Revolvers with long barrels?
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Zundfolge
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Longer sight radius (which increases accuracy) and higher velocity (which increases power).
The increase in accuracy from longer sight radius is because with more distance between front and rear sight you can see errors in alignment when they are smaller. Thus you're able to make finer adjustment to your aim.
The increase in velocity is because the bullet continues to accelerate until it exits the muzzle and is no longer being pushed by the expanding gasses behind it. So with a longer barrel the bullet is pushed longer (and thus accelerates more). Of course there is a point of diminishing returns, which is why you don't see guns with 10ft barrels.
The increase in accuracy from longer sight radius is because with more distance between front and rear sight you can see errors in alignment when they are smaller. Thus you're able to make finer adjustment to your aim.
The increase in velocity is because the bullet continues to accelerate until it exits the muzzle and is no longer being pushed by the expanding gasses behind it. So with a longer barrel the bullet is pushed longer (and thus accelerates more). Of course there is a point of diminishing returns, which is why you don't see guns with 10ft barrels.
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DogLegArms
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higher bullet velocity? maybe accuracy b/c of increased weight so more stability? those would be the reasons now but i don't know for back then.
Jim Watson
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'Cause it looks way kewl and manly on the big screen.
BCRider
Member
Because the original peacemakers were based somewhat on the style of the 1851 and1860 cap and ball guns?
Seems like the short versions of those older guns were intended for close in stuff. And out in the Big Sky country they wanted a longer barrel likely for that extra bit of power and easier aiming. Hence the 7.5 inch barrels.
Seems like the short versions of those older guns were intended for close in stuff. And out in the Big Sky country they wanted a longer barrel likely for that extra bit of power and easier aiming. Hence the 7.5 inch barrels.
Red Cent
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I think they put the gunfight at a distance of around 20'. I would envy the double barrel. Maybe a LeMat.
I don't think I would have taken a really long barrel sixgun.
I don't think I would have taken a really long barrel sixgun.
I like the way it really tames the recoil of the .44 mag. This long bbl'd Superblackhawk reduces the recoil of the .44 to more of a hard push, than the usual smack and roll of shorter barrels. I haven't crono'd it yet, but I would think it's picking up 50 to 100 fps. Oh, and it does get attention at the shooting range.
The downside: Ya gotta wear a pretty large duster to carry this CCW.
Ronsch
Member
In this case, the cool factor was about it. In reality, Wyatt Earp's pistol has been variously described at the OK Corral shooting as a S&W American or a Colt SAA.
The "Buntline Special" was a gun allegedly ordered by Edward Zane Carroll Judson (E. Z. C. Judson) aka "Ned Buntline" to be presented to various western lawmen.
Here is the wiki short version:
Ned Buntline is supposed to have commissioned this weapon in 1876, but the Colt company has no record of receiving the order or making any such weapon. Stuart Lake conceived the idea of a revolver that would be more precise and could be easily modified to work similarly to a rifle. Lake's creative biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, published in 1931, and later Hollywood portrayals exaggerated Wyatt's profile as a western lawman. The book later inspired a number of stories, movies and television programs about outlaws and lawmen in Dodge City and Tombstone, including the 1955 television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.
Lake wrote that Wyatt Earp and four other well-known western lawmen including Bat Masterson, Bill Tilghman, Charlie Bassett and Neal Brown received a Buntline Special. However, neither Tilghman nor Brown were lawmen then. According to Lake, the four other recipients of the Specials cut their barrels down to the standard 7½" length, but Earp kept his at the original 12" length. Lake spent much effort trying to track down the Buntline Special through the Colt company, Masterson and contacts in Alaska. Lake described it as a Colt Single Action Army model with a long, 12 inches (30 cm) barrel, standard sights, and wooden grips into which the name “Ned” was ornately carved. Researchers have never found any record of an order received by the Colt company, and Ned Buntline's alleged connections to the Earp's have been largely discredited.
