Several years ago a wizard of quick draw single action died. I believe in addition to magic with his single actions he was able to reload after firing a cylinder of 45 Colt ammunition in an equally remarkable speed. Is there any analysis or video how he achieved his reloading expertise?

If you are referring to Bob Munden, I have watched his "fastest gun alive" videos but have never seen him speed reload.

If true, it is the old saying about being good enough to play the piano professionally:

"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"

"Practice."

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Bob Munden could do some remarkable feats with guns. IIRC, one time he shot 2 different balloons with one bullet. How? He shot the blade of an ax which split the bullet and each half of the bullet hit a different balloon. Weekly, he was on a gun show (can’t remember which one) and his part of the show was called “Impossible Shots”. He literally did impossible shots. It was amazing.

Another thing he was famous for was folks sending him their Colt SAA. He would work “his magic” on them making them faster. Many people swore by his work, but others criticized it, of course. I remember lots of SAAs being sold for high prices, and listed as an improvement was Munden’s work done on them.
Larry

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Miss Buddies crsides & fat tom

Lots of videos online of Bob Munden in action. This short one will give you an idea of his insane level of skill with a single action revolver -

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SWCA #590
"Colligo ergo sum"

Got to wonder if him and Jerry Miculek ever went head to head ? That would be one h*** of a show !

That’s UNBELIEVABLE! The fact that you have to see it in slow motion, frame by frame, to actually see him taking 2 shots is just insane. BTW, that is a very young Bob Munden.
Larry

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Miss Buddies crsides & fat tom

I don’t know who the guy is/was, but he could accurately fan off six shots and just dump the cylinder on the ground and throw in a new one then fire them accurately at something else in stupid speed. Looked like fun.

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There's a Monster on the loose

I had the pleasure of seeing Bob perform at a local Chevy dealer many years ago. They had him up on a flatbed trailer as a stage. A couple things stand out in my memory. First, you could barely see his hand move as he drew and fired. Second, when he shot two balloons my ears could not tell he had fired twice. The shots were too close together.

I have watched a video that showed Bob Munden firing 5 shots - fanning the hammer that looked and sounded like one slightly extended shot but I have never found it to watch again so it may have been on that tv show . Remember that back in time these guy shot real ammo , Lite loads but real loads, not wax bullets .

I do not recall when I first heard/saw this: "Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can't get it wrong."

In my experience, most people who are the very top of their game are in fact genetic freaks, pre-disposed to whatever they are doing - and then they work like hell to make use of that. I don't care if it is playing a piano, hardcore computer programming, or shooting.

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NHI, 10-8.

I like that...outstanding way to look at it.

As I recall he would fan the hammer, but not by moving his hand back and forth to pull the hammer five times. He would make only one pass with his hand with his fingers spread, such that one shot would be fired by his thumb pulling the hammer back, then his index finger, then middle finger, then ring, then pinky. It didn't require him to move his hand with super speed, but with perfect speed for the timing to work.

Another champion speed shooter is Jim Martin who lives near Kingman, AZ. He's the dean of tuning the Single Action Army and tuned one of mine. He's in his upper 80s now but can still talk your ear off...a true gentleman and knows his stuff better than anyone else going today.

He has some great stories about those he worked with over the years...actors and other shooters. He was a friend of Bub Munden and has good memories of him.

There are some videos of him on YouTube but most are pretty grainy.

Surprisingly, Sammy Davis Jr. was an excellent fast draw shot!

Ivan

According to family legend my uncle Gary beat a guy that claimed to be the "fastest man alive" down in Vegas back in the sixties. Gary was only four years older than me and had a band that won a trip to Vegas. We were always goofing around with cap guns when we were kids, but Gary never put his cap guns away. He kept fooling around with fast draw, low slung holsters all that jazz. His band members had seen him any number of times and when they saw the guy in a Vegas show offer anyone $100 if they could beat him. They went up to the room and told Gary that they thought he could beat the guy. Gary went down and watched him and thought he might could, so the challenge was issued. Gary tried out the guys equipment and eventually proved he was faster. The guy was so upset that this fat kid beat him to the draw that he packed up and left.

