Friday, October 27, 2023
The First Gunfighter's Sixgun
The era of The American gunfighter of fact and legend didn’t begin until 1850. That was when Samuel Colt introduced his first “Belt Pistol” meaning one practical for a man to actually wear on his person in a holster. Prior to that, Colt revolvers came in two types; the big military .44s weighing over four pounds and meant for packing in saddle holsters, or small .31-caliber “pocket pistols” intended for civilian self-defense and concealed carry. Consider this: before about 1850 one of the most famous Old West figures was Jim Bowie, the famous knife fighter. After that time most famous Old West personages were gunfighters.
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In my twenties, my friend and I got ourselves cap and ball revolvers; his was the .36 Navy and I got the New Army Model .44. They were Italian reproductions and after a few years of use one of the cocking springs broke. But they were fun to shoot. Gave me a feeling for the 'smoke of battle' with the clouds of black powder smoke hovering over the range.
ReplyDeleteI'd get one now but none of the local ranges allow black powder guns.
I've got an Italian repro 44 Dragoon, made in the 60's or early 70's. Confiscated it from my brother in law about the 4th time I helped move them. Put to bed wet, stored incorrectly, it was a chore to resurrect it to shooting status (but it looks authentic 150+ years old). Amazingly, those primitive sites are minute of beer can out to 40ish yards! Lead balls weigh in around 140 grains. At 900 to 1000 fps, that's deadly. Oh yeah, it has the brass frame, so it's a much more desirable "Rebel" knock off, heh heh.
ReplyDeleteToo bad it took Ruger way longer to get rid of the square back trigger guard. What!? They’re still making them? Holy crap! Aren’t there enough skinned knuckles in the world?
ReplyDeleteJFM