Guns of Billy the Kid

[gym]

I remember a few of those boys favored Navy Colts, and Schofields.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45_Schofield

Found this on another site:
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I'm sure you've seen the photo of him (with its reversed image) that shows him with a Colt Single Action Army revolver and a Winchester rifle, 1873 model. It's said his favorite handgun was a Colt Thunderer (41 Long Colt double action), and he's known to have had a Smith & Wesson Model 3 (Schofield). He may have used a British Bulldog as a backup, as well.

 

[TomKat]

I believe he used the Colt Lightning (.32), I have the Thunderer (.41), nice guns but I hear their trigger mechanisms where delicate... mine is fully functional still no problems (for a show piece anyway)

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Perhaps. The sheriff of Lincoln County was tracking him down to one of the NE NM counties, heard his distinctive high pitched voice coming from inside a saloon, and with gun at the ready, entered and shot him down.

Billy had a gun on him, with one fired round, but the record does not state whether he got a shot off that night.

Now this is interesting because all the accounts I’ve read state that he was shot by Pat Garrett in Pete Maxwell’s bedroom. Paulita Maxwell sent him to get some beef for her to cook for him and he supposedly walked into the darkened bedroom to ask Pete “Where’s the beef?” (Sorry I just couldn’t resist).

The accounts all state that Garrett shot him as soon as he walked into the room and it’s likely he never knew who shot him and all likewise agree that he was unarmed.

The Maxwell home no longer exists and while it’s known that Billy the Kid was buried in the old Ft. Sumner cemetery the exact location of the grave isn’t known

 

[hammerklavier]

There was a great book for sale in bookstore in Mesilla (which also has a Kid connection). I kick myself for not having bought it because it had such a straight forward and believable telling of the whole story. There is a lot of legend surrounding Kid, especially his escape from the "jail" in Lincoln county.

 

[SleazyRider]

Lincoln County Jail, as it appears today ...

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Robert M. Utley’s Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life is one of the better books I’ve read on the subject

 

[gym]

I would have carried the Schofield, as my main weapon, "other than a rifle when off horseback", also for speed a smaller 32 or the smallest 4 inch lightweight, pistol for speed shooting, "gun fighting at closer range". Being a gifted shooter one would want the lightest yet most potent weapon when forced to draw quickly on one or two men intent on taking your life.
The large caliber would be for the heavy work and longer distance 30+ yards that one could easily find themselves in during those days.
A scattergun would also be tempting to carry , "cut down", under a poncho or on a sling of sorts.

 

[lemaymiami]

To give some perspective on the various accounts of Billy's short life....

In my own experience as a cop on the street for 22 years, during the height of the Cocaine Cowboy era down here in paradise.... nothing, repeat nothing we were involved in was accurately reported. I don't mean that the names were mis-spelled but local reporters couldn't even get the basic facts straight... Whether it was something minor or the kind of stuff that might be found in a movie I never saw a press account (or a televised news story) that even came close to what had actually happened...

With that in mind I've always enjoyed the various accounts of the bandits that operated between the end of the Civil War and say, 1900... My guess is that most of the telling came under the heading of entertainment.... If I remember correctly Mark Twain said something along the lines that -if you didn't read a newspaper then you were uninformed but if you did read a newspaper you were mis-informed.... If anyone has the correct quote I'd love to read it...