I'd previously put up videos of Sammy Davis Jr.'s gun handling in post #15 of this thread: Let's Have a Great Western Arms Thread!...I'll Start

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SWCA #590
"Colligo ergo sum"

I put that up Statement up in the Training Room at my Police Department and half the cops thought I said they were amateurs.

Reading Comprehension was not taught at the Police Academy.

Thank you for sharing.

He wasn't alone. Back in the 1950s a lot of entertainers got the fast draw bug. I think Jerry Lewis was another. The crooner, Mel Torme, who was hugely into firearms, called one or both of them "kind of sudden".

Bob Munden tricked out a SAA replica for me when I was starting out in cowboy action shooting. The trigger was far too light for me. I'd accidentally fire as soon as I cocked the hammer and touched the trigger. Everything down range but, still, somewhat dangerous without the proper skills so I sold it.

These were perfect for me for years and had been worked on but not to the lightness of Bob Munden's work:

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Come and take it!!

Here is a story about Sammy Davis Jr and fast draw.

Ben Cooper, a far lesser known actor unless you enjoy old westerns, which the bride and I both do, was also a fast draw practioner. He told this story one year at the Lone Pine Film Festival. On the Saturday morning of the festival there would be an organized panel discussion with some of the old time celebs, and this venue was where we heard this story (as well as many other great stories).

So herewith.

One night Sammy Davis Jr was having a party at his house. At some point he said he could outdraw Ben Cooper, which was met with loud skepticism by a number of guests. But Sammy insisted he could, and offered to prove it.

So he called Ben Cooper. Ben was asleep early because he had an early film call the next morning. When Ben got the call all he told Sammy that he had an early film call and hung up the phone. But Sammy called back and would not give up. So finally Ben got out of bed, got dressed and went over to Sammy's house. The had their contest. Ben won. Then he went home and back to bed. So, much to Sammy's chagrin, Ben was the faster gun. Ben of course got the bragging rights.

Dale Robertson was another one of the actors sitting on that same panel. Before the fast draw story, the moderator was talking to Ben Cooper and saying he heard that Ben did Dale Robertson better than Dale himself could. Ben took up the challenge. Everybody was left in stitches, but the one who laughed the hardest was Dale. He could hardly stay seated he was so doubled over in laughter. Obviously he was a great sport about it.

Ben Cooper was a very fun and entertaining guy. He didn't just film westerns, he loved them. For the Sunday parade Ben was on his horse, a beautiful golden palomino. Ben was dressed in costume looking like a singing cowboy. I think his horse enjoyed having an audience. He was a show horse and he pranced a lot. Ben did not choose to rein him in, it was part of the show. It was obvious that Ben had complete confidence in his horse. They were obviously a very accomplished team. That smooth teamwork was only possible because horse and rider had spent so much time together.

Sadly, all those old timers have passed on. With very few exceptions, can you see any of the current crop of show business people having these same attitudes?

Along those same lines, one of participants in the film festival was Loren Janes, an old time stunt man who had a very impressive career. At one point in the festival as he was showing film clips of stunts he had done, he expressed very candidly his lack of respect for the current actors. He said so many showed up late, hung over or stoned, did not know their lines, did not seem to care. This meant the entire film company had to just sit and wait until the actor was ready to do what he was hired to do, and time equals money. He had one exception to this, Tom Selleck. Selleck, Janes said, was always on time, ready to work, knew his lines. Janes had the utmost respect for Selleck. He said Selleck was a consummate professional in the old time tradition. My impression of Loren Janes was such that if he said it, I believed it.

Now, instead of role models, we get politics and f bombs.

Dating myself but I remember the magazines from the Leatherslappin era. Thell Reed was prominently mentioned quite a few times that he was a very fast gun drawer.

Quote from Eldon Carl "1963 Leatherslap finally rolled around, and just as I had guessed, Thell Reed came with his 45 Peacemaker.. I will never forget watching this fifteen year old kid do things with a 45 Peacemaker that I had never seen any quick- draw shooter do before ... or since! A few years later, in an appearance in a Hollywood film, Thell killed a rogue buffalo with one round from his 45 Peacemaker at full gallop from horseback! I hoped he would shine that day at the 1963 Leatherslap"

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!