p51
Sr Member
It’s a stretch for this forum, but I have a thing for western guns as I do Cowboy Action Shooting as one of my hobbies. I’ve been a big fan of John Wayne’s screen-used firearms and recently found a company is making a good copy of the six gun he used in many of his films:
http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/ModelP/RS400RoosterShooter.htm
Note: This is a REAL firearm and all laws apply. It’s offered in a few calibers, but .45 Long Colt is the correct one for John Wayne. I have been lucky enough to have seen and handled one of the six guns used by “The Duke” and documented being used in “Chisum” as well as a few other films, and now in the Al Frisch collection. I saw this pistol in 2005 when at the set of the History Channel series, “Mail Call.” Wayne used an original Colt Single Action Army with a 4.75 inch barrel and chambered for .45LC. The grips were a fake synthetic material to simulate heavily warn and aged ivory, and they had finger groves on the left side. It was held in the Stembridge gun rental company collection until they decided to sell off all their western guns (many of which went to Al). It’s doubtful this pistol has fired live ammunition ever, or least not for several decades if then. There is another documented John Wayne pistol, pretty much exactly like this one, also in private hands.
Here are some photos of the original pistol and me holding it:
And here is a matched set of Ruger New Model Vaqueros I customized to emulate (but not exactly replicate because the “finger groove” grips aren’t legal for cowboy action shooting) the original pistol. Note I went with 5.5 inch barrels as a personal preference:
http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/ModelP/RS400RoosterShooter.htm
Note: This is a REAL firearm and all laws apply. It’s offered in a few calibers, but .45 Long Colt is the correct one for John Wayne. I have been lucky enough to have seen and handled one of the six guns used by “The Duke” and documented being used in “Chisum” as well as a few other films, and now in the Al Frisch collection. I saw this pistol in 2005 when at the set of the History Channel series, “Mail Call.” Wayne used an original Colt Single Action Army with a 4.75 inch barrel and chambered for .45LC. The grips were a fake synthetic material to simulate heavily warn and aged ivory, and they had finger groves on the left side. It was held in the Stembridge gun rental company collection until they decided to sell off all their western guns (many of which went to Al). It’s doubtful this pistol has fired live ammunition ever, or least not for several decades if then. There is another documented John Wayne pistol, pretty much exactly like this one, also in private hands.
Here are some photos of the original pistol and me holding it:
And here is a matched set of Ruger New Model Vaqueros I customized to emulate (but not exactly replicate because the “finger groove” grips aren’t legal for cowboy action shooting) the original pistol. Note I went with 5.5 inch barrels as a personal preference: