Hickok-Tutt Duel

[Captainkirk]

Anninversary of the H-T Duel is coming up this week. Discussion?

[Hawg]

That's a pretty well documented fight except for what gun Hickok actually used and there's a couple of conflicting stories of Tutt's reaction to being hit. That was a fantastic shot no matter what gun he used. Personally I think he used his navies that he was so familiar with. There's no doubt he was expecting a fight but he had no way of knowing what the range would be.

[Captainkirk]

That's a pretty well documented fight except for what gun Hickok actually used and there's a couple of conflicting stories of Tutt's reaction to being hit. That was a fantastic shot no matter what gun he used. Personally I think he used his navies that he was so familiar with. There's no doubt he was expecting a fight but he had no way of knowing what the range would be.

Yep, and if he did use the Dragoon (as several sources proclaim) at 75 yards it woulda been dead-nuts on. Some of them feel at that range the Navy would have lost most of it's terminal ballistics (which is true) but remember, it was a heart shot. All it needed was to penetrate the rib cage. And Wild Bill was a deadly accurate shot with those Navies...that much is pretty well documented.

[mazo kid]

Yep, it was given that Hickok was a deadly shot. And 75 yards isn't ALL that far. And maybe a bit of luck thrown in. I would need a lot of luck to make shot like that at that range!

[Hawg]

Dr. E. Elbert claimed that on the evening of July 21, 1865 he did an examination of the body of Davis Tutt and found that a bullet had entered the right side between the 5th and 7th rib and passed out on the left between the 5th & 7th rib. Why word it like that? Did Tutt not have a 6th rib? I would imagine Hickok used purchased cartridges so that should have helped with penetration if he did indeed use his navies. Some accounts say that Hickok confronted some of Tutts angry friends with both pistols drawn after he shot Tutt. Kinda sounds like he had his navies or did he carry a brace of Dragoons? We will likely never know for sure. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a .32 S&W like some claim. I'm sure everybody knows about Hickok and Calamity Jane but who all knew he was married? He married Agnes Lake on March 6, 1876. She was 11 years older than Hickok.

[Hawg]

Found this. Thought it was interesting. https://www.dimelibrary.com/post/wild-bill-s-rifle?fbclid=IwAR1h-W52X1dSx0K6Cf5c3t_3bpAw1EZyPzFf_Dv0z5KgnE8l9Xnf_-s5D24

[Captainkirk]

Found this. Thought it was interesting. https://www.dimelibrary.com/post/wild-bill-s-rifle?fbclid=IwAR1h-W52X1dSx0K6Cf5c3t_3bpAw1EZyPzFf_Dv0z5KgnE8l9Xnf_-s5D24

Great info, Hawg! I had no idea.

[mazo kid]

Yes, thank you. I don't think I have seen that before.

[Captainkirk]

Kinda sick to think of that rifle laying in the coffin with WB decomposing and then some guy sticking it in his scabbard and using it for years...ewwwwww!

[Hawg]

Kinda make you wonder why he was buried with his rifle and not his navies. Also what kind of person steals from the dead? I almost bought a relic condition .577 Enfield at a Civil War show once. it was all there, even all the wood was there and it had a minie ball fused into the trigger guard. The only reason I didn't buy it was because the guy selling it straight up said it came out of a grave.

[StrawHat]

A Springfield Single Shot rifle with a dated lock plate should be chambered for the 50-70. By the time the small bore rifle came around, 1873, all the surplus parts were used up and new parts were made specifically for the rifle.

As for using a rifle from a grave?  Sure!  Evil guns are a figment of democratic imagination.

Kevin

[Hawg]

It was a 50-70. The article has it wrong. It was a cut down rifle with modifications to the stock..