Single action six guns with "combat mods"

[Sox]

Guys, I am new to sixguns, just getting interested and in the initial learning phases. I have been searching my butt off and have discovered lots so far.

My question is with the cowboys and gunfighters of yesteryear were no doubt tinkers just like us, what mods did they do on their fighting sixguns? Just really interested from a historical standpoint and general interest.

Thanks.

 

[Bill B.]

My question is with the cowboys and gunfighters of yesteryear were no doubt tinkers just like us, what mods did they do on their fighting sixguns? Just really interested from a historical standpoint and general interest.

There are a lot of Colt SA's that left the factory with 7 1/2" barrels that are now found cut down to various length's some with a sight reinstalled and some left without a sight. I would doubt that were many action jobs done on the firearms in use at the time.

 

[Lucky Derby]

Chopped barrels would most likely be the most common mod. followed by changes to the grip/grip frame, and some sort of site modification.

Early DA shooters would cut away the front of the trigger guard to allow the shooter to get their finger on the trigger faster. I doubt you could find a reputable gunsmith to do that today.

 

[CraigC]

John Taffin has done recent articles on the famed "Fitz Special" and I believe either Milt Morrison or Andy Horvath performed the work. Both top notch sixgunsmiths.

 

[RyanM]

Quite a few gunslingers either wired the trigger back permanently, or altered the internals. Either way, the gun would fire when the hammer was dropped. That was for "slip-pistol" shooting, using only one hand. Pull the hammer back and release, with the thumb on the same hand that's holding the gun. It's extremely hard to do accurately, but was considered a valid gunfighting technique, if you practiced enough. Not "fanning" as is seen in the movies, which was generally regarded as a waste of ammo. The closest most modern shooters do is using the off-hand thumb, while holding the gun in both hands.

 

[Bill B.]

is using the off-hand thumb, while holding the gun in both hands.

They didn't call them thumb busters for nothing ................

 

[rcmodel]

what mods did they do on their fighting sixguns?

Very few mods if any.
All of the guns surviving in collections & museums with a known providence to famous lawmen or gunfighters of the old west are basically just like they came from the factory.

The most likely change you might see is ivory, horn, or pearl grips being put on to replace the factory wood grips.

As mentioned, some of them shortened the 7 1/2" barrel on a Government Colt SAA to 4 3/4", or the length of the ejector rod.
But that would have not been common.

Wild Bill Hickok had a nice pair of Colt Navy's that had factory length long barrels.
Jessie James preferred the S&W Schofield with the factory long barrel.

In 1885 Bat Masterson wrote the following letter to Colt...

Gents
Please send me one of your nickel plated short 45 caliber revolvers, it is for my use and for that reason I would like to have a little extra pains taken with it. I am willing to pay extra for extra work. Make it very easy on trigger and have the front sight a little higher and thicker than the ordinary pistol of this kind. Put on a Gutta Percha handle and send it as soon as possible. Have the barrel about the same length as the ejecting rod is.
Truly Yours
W B Masterson

Fitz Specials, cut-away trigger guards, etc., where a much later thing that took place well after the old time cowboy & outlaw days. They were built on Colt Double-Actions in the 1920's & 30's.

rc

 

[CraigC]

Yep, the aforementioned Fitz Special in Taffin's article was built on a New Service (or 1917) and chambered in .45Colt or .44Spl if I remember right.

 

[madcratebuilder]

rcmodel got it right. The days of the single action Colts saw few modifications other than barrel length and grip shape done to them. Many continued to carry cap and ball Colts or cap and ball conversions. The cut down barrels were called many names, "Natchez Special" "Mormon Avenger" and Avenging Angel" are a few. One river boat gambler was reported to carry a .36 pocket frame with no barrel, just the cylinder attached to the arbor.




This would have been considered a highly modified revolver in it's day.
Anyone know what the button below the cylinder is?


Project I have going.


Mr Hickok preferred the .36 Colts, for weight and balance I assume.
In his early days his nick name was "Duck Bill" not "Wild Bill" the later name was started by news papers.

Duck Bill Hickok.

 

[Joe Demko]

Anyone know what the button below the cylinder is?

