Mismatched guns?

swagner89 · February 16, 2009, 11:57:04 PM

i've recently developed an interest in CAS and i've been considering my first purchase of a pair of reproduction pistols. there are two models that i really like but i cant decide. then i thought about every action movie i can think of, regardless of era; if a character has two pistols, they are always identical. is this a hollywood cliche, or historically accurate? seems to me that back in post civil war days, guns were probably not readily available, much less matching pairs, and someone would have to use whatever they could get their hands on. if you came across two good shooters, do they have to match? similarly, is it a bad idea to have two different calibers? on the surface it seems at the least not very efficient. but in times when cartridges were hard to come by, having two calibers could double your chance of finding ammo for at least one gun. would it be too difficult to maintain fire using both hands with different characteristics? if anyone has some insight into this, please share what you know. thanks!

St. George · February 17, 2009, 12:22:08 AM

Contrary to what's seen on the screen of the 'John Ford Reference Library' - the carrying of two-gun rigs during the era wasn't common at all.

Most men carried a single revolver, if they carried one at all - and a rifle or carbine was preferred, since the average man could actually hit something with one.

Ammunition compatibility was seen as a plus - Winchester and Colt realized it at the time, and produced weapons of the same interchangeable calibers, thus intertwining their names for all time.

In C&WAS, use of the same round makes one's life a little easier, since only one caliber will need to be reloaded for.

Good Luck!

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

Dr. Bob · February 17, 2009, 12:42:52 AM

Two different revolvers would be quite PC. Different barrel lengths or blue/nickel or Colt & Remington or Open Top & SAA. A revolver was an expensive item and if you bought a second one, it might not match the first. With all the pairs that I mentioned, you should be able to buy them in the same caliber.

Daniel Nighteyes · February 17, 2009, 11:59:08 AM

Quote from: Dr. Bob on February 17, 2009, 12:42:52 AM
Two different revolvers would be quite PC. Different barrel lengths or blue/nickel or Colt & Remington or Open Top & SAA. A revolver was an expensive item and if you bought a second one, it might not match the first.

Yup. Mismatches, I think, would have been much more common than matched pairs. One used what one could get, and what one could afford.

Angel_Eyes · February 17, 2009, 02:01:46 PM

When we Brits were allowed cartridge revolvers, (way back in the 1990's) I used to shoot CAS with a Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44Mag with a 7.5"barrell and a Ruger OMV in .45Colt with a 4.75"barrel.
You just had to be careful where you were putting what, when reloading!!
I would just make sure that at least one of your pistol calibers matched your rifle.

Angel Eyes

Will Ketchum · February 17, 2009, 04:03:10 PM

Quote from: Angel_Eyes on February 17, 2009, 02:01:46 PM
When we Brits were allowed cartridge revolvers, (way back in the 1990's) I used to shoot CAS with a Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44Mag with a 7.5"barrell and a Ruger OMV in .45Colt with a 4.75"barrel.
You just had to be careful where you were putting what, when reloading!!
I would just make sure that at least one of your pistol calibers matched your rifle.

Angel Eyes

So tell us what happened to those revolvers? Where are they now? Just curious

Will Ketchum

St. George · February 17, 2009, 05:01:24 PM

Most were destroyed - and the same happened in Australia.

Vaya,

Scouts Out

Angel_Eyes · February 18, 2009, 04:15:21 AM

Will Ketchum,
it still brings tears to my eyes when I think about them being melted down.
The NMV was only a few months old when they took it from me and allowed me 3/4 of the new value in compensation.
I lost 11 handguns, 15 years of collecting, and the cost to the taxpayer--£3,500, the loss to me--the majority of my chosen sport.
The loss to Britain was a bye into the major comps for the rest of the shooting nations.

So be warned, it's happening to you, too. Dig them in deep compadre's!

Gripe over, Angel Eyes.

Will Ketchum · February 18, 2009, 11:46:01 AM

It was a sad day and I really feel for my English friends. How did you ever let it get to that point? It makes me wonder how many guns, that were donated to our British cousin, by Americans to fend off Hitlers Hordes, were amongst those guns that were destroyed.

Will Ketchum

St. George · February 18, 2009, 03:18:15 PM

Quite a bit has been written on that topic.

A lot of them were destroyed after WWII ended - but many made their way back to these shores through outfits like 'Ye Olde Hunter' and 'Interarmco'.

But that pre-dates the GCA of 1968 and the effective 'closing' of our borders to overseas suppliers of surplus.

No doubt 'some' still exist in the better-known shops over there, but affording them is a whole 'nuther ballgame.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

litl rooster · February 22, 2009, 04:13:16 PM

Pairs and a matching rifle caliber is a convenince........I have one set that match and many more that don't including my Cap -n- Ball pistols............shoot what you can afford and LIKE. It's for fun

Dr. Bob · February 22, 2009, 06:15:23 PM

littl rooster,

Ya hit the ole nail right on the head!! IT'S FOR FUN!!

JD Alan · February 25, 2009, 10:19:06 AM

For what it's worth, my revolvers Almost match. NMV in 38, blued, one with 5 1/2 barrell, the other slightly shorter. The shorter one was stainless, so they were really mismatched, but I traded a pard for the blue, straight across. I bought them separately, as I could afford them.

We have a pard in our club that has one 44, and one 45. I can't even tell you how many times he's messed up on loading!

Regarding the guns & England, man oh man I pray people wake up to this very real threat on our freedom. JD

Fiddler Green · March 01, 2009, 08:51:43 AM

Quote from: swagner89 on February 16, 2009, 11:57:04 PM
i've recently developed an interest in CAS and i've been considering my first purchase of a pair of reproduction pistols. there are two models that i really like but i cant decide. then i thought about every action movie i can think of, regardless of era; if a character has two pistols, they are always identical. is this a hollywood cliche, or historically accurate? seems to me that back in post civil war days, guns were probably not readily available, much less matching pairs, and someone would have to use whatever they could get their hands on. if you came across two good shooters, do they have to match? similarly, is it a bad idea to have two different calibers? on the surface it seems at the least not very efficient. but in times when cartridges were hard to come by, having two calibers could double your chance of finding ammo for at least one gun. would it be too difficult to maintain fire using both hands with different characteristics? if anyone has some insight into this, please share what you know. thanks!

First, I sugest you watch the Outlaw Josie Wales, again. He seemed to have a number of diffrent pistols. Yes, several were the same, but, not all. Look at old pictures and you will find a number of diffrent pistols stuck in people's belts. As far as what a pistol was for? The best explination for a pistol was that it gave the person something to shot while they were going for their rifle!

I shot my first CAS matches with a Colt, 1851 Navy Model and a Colt, 1860 Army model and then the 1860 and a Remington, 1858 Army. To this day, my best match (a second place with a clean match) was with the 1860 and the 1858.

Bruce