What are the typical guns of the modern American cowboy?

[burroughs85]

Not nearly as much as you are led to believe. I have read about some pretty epic trail drives that both Ben Snipes and Peter French made where there was one single gun brought along.


There are certainly practical uses for firearms. And everyone around here is certainly armed. Maybe armed to the teeth. And this is big country cattle ranches. Cowboys on horses working cows. But it is pretty darn rare for any of them to be packing while working. Northeast of here they have been having trouble with wolves. Some of the guys riding in that part of the world go packing after one had a spooky run in with a wolf in the summer of 2020. But the game dept took care of that wolf last summer.

Probably a number of cowboys were killed out on the range for not being armed or for being insufficiently armed when a band of rustlers jumped them or they got hit by an unfriendly Indian nation. More than one hand in John Wayne's party should have been armed when John Wayne was facing off the bad rustlers led by creepy blond, long-hair, devil-blue-eyes Bruce Dern in The Cowboys, 1972. Doesn't Dern look like blond-hair blue eye death here? The cowboys' shooting irons should not have been locked up in the black cook's chuck wagon.

 

[burroughs85]

You have watched way too many movies. Show up at any ranch that I know of like that and you would be laughed off the place. Maybe just run off. Enjoy your fantasy but it is no where near reality.

No, I would only sport such a fancy gun if I were the ranch owner, the cattle king, and do so on my own ranch. No hand of mine would ever dare mock me. Good way to get pink slipped real fast. A genuine minty nickel Colt Peacemaker, of the true COLT brand, even a nice vintage reproduction from the 1950's, can run the price of a good used car or even the price of a new pickup truck. I've seen nice ones listed on Gunbroker from $1,500 to $25,000. I don't like the build quality of the new ones, nor do I like the current Colt company, and el-cheapo Italian knockoffs are not my bag. I would not want to be a poor cowboy, just the fat cat with the deed to the ranch. My peacemaker must be the original caliber, Forty Five Colt. I have a new Smith & Wesson Governor right now that retails nearly a grand. It's the nicest minty revolver I could by to fire .45 Colt (as well as .45 ACP and .410 2 1/2 shells) that I could afford at the time. That gun might look OK in a black nylon holster. Or a custom black leather holster lined with soft black or red nylon cloth. The silver finish is nice, a satin Cerakote type finish. Leather holster lining would be to rough on this finish. Leather wears and chafes. Soft nylon holster linings should be gentle on bluing, nickel and other gun metal coatings. I don't know if the rubber black grip fits the cowboy image, might have to get custom wood or ivory grips made. The Governor has a handy short 3" barrel for comfortable hip carry and horse-saddle wieldiness. Here is my minty Smith & Wesson threesome.

 

[Lucky]

I bought a stainless & polished Ruger Vaquro in 45 LC last Friday. Haven't ordered the ivory grips. It's nice. The Colts are too pricey for me.

 

[Lucky]

What Cowboys carry. Worth the watch for last minute of video.

 

[callmefence]

No, I would only sport such a fancy gun if I were the ranch owner, the cattle king, and do so on my own ranch. No hand of mine would ever dare mock me. Good way to get pink slipped real fast. A genuine minty nickel Colt Peacemaker, of the true COLT brand, even a nice vintage reproduction from the 1950's, can run the price of a good used car or even the price of a new pickup truck. I've seen nice ones listed on Gunbroker from $1,500 to $25,000. I don't like the build quality of the new ones, nor do I like the current Colt company, and el-cheapo Italian knockoffs are not my bag. I would not want to be a poor cowboy, just the fat cat with the deed to the ranch. My peacemaker must be the original caliber, Forty Five Colt. I have a new Smith & Wesson Governor right now that retails nearly a grand. It's the nicest minty revolver I could by to fire .45 Colt (as well as .45 ACP and .410 2 1/2 shells) that I could afford at the time. That gun might look OK in a black nylon holster. Or a custom black leather holster lined with soft black or red nylon cloth. The silver finish is nice, a satin Cerakote type finish. Leather holster lining would be to rough on this finish. Leather wears and chafes. Soft nylon holster linings should be gentle on bluing, nickel and other gun metal coatings. I don't know if the rubber black grip fits the cowboy image, might have to get custom wood or ivory grips made. The Governor has a handy short 3" barrel for comfortable hip carry and horse-saddle wieldiness. Here is my minty Smith & Wesson threesome.

View attachment 15814

Governor and Taurus judge. 2 of the most useless firearms ever made.
Two big for concealed carry, useless as a shotgun. Ok as a big handgun just a outdated expensive and hard to find round.
Kinda like those fence pliers that are part hammer part pliers. Not very good as pliers or a hammer.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

I bought a stainless & polished Ruger Vaquro in 45 LCast Friday. Haven't ordered the ivory grips. It's nice. The Colts are too pricey for me.

Hornady FTX 225 gr. Is a good business load for a Vaquero.. I figure it will shoot clear across the bedroom.

