b"DID YOU KNOW, IN THE OLD WEST.By Lee Anderson, Old West Living Historian, Award Winning Author, and Old School HorsemanLee Anderson and his horse, Concho, are well known around the state doing presentations in schools, corporate events, and civic events. Learn more about them and his book on his website. historicaloldwest.orgHere are someF rom my personal experience, I can attestIve always interesting Oldto the fact that the firearms produced in theenjoyed West firearm facts. last half of the 1800s were indeed well built and quitea good, one line, C aliber descriptions consisted of three numbers such asaccurate. I have an original, unrestored Colts Lightningcowboy philosophy saddle ring carbine in .44-40-200 caliber that was .45-30-250, .44-40-200, or .45-70-405. The 1st numbermanufactured in 1896. About 10 years ago I used it to hitOld West or new. is the diameter of the bullet in inches,an 18 steel target four out of five off-handHere are a few.the 2nd is the weight of the black powder inshots (no steady rest). The gun has open iron grains, and the 3rd is the weight of the leadsights with an adjustable rear ladder sight.Before cussing out the boss, youbullet in grains. The target was 420 yards away, just short of amight want to saddle your horse.D uring the battle of Adobe Walls on Junequarter of a mile. This was witnessed by ColtRiding is the art of keeping thegunsmithing expert, Jim Martin, who also 27, 1874, buffalo hunter Billychronographed my shots that day. The velocityhorse between you andDixon used a single shot, Sharpsof all five shots didnt vary more than 10 feetthe ground.rifle in .50-90-500 caliber, to shoot aper second. As I said, the last half of the 1800s Comanche Indian. The shot broke theproduced some pretty good weapons. If cowboys picked wives likewarrior's arm, knocked him off hisC owboys had some interesting terms for whatthey pick horses they wouldhorse, and ended the battle. Two weekshave lifelong mates.later, U.S. Army surveyors measured thethey ate. Such as hen fruit or cackle berries for distance of the shot at an unbelievableeggs. Onions might beYou can tell a lot1,538 yards or 7/8 of a mile. Fewreferred to as skunk eggsabout a person by thebelieved a shot at that distance wasand butter as axle grease.way their horse actseven possible in 1874 till 1998 whenBacon was often calledtoward them. marksman Harvey Watt successfullyoverland trout. Biscuits reproduced the shot using a modernwere often hot rocks, replica identical to Dixons rifle. Whilesoda sinkers, or shotgun Dixon, himself, often said the shot was dumb luck, whetherwaddin. A cowboys language was, or not it was possible can no longer be argued.to say the least, colorful. Beth Cornell CALL FOR INFObethcornell.teamvrg@gmail.com 623-293-8445AZ Virtual Realtybethcornellaz.comAmazing Views! Black Mountain, Cave Creek, Arizona2 Acres + Utilities & WellAZ VIRTUAL REALTY Parks, AZ $149,500.00A PROUD MEMBER OFCONTACT US ANYTIME! 623-293-8445ArizonaRealCountryMagazine@gmail.comor by phone at 602-254-6644 BETHCORNELL.TEAMVRG@GMAIL.COMArizonaRealCountry.com September 2020 13"