I think it is a screw, not a button. The edge looks like it is knurled to permit it to be tightened or loosened with just your fingers.

 

[Old Fuff]

Anyone know what the button below the cylinder is?

Of course... The Old Fuff does...

It.s part of a "Bridgeport Rig," covered by U.S. patent 252,448 that was issued in 1882 to L.S. Flatau.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Of course... The Old Fuff does...

It.s part of a "Bridgeport Rig," covered by U.S. patent 252,448 that was issued in 1882 to L.S. Flatau.

Ding Ding Ding, we have a winner. The Bridgeport name had escaped me for the moment.

 

[Old Fuff]

It's the first time I've seen one on a cap & ball revolver. Given the difficulty of loading the one in your picture I would have expected it to be cartridge-converted by the early 1880's.

 

[Sniper X]

This discussion brings up another old west thing I have learned. There were VERY few real gunfights, like those seen in movies where the two would be gunfighters face off in the street. I saw on a doc and read that there were only a hand-full of them. Of course most of us thought they had them daily....
I also have seen in a couple movies, both The quick and the Dead, and a couple John Wayne movies where someone in the movie asks someone else to "file the trigger on this" . So I guess that may be more moviesque as well.

 

[Red Cent]

They did more than cut barrels. Somewhere one of my books relates to a cowpoke who rode a somewhat common trail. He was cowboy, robber, turned sheriff, drank a lot and got killed in an alley by, I'm pretty sure, Tilman. The bad guy clipped Tilman. His six shooter had the trigger guard cut and the trigger tied back.
Elmer Keith talks about (circa 1930) about a guy (John Newman) who reworked a Colt hammer, the result being a flat stub sticking almost straight back and almost half way down the curve of the hammer. Did not interfere cocking the hammer. 'Coure it wouldn't cock anyway. This was used to "slip hammer" the pistol. We do it in cowboy (stock hammer) when the target(s) is close and big. Keith remarked that Newman could get five hits on a gallon can tossed in the air. Newman was known to kill a couple of guys in fair fights using the slip gun.
Some where it is written about the old gunfighters would remove the trigger and some other related parts to make a slipgun and to improve reliability (nothing to break)
There wer a couple of more things. I might have to amble through a bok or two again.

 

[Joe Demko]

It.s part of a "Bridgeport Rig," covered by U.S. patent 252,448 that was issued in 1882 to L.S. Flatau.

Are you sure? The images that I pulled up searching on Bridgeport rigs show a much larger diameter head that protrudes farther from the frame than the button/screw in this thread. Slotting for a screw driver is also used rather than knurling in the ones I googled up. One example here.

The exploded views of Colt revolvers that I've looked up indicate that it is in place of one of the trigger and bolt screws, whatever it is.

 

[rcmodel]

Actually it isn't in place of any existing screws on a Colt of any vintage.
They all only have three screws, a hammer screw, a bolt screw, and a trigger screw.

That one in the photos has all three factory screws showing, plus the knurled stud in front of the bolt screw.

I do believe it must be some sort of Bridgeport rig screw, although certainly not like the real deal patented one that replaced the factory hammer screw.

That one is oddly placed, whatever it is.
It appears the revolver would tend to hang at an awkward angle, if not upside down, being that the stud is so far forward, close to the cylinder, and low on the balance point of the gun.

rc

 

[CraigC]

I don't think it's a Bridgeport rig. It's way too small and short, plus is in a weird position for proper balance. Also, why would you have a Bridgeport rig (designed for belt use with full-size guns) on a sixgun that is obviously designed for deep cover?

They all only have three screws, a hammer screw, a bolt screw, and a trigger screw.

Don't forget the fourth screw for the shoulder stock on some models.

 

[rcmodel]

See factory Shoulder stock screws on this one:
They would normally be further back & lower.

http://www.vintageweaponry.com/9040402_4.jpg

rc

 

[CraigC]

Okay, now that is really weird. I actually grabbed one of my 1860's, after I posted, to verify the screw's location and realized it was further back than the one pictured. I was gonna post the picture you linked-to as an example. Creepy....

 

[Manco]

This discussion brings up another old west thing I have learned. There were VERY few real gunfights, like those seen in movies where the two would be gunfighters face off in the street. I saw on a doc and read that there were only a hand-full of them. Of course most of us thought they had them daily....

