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-shootinggrandstand playas 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 mans 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 Wyatts 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.
thanks for the article
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.....
Also Wayne modeled his walk and talk after Earp’s.
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.
“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
Slow, accurate, deadly patience is what makes USMC snipers so feared and deadly.
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.
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 wont. John Wayne, as J.B. Books in the 1976 movie The Shootist
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.
The Shootist was a GREAT MOVIE.
This is for Albert.
A slow hit beats a quick miss every time.
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.
Also Wayne modeled his walk and talk after Earps.
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I’ve read that, too, and I’ve also read his halting delivery was him trying to remember his lines.
That's the way I've heard it.
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.
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.
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.
One of my favorite movies
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