Gunslingers Of Yesteryear: Old West Returns For 2024
GUNS Magazine Old West: History, Guns & Gear Special Edition is back in the saddle again. Features will transport readers to another time and place — when horsepower was limited to single digits and six rounds in the chamber was the only life insurance policy available. The 2024 edition will highlight the era’s most prolific weapons, the bar room brawls and battles they starred in and some of the notorious men — good and bad — who pulled the trigger.
Sometimes said to be “The Gun That Truly Won The West,” the British Bulldog revolver first made by Webley, then copied by others worldwide, was a superb hideout gun. Despite huge quantities sold, they are almost unknown today. Roger Smith details the story of the incredibly compact, fast-shooting, solid-frame double-action cartridge revolver. The “perfect hidden weapon of the time” was ideal for under the bar top, the shopkeeper’s counter, behind the bank teller’s cage or carried concealed — on both sides of the law.
Drinking With A Dead Man
Resurrected from the mean streets of the Old West is the story of William Evans and John Shaw. “Drinking With A Dead Man” recounts how the pair robbed a saloon and made off with $600 in silver coins. They sauntered in undercover and ordered drinks but never got to consume them. Shaw was later tracked down, killed by lawmen and buried in a shallow grave. Local cowboys heard the two outlaws had not consumed the shots they had ordered and ventured out to right that wrong. They found Shaw’s grave, dug him up and shared a drink with the corpse before burying him yet again, this time along with the half-empty bottle of liquor.
Steve McQueen starring as Civil War veteran-turned-bounty hunter Josh Randall in the 1950’s TV Western “Wanted: Dead or Alive” inspired the production of American Western Arms’ (AWA) fantasy firearm, the Lighting Bolt. A blend of Randall’s shortened Mare’s Leg and the Colt Lightning rifle, fewer than 20 copies of the Lightning Bolt were made. Alan Garbers shares his experience shooting the rare gun, the attraction of this style of firearm and a brief history of AWA.
The 1863 Springfield was one of the first truly mass-produced military rifles. It rendered yeoman’s service during the war and blazed a trail for Industrial Age weapons to come. Will Dabbs, MD highlights the recognizable “Civil War Battle Rifle” and how he tripped over one in a local antique mall and, of course, promptly acquired it.
Additional content in Old West 2024 will highlight the Ruger Wrangler, converting a Pietta 1860 to a .45 LC, 1873 Trapdoor rifles, the second 3rd Gen. Colt SAA .32-20, Taylor & Co.’s 1860, a commemorative Colt Peacemaker in honor of the “gentleman bandit,” Black Bart and the legends of “Bloody” Bill Longley, the lost Civil War soldier mine and the last Dalton raid.
Reserve space before July 14 if you manufacture, promote or replicate Old West-inspired products — or if you just want to reach customers who value great stories. Contact FMG Sales to learn more about marketing opportunities in this bestselling issue. Old West: History, Guns & Gear hits newsstands Sept. 26.
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