Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 15

Thread: Wyatt Earp Commentary

  1. #1
    Site Supporter 41magfan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    NC

    Wyatt Earp Commentary

    A short, interesting little read;

    http://looserounds.com/2015/04/23/wy...s-gunfighting/
    The path of least resistance will seldom get you where you need to be.

  2. #2
    Member Peally's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Wisconsin, USA
    The more things change the more they stay the same, you could swap everything in that write-up with modern pistols and situations and it'd still make plenty of sense.

    Great link!
    Semper Gumby, Always Flexible

  3. #3
    Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    DFW, TX
    Quote Originally Posted by Peally View Post
    The more things change the more they stay the same, you could swap everything in that write-up with modern pistols and situations and it'd still make plenty of sense.
    Very true - as shown by this exhaustive, weeks-long pretrial hearing that followed the OK Corral shootout - where the question was, were the Earps & Holliday going to be tried for the murder of the Clanton boys, or were they acting within the confines of the law?

    Especially interesting in light of current use of lethal force controversies.

  4. #4
    Hillbilly Elitist Malamute's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Northern Rockies
    Quote Originally Posted by Peally View Post
    The more things change the more they stay the same, you could swap everything in that write-up with modern pistols and situations and it'd still make plenty of sense.

    Great link!
    I keep thinking that when reading nyetis and other experienced comments here.

  5. #5

    Back From The Dead

    The page linked in the OP seems to be dead.

    However, it has been posted at Wyatt Earp on Gunfighting Interview - Abe's Gun Cave. (Saw it linked from Instapundit a few days ago.)

    And, yes, I think that, after he got over the new technology, that old Wyatt would have fit in here.

    (Edit to ad: It's on other sites, too. I guess it's probably no longer under copyright. Wyatt Earp Interview on GunFighting, Lessons on Gunfighting From Wyatt Earp | Gun Carrier. There seems to be some discussion as to whether the interviewer, Stuart Lake, put words in Earp's mouth, and if so, how many.)
    Last edited by Drang; 09-19-2018 at 06:46 PM.
    Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
    “It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
    Glenn Reynolds

  6. #6
    The R in F.A.R.T RevolverRob's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Gotham Adjacent
    I've always felt the take away from Earp's most famous gunfight - was that the surest way to kill a man dead is with a double load of buckshot to the chest (unless he's wearing armor, then two loads of buckshot to the face). 30+ rounds were fired in 30-seconds in that fight, most of them large caliber handgun rounds. Three men died that day, the first of them died more or less instantly from being shot by Holliday with a shotgun. The second was shot by Earp (Wyatt, by all accounts) in the chest and belly multiple times (he died later at the doctor's office) and the third was shot by either Virgil Earp or Doc Holliday with a shot to the head.

    Moral of the story - buckshot > handgun bullets and handgun bullets to the head > handgun bullets to just about anywhere else.
    Last edited by RevolverRob; 09-20-2018 at 12:18 AM.

  7. #7
    That was a good read. The first comment gave me brain cancer though.

    Donald Livingston JULY 17, 2017
    My stepson is all about ammo capacity in a gun and is always telling me how much better a gun is the more ammo it can hold. He is always questioning my preference of revolvers,bolt actions,lever rifles and single shots to semi autos. I never can get him to understand that one shot is all that is needed if you are good. I’ve tried to explain to him that semi auto guns usually make a person a poor marksman because they tend not to concentrate on their first shot because they know they have quick follow up shots. I’ve read about a hunting guide that makes anyone who brings a semi auto rifle to hunt with load only one bullet and he keeps the rest. I think he has the right idea. Wish I could get thru to my stepson and others that more isn’t better. Loved the article. Thanks.

  8. #8
    Site Supporter Hambo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Behind the Photonic Curtain
    I don't have much faith in anything from Lake's book.
    "Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA

  9. #9
    I just read “Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, The Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde”. In it Frank is quoted as saying he preferred a rifle over a six gun. But when using a six gun make the first shot count, take it slow and cool. Don’t get excited. Hold it steady and not shoot to quick.

    That seems to fit with what Wyatt Earp is credited with say.

  10. #10
    The R in F.A.R.T RevolverRob's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Gotham Adjacent
    Quote Originally Posted by Summerhelp View Post
    I just read “Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, The Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde”. In it Frank is quoted as saying he preferred a rifle over a six gun. But when using a six gun make the first shot count, take it slow and cool. Don’t get excited. Hold it steady and not shoot to quick.

    That seems to fit with what Wyatt Earp is credited with say.
    I never put much stock in anything said about Hamer. The evidence doesn't back up the "dozens of gunfights" he was in. But he was clearly a good Ranger, bushwhacking bandits and due process violations aside.

    FWIW, the general indication is excellent and rapid aimed fire is preferable to everything else. Cirillo's Stakeout Squad interviews, post-action accounts of Jelly Bryce shootings, support a fast and accurate first shot is what matters.

    Accuracy and taking the time for it, seems to reign supreme. Hell, legend has it that Doc Holliday, when he was shot at the OK Corral (grazed his hip) by Frank McLaury proclaimed, "That son of a bitch has shot me, and I mean to kill him." while chasing after McLaury and shooting at him (before either he or Virgil Earp, fatally wounded McLaury with a shot to the head). Point is an excited man under pressure is probably not going to proclaim something so matter of factly while shooting (if it happened at all, probably not, but it makes for good lore).

User Tag List

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •