I guess that’s me. Ever since I reincarnated as a gunslinger back in the Post-Civil-War period, what they now call the “Indian Wars” and “Range Wars”, I’ve been trying to get people to give the fast-draw fat-burner a shot — hey, I made a pun. I’m drawing a bead on a target with a non-firing replica of the 1851 Nickel-plated revolver with simulated ivory checkered embossed grips, carried by Wild Bill Hickock — he strode about town with them, tucked into twin-rig very fast holsters. You can get a framed deluxe replica like mine, complete with a Winged U.S. Marshall’s hat-pin, brass plaque and special replica bullet hangars which allow the revolver to be removed from the frame for fast-draw and twirling practice. The framed set is only $130 and comes in light or dark wood.
I’m sportin’ my usual double rig with a pair of double-action six-guns, my favorite pieces, even though they’re zinc replicas. If you don’t drop ’em or dry-fire ’em, you can use zinc replicas forever. This double-rig setup with replica revolvers and twin-rig drop holsters built into the belt, which comes with 12 dummy bullets to make it look sharp and totally real, great for any stage production — will set you back $88 apiece for the revolvers and another $139 for the double-rig holsters, just as you see in the picture.
If you tend to drop your replica revolvers four or five times in a single practice session, you desperately need the steelies, before you end up buying a few dozen to replace the broken hulks you destroyed:
You could save yourself a bundle — about $170 is the price of these beautiful well-made blank-firing replicas of the 1873 by just practicing over a mattress or a thick carpet, as I have my fast-draw students do.
Above, you see the same exact model as my double-action star six-shooters, except that they are single-action — which means when you pull the trigger, the cylinder revolves and the hammer comes down — and they’re made of steel and they fire blanks.
Well, I don’t fire blanks, not now, not anytime, nor real ammo either. I can’t fire a weapon anymore, because of medical issues, even blanks. I have NO blanks anywhere on the property. To me, they are no less dangerous than real ammunition.
It’s of course stupid to use a flashy, easy-to-see, revolver in a real gunfight; that’s where the blued-steel version, above, comes in handy. But if you’re using it on live stage, film, video production or a Wild West Show at your local rodeo, you’ll want the flashier thingy, because then the audience will easily see it and marvel at your skills.
A single-rig is fine for this; I really do NOT recommend this for a noob. You need to understand safety and legal issues in your neck of the woods before you take to wandering around with one of these on your hip.
This is the holster I’m using here — it’s available at $116.
This is my favorite double-rig holster, at about $149 or so, and well worth it.
I can’t decide if Steve McQueen made this weapon famous or it made him what he is today — Purina Worm Chow. Watch it on “Wanted, Dead or Alive”, if you’re curious about this little oddity of the Old West. I had one, back in the day, more or less as a “saddle gun”, but ultimately, never used it. My grandkids recently sold grampa’s old “cut down rifle” on eBay, for a fraction of what it’s worth today.
The Mare’s Leg is NOT a fast-draw, but as a stage or film prop, it’s a GREAT piece of theater, and for Reincarnation Awareness, it’s tops in my book! The working lever-action weighs in at 4 lbs. and comes to you at a price of about $149; the special leather holster runs about $98 bucks.
Here I’ve got my 1869 Nickel-Plated Schofield (pronounced sko-feeld, and don’t let anyone tell you different), the favorite of my friend Wyatt Earp, when he was Marshall in Dodge City a while back. A Boxed Set comes with a replica Dodge City Marshall’s badge, a reproduction of a famous Daguerrotype of Earp, and a wood engraving of an Old West shootout in the lid of the handsome hand-made wooden frame-box. Cost? You’ll spend around $157 for this important piece of Old West History. It fits rather well in the single-rig holster above.
My personal favorite over the fast-draw 4.75″ barrel, this 1873 Cavalry Pistol has a black & gold finish with engraved style grip, which reminded me in those post-Civil War days of the weapon I’d carried for three and a half years. It runs about $88 when you can find one.
My Army Issue during the Civil War (which wasn’t really all that civil) was a Griswold & Gunnison piece out of Macon, Georgia; the model 1860 was common to both armies and was used by both Union and Confederate soldiers, these legendary cap & ball revolver replicas are — uncharacteristically of replicas of this type — full size and original weight.
Loading lever, hammer, trigger and cylinder action work just like the rare expensive originals. Manufactured with real hand-carved hardwood grips, the barrel is blued with simulated gold brass frame. Cost of the Army Revolver, pictured above, is $98.
Just a few years earlier, I was standing around on the Lexington Green, somewhere in the middle of the Boston Post Road on the way to Concord; 1775, if I remember rightly — it’s been a while, several incarnations, and that tends to muddle things up a bit, but that’s my best recollection.
I was minding my own damn business, as I tell it — trying to get home a little early so I could get a head-start on dinner, when a shot rang out over by the square. Then a volley of musket shots rang out.
Then — pandemonium! The crowd started running — toward me. Never argue with a mob. I ran with them, away from the shooting. By the time the smoke cleared, we were long gone.
This replica 1760 Scottish Flintlock comes in a hand-made hardwood presentation box with the famous “Don’t Tread on Me!” Revolutionary War flag with a story card about the event. It also sports a brass plaque describing the famous weapon.
Arghhh, me hearties! Back in the day of Cap’n Morgana and her pirate crew, we carried these little beauties into battle! Made in Japan, this was the finest you could get at the time. A unique flintlock that features a simulated brass dragon-shaped bored hex barrel; the real rich hardwood stock is French Polished to feel like satin! A bargain at $59!!!
Like a double-barreled shotgun, this little handgun allowed two shots to be fired without reloading between them, for the first time — this was the origin of the revolver — a two-shooter instead of a six-shooter, see?
Faux Damascus barrels, embossed grips, butt plate, frame and stock, only $110.
This is what presents itself as you walk into the Reincarnation Awareness Program — laid out in historical order from left to right, these are the primary “six-shooters” of American Old West History and Legend. And you’re going to walk right into the past and remember who and what you were, the start of a “bigger footprint” than just one lifetime, and the start of something much bigger, the realization of Eternal Life through Reincarnation! The RA Program will be introduced fully at the Summer Solstice Festival, June 22-25, 2012.