Innholdsfortegnelse for Fall 2023 i Guns of the Old West

How many of you realize that 2023 is an important year in Old West history? Well, this year marks the 150th anniversary of the Colt Single Action Army revolver, the Winchester Model 1873 lever-action rifle and the Model 1873 Trapdoor Springfield rifle. The .45 Colt, .44 WCF (.44-40) and the .45-70 Govt cartridges were also introduced and chambered in the aforementioned firearms. In recognition of this anniversary, there is a feature article in this issue covering these three important guns that were instrumental in the winning of the West. This year also marks the bicentennial of the Texas Rangers. Created by Stephen Austin in 1823, these men were hired to protect the settlers Austin brought to Texas from the depredations of hostile Indians. In those early years, they were more…

James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok was the first legendary gunfighter and was known as the “Prince of the Pistoleers.” While he was a Civil War veteran, his first classic gunfight was in Springfield, Missouri, on July 21, 1865, where he squared off with Davis Tutt across the town square at approximately 75 yards. Wild Bill had the cold nerve to calmly take aim and shoot Tutt through the heart while Tutt was firing several shots at him. Hickok’s only shot hit Tutt in the side under his outstretched arm passing through both lungs and heart. Wild Bill used a Colt 1851 Navy percussion (cap and ball) revolver, his preferred handgun. He was known to habitually carry a pair of Colt 1851 Navies worn high on his waist for a reverse…

Many strange and ultimately unexplainable things and events have occurred throughout history, and the Old West is no exception. Ghosts and hauntings, naturally with the numerous gunfights and clashes with Native American tribes, are always near the top of the list, followed by odd missing person cases and unexplained murders throughout small towns. However, the one mystery that has perplexed many individuals for centuries is how a Spanish ship allegedly was stranded in the California desert, hundreds of miles from a viable water transportation source. This ship is an enigma in itself, as it hasn’t been properly identified, or more importantly, it hasn’t been found, although several people claim to have not only located the vessel but plundered its “treasure” that was still onboard. These individuals either actively sought out…

While big-game pursuit is often regarded as a silent, solitary affair, few activities bring folks together like upland bird hunting. Instead of hunkering down in a tight blind or climbing a lonely treestand, packs of hunters (sometimes more than a dozen) line a field or tower to spend the day catching up, smoking cigars and solving all the world’s problems—at least, I’ve heard. Truth be told, prior to this writing, I had yet to knock a pheasant out of the sky, and being that New York is nearly devoid of these beautiful ring-necked beings, I’ve only bumped into one once in the wild. With that, local hunting opportunities just don’t present themselves, so I promised myself that I would jump at the first industry hunt that was offered up, and…

EDITOR’S WELCOME Ready to jump into fall pursuits like using your black powder rifle to put some wild game in the family freezer? We figured as much, especially as supermarket prices soar for eggs, meat, fish and the like. That’s why we called on Josh Honeycutt to give us an eight-point lesson plan that will have you and your firearm fully prepped for when that trophy buck or “meat doe” steps into your sights. We know U.S. government spending is at an all-time high, pushing our economy off the cliff. Our greenbacks don’t go nearly as far as they once did. With that in mind, we asked furbearer expert Ralph Scherder to offer up some “Trapping Trick$” that will help you streamline your gear and strategies to get the most…

How wild was the Wild West? The circumstances of where and when qualify the answer but suffice to say that a criminal in pre-Civil War America could get away with anything if he could put enough distance between himself and the locale of his misdeeds. It wasn’t hard to do. Though the thinly populated American West offered a vast expanse for crooks to disappear in, the truth of it is that open space of that magnitude wasn’t really necessary to escape prosecution. A day’s ride into another county was usually sufficient. Before the Civil War, most towns didn’t have police departments. Those were only starting to appear in the big cities. The 1860 census shows that of around 33 million people (excluding Indians) estimated to reside within the continental borders…

AMERICAN FRONTIERSMAN TERRITORY FALL 2023 With low fur markets and high fuel prices, the cost of running a trapline can be substantial. In some cases, it’s the chief limiting factor of how many traps get run on a given trapline and how much fur ends up on the stretchers. It has forced me to ask myself some hard questions. How can I afford to trap while also tending to the financial needs of my family, which includes raising two young kids? In these uncertain economic times, it’s more important than ever to rethink efficiency on the trapline. Whether we’re figuring out how to catch more fur in less time or budget expenses, the little things truly do add up over time. Becoming more efficient on the trapline will…

When I bought my first gun in the 1980s, the only gun shop in my county advertised as having “Over 5,000 Firearms in Stock!” If that converted single-car garage had 5,000 firearms in it, they either kept most of them hidden or they struggled with math. In those days, a buyer was limited geographically when it came to on-hand inventory, especially of used or vintage guns. Nothing could be further from the truth today. Several major online auction/resale sites have forever changed the way we shop for guns. “Hard to find” used to mean “impossible.” “Hard to find” today is rare. Today’s shopper has hundreds of thousands of listings online with many of the rarest vintage models readily available for a price, often a large one. However, there is more…

Heritage Manufacturing is a company making a name for itself by connecting the American West’s history to modern-day precision and manufacturing quality. They are known for their .22 revolvers that are as functional as they are beautiful. Six-shot, single-action revolvers have been a classic throughout American history. It has been the tool of cowboys, soldiers, ranchers and lawmen. The simple design has made it trusted and durable. While today they can still serve as a weapon of defensem, to me it serves a purpose just as important—the preservation of American firearm culture. Our Legacy Heritage Firearms preserves America’s Wild West history for today and the next generation to come. As a country built on the principles of freedom and the Second Amendment, it is essential to have a culture of…

In DECEMBER of 1814, after learning that 50 British ships had sailed into Lake Borgne near New Orleans and deposited more than 8,000 troops, General Andrew Jackson rushed to defend the city and protect the entrance of the Mississippi River. Jackson maneuvered into a very defensible position at Chalmette Plantation and made his stand. The British advanced too slowly and cautiously, thereby, losing much of their advantage. Numerous engagements occurred between portions of the opposing armies with neither being the clear winner. Jackson, with a small force of regular troops, militiamen, seamen, citizens, Choctaw Indians, free blacks and pirates under the command of Jean Lafitte (a force totaling about 2,000 men), delayed the British advance long enough for 2,300 Kentucky militiamen to arrive to bolster his numbers on January 4,…

IN the early spring of 1830, the land in today’s North Dakota and its border with Canada and beyond to Winnipeg was controlled by powerful British fur interests. In defiance of those government powers, hundreds of Metis people, or “freemen,” (a mix of several Native American tribes and Europeans) started smuggling their loads of wilderness “gold,” which was fur, big-game hides and dried buffalo meat, southeast toward a remote rendezvous site on the Mississippi River, some 465 miles distant, to trade. The Metis' bounty, which was carried in unique, two-wheel wooden ox carts, was destined to be traded for manufactured goods brought upriver by boat (later steamships) at what is now St. Paul, Minnesota. The trade lasted from spring ice break up until late summer. The Metis' humble smuggling competed…