"Standard Sidearm" Of The Old West?

[Dispatch]

What ever the case, 'having' a sidearm was a standard in the old west. 

[Montana Slim]

Agree with comment on Colt pocket models...the 1849 sold a lot.

Regards,
Slim

[Story]

Dont forget the plethora of Belgians, Webleys, and numerous other little hard to give a real name too guns.
I read somewhere that these were more common than many American makes, but have no proof of that.
DM

The Webley Bulldog (five shot, .450 Colt/.450 Short) packed a wallop and was concealable, which was a big plus in towns that had restrictive firearms laws. If I recall correctly, the top end British-made versions (nickel plated, ivory gripped) went for just under $13 with the Belgian knockoffs about half that price.

This book is pricey, but covers the topic well ->
http://www.amazon.com/Webley-Solid-Frame-Revolvers-Nos/dp/0764331523

The British, Belgian and American copies are also covered in this book ->
http://www.amazon.com/British-Bulldog-Revolver-Forgotten-Really/dp/193146426X

[Shotgun Franklin]

My guess is that a couple of the early Movie Companies happened to have more Colt SAAs and they turned up on screen more thus affecting what people thought a 'Cowboy' ought to be carrying.
Of the shooting reports for Bodie and Aurora, rough areas along the Nevada/California border, that did Id the gun, the Colt Lighting was the gun most used.  The time period ran from before the Civil War to the late 1880s. Read 'Gunfighters. Highwaymen & Vigiilantes' by McGrath.

Yep, surprised me too.

[Grogan]

It's interesting how long past the development of cartridge revolvers Cap 'n Balls were still used.

My family has western roots in the early-early West, actually California Gold Mining days, 1850.

I have my G/G/Grandfather's Colt 1862 Pocket Police revolver in ~85% condition.

We (in my family) always figured it was his Civil War era revolver.

Turns out, after I checked out the date of mfg. it wasn't made until 1870! 

I'm not sure exactly when he first acquired it, but he certainly could have afforded any revolver he wanted.

His wasn't a conversion although conversions were available.

Guess Cap 'n Ball guns were more popular (and lasted later in their popularity) than many people realize?

[Fox Creek Kid]

Not everyone shot their horses when Henry Ford developed his first auto. 

[Grogan]

Not everyone shot their horses when Henry Ford developed his first auto. 

Here's my G/G/Grandfather's little Colt I described above.

I always thought it was a mid-1860's item, but according to its serial number it wasn't made until 1870.

I'm not sure exactly when he got hold of it, but it was probably around that time.

[Hangtown Frye]

That's a really cool little pistol, Grogan.  Especially since you know the history of it, and it's a part of your family heritage.  Hard to beat that!

One thing about cap and ball firearms was that you could pretty much ALWAYS get ammunition for one, as caps, powder and lead were commonly available where ever you happened to go in the West, where as cartridges may or may not be available.  Sir Samuel Baker, who hunted in the West and who explored the source of the Nile in the 1880's noted that it was much easier to pack for extensive travels with his muzzle loaders, as all he needed was the supply of powder, lead and caps, while with cartridge guns he needed a selection of cartridges for each one, for various circumstances. This was one of the reasons that the Navy Colt was still being sold in the London office until the supply was exhausted in 1880: people traveling to Africa or China preferred something that they KNEW they would be able to shoot, though was perhaps a little behind the times, than have something up to date that you couldn't shoot in the middle of nowhere, exactly where you would need it most.

In Firearms of the American West, Vol. II, there is a quote from a lawman who carried an SAA in .41 Long Colt.  He complained that while on a manhunt he couldn't find ammunition for his gun for the life of him, though .44 WCF was available at just about every place he stopped. As a result, though he really like the .41, he replaced it with an SAA in .44-40 as soon as he was able to, just for the availability of ammunition.  It was definitely something to think about when traveling the wide open expanses of the West.

My own G-Grandfather, homesteading in the Cimarron Strip of Oklahoma, had a caplock shotgun and a cartridge revolver. The muzzle-loading shotgun was more versatile than a cartridge one would be, and cheaper to shoot as well.  The cartridge revolver was for business though, and as it wasn't shot much could use more expensive ammunition.

Cap and ball was used for a LONG time after the introduction of cartridges by folks who either didn't need the latest thing, or were in places where the supply system wasn't the best.  Or they just didn't want to spend the money on such foolishness when they needed to use their funds on more important things like seed crops.

Thanks again for showing that little Police.  Nice!

Cheers!

Gordon

[Roscoe Coles]

An extreme example of this kind of persistence of old firearms technologies can be seen in the continued manufacture and sale of flintlock rifles among eastern (especially south eastern) hill folks well into the twentieth century.  Many hill folk did not have enough money to purchase new guns or ammunition in a cash economy, but they knew and trusted their flintlocks which were made locally and could be kept running for almost nothing.  This proved a wise move during times of shortage, like WWI and WWII, as they were able to keep shooting when others could not get a supply of ammunition.

Sometimes, old and reliable will be beat new and high speed.  Also, we should never underestimate the power necessity.  The standard gun of the old west was "what you had."   Most folks did not replace a thing until it could no longer do the job.  As such, many "old" technologies would linger long past the time that their "replacements" came out.