These Guys Are Faster Than Bat Masterson

[C5 Golfer]

CHECK out this thread. I wonder how Billy the Kid or Bat Masterson or Matt Dillon would have faired .

http://www.howarddarby.com/fast-draw-artist.html

Go the Video Clip in the middle

[Guest Tim Tuthill]

C5: This has been an interest of mine for some years. When you study the old west, you find that there were very few fast draw guys. The only one that was considered real fast was John Wesley Harden. He spent most of his life in jail. Got a law degree along the way, but still could not go straight. The real holsters of the time did not allow for a fast draw. The loop type was the most common. The movie rig you see came out of Hollywood in the 20'S. The only stars that used an authentic holster were John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. there may be more but I'd have to start watching a bunch of movies. Opps. Alan Ladd in Shane. The best western of all time IMO. I have a custom set that came out of Arizona that is a single loop for a 7.5 Colt 45. I think the guy that made it is gone now. I wish I had him make a cross draw for me. Oh well, nothing is perfect. And yes, fanning is the only way to go for speed!

[Gecko]

The real holsters of the time did not allow for a fast draw. The loop type was the most common. The movie rig you see came out of Hollywood in the 20'S. The only stars that used an authentic holster were John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. there may be more but I'd have to start watching a bunch of movies. Opps. Alan Ladd in Shane. The best western of all time IMO. I have a custom set that came out of Arizona that is a single loop for a 7.5 Colt 45. I think the guy that made it is gone now. I wish I had him make a cross draw for me. Oh well, nothing is perfect. And yes, fanning is the only way to go for speed!

Funny you should say that my father was given a 150year edition of the 7.5" Colt 45 SAA Peacemaker and had a loop holster made by the same leatherworker who originally made all the scabbards for Buck Knives. He used to carry it strapped to his thigh when he offroad motorcycled in Socal (granted this was the 60's-70's before Kalifornia). Now he had lots of practice with it and could draw and shoot rather fast (coyotes) but nothing like that...Personally I'd like to have a 4.75" also in a loop holster but the wife has a thing about guns...though she has agreed to try sporting clays next summer

[Yard Sale]

I wonder how Billy the Kid or Bat Masterson or Matt Dillon would have faired

Probably very well against wax "bullets" and blanks.

(Don't pay any attention to me; my reaction time alone, to an anticipated audible signal, is about the same as the Fast Draw world record, .252. My fastest draw is three times that, and I don't even have to cock the hammer.)

[Gecko]

Probably very well against wax "bullets" and blanks.

(Don't pay any attention to me; my reaction time alone, to an anticipated audible signal, is about the same as the Fast Draw world record, .252. My fastest draw is three times that, and I don't even have to cock the hammer.)

I wondered about that watching them shoot for the championship...Is there any requirement to actually hit a target with accuracy I can't imagine a sleeved aluminum barrel would be all that accurate so I would guess those shooters of old would do quite well as long as there was some distance

[Guest Tim Tuthill]

Gecko: Is that a first generation Colt?? If it is, it's new and worth big bucks. Take your wife to the pistol range and show here how much fun it is. Start with a 22. Draw tic tac toe on a piece of target paper. center up the hits. I think you will have fun doing it. Tim

[C5 Golfer]

C5: This has been an interest of mine for some years. When you study the old west, you find that there were very few fast draw guys. The only one that was considered real fast was John Wesley Harden. He spent most of his life in jail. Got a law degree along the way, but still could not go straight. The real holsters of the time did not allow for a fast draw. The loop type was the most common. The movie rig you see came out of Hollywood in the 20'S. The only stars that used an authentic holster were John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. there may be more but I'd have to start watching a bunch of movies. Opps. Alan Ladd in Shane. The best western of all time IMO. I have a custom set that came out of Arizona that is a single loop for a 7.5 Colt 45. I think the guy that made it is gone now. I wish I had him make a cross draw for me. Oh well, nothing is perfect. And yes, fanning is the only way to go for speed!

Tim you might enjoy this story...

The Three Hollywood Masters

by Bob Arganbright and Omar Pineda

During the "hay-day" of Fast Draw there were three major makers of Fast Draw rigs. These were Arvo Ojala, Andy Anderson and Alfonso Pineda, known as Alfonso of Hollywood. Interestingly, Anderson and Alfonso both started in the Hollywood leather business working in Arvo's holster shop.

