Modern day pistol to win 1881 gunfight?

T

TXAZ

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I'm watching "The Quick and the Dead" where Sharon Stone joins a dueling competition in an attempt to exact revenge on Gene Hackman for her father's death.

There is a wide variety of revolvers used in this circa 1881 gun fight. Some impressive state-of-the-art, well oiled precision machines of the time, others Civil War relics of questionable reliability.

The question to you is, what modern day pistol (semi or wheel) would provide THE BEST advantage in such a gunfight and why (assuming it could be transported back in time.)

OR, if you think the gun doesn't matter, why?
 
Glock 18... accurate as any, fairly powerful, lighter than most, can take a holo-sight, and can be set to fully auto.

What is there not to like?

Deaf
 
can take a holo-sight, and can be set to fully auto.
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With all due respect, none of the above would be of any use in the movie version of the "shoot out at nigh noon." These fights, if they ever happened, took place at bad breath distances. These were all point shooting at best. So the shooter who was quickest generally won the fight.

As for a modern D/A revolver or autoloader having an advantage, not to sure of that. Don't believe me, just watch an experienced S/A hand get of a few shots. Some of these guys are blazing fast.

Now for a protracted fight, I'll take a quality modern D/A revolver or autoloader every day.
 
OK DEAF, now back to reality, and pick one that's actually available!:D

My choice, which anyone can purchase, Glock 19.
Plenty of capacity
Accurate enough
Very reliable
9MM Luger is a capable round, and readily available.
 
I'll take my old Delta Elite I started IDPA and shot bowling pins with and I want some good ammo to go with it maybe my 135gr Noslers @1550fps.
 
With all due respect, none of the above would be of any use in the movie version of the "shoot out at nigh noon." These fights, if they ever happened, took place at bad breath distances. These were all point shooting at best. So the shooter who was quickest generally won the fight.
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In July of 1865, Wild Bill Hickock killed Dave Tutt in the town square of Springfield, MO, in a duel over a card game ..... at a distance of 75 yards. Tutt drew first, fired and missed. Hickock fired once, killing Tutt with a shot through the heart.

In 1876, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson challenged 2 men to a duel on the road next to the Deadwood, SD cemetary. The 2 men strapped on a pair of revolver apiece, and met Johnson there, commencing fire at a range of 50 yards. The each emptied their first gun before Johnson fired his first shot at a range of 40 yards, killing one man. The second man got off two or three more shots before Johnson fired again, killing him.

The "high noon showdown" was direct descendant of Colonial era dueling- some distance between combatants was customary.
 
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Creek Johnson must have been ice cold during that gunfight. Yo'd want him your side of a funfight... As did the Earps!

We learned this lesson playing laser tag 25 years ago. If you can't hit the target, throwing more lead or photons into the air rarely helps.

That said, modern sights and grips are a big help over classic ones. Sight aquisition on my1858 new model is fine but not as refined as any Glock, etc.
 
Honestly, if I needed a gun to potentially reach out there (>25 yards) and still be fast and accurate at "bad breath" range... I'd probably grab my Ruger Vaquero... that gun just doesn't miss.
 
OK DEAF, now back to reality, and pick one that's actually available!
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Cheapshooter,

Full auto guns would have been legal in the West back then. They didn't have gun control like today (except in many towns you really couldn't pack a gun unless the town marshal was your buddy.)

But if we are going to be serous then we would be dependent on the ammunition available back then.

And if so, I'd pick a S&W N frame 5 inch .45 Long Colt. Probably the Model 25. Why? Black powder would have gummed up the works of any semi-auto right quick.

But I still like the idea of the Glock 18.... Comanche raids did happen now and then.

Deaf
 
Creek Johnson must have been ice cold during that gunfight. Yo'd want him your side of a funfight... As did the Earps!
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"....going into action with the greatest speed of which a man's muscles are capable of, but mentally unflustered by an urge to hurry or the need for complicated nervous or muscular actions which trick shooting involves." -Wyatt Earp

In other words, to win- Go as fast as possible, but don't hurry, and keep it simple.

I doubt even a Glock 18, or any other handgun would have helped Mr. Tutt or Mr. Johnson's opponents...... they were in a hurry, and could not miss fast enough ......
 
From what I have read, they generally just bushwhacked each other. It doesn't matter what handgun you are carrying when someone hides behind a tree and shoots you with a rifle.
 
Man. You watch REALLY BAD movies. ;)

I'd want my Mattel Fanner 50.

It never missed. It never ran out of bullets. It never malfunctioned. And it turned into a machine gun when I wanted it to. :D
 
In the 1987 movie, "Time Stalkers", Klaus Kinski took a modern double action revolver back to the old west.
It might have been a Python.
A semi auto would have been of little use without the availability of magazines to replace lost and broken ones.
 
For one gun fight? My Glock 19 because I shoot it the best and am the most familiar with it. It is the only gun I practice drawing quickly. With 30 rounds immediately available I would have as much firepower as 5-6 other fighters. :)
 
and who would you put money on to win said gunfight, Robo cop or the Terminater.
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John Wesley Harden.

Cause he had no compunction to killing. He would do so without hesitation.

The other two took orders from others had mission parameters.

Deaf
 
How many of you saw the movie Rough Riders?

There was scene where Bucky O'Neil was talking with Stephen Crane. It was when they were training the men to ready them for the fight.

O'Neil mentioned some of the more notorious killers of the time. He explained that they were not necessarily great shooters. They were drunken louts that had the ability to draw on their fellow man and pull the trigger. He said most men can't do that.

In other words, winning a gun fight involves a certain mental attitude.
 
Sorry guys, would still be a Single action Colt. If your talking speed of pulling from holster, and firing a single accurate round.

For putting numerous rounds down range accurately.
Well your not Jerry Miculek...:D
 
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