From “The Legend Makers” by Harry Sinclair Drago:
“The door opened and Short stepped out a few moments later. There was an exchange of angry words. As he stood there, the famous gambler had his thumbs hooked in the armpits of his vest. Almost imperceptibly his hands began dropping to his gun belt. Courtright caught the movement. His right hand flashed to his holster and as he flung it up, his fingers closing about his favorite single-action gun, Short fired. It was a wild shot that would have missed Courtright had it not clipped off the tip of Courtright’s thumb as he was cocking his weapon. With catlike swiftness, he tossed his gun from right hand to left. Before he could fire, little Luke had pumped three slugs into him, one of which was fatal.”
Note four shots in this account.
From “Triggernometry”
“A Gallery of Gunfighters”, by Eugene Cunningham
“ “Don’t you pull a gun on me!” Courtright snapped at him.
“Why, I’m not trying to pull a gun!” cried Short, in a pained tone. “I haven’t got a gun there, see!”
“He began pawing at his vest and all the time his hands got lower, closer to his belt, closer to the pistol on his hip. Jim Courtright was not one to be taken in by any such maneuvering. He “went for his gun,” the right-hand gun. Short’s hand flashed back to his hip. He had the edge, through the pretense of showing his unarmed condition. His hand was already close to gun-butt when Courtright started his draw.
“Short’s gun snapped out flashingly, as did Courtright’s. And Short fired so wildly that he would have missed Jim Courtright, with that first shot, by two feet—but for the upward jerk of Courtright’s hand. That first wild bullet tore into the hammer thumb of Courtright’s hand; smashed it at the moment he was pulling back the big hammer of the single-action .45 Colt! As lucky a shot as the Old West ever heard of. It would be described for many a year around the cowboy’s campfires, from the Rio Grande to Calgary.
“Jim Courtright wasted no time, then, in reaching for his left-hand gun. Instead, he tried to throw the pistol from right hand to left hand, in what is called “the border shift”. But that split-second of time required for the maneuver had given Short opportunity to correct his aim and drive three bullets into Courtright. Down went the long-haired gunman, dying, with no spectator gaping more amazedly at this reversal of the town’s expectations than Short himself.”
Note four shots in this account.
From “The Badman of the West”, by George Hendricks
“The border shift, pitching a six-gun from one hand to another into firing position, was used by the ambidedextrous Jim Courtright when his thumb was shot by Luke Short. While the pistol was enroute from one hand to another, Short fired the fatal shot, and the border shift had failed”
…reported Eugene Cunningham: “Oh, yes, Short was right quick with the plow handles. But Jim Courtright –hell! He was a ringtail whizzer with red striped wheels!”
Will, this next one’s special for you
“The Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters” by Leon Claire Metz.
“…Short refused, one word led to another, and both men reached for weapons. Courtright proved the faster, but his weapon caught in his own watch chain. Luke Short simply began pulling the trigger. One bullet shattered Courtright’s revolver cylinder and blew off his right thumb. Another struck Courtright in the heart. Still another buried itself in the right shoulder, as two final shots thundered into the wall. Courtwight died quickly. It took only a little longer for Luke Short to get out of jail.”
Note five shots in this account, with one bullet taking out the cylinder and the thumb, just like I had suspected.
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