Guns of John Wayne and Samuel Colt

David E

David E

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Nov 10, 2005
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I visited the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City today.

For those of you that don't know, there is a special exhibit, "Samuel Colt and his Guns" that ends THIS Sunday.

It has many one of a kind proto-types as well as the wooden cylinder he carved while on a ship back in the 1840's

I utilized the audio tour and it provided interesting facts and insight.

He died at 46 and left about 100 Million dollars to his wife, who later donated these arms to a museum in CT.

Also available for viewing, were some special Hollywood Cowboy guns, INCLUDING the large looped Winchester 92 lever gun that John Wayne used in multiple westerns, from 1939's "Stagecoach" to 1969's "True Grit."

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Up close, it sure looks mighty beat up.

Also present were two highly engraved "Great Western" revolvers, one of which appeared in Wayne's last film, "The Shootist." It was this one that he gave Ron Howard a shooting lesson with and was later shown in the bar shootout. (This one was never tossed across the floor, however)

Here is the pair:

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Another gun highly recognizable as belonging to the Duke was his Colt SAA with yellowed grips. By happenstance, just yesterday I watched the scene in "The Commancheros" where he guns down Lee Marvin (again!) with it, drawn from his rough-out suede gunbelt.

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There are other items as well that proved to be very interesting.....like a HUGE stag handled Bowie Knife made for the Duke following his Davy Crockett portrayal in "The Alamo" that was LARGER and THICKER :eek: than even a FFBM....and it was made by.........get ready..........GUCCI. The sheath was so marked. Next time, I'll get a picture of that one.

If you ever get the chance, visit the Cowboy Hall of Fame if you like guns of the west, etc.

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Cool stuff... you left me wanting more. :)
Wish I could make it to see the rest.

Thanks for sharing.
 
My favorite stuff in the world. I love Cowboy everything. Thanks so much for sharing it.
 
Thanks for sharing these pictures. As a guy who grew up on The Duke, I really loved seeing them, espceially his rough-out gunbelt. Man, how cool is that. And of course, the Winchester, used in what has to be the greatest scene ever filmed for a western movie:

Rooster confronts four outlaws across the field:

Ned Pepper: What's your intention? Do you think one on four is a dogfall?
Rooster Cogburn: I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned. Or see you hanged in Fort Smith at Judge Parker's convenience. Which'll it be?
Ned Pepper: I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.
Rooster Cogburn: Fill your hands, you son of a bitch.

Man, I can see him now riding across that field, reins in his teeth, a pistol in one hand and a rifle in the other. Wow. My 11 year-old son loves that scene as well.
 
Texas Slim said:
Thanks for sharing these pictures. As a guy who grew up on The Duke, I really loved seeing them, espceially his rough-out gunbelt. Man, how cool is that. And of course, the Winchester, used in what has to be the greatest scene ever filmed for a western movie:

Rooster confronts four outlaws across the field:

Ned Pepper: What's your intention? Do you think one on four is a dogfall?
Rooster Cogburn: I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned. Or see you hanged in Fort Smith at Judge Parker's convenience. Which'll it be?
Ned Pepper: I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.
Rooster Cogburn: Fill your hands, you son of a bitch.

Man, I can see him now riding across that field, reins in his teeth, a pistol in one hand and a rifle in the other. Wow. My 11 year-old son loves that scene as well.
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That is my favorite duke scene as well!! Too bad he's still not making movies; there is no comparison to him.
 
I love "The Shootist." Nice pics and great info.:thumbup:

You know the old saying:
"God made man, but Sam Colt made man equal."
 
David E said:
I visited the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City today.


If you ever get the chance, visit the Cowboy Hall of Fame if you like guns of the west, etc.

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Great pics! Thanks. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY. also has a great collection of Hollywood guns including the revolver Richard Boone carried as Paladin in the tv series Have Gun Will Travel. My favorite. They have the revolvers from Bonanza with the special gun belt requested by Lorne Greene. According to our guide, Pa Cartwright (Greene) didn't like guns and wanted nothing to do with them. He ordered a gun belt with no bullet loops.

Bill
 
Gerberblades said:
Lorne Greene. According to our guide, Pa Cartwright (Greene) didn't like guns and wanted nothing to do with them. He ordered a gun belt with no bullet loops.

Bill
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There are many Hollywood "heroes" that made their living using guns on the screen, but are the most virulent anti-gunners to be found.

NOT SO with the Duke. He owned them, shot them, and sometimes, as I learned, used his OWN in his movies.

BTW, RobGrose13 took those pics for me. Shoulda got one of that Gucci Bowie !

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raythebigfoot said:
That is my favorite duke scene as well!! Too bad he's still not making movies; there is no comparison to him.
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Tom Selleck is the closest thing my generation has to a new Duke. Of course, he also gets to play with .45 autos in some of his roles.

There are many Hollywood "heroes" that made their living using guns on the screen, but are the most virulent anti-gunners to be found.
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Including most of the idiots who have played Bond, James Bond.

Rick
 
Ahhhh the Duke, damn what a great guy! My dad has his picture hanging in his study. I've seen all his movies at least twice. Great man and a real American.:thumbup:
 
rbmcmjr said:
Tom Selleck is the closest thing my generation has to a new Duke. Of course, he also gets to play with .45 autos in some of his roles.
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in "Magnum, P.I." he uses a 9mm chambered 1911..........

Next time you see the opening of the show, when he is holding the 1911 in his hand and seats the magazine, you can see that the mag has the crease in the mag that reduces the inside dimensions to work with the 9mm and .38 Super rounds.

I'd also read it once after I made that observation.

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That Colt SAA with yellowed grips takes me back. I watched as much of "The Commancheros" as I could but I had seen it before a time or two.
 
Nice Pics thanks for sharing!! does anyone know a link or something to show or tell about exactly what guns big named individuals of the old west used? i tried a search but never have found anything worthy. but thanks again, nice pics!
 
David E said:
in "Magnum, P.I." he uses a 9mm chambered 1911.
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From what I understand this is a case of yes and no. The story called for a .45 but apparently 9s were frequently used instead because the blanks worked more effectively. In my absolutely favorite episode (Did You See the Sunrise?, Pt. 2), the camera freezes on the muzzle just as he fires. It sure looks like a .45 in that scene.

The Jesse Stone character uses a Gunsite pistol.

Rick
 
My main point was, Magnum uses a 9mm chambered 1911 in the show's opening, as the magazine reveals.

I have a passing interest in movie guns, etc and watch for stuff like that. Doing a search online for "famous hollywood guns" is harder than I thought it would or should be.

One site shows a "Glock-like" propane gun that was used in at least one episode of the Sopranos. The still photo on the site makes it clear that it certainly is not or never had been an actual Glock. Along those lines, I'd read that often, when the gun itself isn't visible (WW II Mustang firing from the wings, or a pillbox spewing out muzzle flashes) the mechanism used is a propane set up.

William Holden used a 1911 in a movie, only it was a 9mm Star instead, at least during the shooting scenes.

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Thanks for the awesome pics!

Been a while since I've seen any of those movies, need to go rent a few
 
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