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Welcomes and General Information => Guns of Infamy => Topic started by: Captainkirk on May 09, 2022, 08:35:05 AM
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While most BP enthusiasts are familiar with many of the outlaws of the Old West, I can't think of anyone I've met who hasn't heard of the outlaw Jesse James. While Jesse undoubtedly used any number of guns throughout his illustrious career, probably the most famous was the gun he was using at the time of his assassination by "that dirty little coward", Bob Ford...his prized Smith and Wesson Schofield.
Here is a short NRA clip featuring photos of the actual gun Jesse used:
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/jesse-james-gun/
The following article lists other guns Jesse may or may not have used but offers little in the way of verifying other than the serial number of the 1873 Colt.
https://www.guns.com/news/2014/04/03/guns-jesse-james-mother-videos
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Thanks for the links. That second article is quite an informative piece regarding the number and types of guns he had owned and used. This is a good thread, pard.
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Great post Cap. Sounds as if Zerelda Samuel, his mother, was also an outlaw at heart as the article states.
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Great post Cap. Sounds as if Zarelda Samuel, his mother, was also an outlaw at heart as the article states.
If nothing else, she was PT Barnum in a dress...
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I think I saw a program a while back, maybe on the History Channel, where a guy supposedly has the S&W that Jesse carried. It even had blood stains under the grip panel that they were going to have DNA tested. Not sure what the outcome ever was.
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This is interesting. A book that was published in 2012 I think.
http://www.ericjames.org/#welcome
https://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Behind-Family-Stigma-Silence/dp/0985746904
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Anyone who rode with Quantrill or Bill Anderson during the War deserved a bullet or a rope. They were murderous psychopaths - not soldiers.
It would have been a righteous pleasure to go after those people. Black flag, all the way.
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I think I saw a program a while back, maybe on the History Channel, where a guy supposedly has the S&W that Jesse carried. It even had blood stains under the grip panel that they were going to have DNA tested. Not sure what the outcome ever was.
Back in the mid 90's the History Channel ran a show where they exhumed Jesse's body to do DNA testing to see if it really was him. I don't remember the why of it but they had to do mitochondrial DNA testing from his teeth which is taken from the mothers side of the family. Mitochondrial DNA didn't prove it was him but it proved if it wasn't him it was a member of the family. Since they recovered the .36 ball he was shot in the chest with in 1864 I tend to believe it was him.
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I think I saw a program a while back, maybe on the History Channel, where a guy supposedly has the S&W that Jesse carried. It even had blood stains under the grip panel that they were going to have DNA tested. Not sure what the outcome ever was.
Back in the mid 90's the History Channel ran a show where they exhumed Jesse's body to do DNA testing to see if it really was him. I don't remember the why of it but they had to do mitochondrial DNA testing from his teeth which is taken from the mothers side of the family. Mitochondrial DNA didn't prove it was him but it proved if it wasn't him it was a member of the family. Since they recovered the .36 ball he was shot in the chest with in 1864 I tend to believe it was him.
I remember that show too Hawg. If I'm not mistaken, there was someone claiming to be direct relative of Jesse James.
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I think I saw a program a while back, maybe on the History Channel, where a guy supposedly has the S&W that Jesse carried. It even had blood stains under the grip panel that they were going to have DNA tested. Not sure what the outcome ever was.
Back in the mid 90's the History Channel ran a show where they exhumed Jesse's body to do DNA testing to see if it really was him. I don't remember the why of it but they had to do mitochondrial DNA testing from his teeth which is taken from the mothers side of the family. Mitochondrial DNA didn't prove it was him but it proved if it wasn't him it was a member of the family. Since they recovered the .36 ball he was shot in the chest with in 1864 I tend to believe it was him.
I remember that show too Hawg. If I'm not mistaken, there was someone claiming to be direct relative of Jesse James.
If it's the one I'm thinking about he wasn't. He believed he was but the DNA ruled it out.
