Questiondoug - this question involves pictures i have seen of the celebrated character "wild bill hickok" re the way he wears
his pistols , in every picture of this famous peace officer the pistols are worn with the butt handle facing you, and i wonder if he just did this to be different and show off as he was known to be a good shot with rifle and pistol but was also very fond of having his picture taken as there are many pictures of him available.
i can't believe that you can draw a pistol and aim it in a rapid manner and wear the pistol on backwards, although i have never fired a pistol or rifle and never carried one either. i realize that i am giving you a technical question since you are proficient with pistols but also an historical one if he really carried them this way or was he just showing off for a picture, so if you can't answer
the historical part i understand but do you agree that it is not a good way for a peace officer to carry his weapon unless he had some other reason to carry them this way.
thank you for your reply
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AnswerHi Bob,
You question is very interesting...and you are certainly correct. Most every picture I can find of "Wild Bill" wearing his gun shows them with the pistol grip facing forward as opposed to backward. I'm not sure of his motivation for doing this, but he could be effective at drawing his pistol using what is referred to as a "cross draw". Think about it this way...he would reach across his body with his right hand and grab the gun butt on the left side of his body. Since he seemed to wear a double rig most of the time, he would cross his body with both hands, drawing both pistols simultaneously. With practice, cross draw can be both fast and effective. It is not widely used today since it is not readily 'concealable', but in those days when cowboys wore their guns in plain view, it wouldn't have mattered.
Hope this give you some insight into the methods he probably used...
All the best,
Doug
