Wild West Lawmen & Their Guns of Choice

The Old West was a crazy place full of all sorts of people, including a fair share of criminals and rough groups. In order to keep those people in line, there were ordinary people willing to set up and uphold the law. Many of those men would become household names, even legends during their own lifetimes, while others are so well known. But what weapons did those Wild West lawmen use to keep the peace? Let’s take a quick look at the lawmen and their chosen weapons!

The Earp Brothers

First off, these men don’t need much of an introduction. Their names are fairly well known even today, with the middle brother being the most well-known. Wyatt was considered a legend during his lifetime, with his brothers not far behind him, with the culmination of their stories happening at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, and the subsequent court proceedings.

Morgan

Morgan, one of the younger Earp brothers, wasn’t always a lawman. Before Tombstone, he rode shotgun for Wells Fargo, probably carrying a coach gun while on duty. During his short stint as a lawman in Arizona, he was said to carry a single-action revolver, but historians don’t specify which make or model. It could have been made by Colt, Smith & Wesson Schofield, or Remington. Helpful, I know. Regardless, the revolver would have been a larger caliber, given the time, either a .44, .44-40, or .45 caliber. His time was cut short when he was killed a few months after the incident at the OK Corral.

Virgil

The oldest Earp Brother, Virgil, could often be found near Wyatt, as the family would travel together or settle in the same place. That was true of Tombstone. While there, Virgil was a deputy US Marshall for the Tombstone district in addition to being the Town Marshall. Prior to that, he worked as the town constable in Prescott, and it was at his urging that Wyatt came out West. The morning of the shootout, Virgil had picked up a double-barreled shotgun from the local Wells Fargo office.

Virgil was said to prefer using his Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolver, reportedly in a .44 S&W Russian caliber. According to reports, he would often carry that revolver during his lawman duties, and based on production dates, it was probably a standard single action, or the Army Model. While keeping some of the original S&W Revolver look, it had a less-pronounced hump, a distinctive trigger and guard look, and a rounded butt shape for a more comfortable grip.

Wyatt

As for Wyatt, no one really knows exactly which guns he carried most often, either in the cow town of Dodge City or Tombstone. There are no direct reports of which guns he carried, but many have claimed to own his weapons after the fact. Most seem to agree that it’s probable that he carried either a Colt single-action Army revolver or a Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolver. With his love of “buffaloing” rowdy lawbreakers [hitting the men over their heads with the barrel of the gun], any of those revolvers would do the trick. Other reports state that he carried a longer-barreled gun for at least part of his life, so there is no one real answer.

“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 enough on the frontier, I would shun flashy trick-shooting—grandstand play—as I would poison… Models of weapons, methods of wearing them, means of getting them into action and operating them, all to the one end of combining high speed with absolute accuracy, contributed to the frontiersman’s shooting skill…The sought-after degree of proficiency was that which could turn to most effective account the split-second between life and death. Hours upon hours of practice, and wide experience in actualities supported their arguments over style.”

-Wyatt Earp, excerpt from an 1910 interview

Bat Masterson

Bat Masterson wasn’t always a lawman. In fact, he started out on the other side of the law, only to change his ways [mostly] and toe the line and worked alongside Wyatt Earp in Dodge City, Kansas. Before his lawman time, he learned his skills with a gun as a buffalo hunter on the plains, fighting Native Americans in the Southwest, and even scouting for the army for a time.

As a lawman, Bat was known to carry a Colt Single Action Army revolver in .45. A revolver attributed to Masterson from his time in Dodge, has a 4¾” barrel and the standard Colt frame and trigger frame with very little damage. The revolver went to auction with a copy of the letter from Masterson to Colt outlining his wants for a revolver. He wanted an easy trigger, higher sight, and specific gutta percha grips. That particular revolver sold at auction a few years ago for over $375,000.

Bill Tilghman

A Midwest native, Bill Tilghman grew up in and around Dodge City and Fort Dodge in the mid-1850s and 1860s. He worked as a buffalo hunter and scout for the army out of Fort Dodge before working as the city marshal for a few years. He worked in Dodge City along with Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson to uphold the peace in the rough town. Bill relocated to the Oklahoma Territory during the land grab and ended up being a deputy US Marshal and manhunter. His career spanned 50 years.

If his name sounds familiar it’s because he was one of the “Three Guardsmen,” a trio of highly skilled men hunters that would hunt down fugitives and return them to face justice. He single-handedly brought in the notorious outlaw Bill Doolin. For most of his time as a lawman, he carried Colt Single Action .38 Special with a 5½” barrel. Tilghman would also carry an engraved nickel-plated Colt 45 with pearl handles. In a later interview, he would open one of his trunks and show his collection of 15 revolvers, with barrel lengths ranging from 5” up to 9”.

Bass Reeves 

Born into slavery in the 1830s in Arkansas, Bass Reeves had a very interesting life. While fighting alongside his master during the Civil War [which was very common], Reeves escaped and made his way to freedom in the Indian Territory. While in Indian Territory, he learned many of the different languages, hunting, and tracking skills from the various tribes; all things that would be very helpful during his career in law enforcement later. In 1875, while living in Arkansas with his family, he was approached to apply to become a deputy US Marshal. He would become one of the first African Americans to hold that title.

During his career, he was said to have arrested nearly 3,000 fugitives and carried two handguns regularly. One was his primary while the other served as his backup weapon. No, he didn’t wield both at the same time as Hollywood would like to depict. He would often have a pair of Peacemakers in .45 Colt, but eventually updated his revolvers to .38-40 Win and .44-40 Win, to better match up with the Winchester Model 1873 and 1892 long guns he carried.

Henry Andrew “Heck” Thomas 

Henry Thomas, known as Heck Thomas, started his career in law enforcement at the age of 17 in Atlanta, Georgia after his father became the City Marshal and was injured during the race riots after the Civil War. In the 1870s, he moved West to Texas, where he continued his law enforcement career in the private sector as a detective. In the 1880s he was appointed as a deputy US Marshal for the Indian Territory, joining along with Bass Reeves. His fame would reach its height in the 1890s when along with two other men, would be one of the “Three Guardsmen.” He ultimately ended Bill Doolin’s life after an escape.

During his time wearing the badge, Thomas would use various firearms. Notably, during his hunt for Bill Doolin, he used a double-barreled shotgun to end the fugitive’s life. Like other lawmen, he was often seen wearing two gun belts, fitted with revolvers. There are reports of different weapons he used, like the Colt 1877 Lightning Double Action revolver, or other Colt models. There isn’t a lot of precise information regarding the ones he used most often, sadly.

In the End

As a trend for all of these men, there wasn’t great record keeping regarding their preferred weapons. One source I came across in my research made a good point: These lawmen didn’t slave over any one particular weapon or use only one kind. They all used what they had with them and what they were comfortable with. In the end, the guns were the tools they used to get their jobs done.