Robert Culp’s custom New Model 3 from TV show “Trackdown”

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Wyatt Burp

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In that short lived western Culp wanted to be different so he asked S&W if they could help him out with a gun contemporary to the old west era. They came up with a New Model #3 .44 but modified the hammer extensively for fast draw and fanning. He later used it to great effect in “Hannie Caulder” with Raquel Welch. there’s great closeups of her shooting this gun, if you can take your eyes off her. Here’s info on this gun. Also, Mike Bellevue on You Tube just made a video on this gun. He goes by “Duelist1954” there. Under that picture is a link to an article about it.



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Here you go. That is one long hammer spur!

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I read lots of Lachuk’s articles in the past.

Culp must have been a “gun guy” as he carried special pistols in his TV series work. Really like the shortened barrel wartime P.38 in “I Spy” and I recall he had a nice semi automatic in “The Greatest American Hero”, but I didn’t watch that show much and don’t remember the make/model.
 
153 said:
I read lots of Lachuk’s articles in the past.

Culp must have been a “gun guy” as he carried special pistols in his TV series work. Really like the shortened barrel wartime P.38 in “I Spy” and I recall he had a nice semi automatic in “The Greatest American Hero”, but I didn’t watch that show much and don’t remember the make/model.
Click to expand...

Bill Maxwell carried a Colt Government Model 1911.
 
Here’s Robert Culp on “The Rifleman” where he shows off his gun spinning. This was after his “Trackdown” show. In an early 60s western he played Wild Bill Hickok and packed two Colt SAAs with non factory 6 1/2” barrels. I know those had to be his personal guns and he probably wanted that barrel length because he liked it on his S&W. one of those guns is used here.

https://youtu.be/im7Snp3Eg4Y?si=8YUGLOESvTRbyjdm
 
I wonder how a NM3 would hold up to being fanned on a regular basis. I’ve seen a lot of cowboy action shooters modifying their SAA with longer cylinder stop notch leads and other modifications to keep the gun from destroying itself.
 
Interesting. I definitely know him more for Greatest American Hero which wasn't much of a "gun" show. It fell into the 1980s pit of action shows where no one could actually be hit with bullets. While I have some childhood fondness for these shows (A-Team being the best known, but many others), they're not exactly known for their realistic gunfights.
 
rockquarry said:
How many of you remember the writer of that article, John Lachuk?
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Sure. He was another pre .44 Magnum experimenter hotloading .44 Specials. In a fast draw book I have is a circa 1960 photo of Lachuk with holster maker Andy Anderson and he’s wearing his brand new left hand fast draw rig. About ten years ago his son had it for sale. It looked brand new, but $1000 was too steep for me.
 
Wyatt Burp said:
Sure. He was another pre .44 Magnum experimenter hotloading .44 Specials. In a fast draw book I have is a circa 1960 photo of Lachuk with holster maker Andy Anderson and he’s wearing his brand new left hand fast draw rig. About ten years ago his son had it for sale. It looked brand new, but $1000 was too steep for me.
Click to expand...

He was probably best known for his .44 work as you mentioned. He was on the Guns & Ammo staff for quite a while when that magazine was probably tied for frontrunner of gun magazines along with AMERICAN RIFLEMAN. Of course, both publications have suffered significant deterioration in the last few decades.

Lachuk did a number of varmint hunting articles, too and wrote considerably for the GUN DIGEST publications. I enjoyed reading his work.

It may be in the "Letters From Elmer Keith" book where Keith writes quite disparagingly of Lachuk, but I can't remember the story now and Keith's version is only one side of it.
 
I’ve read references of Culp being a gun guy going to shooting ranges in L.A. In Columbo he had guns on his office wall and used a nickel Colt 1911 to kill a guy by inserting a .22 sleeve in the barrel. Here’s a video of him at home and he mentions “Trackdown”. He points to a gun saying it was used in that show but when they supposedly show it, it’s not there. One tan holster looks like the one from Hannie Caulder with the long shank. His fast draw comment seemed a little far fetched.

https://youtu.be/aT4xAZ8bESA?si=lPHOmAbWB7r_Gk6J
 
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