Jim, as always I enjoy your discussions of the weapons of the Old West.
Here's an interesting hideout gun, from the chapter on "Gamblers, Madams, Gunfighters and Outlaws" in R.L. Wilson's excellent book
The Peacemakers: Arms and Adventure in the American West:
The cut-off Colt 1860 Army conversion revolver belonging to gunfighter/lawman Dallas Stoudenmire was picked up from the street after he was killed in an El Paso shootout.
Lacking such a detailed provenance are these hideout guns by Smith & Wesson, Colt and National:
This portion of a Colt catalog from 1888, from
Guns of the Old West by Charles Edward Chapel, shows several options for concealed carry:
and here's one of the rectangular-cylinder Colt House Pistols, from
Colt Firearms by James E. Serven:
As to the effectiveness of such weapons, Wild Bill Hickock had this to say:
Quote:
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"I hope you never have to shoot any man, but if you do shoot him in the Guts near the Navel. You may not make a fatal shot, but he will get a shock that will paralyze his brain and arm so much that the fight is all over."
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