 

[burroughs85]

Governor and Taurus judge. 2 of the most useless firearms ever made.
Two big for concealed carry, useless as a shotgun. Ok as a big handgun just a outdated expensive and hard to find round.
Kinda like those fence pliers that are part hammer part pliers. Not very good as pliers or a hammer.

I bought the Governor for the nice finish and the name.

 

[Caustic Burno]

1911 Proven track record,
"Among the areas of success for the Colt was a test at the end of 1910 attended by its designer, John Browning. 6000 rounds were fired from a single pistol over the course of 2 days. When the gun began to grow hot, it was simply immersed in water to cool it. The Colt gun passed with no reported malfunctions"

As far as get down to business rifle Mini 14 is my choice.

 

[burroughs85]

I bought the Governor for the nice finish and the cool name. The Governor is an all-American SMITH & WESSON after all. Governors rank higher than Judges. Will fit in my LARGE fanny pack but one of the zippers has to be undone by hand after the cord is pulled. This Z frame Smith is too fat for the quick-pull opener to work properly. My two smaller Smith pistols carry fine in this pack. I bought the Governor mainly as a home defender and a hip holster sidearm as for going hunting. I still have to find a fine hip holster and belt rig for this gun. Perhaps a Galco. Could also be carried in the boonies in a hip holster or chest rig where open carry is allowed. Yes, the Governor is a horrible concealer. But so is a Colt Python. .45 Colt loads aren't too hard to find, I wouldn't say they are hellishly expensive, and .45 ACP is even less hard to find and even cheaper yet. I have .45 ACP in this cumbersome Gov for home defense.

But if I were a cattle baron, I probably still own me a pretty and pricey nickel Colt Peacemaker. If you are cattle baron rich, you are pretty Colt rich to boot. Until, then I will enjoy my awkward silver Governor with double action capability.

 

[burroughs85]

What Cowboys carry. Worth the watch for last minute of video.

Wow! First time I've seen a PISTOL scabbard. That's a pretty gun in that scabbard. I usually only think of long guns in scabbards. I like that man's justification for being armed. I'm an American and it's my God-given right! You are "Gott Dam" right! Can that pistol be drawn while on the horse from that scabbard?

Gott Dam short for "Gottfried Van Dam". Might have been an immigrant to America from Germany and he might even have further ancestry to Holland since Van Dam is a Dutch family name. He might have also dropped the Van in the ocean while crossing the Atlantic on the boat to New York.

 

[Lucky]

Hornady FTX 225 gr. Is a good business load for a Vaquero.. I figure it will shoot clear across the bedroom.

Yes won't be doing any long range shooting with a 45 LC for sure. I've had a blued Vaquero in 45 LC for a good while and was looking for a stainless in 357 mag for awhile now. Anyway came across this one last Friday and had to have it. They also have a Springfield 1911 Ronin in 45 acp I may go back after. The vaqueros are really allot of fun to shoot but if I need a pistol real quick I grap the S&W M&P 40 cal, much easier to load and put back up.

 

[Dave]

No, I would only sport such a fancy gun if I were the ranch owner, the cattle king, and do so on my own ranch. No hand of mine would ever dare mock me. Good way to get pink slipped real fast.

You go decked out like that you won't have to worry about handing out pink slips. Hiring good help would certainly be an issue.

 

[burroughs85]

PS - That Camero guy in the video has a scratchy voice and a southern accent. He sounds much older than he looks. A Southern accent often makes young people sound like old farts. In Texas, S's are often pronounced like SH and that makes the speaker sound like he is missing all his teeth like an old geezer. People with Southern accents often sound like they are scolding you while the accent's owner is talking.

 

[Silver]

I believe the OP has swallowed Hollywoods version of the West hook line and sinker. Their version played well on the big screen and in dime store novels but was far from the way it was.

 

[Lucky]

PS - That Camero guy in the video has a scratchy voice and a southern accent. He sounds much older than he looks. A Southern accent often makes young people sound like old farts. In Texas, S's are often pronounced like SH and that makes the speaker sound like he is missing all his teeth like an old geezer. People with Southern accents often sound like they are scolding you while the accent's owner is talking.

Craig Cameron is a Living Legend in the horse training world. He's got a ton of videos out. Most of the time he is serious business with a bit of humor but in the last few years he's put out some funnier stuff. He's 73 so I'd say he's seen plenty of the cowboy routine.

 

[burroughs85]

Craig Cameron is a Living Legend in the horse training world. He's got a ton of videos out. Most of the time he is serious business with a bit of humor but in the last few years he's put out some funnier stuff. He's 73 so I'd say he's seen plenty of the cowboy routine.

Must be that young blond hair-dude hairstyle this old chap is sporting then. I do like his way of thinking on "why" he carries a gun, though.

 

[burroughs85]

Must be that young blond hair-dude hairstyle this old chap is sporting then. I do like his way of thinking on "why" he carries a gun, though.

Hikcock45's take on cowboy guns:

 

[Brute 23]

Happy Birthday @burroughs85

Hope it was a good one

 

[burroughs85]

58 today!

 

[hurleyjd]

Drenching gun.