Posted on 04/08/2021 8:17:31 AM PDT by w1n1
Lessons from Yesteryear that still Apply Today - Due to the political climate and potential gun bans, revolvers have become fashionable for concealed carry once again. So I thought I would add my two cents on the subject.
The first thing that needs to be addressed is why we are 1) practicing with revolvers (or any gun for that matter), and 2) carrying them. Yes, shooting guns safely both in practice and competition is fun, but really the intent is for self-defense purposes.
Many a well-known lawman of yesteryear made the revolver famous, including James Butler Hickok aka Wild Bill, Wyatt Earp, Frank Hamer, Bill Jordan, Jim Cirillo and Edmundo Mireles Jr. These men are all legends in the law enforcement world and have the most quantified performance and experience using revolvers, as they used them for their intended purpose: surviving gunfights.
IN REGARDS to Hickok, Earp, Hamer and Jordan, all references and advice in this article are from their written accounts, as these men were born before my time. However, the late Jimmy Cirillo and Edmundo Mireles are another matter, as I have interviewed, trained with and become friends with both. Cirillo’s book, Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights: Lessons and Tales from a Modern-Day Gunfighter, should be required reading, as should Mireles's book, FBI Miami Firefight: Five Minutes That Changed the Bureau. These books should not just be read, but reread, highlighted and used as a bible on the subject of gunfighting. Mireles and his FBI team were in that horrible gunfight and are the true fathers of reality gunfighting training.
Cirillo, meanwhile, was part of the famed New York City Police Department stakeout squad whose unit was involved in 252 armed confrontations. Cirillo himself was involved in 17 armed confrontations, including 11 gunfights that resulted in the deaths of 11 felons.
Hickok was said to be a virtuoso with any kind of handgun. When Tom Lewis, a magazine writer who knew many famous gunfighters of the Old West, asked Earp, Bat Masterson, Billy Tilghman and Charlie Siringo who was the deadliest shot of them all, all four without hesitation said Wild Bill.
As a lawman, Hickok was described as a walking arsenal, originally sporting a pair of .44s (carrying a backup gun is something most gun aficionados do; you will see this again). He also carried two .41 Derringers in his side pockets, a Bowie knife in his belt, and either a shotgun or repeating rifle in his arms when walking the beat as a police officer. Hickok believed in firepower and it was reported that when he cut loose, it sounded like a Gatling gun spraying the landscape. It was rumored Hickok did that for psychological effect, as such a fusillade was often necessary not only to dispose of one opponent but to dissuade the man’s friends from joining in the argument.
As a civilian, his very first lethal encounter was against three men, of which he killed one and wounded two. Hickok would often come up against multiple adversaries in these encounters. Hickok was a firm believer in shooting his antagonists in the head, saying, "A man shot in the torso can keep firing, even if fatally wounded, but a bullet in the head usually put him out of action." In FBI Miami Firefight, Mireles describes how one cop killer was shot a total of 12 times before he stopped fighting and died. The other was shot six times and died quicker. Why? He was shot four times in the head and neck! Read the rest of revolvers and gunfighting.
Any Docs out there can tell me if a .45 round would penetrate his gut far enough to do damage?
“he is credited with killing...one grizzly bear with a Bowie knife”
Guess I’m skeptical!
Tons of Black musicians
Denzel Washington would be perfect as the marshal in a feature film.
Ain’t that the truth. He’d do Bass Reeves some justice assuming Hollyweird didn’t totally screw up the story line.
We have a FReeper here that did just that. Can’t remember his name right now. Up in Alaska.
I have a friend who twice has stomped attacking coyotes to death. The news did a story on the attacks. (Turned out positive for rabies)
There is a fair to middling movie about him, Hell on the Border, and several documentaries.
Again, I'm not trying to diminish him or the story, but think he would want to minimize any embellishment in as much as what he did was pretty damn righteous in and of itself.
Dittos ... a huge Denzel fan. The man is a huge presence on film. He is also a spot on thinker off stage. Denzel is the definition of, the epitome of ‘A Man in Full’.
Oh, absolutely.
FWMD doctor of trichinology.
I was wrong on the location too. Canada, not Alaska.
Memory has a way of muddling such things :-)
They make up for it with their exceptional wordsmithing skills.
Kanawa
The grizzlies I’ve seen would barely notice someone’s knife.
There’s a podcast called Great Books where the host interviews experts on the topic, often university professors. A little while ago they reviewed Washington’s “Up From Slavery” which was most fascinating.
Do you have a link for that? Thanks
Yup. I would recommend Ball for the penetration, instead of JHP.
There is already a movie about him...good movie too...
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