Fast draw question

[HogDoc Olliday]

Most of the gunfighting, fast draw examples on westerns show the gunfighter's hand off the revolver before the draw. Was there a type of fast draw where the hand rested on the butt of the revolver before the draw was started? Was this historically called the "lawman" draw? Please enlighten. Thanks

[Bugscuffle]

My understanding is that gunfights never were fought the way that T.V. and Hollywood depicts them. in th dysof "The Wild West" it wasn't unusual for a man to be shot in the back while walking down the street in retribution for some insult or offense. John Wesley Hardin was shot in the back of the head by a town Deputy as a result of an insult that one of the two made about the others girlfriend. I don't remember which one did the original insulting, but the argument went on rather publicly for several dys before the Depty ended it. Wild Bill Hickcock was shot from behind by a mentaly deranged man while playing cards. The idea of the noble dual in the street at high noon just didn't happen.

[Durango Flinthart]

TV and movies are not a history lesson but entertainment. SOMETIMES founded in fact but liberally sprinkled with poetic license.
When it comes to recorded history you must remember it is written by the winners and truth is often an innocent by-stander caught in the cross-fire.      
"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend"

The website below gives an account of one of the few recorded stand up gunfights in the Old West.
http://clio.missouristate.edu/FTMiller/LocalHistory/Wild%20Bill/HolcombeShootout.htm

Here is the coroner's inquest for John Aldridge, (my 2G Grandfather) killed in a gun fight in Hawesville, KY in 1859  
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thetiethatbindsour/Aldridge/coroner1859.htm



Watch your topknot

[Bugscuffle]

Durango, thanks for th posting. I guess that with my reputation I would have been dead ten or twelve times over if this was  Springfield and the year was 1865.

[yeti76620]

Durango, thanks for th posting. I guess that with my reputation I would have been dead ten or twelve times over if this was  Springfield and the year was 1865.

NNNNNAAAaaaahhhhh...........you Buggs.........  JUST Tar 'n Feather'd............  

[wildman1]

2 er 3 times.  WM

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Most of the gunfighting, fast draw examples on westerns show the gunfighter's hand off the revolver before the draw. Was there a type of fast draw where the hand rested on the butt of the revolver before the draw was started? Was this historically called the "lawman" draw? Please enlighten. Thanks

Historically speaking:  There really was no such thing as fast draw ... Mostly shoot em in the back or use a rifle from a distance.

1920's what we see as fast draw came into play with western movies along with the buscadero holster.  It looked good on film and thrilled the audiences.  The Lawman Ready draw you are asking about is based on Law Enforcement, where the officer keeps his hand in contact with the firearm.  Different Fast Draw associations use the different styles.  The "Cowboy Fast Draw Association" use the Lawman Ready hand position.

[HogDoc Olliday]

Historically speaking:  There really was no such thing as fast draw ... Mostly shoot em in the back or use a rifle from a distance.

1920's what we see as fast draw came into play with western movies along with the buscadero holster.  It looked good on film and thrilled the audiences.  The Lawman Ready draw you are asking about is based on Law Enforcement, where the officer keeps his hand in contact with the firearm.  Different Fast Draw associations use the different styles.  The "Cowboy Fast Draw Association" use the Lawman Ready hand position.

Thanks, TwoWalks!