Santa was good to me this year, I got a Wyoming style drop gun belt and Chyenne style holster for my .22 mag Colt Peacemaker. My buddy commented that drop style gun belts were not used in the real west and were a Hollywood invention from 50's Westerns. Anybody know the true history?
Drop style western gun belts
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Claude Clay
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Paladin and Little Joe wore drop style--good enuf for me.
you plug em---i plant em
i don't much care what style holster you used
you plug em---i plant em
i don't much care what style holster you used
Vern Humphrey
Member
Drop style belts were indeed invented in Hollywood. They were invented for "fast draw" use, and the fast draw was rare to non-existant in the 19th Century west.
http://www.gunweek.com/2005/feature0220.html
"Classic Cowboy Holsters, Belts Take Shapes to Fill Their Tasks"
by R.K. Campbell
This article can tell you something about the history of western holsters.
"Classic Cowboy Holsters, Belts Take Shapes to Fill Their Tasks"
by R.K. Campbell
This article can tell you something about the history of western holsters.
The Lone Haranguer
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In old Westerns, wearing a gun low (almost where today's "tactical" thigh holsters ride) and "tied down" (i.e., the bottom of the holster tied to one's thigh, usually with a rawhide thong) was a sure sign of the wearer being a gunfighter. 
roger505
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Drop or Buscardo holster
Invented by Capt Houghs of the Texas Rangers in 1890.
Invented by Capt Houghs of the Texas Rangers in 1890.
pbearperry
Member
If they were good enuf for Gene & Roy,they are good enuf for me pardner.
During the middle 1890's the Winchester model 1895, chambered in .30 Govt. (30-40 Krag) became popular with lawmen in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The ammunition was often carried in wide 3 to 3 1/2 inch belts with two lengths of cartridge loops. The lower ones were smaller, to prevent the bottlenecked cartridges from slipping out.
But a problem arose. The belts were so wide that holsters (called “scabbards”) couldn’t be slipped onto them. Someone, possibly Texas Ranger Capt. Hughes, got the idea of cutting a slot through the middle of the belt that was wide enough to slip the skirt of the scabbard through. This did not substantially lower the holster though.
The drop-loop rigs that were later used in movies date from the middle 1920’s, and were indeed invented in Hollywood.
But a problem arose. The belts were so wide that holsters (called “scabbards”) couldn’t be slipped onto them. Someone, possibly Texas Ranger Capt. Hughes, got the idea of cutting a slot through the middle of the belt that was wide enough to slip the skirt of the scabbard through. This did not substantially lower the holster though.
The drop-loop rigs that were later used in movies date from the middle 1920’s, and were indeed invented in Hollywood.
Actually there is a photograph of Commodor Perry Owens, western lawman and gunfighter of some repute, and he is wearing a drop holster - not a drop loop- but it does drop the holster as low as a buscadero. Late 1880's. I have a copy of the photo but I'm too lazy to scan it and post.
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