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The Fastest Gun In The Old West Wasn't Who You Think

American Old West Facts

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The Fastest Gun In The Old West Wasn't Who You Think.
When people think of the fastest gun in the Old West, names like Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, or Doc Holliday usually come to mind...

00:38 - The Hollywood Deception vs Frontier Reality.
06:16 - Wild Bill Hickok and the Myth of Springfield.
11:17 - John Wesley Hardin’s Dark Calculus.
18:03 - Doc Holliday’s Calculated Recklessness.
25:38 - The Hidden Speed of the Outlaw Teenagers: Billy the Kid.
32:24 - The Deadly Economy of Wyatt Earp.
38:54 - The Real "Fastest Guns" You’ve Never Heard Of.
44:17 - The Fastest Gun Wasn’t a Person.

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20 Comments

@JovicaNedeljkovic-nf2ur 2 months ago

I believe Doc Holliday was faster for a number of reasons. Because he was no longer afraid of death since he knew he was dying of tuberculosis, which made him calmer and his intelligence more calculated. Another reason is that he held different pistols in different places: for close range and for longer range. The third difference was that he knew how to assess and control the psychological situation. It's not because of speed but because of the skill of strategy and the convenience of different weapons depending on the situation.

@myfavoritemartian1 2 months ago

Val Kilmer is as famous as the gunman he portrayed. His Doc Holiday will be remembered forever.

@codetrove 2 months ago

Wyatt Earp once stated that his advantage was that he always took enough time to take aim.

@PAT8888-is2pd 2 months ago

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Also, as Wyatt Earp once said, "speed is fine but, accuracy is final. Concentrate on being accurate in a hurry."

@MrMZaccone 2 months ago

J. H. Holliday's "confidence" may have come with a simple explanation. He'd already accepted the death sentence he'd been given in the diagnosis of tuberculosis. You can't threaten or frighten a man who knows he's already dead.

@ericlowans9355 2 months ago

When they got John Wesley Hardin's body to the undertaker, he had a hole through his eye and another in the back of the head. Relating to John Selman's gun handling skills he remarked, "If indeed he shot him through the eye, then it was good marksmanship. If he shot him in the back of the head, it was good judgement."

@MysticHeartArt 2 months ago (edited)

Wyatt Earp said that during an emergency it was advantageous to be fast with a six gun; but it was much better not to miss. Nobody ever tried to test who could be faster on the draw. Contrary to all the Hollywood and spaghetti western films depicting the famous "gunfight at the OK corral" Wyatt Earp was not wearing a holstered gun. His colt revolver was already held in his right hand with his arm down at his side; when he, his brothers and Doc Holiday confronted those outlaw cowboys. No fast draw. No long pauses with a close up of the eyes or spaghetti.

@ronaldmclaughlin-f4v 2 months ago

Having been in a number of gunfights mostly on the southern Border, I can say that calmness, and practice wins the fight. how I know is that I am old and still here.

@grisall 2 months ago

Clay Allison - the original shootist

@Brunzy1970 2 months ago

Excellent amount of information on each character. Suprising Amount detail .

@WilhelmSallsten 2 months ago

At a distance of 50ft accuracy is more important than speed. In Hollywood the heroes shoot from the hip. I tried it. I couldn't hit a 6x6 inch target from 30ft. Cowboys were not experts with revolvers. Ammunition was expensive so those who had enough practice were military officers. Also when on horseback a saddle holster would be better than a belt holster.

@RCWjr 2 months ago

It's kindof hard for anybody to accurately judge who was fastest ,when the gunfights in the movies or tv, seldom existed.

@FelixDKatz-tb7or 2 months ago (edited)

Jerry Mitchalich of Louisiana! The clock don't lie!

@robertlansdown7606 2 months ago

I feel the dime novels of the 19th century started the myth and Hollywood just spread it faster

@geezer-w3o 5 days ago

Saw Bob Munden on stage at a high school assembly in about 1970. It was amazing. We had a gunsmith class run by the shop teacher. Our lockers had guns. Racks in pickups. Im fortunate to have lived when personal responsibilities were the norm.

@bradleyweigle7875 2 months ago

It's not about being first or even fastest. It's about being willing.

@KurtLang-y4c 2 months ago

Great history ❤😊

@bigtex9637 2 months ago

I saw with my own eyes on multiple occasions that Joe Bowman could draw shoot and hit his target in 10/100s of a second, twice as fast as the average person can pull the trigger of a cocked gun. Initiating was twice as fast as reacting