[FSCJedi]

So I'm curious what specific guns Clint Eastwood used in Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

If I'm not mistaken, he uses a .45LC 5&1/2" barreled SAA in the first two, and a full size '51 Navy converted to fire (I believe) .38LC in G,B,&U. Is this correct?

Edited: Man... 45 views so far and no confirmation one way or the other? I did try the search function first, I swear.

[Old Fuff]

Since I haven't seen the movies in a long time I can't confirm or answer your question. However Cimarron Firearms (www.Cimarron-firearms.com) offers a replica of the Navy conversion, down to the silver rattlesnake on the stocks.

http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/Conversions/ManNo%20NameConv.htm

[jamesb]

The 1st gen Cimarron replica is a true replica to the one used in G,B & U. It even did not have a rear sight. The second gen ones they are making now have a small bump notch sight on the barrels like their open tops. In the first 2 movies clint uses a SAA, to as what caliber he eludes to it being a 45 in his discussions with the rifle shooting bad guy (forget his name).

[YosemiteSam357]

BuffaloArms sells some Richards-Mason conversions, and something they call "The Man with No Name" gun, which apparently requires a wooden dowel (included) to eject shells.

-- Sam

[The_Shootist]

That Cimarron replica - is it black powder or cartridge. I presume in .45 LC?

Damn! I shouldn't have looked at that picture. My cardinal rule is new pistol purchases have to be able to fulfil some CHL role. That one is dubious at best for CCW.

But its a fine looking shooter!

[Old Fuff]

Since it duplicates a Colt 1851 Navy, the largest cartridge would be .38 Special, and quite possibly .38 Long Colt - which would be historically correct.

For something similar in larger chambering, see Cimarron's line of 1872 Open-Top models. The original guns could be, and were cut down into snubbies. :evil:

[TallPine]

It even did not have a rear sight.

The rear sight is a notch in the hammer, nach eil?

[mljdeckard]

If I'm not mistaken, that gun is behind glass at the Planet Hollywood in Ceasar's Palace in Vegas, along with Don Johnson's Bren Ten From Miami Vice.

[FSCJedi]

Thanks for the replies, gents. I'd like to get me a set of replica versions from the movies (aww, shucks, I'm gonna have to buy two more revolvers...), but I want to make sure I get the "real" thing. So I guess what I'm looking to buy are these:

1.) Colt SAA in .45LC with a 5-1/2" barrel and the rattlesnake grips

2.) Colt Navy conversion (probably Richards-Mason) in .38LC (it looks like that's what he was using in the film, but I'll get the version that'll handle certain .38 special cartridges as well) with original charging handle instead of the full conversion with the ejector rod. Plus the grips, of course.

Does this sound about right?

P.S. Does anyone know if the rattlesnake was on both sides of the grips? I tried to watch in certain scenes to see, but never got a good answer.

[FSCJedi]

Curious, the Cimarron (http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/Conversions/ManNo%20NameConv.htm) site lists the Man With No Name conversion pistol as retailing for $195.00 while the Buffalo Arms (http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,7017.htm) site lists it for $535.95. Unless I'm reading that wrong... maybe the price on the Cimarron site is just for the conversion, not for the full pistol (you have to provide/buy your own)? Does anyone know if the Cimarron version come with the rattlesnake grips (it says "optional")?

P.S. (I'm just full of these) Is it really that much harder to remove the spent casings w/o an ejector, or do they usually fall out? I've never handled one, so I'm curious.

[Old Fuff]

At Cimarron the basic revolver is $473.70. But if you want the optional stocks with the silver rattlesnake inlay it costs an additional $195.00. Buffalo Arms' higher price may or may not include something in the way of similar stocks.

The "man with no name" revolver was made up to simulate a C&B 1851 Navy, but shoot conventional blank cartridges - in other words a movie prop gun. Fast reloading wasn't an issue. The reproduction is made the same way. You would probably need a rod of some sort to knock out the empty cases, but that's a lot faster then loading a C&B. Cimarron, as well as others, offer a regular 1851 Navy cartridge conversion that has an ejector assembly mounted on the side of the barrel - as most of the original guns did.

