True West’s Firearms Editor Phil Spangenberger was asked to share with us 10 significant photos of the Old West. His nine other photos and...
Western Cavalry Training
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Phil Spangenberger
Best of the West 2022: True Westerner of the Year
Riding - and Writing - for the Brand! Phil Spangenberger If you have ever spoken to Phil Spangenberger about the Old West, historical firearms,...
Mr. Authenticity
Many fans of Westerns, especially the True West maniacs, are guilty of picking them apart for the anachronisms all too often found in such...
Old West Reproductions — the Devil is in the Detail
Among the very best companies offering replicas of mid-to late-19th-century assorted cowboy gear is Old West Reproductions, Inc., in Florence,...
A Real Western Colt in the Reel West
It’s a firearms collector’s dream to find a gun that is well documented to have been owned or used by someone famous, or was involved in a...
A Texas Dance For Johnny Reb
Of all of the Confederate-made revolvers, perhaps none stirs the imagination like those six-shooters manufactured by the J.H. Dance Bros. of Texas....
U.S. Cavalry’s First Bolt-Action Carbine
The more ammunition you give a soldier, the more he’ll use!” Despite their continued post-war use of the seven-shot Spencer repeater, this was the...
A Frontier Favorite Lever Gun
All 1873 Winchester rifles have octagonal barrels and the carbines have round barrels, right? Well, no, as a special option about one out of every...
Red Ryder BB Gun
Years ago, at a friend’s 50th birthday party, I gave him a Red Ryder 50th Anniversary, special edition BB rifle. Despite his being showered with a...
Buffalo Bill’s Saddle Pals
Although Buffalo Bill Cody used a number of guns and horses throughout his colorful career, there was one special rifle and one amazing horse that...
Princess Wenona
While Annie Oakley is well known as the demure darling of the lady sharpshooters of the Wild West shows of old, only the more ardent Western...
Colt vs. Schofield
Arms enthusiasts often ask which government-issue .45 revolver was the best during the Indian campaigns of the late 19th century—the 1873 Colt or...