Wild West Gunfighters

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A Good Starting Point...

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And you must also consider that "gunfighters" where not as active as you see in movies.. I mean, sometimes their reputation and their myth are far beyond what the historical truth is.

...is Bill O'Neal's Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters. For example, Wyatt Earp is next to the bottom of the "ratings," with no confirmed kills, five gunfights and five "possible killings or assists." Wes Hardin is second from the top, with 11 documented killings, 19 gunfights and one "possible killings or assists."
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Thank you,spwenger for recommending that book.I've always been interested in Earp ,who died at the ripe age of 80 in Los Angeles in 1929,probably the record age for the old legends.
Wyatt is buried in a Jewish Cemetary in Colma,California.His wife Josie was Jewish.Good detailed read from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyatt_Earp
 
also remember, YOUR hearing is YOUR hearing, it is hard for an individual to quantify their own loss of hearing, because you don't notice what you don't notice.

spend some time with kids at the eyedoctors, watch them put on their first pair of glasses and realize what they were missing all this time when they though they were seeing 'good enough'

I suspect many of the gunslingers had some level of hearing loss, but they themselves may not have noticed it.
 
Yep, and you can't get disability for hearing loss from VA -- "because the government issued you ear plugs." Not to me, not until the '70s.
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I don't know the details, but I see a lot of patients with VA-issued hearing aids. A woman came in to the clinic yesterday with a pair of aids we sold to her, and her husband asked me to take a look at his new aids from the VA. Top level Siemens half-shells retailing for $7000.

If it's important to you, you might consider pressing the issue.
 
I've just been re-reading some books about a certain mining town in CO where I used to live.

Most of the shootings and killings seem to be a couple guys getting drunk and/or mad at each other and taking potshots until one or the other got hit, then claiming self defense.

None of them sound like "gunfighters" in the classic Hollywood wild west meaning of the word - actually more like modern gang bangers :rolleyes:

A gunshot was also used to alert the town to a fire that had started, and eventually took out 1/2 of the main business district.
 
Most non-gunnies are really not aware of the potential hearing damage from gunfire, and I suspect many of us are less than diligent - especially when young and in a hurry - about protection. We have a staged "High Noon Shootout" on occasion in town, and the public is forewarned of the shotgun and revolver blasts (all blanks). Even so - some seem shocked by the intensity of the blast sound. As to the hearing aids and the VA - depends. My brother and I were both active duty during the Korean War - he on the firing line (105 howitzers) in Korea, myself on sea duty. Both gunfire damaged hearing - he got VA hearing aids, I cannot. He was National Guard, I was USCG. Such is life! :rolleyes:
sailortoo
 
I remember shooting BARs, 1919 A4s and 3.5" Rocket Launchers (Bazookas) with no hearing protection at all. It all comes back to me especially well when I sit on a quiet evening and listen to the bells... that aren't there.
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Thread Drift Alert!! . . . and weren't those 3.5 inch bazookas a ball to shoot? I never fired one in combat, but I blew the h*** out of an APC on the range at an estimated 330 meters offhand. And I just loved the manual of arms (there wasn't one). :)
 
I can think of three actual gunfights from the old west times.
Wild Bill Hickcock facing down another gambler mano-a-mano over a watch and winning.
Ned Christy getting blown out of his reenforced house by a posse and losing an eye when hit in the face with a rifle slug during the ensuing shootout.
Nate Champion and Nick ray holding out against a posse during the cattlewars, they both lost their lives in this one, peace through superior firepower.

I know there are others.

When you think about it, that reference to modern gangbanging tactics has some validity.
The more things change,,,,,,,,
 
I don't know the details, but I see a lot of patients with VA-issued hearing aids.
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I have VA hearing aids -- but the issue is disability. If you lost an eye, or a leg, you get disability payments. But not if you lose your hearing.
 
"gunfighters" were just cowardly murderers who shot people in the back when they least expected it.
"You shot him in the back!"
"Well his back was to me" Gun Fighters Moon
Hey tell it to the marines, you get no points for fairness.
robert
 
My Grand mother, who came to Oklahoma just after state hood did see a real ole fashioned cowboy gun fight.

They were in the town of Three sands Oklahoma.
IT was mid day and she saw these two cow pokes, step out of the local saloon .
They were arguing loudly is why she noticed them.
One of them shouted a particular loud slur and they both grabbed leather.

Grand ma said they both lost. She also said, unlike the movies, when shot you dont fly through the air, you just drop like a sack of potatoes.... Imagine, I talked with a person who saw a cowboy gun fight.

Not to be confused with the three I was involved in, mind you. That was different..
 
