Wild west and suicide special revolvers

[Jim McDougall]

Good question Keith. While as always, I must note my relatively novice grasp of firearms dynamics, though I am more familiar visually with the weapons historically.
As we know, in towns open carry firearms were prohibited (the reason for the scrap at the OK Corral) and 'cowboys' were only 'strapped' with holstered guns when on the range in these times.

While obviously the larger (more reliable) revolvers with of course the ubiquitous 'peacemaker' Colts well known, as well as Smith & Wessons, these were hardly easy to conceal for the average citizen. The 'girls' would have a heck of a time putting one of these in their garters.

As mentioned, the expiration of the 'White' patent held by Smith & Wesson for bored out cartridge cylinders opened the doors for many 'start-up' firms and those expanding their often tool making etc industries to produce cheap forms of small revolvers. These were not well made, nor particularly reliable, and the larger firms focused on larger guns and military contracts, not wishing to enter the plethora of forms of these cheap guns.

These cheap guns (hence 'suicide specials') offered some comfort for self defense to the average civilian, who carried them 'just in case', but as with most weapons, the actual use was relatively unlikely. I recall, by analogy, as a young guy late 50s early 60s, certain films like "Blackboard Jungle", "West Side Story" etc. gave rise to the teenage toughs carrying switchblade knives.
Naturally, most of us followed suit, and packed switchblades in our pockets....just in case.....hmmm.....not one of us had any idea how to use one of these....but figured just pulling it out would be enough.

From all I have read on these small guns discussed, they were prone to failure and one shot, if lucky, was the most expected. The springs on these almost invariably broke, and hardly worth repair so most ended up in the trash bin. Thus the collectibility in esoterica.

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you so much Norman!
The BULLDOG has always been intriguing to me, maybe its the name, or associations with Victorian detectives, Sherlock Holmes etc. It seems these were .44 caliber, and indeed one of these Webley guns was carried by John Tunstall, Billy the Kids father figure.
Apparently a 'Bulldog' was used in the assassination of President John Garfield in 1881, and paired with Lincoln on the grips of the example posted by Glen in previous post.

Apparently Billy did take this from Tunstall after he was killed, and carried it for a period of time. Actually, it is not known what sort of revolver Billy had and records only refer to a DOUBLE COCKER, which could have been either a Thunderer, Lightning or indeed a Bulldog. He also had a Colt 'peacemaker' revolver, the ubiquitous six shooters of cowboy fame. Presumably the Colt and his Winchester 1873 were used 'on the range', while the COUBLE COCKER was his 'concealed' when in town.

These Colts, the Thunderer (.41 long); the Lightning (.38 long) and 'rainmaker' (.32long) were versions of these Colt DA revolvers (6 shot) double action.
The catchy names were NOT Colt designations, but part of the marketing hyperbole used by distributors. As noted, the 'suicide special' were called by as many as 150+ of these kinds of names.

[Jim McDougall]

While discussing these suicide specials and concealed guns:
It is worthy of note that at the OK Corral, none of Earp and his men were holstered, but Wyatt for example had a Smith & Wesson in his coat pocket, Doc had a Thunderer in his pocket.

Wild Bill Hickok always favored the Colt M1851 Navy, but as eyesight failing in later years, and he turned to professional gambling, he carried a Smith & Wesson #2 .36 rimfire in his vest. Didnt do much good as he was shot from behind by the coward Jack McCall in #10 saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Goes to the old convention these days in the west........gunfighters seat, always face the door, back against the wall.

With these smaller guns, the barrels ranged from 2.5" to 7.5". The shorter barrels were termed 'SHOPKEEPERS PISTOLS' as they were kept in the vest, by storekeepers for protection.

The images show Hickok with the type Smith & Wesson carried in his 'activities' in Deadwood as it looked 'in the day'.....not exactly the Vegas strip!! Also, the Colt 1851 Navy revolver he favored in his gunfighter days...this one however a London marked example (1856). While that would seem to disqualify it for use in the west, many weapons came in from England, just as Bowie knives, the Webleys and Adams & Deane revolvers.

[Jim McDougall]

As previously noted, while a lifelong researcher on arms history focused on swords, growing up in the west has not precluded historical interest in firearms. While not by any means a 'shooter' or gun collector, the study of history has few boundaries, so my entries of late reflect history as seen through the examples I have shared.
I really appreciate the input of you guys with such knowledge in these areas!