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Wyatt Earp Interview on GunFighting
Am Shooting Journal ^ | 9/25/2017 | S Lake

Posted on 09/25/2017 5:27:13 AM PDT by w1n1

Here is an interview that Wyatt Earp shares his views on "gunfighting". This was sometime in the 1910s he offered to give an interview about his thoughts on using a gun. In his own words, Wyatt is going to explain how he became one of the most feared and accurate gunslingers… even if he was about the slowest.

When asked how he became so proficient with a gun… here's his response: "The most important lesson I learned from those proficient gunfighters was the winner of a gunplay usually was the man who took his time. The second was that, if I hoped to live long on the frontier, I would shun flashy trick-shooting—grandstand play—as I would poison."

"Fast is fine, Accuracy is final." What Wyatt meant is practice makes perfect. It should be said that Wyatt would even take his time acquiring his targets even if they were only five feet away.

When I say that I learned to take my time in a gunfight, I do not wish to be misunderstood, for the time to be taken was only that split fraction of a second that means the difference between deadly accuracy with a sixgun and a miss. It is hard to make this clear to a man who has never been in a gunfight. Perhaps I can best describe such time taking as going into action with the greatest speed of which a man’s muscles are capable, but mentally unflustered by an urge to hurry or the need for complicated nervous and muscular actions which trick-shooting involves. Mentally deliberate, but muscularly faster than thought, is what I mean.

We typically hear people talk about making a split second decision when it comes to shooting. In Wyatt’s case he made the decision to shoot a long time before the trigger was pulled. Read the rest of the Wyatt Earp views on Gunfighting here.


TOPICS: History; Hobbies; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: banglist; blogpimp; clickbait; cutitout; gunfighting; wyattearp; yourblogsucks
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1 posted on 09/25/2017 5:27:13 AM PDT by w1n1
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To: w1n1

thanks for the article


2 posted on 09/25/2017 5:34:27 AM PDT by Undecided 2012
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To: w1n1

Interesting fact of Wyatt Earp.....

He was great friends with John Wayne....JW was Wyatt’s gopher for a period of time since the movie studios used Wyatt’s expertise for consulting on the set.....


3 posted on 09/25/2017 5:40:39 AM PDT by nevergore (I have a terrible rash on my covfefe....)
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To: nevergore

Also Wayne modeled his walk and talk after Earp’s.


4 posted on 09/25/2017 5:50:23 AM PDT by 4yearlurker (Space for rent.)
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To: w1n1

Miyamoto Musashi, considered to be Japan’s greatest swordsman, wrote about the difference between a cut and a slash. He disdained the slash, even if it killed the opponent. He said a cut must be resolute (done with a calm, focused mind). He and Wyatt Earp are two martial masters, separated by time and culture, who discovered the same essential truth.


5 posted on 09/25/2017 5:53:21 AM PDT by PTBAA
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To: w1n1

“Look son, being a good shot, being quick with a pistol, that don’t do no harm, but it don’t mean much next to being cool-headed. A man who will keep his head and not get rattled under fire, like as not, he’ll kill ya.” —Little Bill Daggett, “Unforgiven,” 1992


6 posted on 09/25/2017 5:54:00 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (<img src="http://i.imgur.com/WukZwJP.gif" width=800>)
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To: w1n1

Slow, accurate, deadly patience is what makes USMC snipers so feared and deadly.


7 posted on 09/25/2017 5:58:53 AM PDT by Bob Celeste
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To: w1n1

Interesting. Earp overlooks one thing. There is no denying he had the “glow”. Plain and simple. Which was then enhanced by his reputation - going against Earp was considered a sure death sentence; gave a man pause.


8 posted on 09/25/2017 5:59:36 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (Not my circus. Not my monkeys.)
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To: w1n1

“I found out early that most men, regardless of cause or need, will blink an eye or draw a breath before they pull a trigger. I won’t.” — John Wayne, as J.B. Books in the 1976 movie The Shootist


9 posted on 09/25/2017 6:19:06 AM PDT by Chode (You have all of the resources you are going to have. Abandon your illusions and plan accordingly.)
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To: w1n1

I’ve often said that the one who decides first that there will be a gun fight has an overwhelming advantage. He is already at the “A” of the OODA loop.

If you are behind the curve, at condition yellow, then solid, practiced skill is your best hope, just like Earp has described.


10 posted on 09/25/2017 6:27:29 AM PDT by SargeK
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To: Chode

The Shootist was a GREAT MOVIE.
This is for Albert.


11 posted on 09/25/2017 6:44:49 AM PDT by certrtwngnut (i)
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To: SargeK

A slow hit beats a quick miss every time.


12 posted on 09/25/2017 6:45:23 AM PDT by IronJack (sh)
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To: w1n1

The best Western gunfighters tended to advise that the secret to winning a gunfight is to not get rattled but take your time to aim and shoot accurately. For some, such “coolness under fire” is instinctive, while for most it takes training and discipline to acquire. Psychologists also point to the strong moral prohibition against murder as inhibiting most people from instinctively having the necessary desire and readiness to kill in a gunfight.


13 posted on 09/25/2017 6:47:58 AM PDT by Rockingham
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To: certrtwngnut
yes it is... from beginning to end
14 posted on 09/25/2017 6:48:36 AM PDT by Chode (You have all of the resources you are going to have. Abandon your illusions and plan accordingly.)
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To: 4yearlurker

Also Wayne modeled his walk and talk after Earp’s.

...

I’ve read that, too, and I’ve also read his halting delivery was him trying to remember his lines.


15 posted on 09/25/2017 6:48:56 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
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To: w1n1
"You need to take your time, but hurry."

That's the way I've heard it.

16 posted on 09/25/2017 6:49:06 AM PDT by precisionshootist
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To: w1n1

Bob Munden World fastest Gun Record
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7HN7THecwg

This guy is quicker then a blink of an eye and accurate too.


17 posted on 09/25/2017 6:54:16 AM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: Rockingham

The best western gunfighters shot from behind, or shot when someone wasn’t expecting a fight. The gunfight near the OK corral was fought at very close range, and it is likely the Earps drew first - which is always an advantage. That, and many of the shots taken missed.


18 posted on 09/25/2017 6:59:41 AM PDT by Mr Rogers (Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools)
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To: w1n1

Most of what he states makes great sense, practice, know your weapon, safety, know your target, take aim. Pistols at 10-15 yards need to be aimed to be accurate. Never got the hip stuff.


19 posted on 09/25/2017 6:59:46 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Chode

One of my favorite movies


20 posted on 09/25/2017 7:00:42 AM PDT by itsLUCKY2B (?Borders, Language, and Culture.?)
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