From the badlands came the killer
He lived by the knife and the gun
He'd cut ya just for standin'
Shoot ya if ya tried to run
He was as big aa a tree and did as he pleased
And everthing he did was bad
They said if ya was to kill him
You'd only make him mad
From the goodlands come the cowgirl
Patty was her name
She was hot on the trail of that killer
On a moped she called Flame
Cause the killer had killed her daddy
For spittin' in the road
And you only had to kill her daddy once
To get that gal PO'd

(Chorus)
Yippee yay a Cow Patty
Yippee yay a Cow Patty
She rode in to town to find the man who killed her daddy
Yippee yay a Cow Patty

Killer hit town at day break
Ate the door off the local saloon
He started to drink
You could tell ne was thinkin' they'll be a showdown soon
Patty hit town in a cloud of dust
Old Flame was buzzin' like a saw
And the whole town got as quiet as a church
When the killer stepped out for the draw
Forty shots rang out forty people fell
Patty and the killer missed each other
But they shot that town to hell

(Chorus)

Killer took a step toward Patty
Said it's time I gunned you down
But he slipped in somethin' that was layin in the street
And was shot fore he hit the ground
Yes the killer slipped
And it cost him his life
And Patty said as she roared out of town
You gotta watch your step
When you know the chips are down

(Chorus)

Jim Stafford
 
Look how Pat Garrett shot Billy the Kid (or who ever he shot). In the dark, "who's there, who's there", bang bang went Garrett's sixgun and they ran out the door.
Years later Garrett met his demise while taking a leak.
 
Look how Pat Garrett shot Billy the Kid (or who ever he shot). In the dark, "who's there, who's there", bang bang went Garrett's sixgun and they ran out the door.
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Sounds like excellent good judgment to me. Doing something else could get a feller killed. :scrutiny: :D

Many years ago I had a short interview with one of two remaining Arizona Territorial Rangers. He was in his 90's and feeble, but his mind was sharp as a tack. He told me that they were under specific orders from they're Captain to approach anyone they expected to arrest with "gun in hand" (the preferred gun being a Winchester rifle) and to come from behind if they could. From the Captain’s point of view, "No outlaws life was worth that of a good officer's."
 
"According to this officer, the old-timers back then used to tell rookies who were worried about it to just stick a shell casing in their ear if it was too loud."
I use a loaded round. .38 Spl fits my ear perfectly. Lick the rim for a good seal and insert rim first then wiggle around until you get it to seal. Quicker than waiting for a foam plug to expand. I had know-it-all NRA training counselor take me to task for using .38s instead of expensive electronic ear muffs. Said it looked unprofessional, but works just fine.
 
I've tested ear muffs, foam plugs, and custom plugs in the sound booth and found them all to work as advertised (well, not quite as well as advertised, but close enough).

I'll take some dummy rounds to work on Monday and test them too. I have to admit to being a bit skeptical; I'll bet they help some but aren't anywhere near as good as "real" protection.
 
Ya' know, we have some real live test cases in our modern times.

Considering the fact that gang bangers don't wear hearing protection, and fire pistols and long guns from inside buildings, cars and out in the open as did period gunfighters, does anyone have data on the medical records for that incarcerated demographic?
 
"The old days"?

Modern combat causes hearing loss too. Most don't wear hearing protection while out on patrol(impractical and being able to hear what's going on is vital). Not to mention that we still haven't gained the psychic ability to know when a firefight breaks out, IED explodes, or a rocket/mortar lands nearby(yes, this happens even in the "safe" areas so one would have to wear ear plugs 24/7). I can personally attest to this. I'm young and it didn't take "down the road" or for me to get into my older years for me to gain some more tinnitus. Combat isn't any quieter these days.
 
I forget who they were talking about but an old gun rag eluded to the fact that when the old gunwriters Cooper, Jordan,Keith or O'conner wete havin' a conversation you needed ear plugs because they all talked damn loud from hearing loss.
 
I had know-it-all NRA training counselor take me to task for using .38s instead of expensive electronic ear muffs. Said it looked unprofessional, but works just fine.
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He probably knows more than you think. Ear plugs are a pretty good expedient method, but they don't buffer the shock wave that works on the mastoid bone and other areas of the skull...which transmit part of the shock to the inner ear...which leads to hearing loss just like it does unprotected. It doesn't kill your hearing quite as fast, but it still does the trick. Like the rythm method of birth control. It's better than nothing...but not much.
 
"...just cowardly murderers who shot people in the back..." The alledged 'Code of the West' is a Hollywood invention. You don't shoot your friends.
 
TallPine - can I get permission to hand that great ditty off to our "High Noon" shootout crew - I got a real kick out of it!
sailortoo
 
Modern combat causes hearing loss too. Most don't wear hearing protection while out on patrol(impractical and being able to hear what's going on is vital). Not to mention that we still haven't gained the psychic ability to know when a firefight breaks out, IED explodes, or a rocket/mortar lands nearby(yes, this happens even in the "safe" areas so one would have to wear ear plugs 24/7). I can personally attest to this. I'm young and it didn't take "down the road" or for me to get into my older years for me to gain some more tinnitus. Combat isn't any quieter these days.
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Why don't we provide our guys with some sort of electronic hearing protection, which allows them to hear normal noises but blocks gunfire? If nothing else, saving their hearing will keep them effective longer. A deaf soldier is a less effective soldier, I would think. Seems like we're doing them a disservice.
 
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