Colt Buntline
Encyclopedia
The Colt Buntline Special is a variant of long-barreled Colt Single Action Army
revolver that author Stuart N. Lake
created while writing his 1931 biography of Wyatt Earp
. According to Lake's biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal published in 1931, dime novel
ist Ned Buntline
had five Buntline Specials commissioned. Lake described them as extra-long, 12 inches (30.5 cm)-long barrel Colt Single Action Army
revolvers. Buntline was supposed to have presented them to lawmen in thanks for their help with contributing “local color” to his western yarns. According to Lake, the pistol was equipped with a detachable metal shoulder stock.
After the publication of Lake's book, various Colt revolvers with long (10" or 16") barrels were referred to as "Colt Buntlines". Colt re-introduced the revolvers in its second generation revolvers produced after 1956.
. However, unlike the Peacemaker
, it had a 12" (305mm) long barrel, in comparison to the Peacemaker's 7.5" (190mm) barrel. A 16" (406mm) barrel was available as well.
The Buntline Special was further popularized by The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
television series. It had a removable stock that could be easily affixed through a combination of screws and lead-ins. These modifications allegedly gave the weapon better precision and range, and supposedly allowed the user to affix the stock and turn the revolver into an even more precise weapon to give it most of the advantages of a rifle
.
.
, Bill Tilghman
, Charlie Bassett and Neal Brown - each received a Buntline Special. However, neither Tilghman nor Brown were lawmen then.
According to Lake, Earp kept his at the original 12" length but the four other recipients of the Specials cut their barrels down to the standard 7½". Lake spent much effort trying to track down the Buntline Special through the Colt company, Masterson and contacts in Alaska. Lake described it as a Colt Single Action Army
model with a long, 12 inches (30.5 cm) barrel, standard sights, and wooden grips into which the name “Ned” was ornately carved. Researchers have never found any record of an order received by the Colt company, and Ned Buntline's alleged connections to Earp's have been largely discredited.
, October 26, 1881, he carried an 8 inch (200mm) barreled .44 caliber 1869 American
model Smith & Wesson. Earp had received the weapon as a gift from Tombstone mayor and Tombstone Epitaph
newspaper editor John Clum
. Lake later admitted that he had 'put words into Wyatt's mouth because of the inarticulateness and monosyllabic way he had of talking'.
writing for Guns Magazine cited notes by Josie Earp in which she mentioned an extra-long revolver as a favorite of Wyatt Earp. He cited an order by Tombstone, Arizona, bartender Buckskin Frank Leslie for a revolver of near-identical description. This order predated the O.K. Corral fight by several months.
In the 1950s, when Colt resumed manufacture of the Single Action Army they made a Buntline version due to customer demand. The barrels are marked on the left-side "COLT BUNTLINE SPECIAL .45". A few 3rd Generation Buntlines were manufactured in the late 1970s as well.
Colt Single Action Army
The Colt Single Action Army is a single action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges. It was designed for the U.S...
revolver that author Stuart N. Lake
Stuart N. Lake
Stuart N. Lake was a writer whose material dealt largely with the American Old West...
created while writing his 1931 biography of Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
. According to Lake's biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal published in 1931, dime novel
Dime novel
Dime novel, though it has a specific meaning, has also become a catch-all term for several different forms of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S...
ist Ned Buntline
Ned Buntline
Ned Buntline , was a pseudonym of Edward Zane Carroll Judson , an American publisher, journalist, writer and publicist best known for his dime novels and the Colt Buntline Special he is alleged to have commissioned from Colt's Manufacturing Company.-Naval and military experience:Edward Judson was...
had five Buntline Specials commissioned. Lake described them as extra-long, 12 inches (30.5 cm)-long barrel Colt Single Action Army
Colt Single Action Army
The Colt Single Action Army is a single action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges. It was designed for the U.S...
revolvers. Buntline was supposed to have presented them to lawmen in thanks for their help with contributing “local color” to his western yarns. According to Lake, the pistol was equipped with a detachable metal shoulder stock.
After the publication of Lake's book, various Colt revolvers with long (10" or 16") barrels were referred to as "Colt Buntlines". Colt re-introduced the revolvers in its second generation revolvers produced after 1956.
Origin of myth
According to Lake, the weapon was a single-action revolver chambered for .45 Long Colt cartridgeCartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
. However, unlike the Peacemaker
Colt Single Action Army
The Colt Single Action Army is a single action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges. It was designed for the U.S...
, it had a 12" (305mm) long barrel, in comparison to the Peacemaker's 7.5" (190mm) barrel. A 16" (406mm) barrel was available as well.