Yes, ironically honor-based pistol duels were much more of a tradition in the more "civilized" parts of the US back East, particularly among the social elite. The hard-working peasants and working-class people out West had little use for such nonsense (originally brought over from Europe). To be sure, there were many gunmen out West, but they were either bandits or lawmen or both, and few of them got into many gunfights because they didn't want to get shot! The few who did became legends of the "Old" or "Wild" West, although they still probably didn't do half of what people claimed they did.

From my reading of history, it seems that most of the real gunfights that resembled their Hollywood counterparts in any way were between macho, impetuous young men in mining towns (or other boom-bust towns) getting thoroughly liquored-up and trying to prove something or settle a gambling dispute or whatever. There were occasional impromptu shootings with one or both sides participating, and while Hollywood actually portrays such events fairly realistically sometimes, they also occasionally exaggerate them into huge saloon fights in which random people punched other random people for no reason (probably not realistic ), or formal duels that were extremely rare in real life (at least in the West). Note that people sometimes have a propensity to exaggerate how common such scenes are in Hollywood productions, as well.

The main exaggeration, I think, is that the crime rate (particularly murder) was outrageously high, as I've never found a historical basis for this portrayal. In reality--and this is just my guess--I bet that the .45 Colt Single Action Army in the hands of civilians probably shot more animals of various types than people, and more people were shot by .41 Rimfire derringers in self-defense than anything else (many by women, apparently).

 

[Old Fuff]

Guys...

Look at the picture in post #9 again. Do you see any cuts in the recoil shield for a shoulder stock? Did the military version of the 1860 Army come engraved, with silver plated straps and trigger guard? Well not that I know of...

This revolver started life as a commercial model, and the frame never had the cuts and screws associated with a detachable shoulder stock.

Joe:

While the "Bridgeport Rig" was patented a fair number of unauthorized copies were made, and I suspect that this is one of them. The screw is located where it is so the snubbed-off gun (on both ends) will balance and hang in a vertical position. Whoever installed it drilled a new hole. The edge of the screw is serrated to that it can be removed without a screwdriver - if or when the user didn't want to use "the rig."

It has also occured to the Old Fuff that the original owner might have had a Bridgeport Rig style attachment on a shoulder harnness, and the revolver hung upside-down...

 

[ThePunisher'sArmory]

The first thing I do to all my guns is add a Houge grip. To bad they didnt have these grips way back when.

 

[CraigC]

Did the military version of the 1860 Army come engraved, with silver plated straps and trigger guard?

What difference does that make? What would keep someone from having a former military model engraved and plated??? It sure as hell didn't come from Colt with that short barrel and birdshead grip frame so why would we assume it came engraved and plated?

This revolver started life as a commercial model, and the frame never had the cuts and screws associated with a detachable shoulder stock.

I think I edited my post to reflect that, once I reminded myself of where the shoulder stock screw-studs are located.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Guys...

Look at the picture in post #9 again. Do you see any cuts in the recoil shield for a shoulder stock? Did the military version of the 1860 Army come engraved, with silver plated straps and trigger guard? Well not that I know of...

This revolver started life as a commercial model, and the frame never had the cuts and screws associated with a detachable shoulder stock.

Joe:

While the "Bridgeport Rig" was patented a fair number of unauthorized copies were made, and I suspect that this is one of them. The screw is located where it is so the snubbed-off gun (on both ends) will balance and hang in a vertical position. Whoever installed it drilled a new hole. The edge of the screw is serrated to that it can be removed without a screwdriver - if or when the user didn't want to use "the rig."

It has also occured to the Old Fuff that the original owner might have had a Bridgeport Rig style attachment on a shoulder harnness, and the revolver hung upside-down...

Fluff is correct on his observation. This Bridgeport clone was originally used in a shoulder rig.

It is a civilian model. Colt would make a revolver to any spec you asked. Although I doubt this a a factory job. Colt made three screw and four screw models. The forth screw, located near the rear of the frame was for the shoulder stock. The four screw frame would also have the cut out in the recoilshield and a notch in the bottom of the grip frame.