Posted on 07/06/2012 1:20:50 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
But was he lying, like English Bob?
In the shootout in Open Range, Costner’s character goes for the hired shootist first, figuring he is the most likely to keep his cool and shoot straight, and the rest being amateur killers might lose their nerve.
SPOILER ALERT for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie. If you don’t want the climax ruined, then don’t watch. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
For those of you who’ve seen it or won’t see it, here is your shootout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uFarFM9sow
I’ve combed the internet to references concerning fast-draw gunfighters. The truth is: they were made up by eastern novelists and the myth was propelled by Hollyweird. Think about it. You want to arrest or or shoot someone and you’re going to hope you can pull your gun out of your holster faster than your opponent? There’s no way that’s going to happen. People seeking to arrest or shoot other people in the old west had their guns drawn and aimed.
Along with “when you have to shoot, shoot...don’t talk.”
And most often, the gun was a rifle, not a pistol.
Some accounts of the OK Corral shootout have Wyatt Earp carrying his pistol in his coat pocket. I even read one recent account that claimed he actually carried a “Buntline Special” in a specially made pocket of his coat.
Buntline Specials have been questioned for years as to their existence. Most stories had them with 18” barrels, but a recent (some years ago) article in Wild West indicated they likely had 12” barrels.
John Gilchriese, former director of the Wyatt Earp museum, had a .44 SW American owned by Earp. It was silver plated, and was thought to be the gun Earp carried at the gunfight because of its long barrel. This is now disputed. I have a replica of this gun from the Franklin Mint hanging on my office wall.
Best Western gunfight ever filmed.
Do the rules allow you to sequester the bullets of your opponent’s gun in your hand.
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