Guns of the Old West Fall 2022

In the last issue of GOW, we covered creating an alias and a persona for your Western Action Shooting (WAS) character. Going hand-in-hand with a name and back-story is a proper costume. In general, the period covered in WAS is 1865 to 1899, and this applies to both SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) and NCOWS (National Congress of Old West Shootists)—the two major governing organizations for WAS/ CAS (Cowboy Action Shooting). Unlike many other shooting sports, competitors at NCOWS or SASS shooting events can’t show up in shorts, t-shirts and sneakers. Part of the appeal of WAS/CAS is dressing the part and portraying a character from the Old West. The rule book for the Single Action Shooting Society is the SASS Shooters Handbook (January 2022 edition). This online publication (available on…

It all started when I joined SASS and registered as a Classic Cowboy. Under the guidelines of this category, I selected my outfit to resemble an 1880’s working cowpuncher. As I began to assume my new persona, Curly Strait, research led me to believe they were mostly a rather “down at the heel” bunch—generally good, honest and hard-working fellers, but underpaid and lacking in top of the line “eeequipment.” I just couldn’t see myself in brand spanking new duds with brand spanking new guns assuming the role of a working cowpoke. I bought my duds secondhand and proceeded to age them by falling down in the dirt and dust, mud and grass, and wiping them with oil and grease, generally abusing both the clothes and me right down to bleeding…

One of the interesting aspects of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was their encounters with “Grisly” bears. Armed with the small bore Kentucky/Pennsylvania long rifles, expedition members found their rifles inadequate to kill a grizzly bear. Their journals relate numerous encounters where they had to pursue a wounded grizzly and several hunters would shoot it repeatedly until it finally died. Their experiences with the inadequacies of the long rifle undoubtedly led to the development of the big-bore Mountain and Plains rifle. The best known of these was the Hawken Rocky Mountain rifle produced in the St Louis, Missouri, gun shop of Samuel Hawken. I have a special interest in Hawken rifles due to my spending my entire professional career of 45 years working at what was originally the St Louis Federal…

As a collector and historian, I’ve come to appreciate that not all things that are rare are valuable, and not all things that are common are unimportant. Recently, a very nice early 1880s vintage, six-shot, Forehand & Wadsworth No .32 rimfire double-action pocket revolver found its way into my possession after the exchange of $170. I didn’t intend to buy it when I first saw it on the gun show table at 9 a.m., but by show closing I’d pondered its significance sufficiently to go back and bargain for it. While its place in history is not as dramatic as winning the Indian Wars, it’s none-the-less important—as important as the first rule of gunfighting, which is… have a gun. In the days of the Old West, just like today, the poorest…

THE most recognized OldWest sixgun was the 7.5-inch Colt Single Action Army, the version of the 1873 Peacemaker chosen by the U.S. government for its mounted soldiers. Solid in the hand with a hefty cartridge that delivered knockdown power and a brel long enough to improve accuracy and increase velocity, the big Colt .45 proved well-suited to cavalrymen. The Peacemaker became legendary as one of two quintessential American arms famously known as “The Guns that Won the West.” In truth, by the time the Peacemaker was in general use, the West had already been won by men armed with post-Civil War era guns and early cartridge conversions of the same. But the Colt .45 became the crown jewel, anointed with legend alongside the Winchester Model 1873, which also came on the heels…

THEODORE ROOSEVELT was born to an affluent family in New York City in 1858. It quickly became apparent that he was a sickly child, with a heart condition and severe asthma. There were no “inhalers” in the mid-19th Century, so the boy’s father tried to help him during his asthma attacks by the use of cigar smoke and fast horse and carriage rides to force air into his lungs. Theodore Senior told his young son that if he were ever going to thrive, he would have to re-invent his body. The strong-willed Theodore Junior adopted what he called “the strenuous life” and developed an exercise regimen to build up his endurance and strength. As TR grew to manhood and completed his education, he took up boxing and outdoor activities. By the…