[Ala Dan]

Greeting's All-

From the table in the poll. choose what caliber you
think James Arness used in the Gunsmoke
series.

*Sorry for mis-spelling "what" in the poll; but I
guess the hand was quicker than the brain?

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

[Quantrill]

He really probably used those "5-in-1" blanks that were popular with movie and TV studios about that time. Quantrill

[jjmorgan64]

Didn't he always grab the same ammo for his rifle and revolver, this takes out 45 colt.

I'll guess 44-40, but alas I know it was blanks.

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. For the time-period, a real US Marshall using the same ammo would've been using .38-40 or .44-40, I suspect. In the radio series, "Marshall Dillon" used a .36 Navy. In the tv series, James Arness says that the gun was a .45 Colt....which is no surprise to most folks here.

http://www.jamesarness.com/greetsept.html

It's toward the middle of the article.

Best.

[Mike Irwin]

TRIVIA TIME!

Why were they called 5-in-1 blanks?

[Quantrill]

Mike,
Because they could be used in 5 different caliber revolvers. I admit I don't know which 5. Quantrill

[Mike Irwin]

"Because they could be used in 5 different caliber revolvers. I admit I don't know which 5."

BBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZT! Thanks for playing don't go away angry just go away!

The 5-in-1 blanks were so known not because they could be used in 5 different caliber revolvers. They actually only replace 3 calibers.

So why the 5?

Becuase they fit in 5 firearms chambered for the 3 calibers.

3 revolvers -- .45 Long Colt, .44-40, and .38-40

2 rifles -- .44-40 and .38-40

I suppose it anyone had made rifles chambered for .45 LC back in the heyday of the Hollywood Western they'd have been known as 6-in-1 blanks.