Only Hits Matter

Old West gunfighters had two secrets for accuracy when shooting the Colt Peacemaker.

- JIM DICKSON

Five Texas Rangers at camp near Alice, Texas.

Skill was the defining aspect of both the gunfighter and the exhibition shooter, for despite Hollywood's emphasis on speed, only hits matter in a gunfight.

Herein I will divulge two secrets they had—one an open secret and the other the most closely guarded. One known only to a handful of men back in its day.

The first is point shooting, called instinct shooting today. You can actually hit far faster and more accurately this way than you can with sights, but this method, unlike using sights, requires constant practice to keep the hand/eye coordination and muscle memory working right for it. Buffalo Bill referred to it, saying that you fired “when the gun felt right,” while Doc Carver could break 100 straight glass balls thrown in the air with a shotgun fired from the hip. In the 20th century, Ed McGivern set many of his records with his guns held below his line of sight. Clear proof of point shooting.

Cocking the Colt SAA is done with the thumb held crossways on the hammer not longways like you would a double action revolver. This prevents the thumb from slipping off the hammer and throws the grip high where it needs to be on this gun.