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Audie Murphy's Colt


Cypress Sam, SASS #10915

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I happened to flip onto a TV show the other day where they were showing some of the guns used by various celebrities. One of the guns was a Colt .45 SAA owned and modified by Audie Murphy.

 

The hammer spur had been bent over almost 90 degrees to the left (not down or up but sideways to the left). They said that he had it modified this way so that his small hands could reach the hammer easier. Evidently it was done sometime in the '50's long before SASS was started.

 

I was just wondering if anyone else saw the show or may have seen the actual gun?

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Well, this should stir the pot............. Oh well.

 

It would be interesting to see if any of the documented guns of yore in the real old west had any "modifications" that would render them "not legal" modifications.

 

Pics if available would be nice also.

 

Pretty sure some of the oldies had some. The trigger-guard on a SAA comes to mind.

 

Maybe Myth Busters needs a call.......... Ha Ha

 

Happy holidays from Wild Bodie Tom in Arizona............. We can shoot all year here by the way. So hopefully no cabin fever in the Southwest..... Ha Ha

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back in the 50's i played with quick draw some.most of the fast guns in my area had their hammers bent to the left. the usual procedure then was to knock the gun out of the holdster with tour thumb and fire it over the holdster while holding it sideways. i have seen a lot of guns with the left bend in the hammer. most everybody narrowed the triggerguard to about 1/16 inch.

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They may have made fun of him to his back but I'm sure it was not FTF. Growing up I respected him more than any other man. I read his book long before seeing the movie. What is the saddest part about his life is that he would not have been discharged in today's Army. He could have went on to West Point as he had wished for. I think those that made fun was also doing it as they knew they could not measure up so out of jealousy they mocked him. I remember reading about his plane crash. To this day I think that it was no accident and that he did it on purpose. His closest friends say that he could not sleep at night and that he always carried a 45 ACP pistol because of his night mares. It's bad that he didn't serve when his problems would have been noticed and him given help for them. I have always thought that the US should have erected a monument of him in some part of the country. No man since has been as reconized for his duty. Any man who serves his country is always a head above the rest who choose not to serve. 65-67 4th ID

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I have been around fast draw for about 8 years and I have made friends in the sport that have competed since back in the late 50's when fast draw was invented in California. I never have seen any hammers bent 90 degrees to the left.

 

I believe that around the early 70's Bob Munden built a hammer with what looked like a spoon welded on the left side of the hammer. This was not for thumbing; it was for fanning. I believe his hammer was ruled illegal.

 

Also I never heard of holding the gun sideways for thumbing. We used to have, and in fact still do have what we called "twist fanning" which used a modified holster which allowed the gun to sit almost sideways in the holster. But the hammer was not twisted to the side, it was made to go straight up. That is the only modified hammer that has been a allowed in fast draw for many many years.

 

You can get a lot of info on the history of fast draw at www.fastdraw.org

 

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The Army might not have named a base after Audie Murphy, but the VA named the Veteran's hospital in San Antonio after him.

 

Re: modified Colts, a recent "Wild West" magazine had a picture of a 1909 SAA with a 1860 Army grip frame and Bisley hammer.

 

Also a letter survives on the letterhead of the Opera House Saloon, Dodge City, Kansas, dated July, 1885 in which Bat Masterson ordered a Colt from the factory. He ordered a Colt SAA, “Nickel plated…; 45 Calibre…. I am willing to pay Extra for Extra work. Make it very Easy on trigger and have the front sight a little higher and thicker than the ordinary pistol of this kind. Put on a gutta percha [hard rubber] handle and send it as soon as possible. have the barrel about the same length as the Ejecting rod is….”

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Well, this should stir the pot............. Oh well.

 

It would be interesting to see if any of the documented guns of yore in the real old west had any "modifications" that would render them "not legal" modifications.

 

Pics if available would be nice also.

 

Pretty sure some of the oldies had some. The trigger-guard on a SAA comes to mind.

 

Maybe Myth Busters needs a call.......... Ha Ha

 

Happy holidays from Wild Bodie Tom in Arizona............. We can shoot all year here by the way. So hopefully no cabin fever in the Southwest..... Ha Ha

 

We can shoot all year here too!! I know there has to be a range under there somewhere....... :FlagAm:

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It was a few years before My time but I remember My Grandmother telling about the times when as a young man Audie Murphy visted her house in Llano, Texas. She said he was a very shy young polite man and always came back to her house with a couple of rabbits or a squrrel or two for her to cook. She remembered loaning him her single shot 22 and later he was so happy when He got a Winchester 22 pump. I dont know it it is the same one on display here in San Antonio at the V.A. Hospital named in his honor or not. Several older members of my family told me that he was a damn good shot with the 22. May He rest in peace, A true American.

Texas Man

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Just on the eastern edge of Greenville, TX there is the Audie Murphy Cotton Museum with a large statue of Audie out front, carrying that MG42 he took from one machine gun nest and used to wipe out a couple of others. If you're ever passing through on I-30, stop by and say howdy. I'm pretty sure he'd appreciate it.

 

Murph was just a little bitty guy but one has to wonder how he snuck up on so many Germans with those big brass ones clangin' at every step. Rest in peace, Murph.

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All the other movie stars talked bad about old Audie for using the modified hammer. Some even said the only reason he got parts in movies was due to his modified hammers.

A' course, had nothin t' do with him gettin about every gong we had in the lockers- and a couple from some other countries, IIRC. :FlagAm:

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