Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government and in doing so, Truly made All Men Equal.
Category: Old West History
The Bad Ass Files: Colonel Charles Askins, US Army (Ret.)
The Legend Of Charley Askins by Skeeter Skelton (As Published in Shooting Times Magazine, May 1972) In The West Wing of a secluded, tile-roofed Spanish home in San Antonio, Texas is a room that is one of my favorite retreats. It’s a large room, carpeted with the rich hides of Polar and…
Old West Book Review: I’ve Killed Men by Jack Ganzhorn (1910)
I’ve Killed Men (Jack Ganzhorn, 1910) Amazing chronicle of a man who grew up in Tombstone, knew Wyatt Earp, worked as a gambler, scouted for General Funston in the Phillippine Insurrection, acted in Hollywood, and worked undercover for Remington Arms. This man truly lived the gunfighter life on the early 20th Century Mexican Border and…
Lessons from the Past: 3 Reasons to Carry Backup
Lessons from the Past: 3 Reasons to Carry Backup To some, notorious Old West gunfighter John Wesley Hardin was a psychopathic murderer and racist. To others, Hardin was a genuine American hero. Whether Hardin was a terrorist or a freedom fighter was a question that dogged him throughout his lifetime. Now, 150 years after…
The Combat Quick Draw
The Combat Quick Draw: Classic Lessons From Elmer Keith From the February 1960 issue of GUNS Magazine, here is “the word” on combat quick draw, spoken out of a lifetime of experience as a hunter, guide and law officer by none other than Elmer Keith. Editor’s Note: It is high time, we think, that somebody…
Studying the Historic Gunfighters
Studying the Historic Gunfighters For all you fellow Old West History buffs, this is an article you will want to bookmark. Greg Ellefritz lays out Eight of the best books on the subject of Gunfighters and the art of Gunfighting. I have read almost all of these save the one by Joseph Rosa and…
The Days That Communities Fought Back Against Evil
The Days That Communities Fought Back Against Evil There’s no shortage of stories about crime and criminals on the nightly news, these days. It seems we’re currently trapped in a cycle of violent criminal activity, with the bad guys holding communities all over our nation, hostage. We’ve seen this problem before in America, especially…
“A Genuine Hawken!”
The Hawken Rifle Turns 200 Just as the Colt revolver and the Winchester rifle are icons of the post-Civil War West, one gun symbolizes the era of the fur trade. The rifle was the primary weapon for sustenance and defense with the early trappers and explorers in the American West. Although specific firearms makers…
Firearm Conundrums
Firearm Conundrums A few questions puzzle nimrods and veteran shooters alike: Single Action, Double Action? One of the many enigmas to newcomers in the Western gun world is the description of operating a “single action” (SA) versus a “double action” (DA). Why are two actions required of the shooter to fire a single-action…