[FSCJedi]

At Cimarron the basic revolver is $473.70. But if you want the optional stocks with the silver rattlesnake inlay it costs an additional $195.00. Buffalo Arms' higher price may or may not include something in the way of similar stocks.
Thanks for clearing that up for me. I finally figured out how to read their pricing. For a "Man With No Name" standard pistol (according to their pop-up page), it'd cost me $453.70; and for $195 extra, I can get the silver rattlesnake grips. For that price, I sure hope that rattlesnake is real silver!

The Buffalo Arms link I listed says it comes with the rattlesnake grips. Who makes their revolvers, because that price is cheaper than buying from Cimarron?

The "man with no name" revolver was made up to simulate a C&B 1851 Navy, but shoot conventional blank cartridges - in other words a movie prop gun. Fast reloading wasn't an issue. The reproduction is made the same way. You would probably need a rod of some sort to knock out the empty cases, but that's a lot faster then loading a C&B. Cimarron, as well as others, offer a regular 1851 Navy cartridge conversion that has an ejector assembly mounted on the side of the barrel - as most of the original guns did.
Were there any revolvers that had converted cylinders but didn't have the ejection rod installed, like this revolver? If there's no historical evidence of such a gun existing at some point, buying this one won't be so high on my list anymore. I like the look of it (because I love the '51 Navies), but it'll just be another gun for my "movie replicas" collection if it didn't exist.

Edited: Now I remember where I've seen a conversion w/o an ejector assembly. In the Summer 2006 issue of Guns of the Old West magazine. They did an article on the guns of Wild Bill Hickok and the author had one of his '51 Navies converted by R&D Gunshop to resemble the guns that Keith Carradine used playing Wild Bill in Deadwood. Apparently in the series, Carradine uses a pair of pistols described just as above.

[FSCJedi]

I'm not mistaken, am I, that he uses a 5-1/2" barreled SAA in the first two films, right? It doesn't look long enough to be the 7-1/2", and I'm fairly certain that the plunger wasn't flush with the end of the barrel, meaning it couldn't be a 4-3/4".

[Old Fuff]

I can't say for Buffalo Arms, but the rattlesnake on the Cimarron Arms revolver is genuine silver - or so I've been told. Part of the cost is the molds and tooling to make the snake and inlay it into the wood, because the sale of stocks is limited for obvious reasons.

Most of the so-called cap & ball conversions weren't conversions, but guns made up in the first place to use metallic cartridges, with the rest of the parts being left-over Civil War surplus. There was enough to keep sales going into the middle-later 1880.

On the other hand some older revolvers were converted, and as such had, or did not have, ejector assemblies. Also some had the ejector assembly removed and the barrels cut down to snubby length.

So while the "man with no name" gun was made up as a movie prop, there were at least some 19th century guns that looked the same.

Also to confuse the issue, :evil: a fair number of cap & ball revolvers were converted in Mexico by local blacksmiths/gunsmiths. These show up and don't seem to folllow any pattern at all. How about an 1851 Navy converted to .22 Long Rifle??? :what:

[FSCJedi]

I just shot an email off to both companies asking about the grips. Hopefully I'll hear something back. If I do, I'll be sure to post it here.

Again, more learning going on. I was unaware that most of the "conversions" were sent from the factory like that. I thought that's where the "open top" revolvers came in. I thought the conversions were all revolvers that had once been C&B that were brought in or sent in to Colt for conversion to cartridges.

Glad to hear there are at least some actual revolvers out there that look this way.

.22LR '51 Navy?! Talk about historically inaccurate! And here I've been gettin' peeved about people buying .44 cal. '51 Navies! lol

[FSCJedi]

Ok, here's what I heard back from the respective companies:

They are made by Uberti for Cimarron Firearms. They are then sent to a gentleman who customizes them one at a time and puts the silver snake on the right side only.

If you want one of these, I suggest you get it ordered asap as it has been a
long time trying to get them.

The snake is sterling silver. It is only on the right side.

Well there you have it.

[obiwan1]

I'd love to have a set of grips like those snake grips for one of my carry guns - probably my Kahr K40! Does anyone make them?