The Buntline Special was further popularized by The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a Western television series loosely based on the adventures of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black and white series ran on ABC-TV from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian as Earp. An off-camera barbershop quartet sang the theme song and hummed...
television series. It had a removable stock that could be easily affixed through a combination of screws and lead-ins. These modifications allegedly gave the weapon better precision and range, and supposedly allowed the user to affix the stock and turn the revolver into an even more precise weapon to give it most of the advantages of a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
.
Buntline connections
Ned Buntline is supposed to have commissioned this weapon in 1876, but the Colt company has no record of receiving the order or making any such weapon. Lake conceived the idea of a revolver that would be more precise and could be easily modified to work similarly to a rifle. Lake's creative biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, published in 1931, and later Hollywood portrayals, exaggerated Wyatt's profile as a western lawman. The book later inspired a number of stories, movies and television programs about outlaws and lawmen in Dodge City and Tombstone, including the 1955 television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt EarpThe Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a Western television series loosely based on the adventures of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black and white series ran on ABC-TV from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian as Earp. An off-camera barbershop quartet sang the theme song and hummed...
.
Alleged presentation to lawmen
Lake wrote that Wyatt Earp and four other well-known western lawmen - Bat MastersonBat Masterson
William Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a figure of the American Old West known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal and Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler, frontier lawman, and sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph...
, Bill Tilghman
Bill Tilghman
William Matthew "Bill" Tilghman was a lawman in the American Old West.-Early life :Bill Tilghman was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on July 4, 1854. He became a buffalo hunter at age 15 and claimed he killed over 1000 bison over his five years of activity...
, Charlie Bassett and Neal Brown - each received a Buntline Special. However, neither Tilghman nor Brown were lawmen then.
According to Lake, Earp kept his at the original 12" length but the four other recipients of the Specials cut their barrels down to the standard 7½". Lake spent much effort trying to track down the Buntline Special through the Colt company, Masterson and contacts in Alaska. Lake described it as a Colt Single Action Army
Colt Single Action Army
The Colt Single Action Army is a single action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges. It was designed for the U.S...
model with a long, 12 inches (30.5 cm) barrel, standard sights, and wooden grips into which the name “Ned” was ornately carved. Researchers have never found any record of an order received by the Colt company, and Ned Buntline's alleged connections to Earp's have been largely discredited.
Earp weapon
Buntline wrote only four western yarns, all about Buffalo Bill. There is no conclusive proof as to the kind of pistol Earp usually carried, though it is known that on the day of the Gunfight at the O.K. CorralGunfight at the O.K. Corral
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States. Outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed, but Ike's brother...
, October 26, 1881, he carried an 8 inch (200mm) barreled .44 caliber 1869 American
.44 S&W American
The .44 S&W American is an American centerfire revolver cartridge.Used in the Smith & Wesson Model 3, it was introduced around 1869. Between 1871 and 1873, the .44 Model 3 was used as the standard United States Army sidearm. It was also offered in the Merwin Hulbert & Co...
model Smith & Wesson. Earp had received the weapon as a gift from Tombstone mayor and Tombstone Epitaph
Tombstone Epitaph
The Tombstone Epitaph is a Tombstone, Arizona-based monthly publication that serves as a window in the history and culture of the Old West. Founded on May 1, 1880, The Epitaph is the oldest continually published newspaper in Arizona.-History:...
newspaper editor John Clum
John Clum
John Philip Clum was an Indian agent for the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in the Arizona Territory. He implemented a limited form of self-government on the reservation that was so successful that other reservations were closed and their residents moved to San Carlos. Clum later became the...
. Lake later admitted that he had 'put words into Wyatt's mouth because of the inarticulateness and monosyllabic way he had of talking'.
Colt records
The revolver could have been specially ordered from the Colt factory in Hartford, Connecticut as extra-long barrels were available from Colt at a dollar an inch over 7.5 inches (19.1 cm). Several such revolvers with 16-inch barrels and detachable stocks were displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition, but these were marketed as "Buggy rifles". While there are no company records for the Buntline Special nor a record of any orders from or sent to Ned Buntline. This does not absolutely preclude the historicity of the revolvers. Massad AyoobMassad Ayoob
Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor. He has taught police techniques and civilian self-defense to both law enforcement officers and private citizens in numerous venues since 1974...
writing for Guns Magazine cited notes by Josie Earp in which she mentioned an extra-long revolver as a favorite of Wyatt Earp. He cited an order by Tombstone, Arizona, bartender Buckskin Frank Leslie for a revolver of near-identical description. This order predated the O.K. Corral fight by several months.
In the 1950s, when Colt resumed manufacture of the Single Action Army they made a Buntline version due to customer demand. The barrels are marked on the left-side "COLT BUNTLINE SPECIAL .45". A few 3rd Generation Buntlines were manufactured in the late 1970s as well.