So I was looking into exactly what is known about Wild Bill Hickock and his cap-n-ball, Colt Navy .36 revolvers.
It appears that Hickok opted for revolvers that were accurate in his hands, well above the stopping power. Here is a summary of the documented fights where Hickok prevailed:
1865
The Davis Tutt duel, 75 yards, and Tutt is hit in the chest below the 5th rib, the ball traveled across the chest cavity likely damaging the heart.
Tutt called out, "Boys, I'm killed," ran onto the porch of the local courthouse and back to the street, where he collapsed and died,
1867
Hickok reportedly was involved in a dispute with drunken cowboys inside a saloon. One of them pushed him, causing him to drop his drink. Hickok struck the man, and four of the cowboy’s friends rose with guns drawn. Hickok persuaded the men to step outside where he faced all four at 15 paces, or about 40 feet (12 m). The bartender counted down and Hickok killed three of the men with a bullet to the head and wounded the fourth with a shot through the cheek bone
1869
Bill Mulvey leveled his cocked rifle at Hickok. Hickok waved his hand past Mulvey at some onlookers and yelled, "Don't shoot him in the back; he is drunk." Mulvey wheeled his horse around to face those who might shoot him from behind, and before he realized he had been fooled, Hickok shot him through the temple
Later in the same year Samuel Strawhun, a cowboy, who "made remarks against Hickok," and Hickok killed him with a shot through the head.
1871
In an instant, Hickok pulled the triggers again sending two bullets into Coe's abdomen, and Coe lived a day or two after the shootout, then died.
There is one additional shootout where Hickok shot two men, killing the one he shot twice. Distance and wound location are not known.
Out of the 8 dead men documented above, five were killed with head shots, two were torso shots, and one is unknown. Those not hit in the head were not immediately incapacitated.
These results seem to support the idea that shot placement is everything, and coupled with that speed of additional shots is important as well.
"Lord make me fast and accurate". Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin in The Patriot (OK so he was using rifles and muzzleloaders but it works here too.)
LD
It appears that Hickok opted for revolvers that were accurate in his hands, well above the stopping power. Here is a summary of the documented fights where Hickok prevailed:
1865
The Davis Tutt duel, 75 yards, and Tutt is hit in the chest below the 5th rib, the ball traveled across the chest cavity likely damaging the heart.
Tutt called out, "Boys, I'm killed," ran onto the porch of the local courthouse and back to the street, where he collapsed and died,
1867
Hickok reportedly was involved in a dispute with drunken cowboys inside a saloon. One of them pushed him, causing him to drop his drink. Hickok struck the man, and four of the cowboy’s friends rose with guns drawn. Hickok persuaded the men to step outside where he faced all four at 15 paces, or about 40 feet (12 m). The bartender counted down and Hickok killed three of the men with a bullet to the head and wounded the fourth with a shot through the cheek bone
1869
Bill Mulvey leveled his cocked rifle at Hickok. Hickok waved his hand past Mulvey at some onlookers and yelled, "Don't shoot him in the back; he is drunk." Mulvey wheeled his horse around to face those who might shoot him from behind, and before he realized he had been fooled, Hickok shot him through the temple
Later in the same year Samuel Strawhun, a cowboy, who "made remarks against Hickok," and Hickok killed him with a shot through the head.
1871
In an instant, Hickok pulled the triggers again sending two bullets into Coe's abdomen, and Coe lived a day or two after the shootout, then died.
There is one additional shootout where Hickok shot two men, killing the one he shot twice. Distance and wound location are not known.
Out of the 8 dead men documented above, five were killed with head shots, two were torso shots, and one is unknown. Those not hit in the head were not immediately incapacitated.
These results seem to support the idea that shot placement is everything, and coupled with that speed of additional shots is important as well.
"Lord make me fast and accurate". Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin in The Patriot (OK so he was using rifles and muzzleloaders but it works here too.)
LD
