The gun that really won the west was not the Winchester 73 or the Colt Single Action Army, or even the carbines of the cavalry.
The gun that really won the West was the .45-70 trapdoor rifle, carried by long lines of the low-paid, ill-fed, ill-clothed and footsore infantry who manned the Western forts, guarded the railroads, and marched long distances in blistering heat and freezing cold to put down Indian uprisings. They rounded up the "hostiles", guarded the reservations and kept the lid on while the more glamorous cavalry got the publicity and the glory.
Jim
The gun that really won the West was the .45-70 trapdoor rifle, carried by long lines of the low-paid, ill-fed, ill-clothed and footsore infantry who manned the Western forts, guarded the railroads, and marched long distances in blistering heat and freezing cold to put down Indian uprisings. They rounded up the "hostiles", guarded the reservations and kept the lid on while the more glamorous cavalry got the publicity and the glory.
Jim