More about westerns

[Bob Wright]

Being somewhat tethered by this pump, I'm watching too much TV. And noticed the following in several old movies and one old Gunsmoke episode:

When a gunfight starts to unfold on the streets, the participants fire off the first volley then dash for cover; behind the rain barrel, horse trough or into an alley. Somehow one always seeks cover behind an open staircase, one withn open risers. This means he is clearly visible, with only treads, maybe 1 1/2" to 2" thick for cover.

I'd go for the horse trough.

Bob Wright

 

[Hvymax]

Yeah water puts the brakes on bullets!

 

[Armybrat]

I’d go for out of town.

 

[Busterswoodshop]

What about the ones that hide behind a wagon wheel ?

 

[MaxMan]

Or you could Ned Kelly it

 

[Yaworski]

Somehow one always seeks cover behind an open staircase, one withn open risers.

Never thought of that before. Now it will irritate me. Thanks.

How about the snipers on the roofs that stand up to shoot and end up getting shot?

 

[Danjet500]

I had never heard of Ned Kelly. Thanks for the trip down the rabbit hole. Very interesting.

 

[Fox Mike]

Hide behind a horse. No one ever hits a horse. A gazillion riders are charging and everyone is shooting and knocking people off the horses, traveling at breakneck speed, and NEVER hit a horse.

 

[gjgalligan]

In the old west the guys in the bars always seem to tip over tables to hide behind. The ammo in those old 6 guns must have been pretty weak.

 

[Deer Hunter]

And we've seen many saloon batwing doors stop those rifle bullets that were fired from across the street. Wonder what kind of wood they were made out of.

 

[Bob Wright]

And we've seen many saloon batwing doors stop those rifle bullets that were fired from across the street. Wonder what kind of wood they were made out of.

Mesquite or scrub oak.
Bob Wright

 

[peachhead]

In the old west the guys in the bars always seem to tip over tables to hide behind. The ammo in those old 6 guns must have been pretty weak.

The same tables that shatter into matchsticks when you fall on it...

 

[vito]

Those old revolvers were incredibly accurate, and the good cowboys, but not the baddies, were incredible marksmen. Shooting from the hip and taking down the rooftop shiper with a single shot while running across the street or dismounting a horse showed us all how to succeed in a gunfight. And of course those old guns had higher capacity than the revolvers of today, sometimes 20 or 30 rounds, or so it seemed. And finally, the folks in those days had very little blood in them, because even after being shot they showed hardly any blood on them. Those were the days!

 

[Lt92]

I'd go for out of town.

amen

 

[Hvymax]

The accuracy was amazing from ammo loaded next a campfire and guns manufactured using water powered mills.

 

[mirglip]

Hollywood producers have made themselves famous for improbable scenarios. Like a moth to a flame, we keep coming back.

 

[epags]

The saloon's second floor railings were quite fragile and luckilly there was always a table direcltly below.

 

[Richbaker]

And we've seen many saloon batwing doors stop those rifle bullets that were fired from across the street. Wonder what kind of wood they were made out of.

Ironwood...

 

[Paul B]

Most Hollywood gunfights are more for show than realism. I can only think of three that might come close to what one might be like.
1. Wyatt Earp. When young Wyatt goes into town with a buddy to get supplies and they look into a bar. Then two antagonists come barreling out, draw and shoot with both dying. Seems like that was probably how most gunfights ends if both shooters were equal in skill.

2. The gun fight in the beginning of Tombstone where Wyatt and Doc Holliday were talking with Sheriff Behan.

3. The fight at the end of Open Range although it seems that it was dragged out longer than necessary. The start was good but it seemed a little Hollywood got mixed up in the affair.

4. The gunfight at the OK corral should probably be on that list, both versions from Wyatt Earp and Tombstone.

There's probably a few more but I just don't recall them.
Paul B.

 

[Yaworski]

The accuracy was amazing from ammo loaded next a campfire and guns manufactured using water powered mills.

Water power would have little to do with accuracy.

 

[Jeepnik]

High Noon was likely fairly accurate. On the other hand I have a distant relative who was a town sheriff in Nevada. Apparently he did carry a revolver but mostly used a very short barreled double barreled shotgun. Seems he didn't have many shooting scrapes.

With the state of infection control folks didn't want to get even the infamous "flesh wound". Then again I always got a kick out of the negligible "shoulder wound". Such a wound would likely be a lifetime crippling injury, if you didn't bleed out from a damaged brachial artery.

 

[Hvymax]

Water power would have little to do with accuracy.

It's a far cry from modern CNC equipment. Half of the parts were final fitted with files.

 

[Yaworski]

It's a far cry from modern CNC equipment. Half of the parts were final fitted with files.

That was true with electrical equipment as well.

 

[el caminero]

Never thought of that before. Now it will irritate me. Thanks.

How about the snipers on the roofs that stand up to shoot and end up getting shot?

They are operating under the generalisation that the vast majority of people are incapable of thinking of looking up. Some of us do, and that defeats their brainstorm.

 

[el caminero]

That was true with electrical equipment as well.

Final fitment trumps equipment foibles.

 

[ex13F]

Most Hollywood gunfights are more for show than realism. I can only think of three that might come close to what one might be like.
1. Wyatt Earp. When young Wyatt goes into town with a buddy to get supplies and they look into a bar. Then two antagonists come barreling out, draw and shoot with both dying. Seems like that was probably how most gunfights ends if both shooters were equal in skill.

2. The gun fight in the beginning of Tombstone where Wyatt and Doc Holliday were talking with Sheriff Behan.

3. The fight at the end of Open Range although it seems that it was dragged out longer than necessary. The start was good but it seemed a little Hollywood got mixed up in the affair.

4. The gunfight at the OK corral should probably be on that list, both versions from Wyatt Earp and Tombstone.

There's probably a few more but I just don't recall them.
Paul B.

I still watch The Wild Bunch and enjoy it. Although the blood appears a little iffy in The Shootist, never get tired of that one either.

 

[Paul B]

The same tables that shatter into matchsticks when you fall on it...

You ever notice that when the good guy gets hit over the head with a chair the chair flies into flinders but in real life if one gets hit in the head it's the head that flies into flinders.
Paul B.

 

[trebor44]

It's Hollywood and urbanites!

 

[el caminero]

It's Hollywood and urbanites!

Sorry, first read that as hollywood urbanities...

 

[Shamus2022]

In 1880 Pres. Garfields' doctors killed him with sepsis (probing his bullet wound with unwashed bare fingers). And yet all this old west doctors seem to know all about infection in wounds. Methinks in those days and those times you called a doctor for broken bones and to maybe stitch up a gash not for abdominal bullet wounds. I don't see civilians being a whole lot better off than the military at that time... serious wound, serious death. Gus in Lonesome Dove had it right.