"Tombstone Territory" leather error?

Texas Star · Aug 29, 2019

I've been watching reruns of the old Western, "Tombstone Territory" on YouTube.

I first watched when I was about 15, and now see it from an adult angle.

Sheriff Clay Hollister wears two Colt .45's with 7.5 inch barrels and stag grips. The barrels stick out below his holsters!

Has anyone here ever seen an article explaining this ? Surely, they could have afforded a proper set of holsters?

rednichols · Aug 30, 2019

I expect it was done for the 'cool factor'. And it wouldn't have surprised me if it was done in history, too; gunleather as you know it didn't appear until the early 20th century (in which case the actor's holster is surely 'wrong' anyway and knowing 'holstory', would have been of a type from the late 1950s!) and was made by local saddlers, so one took what one could get.

THE real gunfighter, Tom Threepersons, Cherokee lawman of Texas 1920-1927, carried his Colt 4-3/4" in a 5-1/2" holster made in AZ 1919. Through the extra length he had a saddler's rivet punched through it and a leg thong attached. He also trimmed away the mouth to clear the very odd rear sight on his Colt. He's not known to have had a 5-1/2" revolver so I have long expected he took what he could get from the maker, A.B. Egland in Douglas.

crazyphil · Aug 30, 2019

Here is a photo of the Tom Threepersons holster (Red's proto-type #1)
with my 4-3/4" Colt replica. Red also made the belt. The rig, a gift from
Red, hangs on my office wall.

In 1953 I was in Cheyenne and went to see "Shane".
Alan Ladd (as Shane) was about as cool as they come.
His Colt hung out of his holster muzzle a couple of inches.
Kinda like my illustration, only more so.

s&wchad · Aug 30, 2019

It works for Rick Grimes...

BAM-BAM · Aug 30, 2019

Western hero's on TV all had a gun gimmick back then........

From a cut down lever action with the wrong ammo... 12" Buntline special..... derringer behind the belt buckle ...... hand built revolver........ shooting a Winchester fast from the hip and reloading from your shirt pocket........

Low slung gunbelts that look as uncomfortable as h***

History.... facts.... they didn't need no stinking history; just a good GIMMICK to make them stand out.

gwpercle · Aug 30, 2019

Take a look at the sixgun rig Alan Ladd wears in the epic movie
"Shane" notice the gun's barrel length .
Big budget movie and they could have afforded a longer holster but didn't .
I'm sure back then , in the time the movie was set , you made do ...
You had a holster , came across a newer gun with a longer barrel...
You just stuck it in your old holster and kept on going.
I wouldn't look too deep into why the barrel protrudes , could be it was what the prop department had in stock that day and what they sent .
Alan Ladd could have simply just liked the holster/belt with the silver concho's and buckle , strapped it on , dropped in the sixgun and liked the look . History was made !
Gary

lestert357 · Aug 30, 2019

Texas Star said:
I've been watching reruns of the old Western, "Tombstone Territory" on YouTube.

Surely, they could have afforded a proper set of holsters?

Many of the TV westerns from the 1950’s/1960’s (Gunsmoke, Maverick, Wyatt Earp, Cheyenne, Trackdown, and others) used the Arvo Ojala fast draw style holster rather than 1870’s/1880’s period correct leather.

Wyatt Burp · Aug 30, 2019

rednichols said:
I expect it was done for the 'cool factor'.

I agree with this and his way of being just a little different. "Clay Hollister" wore the most finely carved Ojala rig I ever saw on TV or film except for Sammy Davis Jr's double one piece rig. And it had the best buckle design ever to me with matching smaller ones on the holsters. But the fake plastic grips on his Colt's clashed with the high end holster set. His guns were Colt's, not Great Westerns because you can see the firing pin on the hammer in some scenes though G.W. offered that option on their guns.
What I liked about this guy was in the show he uses his sights a lot taking deliberate aim shooting bad guys. Poor guy probably couldn't phart in those tight pants.

WR Moore · Aug 30, 2019

Holster/barrel length mismatch happens more often than one might think. I noticed back in the '60's that the Pittsburgh PD must have had supply issues at some point as most everyone in the downtown traffic division had at least 1 inch of barrel sticking out of their holsters. No idea what the guys in the various precincts/districts did. I became very familiar with 5th district and those guys mostly had Hume border patrol holsters with a few Speed Safety holdovers here and there.

Looking at the picture above, one wonders how one mounted a horse without losing the weaponry. Don't recall ever seeing a mounting block in any westerns.

Wyatt Burp · Aug 30, 2019

As a kid seeing Shane for the first time on TV I thought his long barreled nickel Colt sticking out the bottom of the holster was the coolest thing. Then I saw Steve McQueen doing it with the most unique holster ever. It was An Andy Anderson walk n' draw, of course. The Magnificent Seven would just be another generic western if not for him in it being such a fast draw. Clint Eastwood switched to a 7 1/2" Colt in his famous Anderson holster in High Plains Drifter.

"Tombstone Territory" leather error?

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