Arvo Ojala was a Finnish apple farmer and heavy equipment operator who moved to Los Angeles from Washington state in the early 1950s. Well known in his home community for exceptional speed and accuracy with a S.A. Colt, Arvo had designed a new speed rig and a new draw which let him draw and fire faster than anyone in Hollywood. The holster was the first with a steel liner which encircled the revolver's cylinder. Ojala successfully obtained a U.S. Patent on the steel insert in his Hollywood Fast Draw Holster. Not being a professional leather worker, at first Arvo had his rigs made in other leather shops. The famous Ed Bohlin of Hollywood company made some of the early Ojala rigs. Finding this unsatisfactory, Ojala hired a transplanted Arkansas saddle maker, Andy Anderson, to be foreman in the new Hollywood Fast Draw Holster Company shop. Anderson refined the holster pattern and was responsible for producing the superb rig we are familiar with as the Ojala rig.

At the peak of the Fast Draw craze, they were producing 300-500 rigs a month, and one of the leather workers in the shop was Alfonso Pineda. Once Arvo had opened his own shop, Bohlin immediately marketed its own steel lined Fast Draw rig. Ojala filed suit against them and won in court. The most famous TV Western rig was the Ojala rig used by Richard Boone as Paladin, the plain black rig with silver chess knight on the holster. While the rigs were being produced in the shop, Arvo was teaching the stars how to look good on film making a Fast Draw. The stars of the early "Adult" TV Westerns all used Ojala rigs. These included the stars of Gunsmoke, Wyatt Earp, Have Gun Will Travel, Bonanza, Cheyenne, Maverick and Lawman. While John Russell stayed with his Ojala rig throughout the run of Lawman, Deputy Johnny (Peter Brown) soon switched to an Anderson Walk and Draw rig. Don Durant, as Johnny Ringo, used an unusual custom Ojala rig that allowed him to Fast Draw the large and heavy LeMatt sixgun. By 1959, at the first Colt-Sahara National Fast Draw Championship in Las Vegas, the rig of choice was the Ojala rig, though new Champion Gary Freymeller used a custom Anderson rig.

Due to personal conflict between Ojala and Anderson, Andy Anderson quit Ojala and opened the Gunfighter holster shop directly across the street from Ojala's shop. While Ojala produced one basic rig, Anderson made several different rigs, such as the beautiful Victory which was his version of the Ojala style rig, the V2 named after the V2 rocket of WW II for its speed, the high ride AA and the unique Walk and Draw (W&D). The W&D used a steel lined hip plate behind the belt to lock the holster in place as one walked, with out the use of a tie down. Anderson was the first to offer full contour cut gun belts and muzzle rake holsters. By the 1960 Las Vegas Nationals, the rig of choice was the Anderson W&D. Ironically, winner Jack Simms used a home made rig to fan his way into the winner's circle, starting the big switch to fanning.

Many of the later TV Westerns used Anderson rigs. These included Rawhide, The Viginian, Branded, Guns of Will Sonnet, Man Called Shenandoah, Henry Darrow's unusual swivel rig on High Chaparral, and Laredo. Future super stars Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood used Anderson leather exclusively, as did Thell Reed. By the mid 1970s, Anderson had suffered a series of strokes and was forced to retire and close the Gunfighter shop.

By November of 1961, at the third Las Vegas Nationals, the average shooter had switched from thumbing to fanning and the rig of choice was from the new Hollywood holster shop, Alfonso's of Hollywood. The new Champion, Fred Stieler, used an Alfonso #2 to win. And now, for the rest of the story, we go to Alfonso's son, Omar.

The following is a short story about my Dad as a holster maker and fast draw artist.

I was 8 years old when my Dad started his business with his partner Dick, the year was 1959. Dad had returned from Rogers, Arkansas where he had completed training the folks at the Daisy Manufacturing Factory in the making of the "Hollywood Fast Draw Rig". Arvo Ojala whom is credited for inventing and developing the first steel lined holster had sold the rights to manufacture and market his famous steel lined rig to the Daisy Manufacturing Company.