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Love that holster! That was an awfully popular pistol. Wyatt Earp carried one as well. Probably 2 of the most talked about characters from the old west.
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I visited the James' farm in 2016.
This was a Dragoon attributed to him.
Weird that they found it OK to tack on a big text plate on the grip.
They also had a Winchester on display .....
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Why, on posting pics, mine get overflowing the screen and you have to click them in order to reduce them to fit, where as earlier it was the other way around :question:
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Why, on posting pics, mine get overflowing the screen and you have to click them in order to reduce them to fit, where as earlier it was the other way around :question:
Don't know. Lemme look.
I changed the parameters a bit. Does that look better?
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Ran across this https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3a53077/
Purportedly, this was Jesse' last gun used. Not sure if it means literally. Maybe it was the type he was using at the time but not this actual revolver? One may never truly know.
Anyone on this board own a 45 Schofield? I would like to have one but I'm told they are very pricey.
Show us your Schofield!!
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Ran across this https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3a53077/
Purportedly, this was Jesse' last gun used. Not sure if it means literally. Maybe it was the type he was using at the time but not this actual revolver? One may never truly know.
Anyone on this board own a 45 Schofield? I would like to have one but I'm told they are very pricey.
Show us your Schofield!!
I don't have a Schofield but my cousin has a pair of them. They're really fun to shoot especially when there's a reload on the clock. Break it open and it tosses the casings, drop a live round in the appropriately indexed chamber and close. Cock and shoot.
You can't fan one, though, so if you're into that, it isn't going to happen without some gunsmithing to modify the action.
The only thing I didn't like about them was the grip. It felt like a curved club in my hand. The Russian has a good shaped grip but there is the finger spur on the trigger guard to snag on things. Taylor's & Co offers a model (https://taylorsfirearms.com/hand-guns/cartridge-revolvers/schofield-revolvers.html) which is basically a Russian without the spur on the trigger guard. That would be the one I would get if I were to get one. Yes, pricey but certainly a superior design of the era. It's easy to see why they were favored by some.
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Ran across this https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3a53077/
Purportedly, this was Jesse' last gun used. Not sure if it means literally. Maybe it was the type he was using at the time but not this actual revolver? One may never truly know.
Anyone on this board own a 45 Schofield? I would like to have one but I'm told they are very pricey.
Show us your Schofield!!
I don't have a Schofield but my cousin has a pair of them. They're really fun to shoot especially when there's a reload on the clock. Break it open and it tosses the casings, drop a live round in the appropriately indexed chamber and close. Cock and shoot.
You can't fan one, though, so if you're into that, it isn't going to happen without some gunsmithing to modify the action.
The only thing I didn't like about them was the grip. It felt like a curved club in my hand. The Russian has a good shaped grip but there is the finger spur on the trigger guard to snag on things. Taylor's & Co offers a model (https://taylorsfirearms.com/hand-guns/cartridge-revolvers/schofield-revolvers.html) which is basically a Russian without the spur on the trigger guard. That would be the one I would get if I were to get one. Yes, pricey but certainly a superior design of the era. It's easy to see why they were favored by some.
Marshal thanks. Did they only make the Schofield in .45 caliber?
For the most part, the originals were in .45 Schofield and the Russians were in .44 S&W Russian, I believe.
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it only make sense he had more than one pistol ( most of us do and we don't use them for work lol) I guess since the S&W Scofield was a favorite thats the one that gets the fame. I agree I'd have one in a NY minute but $$$$ and so I won't but still a gun of infamy. Thanks Capt.
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it only make sense he had more than one pistol ( most of us do and we don't use them for work lol) I guess since the S&W Scofield was a favorite thats the one that gets the fame. I agree I'd have one in a NY minute but $$$$ and so I won't but still a gun of infamy. Thanks Capt.
My guess was he probably settled on the Schofield due to the extremely fast ability to dump the empties and complete access for loading without the inconvenience of a loading gate. But that's just my own opinion.
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Thanks for that information Cap.