However, Buntline wrote only four western yarns, all about Buffalo Bill. There is no conclusive proof as to the kind of pistol Wyatt carried on a regular basis, though it is known that on the day of the Fight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881, Wyatt Earp carried an 8 inch (200mm) barreled .44 caliber 1869 American model Smith & Wesson. Earp had received the weapon as a gift from Tombstone mayor and Tombstone Epitaph newspaper editor John Clum.
So, there ya' go...
The "Buntline Special" was a gun allegedly ordered by Edward Zane Carroll Judson (E. Z. C. Judson) aka "Ned Buntline" to be presented to various western lawmen.
Here is the wiki short version:
Ned Buntline is supposed to have commissioned this weapon in 1876, but the Colt company has no record of receiving the order or making any such weapon. Stuart Lake conceived the idea of a revolver that would be more precise and could be easily modified to work similarly to a rifle. Lake's creative biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, published in 1931, and later Hollywood portrayals exaggerated Wyatt's profile as a western lawman. The book later inspired a number of stories, movies and television programs about outlaws and lawmen in Dodge City and Tombstone, including the 1955 television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.
Lake wrote that Wyatt Earp and four other well-known western lawmen including Bat Masterson, Bill Tilghman, Charlie Bassett and Neal Brown received a Buntline Special. However, neither Tilghman nor Brown were lawmen then. According to Lake, the four other recipients of the Specials cut their barrels down to the standard 7½" length, but Earp kept his at the original 12" length. Lake spent much effort trying to track down the Buntline Special through the Colt company, Masterson and contacts in Alaska. Lake described it as a Colt Single Action Army model with a long, 12 inches (30 cm) barrel, standard sights, and wooden grips into which the name “Ned” was ornately carved. Researchers have never found any record of an order received by the Colt company, and Ned Buntline's alleged connections to the Earp's have been largely discredited.
However, Buntline wrote only four western yarns, all about Buffalo Bill. There is no conclusive proof as to the kind of pistol Wyatt carried on a regular basis, though it is known that on the day of the Fight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881, Wyatt Earp carried an 8 inch (200mm) barreled .44 caliber 1869 American model Smith & Wesson. Earp had received the weapon as a gift from Tombstone mayor and Tombstone Epitaph newspaper editor John Clum.
So, there ya' go...
MCgunner
Member
I'm a handgun hunter, but rather than some 10" revolver, I prefer my 10 or 12" contender barrels, specifically one MOA accurate .30-30 barrel, 12" hunter barrel. It's as packable in a shoulder holster as the longer barreled revolvers and more powerful and a LOT more accurate. Heck, I can take a 200 yard shot on a whitetail or hog with mine, though most I've shot is about 120 yards. Need a good rest for that, though. That's the hard part. 
To each his own. Some folks don't think the Contender a proper "handgun", but then, a 10" Freedom Arms revolver isn't exactly a pocket snubby, ya know. As to single shot vs 6, maybe night hunting hogs you could use the firepower. On deer, one shot is all you'll ever get and the Contender gives a higher quality shot.
As to ol' Wyatt, he got the gun, either built or just given by Ned Buntline, as a gift later in life. I don't know that he actually HAD the gun in Tombstone. He got it after he was "famous". At least, that's the story as I recall it. But, hell, Hollywood, ya know?
Edit, the above post tells the story better. I read that Lake novel about 15 years ago. It painted ol' Wyatt as some sort of savior of mankind. He was not that holy.
To each his own. Some folks don't think the Contender a proper "handgun", but then, a 10" Freedom Arms revolver isn't exactly a pocket snubby, ya know.
As to single shot vs 6, maybe night hunting hogs you could use the firepower. On deer, one shot is all you'll ever get and the Contender gives a higher quality shot.As to ol' Wyatt, he got the gun, either built or just given by Ned Buntline, as a gift later in life. I don't know that he actually HAD the gun in Tombstone. He got it after he was "famous". At least, that's the story as I recall it. But, hell, Hollywood, ya know?
Edit, the above post tells the story better. I read that Lake novel about 15 years ago. It painted ol' Wyatt as some sort of savior of mankind. He was not that holy.
