Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2022 i Guns of the Old West

One of the things I really enjoy about Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) is that it allows me to have a nexus with the Old West. Not only do you get to shoot firearms that are the type used in the Old West, but you also get to dress the part. Depending upon your interests and the “bankroll” you possess, you can dress like a cowboy, horse soldier, outlaw, lawman, gambler or any number of frontier characters. In the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), how you dress, plus the guns and ammunition you carry, can also figure into the CAS shooting category you compete in. Dress or costume categories include Classic Cowboy and B-Western while some of the shooting categories are split between smokeless and black powder cartridges, plus there’s the…

The technical leaps in firearms design permitted by metallic cartridges and the quick-reloading single-shot and repeating rifles that emerged from that were a major factor in the success of post-Civil War American westward expansion. They came at just the right time to tip the scales against the Indians. In the last issue, we looked at how the Army’s new .50-70 metallic cartridge breech-loading Model 1866 Springfield Trapdoor single-shot rifle turned the tide at the Wagon Box fight. Now let’s look at how the firepower of the premier big-bore repeater of the day, the Spencer carbine, did the same at the Battle of Beecher Island, 13 months later in September of 1868. Mount Up Thirty-one-year-old U.S. Army Major Frederick A. Forsyth was hungry for action on the frontier. His problem was…

GROWING UP IN RURAL WEST VIRGINIA— and I do mean rural—country music was the norm, hunting was part of life and Westerns were a common part of our TV lineup. Naturally, we wanted to emulate our cowboy heroes, and it was a big day for us kids when a Ruger Single-Six made its way into our home. While it was very accurate and fun to shoot, it definitely wasn’t as fun to load as we slowly turned the cylinder to remove the shells one at a time. Then one day, I saw a movie that featured a Smith & Wesson. No. 3 revolver and I was hooked. I can’t remember the name of the movie but I remember being in awe as the cowboy broke open the action and dumped…

Calamity Jane wore one. So did Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley during the Wild West shows. Tom Mix and John Wayne brought them to the silver screen and made them a household name, while John Travolta in Urban Cowboy and Indiana Jones helped bring back the greatest hat company in the world from the brink of irrelevance. Of course, it’s the Stetson hat. The rugged majesty of a quintessential cowboy aloft a steed in the burnt orange glow of the setting sun and the rough bravado that surrounds the image of the typical Stetson hat is a product of an Easterner. It’s inventor, John Stetson, was born to a New Jersey hat-making family in 1830. His childhood is not well documented, but he was of poor health and could barely…

A cowboy at heart, Western artist Tom Simonton would have fit in back in the 1860s just as well as he did growing up in Oklahoma in the 1960s. Having spent a lot of time during his formative years on his family’s cattle ranch in southwest Oklahoma, the accomplished Western artist now lives out in the sticks near the small town of Minco, Oklahoma, in a house he built with his own hands and warms by cutting his own firewood. “I’ve always been associated with that,” Simonton said. “I love the great outdoors. If I’m not in the great outdoors I’m unhappy. Where I live, I’m a backwoods guy.” Tom has had a fascination with the American West and Native American culture for as long as he can remember. And,…

I was in high school when I saw my first issue of GUNS Magazine on the newsstand at the local drug store. Soon I was reading GUNS Magazine, Guns & Ammo, and Gun World magazines every month. I subscribed to Shooting Times when it was newspaper size. I soon became a fan of Elmer Keith who wrote for GUNS and then moved to Guns & Ammo. So, it is logical that my first hardback “gun book” was Keith’s Sixguns, which has become a classic. Legendary holster designer/maker Chic Gaylord’s Handgunner’s Guide soon was acquired and provided great coverage of revolvers and fast draw, gun fighting techniques, and Gaylord’s extensive line of holsters. Another favorite book is legendary U. S. Border Patrol officer Bill Jordan’s No Second Place Winner. I had…

The TERM LEGEND has become almost ubiquitous in our modern digital society. The term is attached to everything from social media influencers to pop stars. This is, fortunately, less true in the firearms world as we tend to be more grounded in history and tradition. There are many names that the serious members of the gun community hold in high regard, but the rare air of legend is reserved for ballistic royalty. When names are mentioned in this group, one man is always included—John Bianchi. I had the ultimate pleasure of visiting with John at his home in California. When I arrived, he greeted me warmly at the door and introduced me to his charming wife Nikki. Over the next two days, he shared stories, showed me countless pieces of…

After being founded in Brooklyn, Henry Repeating Arms eventually outgrew the shop and set up facilities in Bayonne, New Jersey, and it is now headquartered in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. It currently employs more than 550 people and operates three manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin and New Jersey. Henry Repeating Arms currently offers more than 200 different rifles and shotguns in a wide variety of calibers and finishes for hunting, home protection, collector pieces and a wide variety of shooting sports endeavors. All of its rifles and shotguns are supported by a lifetime warranty, a personal guarantee from Imperato and an award-winning customer service department that is empowered to make any decision necessary to ensure that every interaction results in complete satisfaction. In 2016, the company was even named the winner of…

I ALWAYS FEEL A CLOSER NEXUS TO HISTORICAL people or events when I discover a commonality. In this case, it’s the land itself. I spent several years living and working in the same area of New Mexico where this story takes place. I was based in Deming with the U.S. Border Patrol and am very familiar with this section of southwest New Mexico where these events took place. Here was truly the Wild West, a haven for dodgy characters, cattle and horse thieves, stagecoach and train robbers, plus other assorted gunmen. It was a hard time and called for hard men to bring law and order. David Tucker is believed to have been born in Canada in 1849. At some point thereafter he migrated to the United States and ended…

Uberti 1851 Navy London Steel Caliber: .36 Barrel: 7.5 inches OA Length: 13 inches Weight: 41.6 ounces (empty) Sights: V-notch rear, brass conical bead front • Action: SA • Grips: Walnut Finish: Blue barrel/cylinder, color-case frame • Capacity: 6 • MSRP: $389 Uberti 1860 Army London Steel Caliber: .44 Barrel: 8 inches Weight: 46.4 ounces (empty) • OA Length: 13.8 inches Sights: V-notch rear, silver blade front • Action: SA • Stocks: Walnut Finish: Blue barrel/cylinder, color-case frame • Capacity: 6 • MSRP: $389…