I will never forget the evening that my Dad drew the 4 fast draw models that are now history. He had worked late into the night and was abruptly interrupted by a loud noise out in the street. He nervously got up to see what was happening, and sure enough our next door neighbor, a very intoxicated lady, had crashed into my Dad's new 1959 Chevy Impala. My Dad loved that car, and needless to say, my Dad was sick to his stomach for a long time. Dad mustered enough nerves to finish his drawings and slept for two days after that experience.

Alfonso and Dick were partners about 2 years. Dick decided to pursue greener pastures as the saying goes, and sold my Dad his interest. I have fond memories of Dick. He was a nice man. He gave my Dad the opportunity to pay the amount that he could in a number of years. I will never forget his fairness and generosity.

Like any new business, it was rough early on but Dad persevered and managed to slowly grow. It was during these early years that guys like Bob Munden, Kurt Blakemore, George Narasaki, and many other fast draw shooters would meet every Tuesday in our holster shop to practice the sport of fast draw. It was exciting and fun to watch these guys practice and compete. Even though Alfonso never competed "officially" in any of the sanctioned fast draw contests, he loved to fast draw and was awarded many honorary fast draw trophies and plaques. He was a very good gun spinner and often times would entertain his customers by spinning his gun to make a sale.

Alfonso went on to make a mark for himself for making fine western holster and gun belt props for the Television & Motion Picture industry. The high quality of his work soon earned him a reputation as the finest holster maker in the world. Large film studios like Warner Brothers, MGM, Universal Hollywood, Paramount, Disney, and many independent production companies, too many to list here, commissioned Alfonso for custom leather projects and special orders.

His name is listed among the credits in many of the TV western series of the 60s, and early 70s. He made leather props for Sly Stallone in the Rambo movie series, and made the futuristic looking holsters in Back to the Future with Michael J. Fox. In 1993, a year and a half before he passed away, Alfonso sold several of his late 1800 style rigs to the producers of the now popular movie Tombstone with Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell. When the movie was completed, the producers gave my Dad a copy of the video. Ironically, that movie was the last western movie that my Dad and I saw together a few months before he passed away in February, 1995.

It should be noted that all three of these Fast Draw holster makers supported our sport with sponsorships and donations to prize structure, as Alfonso's of Hollywood continues to do.

[Guest Tim Tuthill]

All I wanted was a drink of water!! Good info C-5. How did you come by all of that? A lot of info about the wild west, that was not is so distorted. I'm named after a guy that ran with Hickock in Dakota territory. Became the mayor of Hot Springs South Dakota. allot more, no time

[C5 Golfer]

All I wanted was a drink of water!! Good info C-5. How did you come by all of that? A lot of info about the wild west, that was not is so distorted. I'm named after a guy that ran with Hickock in Dakota territory. Became the mayor of Hot Springs South Dakota. allot more, no time

Someday we should meet a drink a beer or beer(s). We could talk till the cows come home so to speak. I think my dad met or was near Wyatt Earp when he was young. I wish he were still alive so I could ask him more.

[Gecko]

Gecko: Is that a first generation Colt?? If it is, it's new and worth big bucks. Take your wife to the pistol range and show here how much fun it is. Start with a 22. Draw tic tac toe on a piece of target paper. center up the hits. I think you will have fun doing it. Tim

my dad was F8 fighter pilot and the 1st pilot to get 3000 hours, the Crusader was called the last Gunfighter; Chance Vought presented the wives of each pilot (6 total) with a .45LC of various design in a gorgeous presentation box...My father, originally a country boy, beleived that a gun was a tool to be used and did regularly (unlike 4 of the others). Tim, I did that I borrowed a .22 Ruger bought lots of ammo, earplugs and ear muffs. Sadly I made the mistake of taking my wife to an indoor range for her first time shooting and though almost empty there was one guy shooting a .50 Desert Eagle like a thug...3 shell casings hit my wife right before he was told to leave. The experience scarred her for a long time though. She watched a TV report on Sporting Clays and found it "intriguing" so I have to find a place in western R.I. eastern CT for her to try it. I miss firearms though after carrying a gun for a year I will never consider a CCW again. Hence the recent love of SA revolvers finding a 4 3/4" or 5 1/2" SAA in 45LC would make me happy for a woods gun. I want a Colt but my wants and the reality of my bank account are seperate issues Uberti's (like the one shown) are more my budget.