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My guess was he probably settled on the Schofield due to the extremely fast ability to dump the empties and complete access for loading without the inconvenience of a loading gate. But that's just my own opinion.
I'd say that was a pretty good assumption.
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I think nine out of ten outlaws would have agreed that fast reloads are a terrific featuh in a handgun when ambitious law dawgs were on their trail.
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Mike Beliveau giving a quick rundown on the Schofield:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td8vfIfBx_c
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Another cool gun i never heard of. Thanks for posting capn
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Bob, It's a beauty huh? Ever since I found out about this Schofield? I've been wanting one. I have to save my dollars now. Many dollars. HAHAHAHA. Tim
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Bob, It's a beauty huh? Ever since I found out about this Schofield? I've been wanting one. I have to save my dollars now. Many dollars. HAHAHAHA. Tim
Like, "a fistful of dollars"?
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Roger that Cap!!
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I had a Schofield and really liked it, but it didn't like black powder cartridges so I traded it for a Uberti 1873 Winchester 44-40 about 15 years ago.
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I had a Schofield and really liked it, but it didn't like black powder cartridges so I traded it for a Uberti 1873 Winchester 44-40 about 15 years ago.
Bishop Creek. Thank for that info. That’s a nice looking gun!
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I had a Schofield and really liked it, but it didn't like black powder cartridges so I traded it for a Uberti 1873 Winchester 44-40 about 15 years ago.
Bishop Creek. Thank for that info. That’s a nice looking gun!
Uberti did away with the gas collar to make the cylinder long enough for .45 Colt cartridges. They should have extended the frame length by that much and kept the collar.
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Yes Hawg, that lack of the collar on the front of the cylinder allowed black powder fouling to build up real quick unlike the original Schofields.
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That’s unfortunate
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Thought it interesting that Jesse' wife had the same first name as his Mother, Zerelda Elizabeth Cole. Zerelda Amanda Mimms Jesse's wife. Having said that, allegedly he and his wife were first cousins. Keeping it all in the family as it were. L@J
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John Wesley Hardin was said to have carried a Schofield revolver too. Early in his outlaw career he used a S&W #3 Russian when he killed a Texas deputy. Later he carried a double action "New Frontier" top break revolver.
This one is Uberti's "Hardin" model Schofield revolver. I spent my life savings on it a few months ago.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52079319804_0413ddc0cb_c.jpg)
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Nice piece, Mike! Yes, life savings would about do it. Can't believe how much they want for those darn things!
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That's a beautiful pistol. The black grips really add to it.
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Damn Mike! That thing is stunning!!!! I bet you can't stop looking at it!
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I keep it out where I can see it, it is easy on the eyes. I need to get a rig built for it now.
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I keep it out where I can see it, it is easy on the eyes. I need to get a rig built for it now.
Do you have the same issues as others have stated...where you have to shoot only smokeless loads due to fouling?
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Mike, that is a beautiful revolver. I too want one but the cash they want? Won't be seeing one in my house. I did see one go NIB on GB for $850. It wasn't the Harding like yours of course. Very nice. Thanks for sharing your good fortune. By the way, if I may ask, where did you buy that one?
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I keep it out where I can see it, it is easy on the eyes. I need to get a rig built for it now.
Do you have the same issues as others have stated...where you have to shoot only smokeless loads due to fouling?
So far I have only used BP. First time I only got 2 cylinders through it before having to clean it. The 2nd time I loaded up some cartridges with a thick lube cookie. It helped a lot but still had to stop and clean the cylinder pin after 3 cylinders. I'm thinking Trail Boss might be a good way to go for this one.
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Mike, that is a beautiful revolver. I too want one but the cash they want? Won't be seeing one in my house. I did see one go NIB on GB for $850. It wasn't the Harding like yours of course. Very nice. Thanks for sharing your good fortune. By the way, if I may ask, where did you buy that one?
I found it at a gun shop in Denver.
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Great find!! Thank you,