The "John Wayne" Colt

There is a sort of "ficticious gun" that we joke about out at the gun shop.

I am a huge John Wayne & Roy Rogers fan, and have such a collection of their old movies (plus a lot of OTHER old movies), that my wife often tells people that "Mike doesn't have any DVD's in COLOR!"

Well, one morning a year or so ago, it was raining, and I hadn't planned to go anywhere, so I just got a cup of coffee, listened to the rain outside, and put in one of those old black & white "B" westerns from back in the 30's-----where the cowboys wore those "10-gallon hats" and rolled their pantleg cuffs up about 5 inches or so..........you've seen a few............

Anyway, I was watching one of those old "Lone Star Production" John Wayne movies, and the bad guys had him pinned down. He was all by himself, exchanging fire with about a half dozen of the villains. He must have cranked about 15 or 20 rounds through that old 6-shooter, and never ONCE had to reload it!

Well, when I finally DID go out later that morning, I stopped in to see the guys at the gunshop as I usually do when I'm out (just to see what might have come in, and catch a dose of good "rightwing air")

I told Sam Beach about that movie (and HE was an old "Duke" fan too), and I said "Sam, order me one of those old "John Wayne Colt 45's" that you never have to reload! He just laughed and said, "I'll see what I can do for ya!..............Well, Sam passed away, as some of you know, but the rib still continues. I'll occasionally ask Jay or one of the Tapps what the status is on that gun----and of course, it's always on "back-order!"

I LOVE those old movies, even though they seem a little silly today, especially if you're INTO guns and such. The posse is chasing the bank robbers............NO WAY you're gonna get a precision shot off from a running horse, and someone in the posse picks off a bad guy at a quarter of a mile.......or even MORE incredibly, ONE OF THE BANK ROBBERS bends back, shooting BACKWARDS and shoots one of the DEPUTIES off of HIS horse at that same distance!

(The average Colt had a 5-inch barrel, and you were lucky to keep it on the PAPER at 25-50 yards, let alone a quarter of a mile from a running horse!)..........it was all good entertainment back then, though.

Then there was the "tossing" of lead. You usually saw THIS when BOTH the bad guys AND the good guys were shooting at each other from the rocks. Just for the camera dramatics, sometimes you'd see one of them raise his pistol back over his shoulder-----then "fling" it forward again while firing------as if that were going to give the bullet a little more speed or something!

The showdown.

According to most westerns accounts I've read, most real-life shootouts in the old west took place within just a few yards of each other. In the movies and on television, guys like Clint Eastwood and Matt Dillon would sometimes take on the bad guys from half a block away!

It's so much different today, than when I was a kid with a cap pisrol, because as an ADULT ENTHUSIAST with REAL guns now, I KNOW what's probable and what ISN'T...........but you know....I STILL get a kick out of watching those old movies.......maybe even MORE-SO today, than when I was a kid! Like driving my Olds, these old movies take me back to a much better time in my life.

"Dialogue" was interesting too. When the "Lone Ranger" first came to television, the pilot episode found the Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore), fighting with an outlaw up on this high rockwall. The bad guy falls off and plummets about 300 feet to the rocky floor. Tonto runs over to where the bad guy is lying in a heap, and yells up to the Lone Ranger.........."Him DEAD Kimosabe!"-------You sit there and think to yourself "Yeah, no KIDDING!"

............at this point, I want to MAKE a point..........however many actors might have played the role over movie history.........CLAYTON MOORE was the "Lone Ranger" The rest were "wannabe's" at best.

Just like of all the different"Tarzans"................

JOHNNY WEISSMULLER was "TARZAN." Yes he was!

Meanwhile "back at the ranch".......John Wayne's "20-shot Colt" still eludes me. The one he carried most OFTEN in his movies, is in the Cowboy Hall Of Fame in Oklahoma City. It's the one seen most often in his COLOR movies, when he used to wear it almost over his back pocket. It's bone-ivory grips yellowed from age and most of the bluing worn off from holster wear......it is on permanent display along with his old saddle ring Winchester with the "big loop lever".

There are signs telling you not to take photographs (because I think they wanted to be able to SELL you museum souvenier books in the lobby).

But if you know the old non-conforming Bazookaman from Potrero Hill...............I'd driven all the way from Phoenix.........SPECIFICALLY just to see that Colt.........nobody else in the room..........."Click-Click". "Politically WHAT?" Those photos reside in an album here at the house.

So today, when I walk into the shop here in Mountain Home, I usually ask where my "John Wayne Colt" is......and where this new Ruger 1911 is.........

"The Ruger should be on the way shortly" comes the reply.

"And my 20-shot 6-shooter?"

They just snicker and go back to what they were doing. I'm starting to think I'm NOT going to get it.

Donna says supper will be ready soon........I think afterward, it might just be time for another one of those good old "Lone Star" westerns.

If I look "real hard", I might even be able to scrounge up something in black & white!................"Pilgrim."