with cited usages from the 1940s. However, both the term and the practice trace back to the Wild West of the 19th century.
Pistol-whipping should not be confused with butt-stroking, a close combat military discipline using the rifle.
Usage examples of "pistol-whipping".
He turned it down, having no balls for armed robbery stakeouts, going in doors gun first, gunboat diplomacy police work: meeting the Quentin bus at the depot, pistol-whipping hard boys into a docile parole.
Never in his life had Roland felt more like shooting a man…or at least pistol-whipping him.
Almost in a frenzy, Longarm lashed out again and again, pistol-whipping the man who was trying to kill him.
Those last two words saved Attila Homagy from a pistol-whipping at the very least as Longarm stared thoughtfully down at the older man and paused to hear him out.