Deadwood Gun Leather?

[Knuckles]

I was wondering what y'all thought of the gunleather in the show. I noticed that the Olyphant character carried his rig so low on his hips I thought it was about to fall off. It looked (though I haven't gotten a good look at it) like a drop-holster. Is this correct for this period?

Looked like Wild Bill was one of the only characters wearing a realistic crossdraw rig, complete with cant forward.

Comments?

[Big Hext Finnigan]

I can't comment til Cheyenne gets me the tapes he's making for me.  And not to steal his thunder, but I think he's commented from time to time that he hates the way somebody wears their leather, could be Olyphant.

He posted some pictures here.. the costuming looks top notch.
Adios,

[L.G.]

Wild Bill had his pistols in a sash, it even showed him putting the sash on and tucking in his pistols just before going to his demise.

[Advertising]

[Knuckles]

Sixgun Shorty from the SASSwire worked on some of the rigs and they are all apparently period correct!

I'm a big fan of the show.

[Cheyenne]

It is the Bullock character played by Olyphant who wears his gun belt low slung.  Looks goofy, like some I've seen at CAS matches......you know, the ones where the guy has it buckled down around his butt?

Olyphant's leather looks good, it's just the way he wears it that looks wrong.

[Cheyenne]

And in looking at the top picture, which is from the first episode, it's not too bad, but by episode 2 he has it slung lower.

[Bad Hand Dan]

Olyphant is REALLY skinny, and his gun leather looks like it is about to fall. I wouldn't mind having that problem.

Did Wild Bill really carry his pistols in his sash, as the show indicates? Seems like a good way to have your pistols hang up.

Bad Hand

[laffalotlouie]

Now I haven't seen the show but I notice everyone talking about Wild Bill carrying his pistols in his sash.  I had read once that there were pictues of him in such a carry but that he might have only used that carry for pictures.  However I find it funny that the picture above clearly shows him carrying in a double calvary draw rig.

Later,

Laff-a-lot Louie

[Steel Horse Bailey]

The real Wild Bill (rather than the reel  one) carried a variety of pistols.  I can't say about whether he stuck them in his sash or holstered them.  I believe he was pretty well documented about carrying them in his sash, butt foreward, (I'd bet he didn't worry 'bout the butt foreward/crossdraw dance ).  I heard one account that there were a couple belt slides or some other holder, perhaps a slit belt, hiding under his sash.  What has been found is that he had one (or a pair) of 1860 Armys as well as 1873 Colts (caliber unknown by me).  Not to mention a variety of rifles.

We've all seen his famous 1851 (the other disappeared when he was shot) and from my research, the 1851s were his favorite pistols as well as the most highly decorated.

[tarheel mac]

I think Bailey is right.  Wild Bill carried such a variety of firearms at one time or another, it would be hard to say exactly what he carried them in...One thing I have read (somewhere) is that he carried his Navies in a sash in town, but on horseback, he used reverse cavalry draw type "slim-jim' holsters...but to me, I can't help but wonder just how this info was established. 

Costuming and so forth on DeadWood seems overall, pretty accurate and at this point I have to say I think those who are responsible for it are doing a pretty good job, given the constraints of no one today was alive back then to check them on it...I'm a big fan of the show, ( could use a change in the language though.  Been enough f--ks for a show that ran 10 season just in the first season)

[Slowhand Bob]

I really think Wild Bill ranked reeeal high up amongst the self promotors of his day.  There was almost always another side to most of the Wild Bill stories that seemed to get discounted by the dime novel crowd in favor of WBs version.  Even though I give him a much lower heroe statutus than other less known lawmen, such as C.P. Owens, anyone must admit that Wild Bill new arms and he knew survival with them.  I rellegate the long barrel pistols carried in fancy sashes to showboating for the camera and fans while serious gun toting would have always called for holsters.  It would not have taken a smart guy like Wild Bill long to figure that those pitiful little sights on the Navy would serve as perfect snags for his supposed sash draw and fokes like Luke Short or JW Hardin wouldnt have waited for him to go home and change.  Not that it would have matterd much as ole JW would have laid him out in his best suit on any day of the week.  That was one boy whose reputation as a gunman wasnt created after the fact to make WB look tougher...... WOW