Gee, this is fun reading all y'alls comments.
Regarding the Dragoon, I remember years ago, the NRA magazine had an article about the old Colts. It seemed the frontier soldiers preferred the Dragoon to even carrying their short musket carbines. One Calvary officer even wrote to the Supply department back east not to send anymore .58 caliber ammo, but to send more of the paper cartridges for the Dragoons. The letter said the soldiers could pick off an savage, with a Dragoon, at one hundred yards as easily as using the Carbines they carried and have 5 additional shots plus the spare cylinders (apparently they carried one or two loaded replacement cylinders) and were easier to carry on the saddles.
I beg to differ on the tales about Wild Bill. He was a excellent shot, preferred the 51, even carried two at one time, probably more for show than anything else, as he only needed one or two shots at most to quell any issues. But the 51 was deadly accurate in the right hands. He took Tuff out with one to the heart.
John W Hardin, bless his cold heart, was a killer, and had many dead men on his title, however, as murderous as he was, he was afraid of Wild Bill.