PODCAST: May 2017 Q&A (Patreon)

This month's Q&A is specifically Old West themed from a very special location.   We hope you enjoy it!

0:40

Greg, James, Martin & Deviant:

What was the status of ammunition in the Old West?

How expensive were they?

How available were they?

To what extent were there cartridges compared to loose components? 

07:30

Jack

When we watch movies, everyone is carrying a Colt SAA.   What other guns were commonly seen?

15:00

Colin

The guns of the old west are iconic, but how do you think the usage of these guns would be different in other locales?  How would they have held up in different climates?

20:27

Cael 

Do either of you have a favorite Old West history book about gunfights?

21:35

Steven

Why do you think break action revolvers never took off?  

26:11

John

The first successful large calibre repeaters were rimfires, but this seems to have died off after 1873 with the .44-40 and .45 Colt cartridges. Why are rimfires less suitable in large calibre configurations? Is it fair to say that rimfire is really only suitable in small calibre format i.e. .22 Long Rifle?

31:58

Brian

Westerns were still the most common shows on TV when I was growing up, so here's a silly question: Hollywood always showed us bandits and renegades with a pair of crossed bandoliers, but they were virtually never seen on the "good guys". How common was the use of the bandolier (mostly singly, I would imagine) by the military in the western US after the civil war? Civilian use?

Simon

The image of a cowboy or gunfighter with a fancy leather rig for

his pistol is iconic and common to virtually every television or

movie western ever made. However, I've read that several notable

western figures actually used completely different carry methods

than what is usually portrayed as normal [Wyatt Earp carrying his

pistol in a special felt-lined pocket in his overcoat comes to

mind]. Just how common (if at all) were pistol holsters and

cartridge lined belts on the frontier?

38:00

Deviant Ollam

Purchase and Trade of Firearms - I am given to understand that laws surrounding the restriction of ownership and purchase of firearms were few far between back then (although some towns did of course restrict carry, etc) but I'd love to know if there are any examples of outright bans on purchase and at what levels. I sadly expect that most such laws would not be equally-enforced or written in a democratic way. My guess is that some regions would have disallowed purchase by Native Americans, Mexicans, or the Chinese, etc. But I'd love to know of any specific examples of which you are aware. Was "illegal trade" in firearms a big business back then?

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