Twisting Barbed Wire with pistol..........

[Rube Burrows]

While looking at old guns of the west there are many times where I see the pic of the pistol then in the caption about the pistol it will read something along the lines of "Abrasions on the barrel are from twisting barbed wire around it"

Was this common practice and why was it done? Was it done while crossing a fence or something and rather than use their hands they used the barrel of the pistol? 

[Ozark Tracker]

I've seen some pistols in the J M Davis gun museam that had that on the printed card beside them,

  I've lived on a farm for most of my life, repaired a lot of busted barbed wire,  when it breaks, you can't just tie it back together, you've got to make a loop on both broken ends by looping and tying it back over itself  and then use either more barbed wire or just smooth wire to tie the two pieces  back together, with a loop in the repair link,  then you take a pair of fencing pliers or a stout stick and twist the middle portion to tighten the barb wire back up where a cow can't stick it's head through it.   would be a lot easier with a gun barrel if you didn't have fence pliers or a stout stick close by.

[Rube Burrows]

I've seen some pistols in the J M Davis gun museam that had that on the printed card beside them,

  I've lived on a farm for most of my life, repaired a lot of busted barbed wire,  when it breaks, you can't just tie it back together, you've got to make a loop on both broken ends by looping and tying it back over itself  and then use either more barbed wire or just smooth wire to tie the two pieces  back together, with a loop in the repair link,  then you take a pair of fencing pliers or a stout stick and twist the middle portion to tighten the barb wire back up where a cow can't stick it's head through it.   would be a lot easier with a gun barrel if you didn't have fence pliers or a stout stick close by.

I thought it may be something like that. I guess when you are out on the range far away from the trees a good stout stick may be harder to find than the barrel of your pistol.

[Ozark Tracker]

I think your right,  I've always figured the gun was to a cowboy a tool,  some used it for one thing others for whatever need they had at the moment.   

[Black Powder]

Made a darn fine hammer, too! 

BP

[HorsePen Henry]

My son found out at a relatively early age that they absolutely don't make fine hammers. He tried it once and found out different to his chagrin. I suspect that the old timers did, in a pinch, use them for a hammer though. Sure could tighten up a loose staple with one, I reckon.

X Horse Pen

[minerotago]

I would have thought it kind of stupid to smack nails in or otherwise use a pistol as a hammer and especially a percussion pistol - I wonder just how many people got a fright...and worse by doing that.
Many years ago close by cattle and sheep yards I found the damascus barrel of a 12g muzzel loader which had been used to twist wire - needless to say it never fired a shot again! I still have it somewhere with a neat spiral groove along the barrel - sort of like a corkscrew come to think of it!

[Trailrider]

Made a darn fine hammer, too! 

BP

Of course almost none of us would use our fine pistols for hammers nowadays!!!  You should have seen the reaction of folks walking by me at a shoot one time, as I was setting up my tent on "Suttlers' Row"...  I was hammering in the stakes with the butt of my "nickel plated" (stainless steel) pistola!!    What they didn't realize was that I was intentionally doing it...with one of my welded up "dummy" Rugers I use for blocking holsters!    Man! The looks I got were priceless! 

[Black Powder]

There are many examples of antique revolvers with evidence that they had, in fact, been used as hammers.  I recall a reference to staple impressions on the butt.  Perhaps made by the U nails that are used to tack wire to a post.  So I suspect that more than one person in that line of work used their guns for tack hammers, but not sledge hammers.  I also bet they were smart enough to unload them too.

BP

[minerotago]

It was obviously done as many guns today can testify. We have to bear in mind that the gun was simply another 'tool' and as long as it was reliable, functioned correctly and was accurate then it didnt really matter if it was put to other uses. I once had here a Colts 1849 pocket pistol that had seen evil days. It had been carried on gold escort duties back in the 1860s but had also been used to smack things with - until the brass grip strap broke behind the hammer. Ironically enough I have had two Colts pistols that suffered from 'hammer abuse' The second one is a Colt 1851 Navy which had also suffered similar use and also fractured the brass behind the hammer. I still have this Colt as it was carried by the mounted police on the goldfields so it has local history.

I dont know about being smart enough to unload them though - I once read an article in the American National Geographic about the wagon trains West. Apparently disease and guinshot wounds were very common ways to die...and most of the gunshot wounds were accidently self inflicted rather than from Indian attack or gun fights! Apparently one trick was to pull the gun out of the wagon barrel first and 'BANG!' off it went thus creating a neat hole in the victims middle section.

Here in New Zealand one Doctor Fulton wrote a book on pioneer doctoring and stated that gunshot wounds were relatively common mostly from shotguns when having pulled back both hammers, discharging one barrel and in the act of reloading it the force of the ramrod set the second barrel off and By Bye hand, arm, head or whatever else was in the way!

[Yellowhouse Sam]

My friend has a 1901 vintage SAA .45 that was his grandfathers and who carried in his saddlebag in southern New Mexico.  One of the grip panels has about the bottom 1/5 missing and there are obvious fence staple dents in the butt.  So after that we guessed he thought it better to use the side of the barrel to tighten them up and it shows numerous dents.  Otherwise, the gun would rate at 90%!  It was just a tool to them and handy for two-legged varmints too.

My brother has a 44wcf Model 92 trapper that the previous owner used as a jack handle.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

 

[Black Powder]

My brother has a 44wcf Model 92 trapper that the previous owner used as a jack handle.

Could've been something that the original owner bought as an upgrade or convenience package and this guy knew about it and used it accordingly.  Maybe I should carry them in my general store.  Good margin.  Life as it was in the real west...