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Hondo 60
Member
Ronsch - thanks for the history lesson.
As the genealogist of my family I LOVE these old stories.
Truth has a way of being far stranger than fiction!
As the genealogist of my family I LOVE these old stories.
Truth has a way of being far stranger than fiction!
Wyatt Earp's revolver with an extra-long barrel may or may not be a myth. Incidentally, it was describe by a witness in Tombstone on that fateful day, when he used it for the intended purpose he carried it for.
That purpose was to tap troublemakers along side of their head, just above the ear - so they would lie down and take a nap. The procedure was called "buffaloing."
Fast drawing was usually a moot point, because it was the practice of most frontier peace officers to approach the subject of their attention with six-shooter-in-hand. That kind of draw is hard to beat…
Last but not least, I would suggest that the absolutely worst place to learn anything about western history is to watch a Hollywood movie. Some are fun entertainment, but nothing more. They abound with factual errors.
That purpose was to tap troublemakers along side of their head, just above the ear - so they would lie down and take a nap. The procedure was called "buffaloing."
Fast drawing was usually a moot point, because it was the practice of most frontier peace officers to approach the subject of their attention with six-shooter-in-hand. That kind of draw is hard to beat…
Last but not least, I would suggest that the absolutely worst place to learn anything about western history is to watch a Hollywood movie. Some are fun entertainment, but nothing more. They abound with factual errors.
Ronsch
Member
Hondo,
You are welcome. Glad to help. Western history (the factual) is one of my favourite subjects.
You are welcome. Glad to help. Western history (the factual) is one of my favourite subjects.
Not likely! This particular revolver has been pretty well discredited for a number of reasons. John Culm, who was Tombstone's Mayor at the time, as well as the Tombstone Epitaph's owner and editor, never mentioned the S&W revolver, either in the newspaper or in books and articles he wrote later. He suposedly presented the gun to Wyatt because of his service as a Tombstone City Marshal (which he prefered to call "Police Chief"), but it was Virgil, Wyatt's older brother who was the Tombstone Marshal. The revolver (engraved and nickel plated) does not match the description of the gun Wyatt had earlier in the day when he buffaloed Tom McLaury outside the Justice Court. (An old pistol, pretty large, 14 to 16 inches long...).
Last but not least, while the Smith & Wesson was a fine revolver, its hinged-frame/top break design did not lend well to using it as a club, and as I stated earlier that was one use Wyatt often put his revolver too.
buck460XVR
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Back in the days of black powder, long barrels gave more velocity and better bullet stabilization.
sidibear
Member
Here in the UK we have to have a minimum 12" barrel and total length no shorter than 24". Taurus .45ACP
Is so you can't conceal it, not that the criminals with their illegal guns pay attention to it though.
But I also own this with a 24" barrel, great fun to shoot at 100yrds if a little heavy.
.44 mag competitor, avoid unless you have great patience with their customer service dept, nearly two years wait for a small part !!
Is so you can't conceal it, not that the criminals with their illegal guns pay attention to it though.
But I also own this with a 24" barrel, great fun to shoot at 100yrds if a little heavy.
.44 mag competitor, avoid unless you have great patience with their customer service dept, nearly two years wait for a small part !!
Owen Sparks
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The short answer is that the long barrel doubled as a club, a less than lethal way to control someone who was resisting arrest.
Jim Watson
Member
Things are different now. Bill Jordan said it was probably easier to convince the judge that you didn't shoot somebody too much than to show you didn't hit him too hard. Also, hitting people with a gun is hard on the weapon. You are stressing it in a direction it is not made for and you can literally bend it.
LTR shooter
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Yes indeed , I had the blued version of the 10 1/2" Ruger and it made the 44 mag very pleasant to shoot.
Shot this one a few weeks ago and I'll have to say the long sight radius did help these "old" eyes quite a bit!
shooting4life
Member
I like long barrels
bluetopper
Member
I wasn't looking for a barrel this long but it was toooo good of a deal to pass up. We have since bonded.
Freedom Arms 44 Magnum
Freedom Arms 44 Magnum
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