How long it had lain in the West Texas desert, no one knew. It was 1972, and the firearm looked as if it had been undisturbed for at least a...
Big Bend Mystery Under the Sands
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Phil Spangenberger
NRA’s Cowboy Celebration
“When fact becomes legend, print the legend!” So goes the words of the great film director, John Ford, when asked about portraying truth in his...
Clean Shots
The most successful gunfighters in the Old West were firm believers in maintaining their firearms. As the story goes, handsome, homicidal John...
The First Western Holster
Sleek scabbards housed frontiersmen’s six-guns from the days of the California Gold Rush through the closing of the frontier. For centuries, pistol...
John Wayne’s Silver Screen Shootin’ Irons
In True Grit, Wayne’s character Rooster Cogburn told defense attorney Mr. Goudy “a gun that’s unloaded and cocked ain’t good for nothin’,” yet...
A Gambler’s Fifth Ace
"You gonna pull those pistols or whistle ‘Dixie?’” Clint Eastwood’s gunslinger famously brushed off a group of Union soldiers with those sneering...
“Hoppy’s Favorite” Six-Guns
Although created as a fictional cowboy hero, Hopalong Cassidy—as portrayed by actor William Boyd—has become as real to millions of Western fans as...
The Flintlock: Its Origin, Development, and Use
The flintlock reigned supreme for 200 years, making it the longest used form of firearms ignition in history. Originally published in Sweden in...
Rifle Packin’ in the Old West
While the six-gun may have reigned as king of the silver screen West, in the real Old West, it was a different story. True, the handy six-shooter...
Rifle Packin’ in the Old West
While the six-gun may have reigned as king of the silver screen West, in the real Old West, it was a different story. True, the handy six-shooter...
Cowboy Mounted Shooting
The thunderous sound of pounding hooves and the staccato bursts of gunfire breaks the silence of the still air as the lone horseman smoothly guides...
Cowboy Mounted Shooting
The thunderous sound of pounding hooves and the staccato bursts of gunfire breaks the silence of the still air as the lone horseman smoothly guides...