In the good the bad and the ugly did they use black powder pistols or bp cartridge pistols?

Answer 1

This guns used in "The Good The Bad and The Ugly" is one Technical Bloopers of this movie. The guns do not match the historical content of the US Civil War period of 1862, the time of General Sibley's campaign in New Mexico. The Gatlin Gun was not employed out West. The main are of confusion is the Colt pistols used in the movie. Original Model 1851 and Model 1861 Colt pistols were percussion revolvers that had to be loaded with loose powder. During the Civil War there were some rifles made to fire black powder cartridges but very few pistols were made. It was years later that gunsmiths converted the Colt's to allow them to load and fire a cartridge containing black powder. The original Colts had to be loaded by pouring powder from a flask into each bore of the cylinder at the front (or muzzle) end of the gun. The bullet was rammed down the bore of each cylinder using the rammer located under the barrel. Then brass caps were placed over the Nipples of each chamber, which ignited the round when struck by the Hammer. These are also referred to as "Cap & Ball" pistols. It was only AFTER the Civil War that some of the older Colt's were modified to accept the common cartridge of the time. A converted pistol had to have the pistol frame modified to add a "door" that allows the cartridge to be inserted into the each chamber of the cylinder. The cylinder was replaced with one that was allowed the cartridges to be inserted in the back. Then usually the rammer was removed an a Ejector Rod was added to allow the operator to push the fired cartridges out of the cylinder. This was required because the brass cartridges expanded when fired and do not usually fall out on their own. I will illustrate 4 of the scenes that had close-up details of the pistols. 1- When The Ugly(Eli Wallach) comes to the shop from the desert, he inspects several guns before assemblying the one of his choice. Then he asks for cartridges to load the gun and test fire it. As he walks to the back of the store, he appears to load the pistol but you can not see this as he is turned with the gun away from the camera. Then after firing it, he returns and asks the clerk for another cartridge. Here you can clearly see him insert the cartridge into the chamber. And just before he does, you can see him open the "door" on the frame and you can actually see an outline of it. I've looked at the earlier scene in slow motion on DVD and I can not see any indication of a modifictaion. There is not ejector rod for the cartridges, which is really not necessary. I looked for a modification of the cylinder and pistol frame that would allow insertion of bullets from the back. I do not see anything. I guess this shows that it is just too dark to see. Sometimes the different metal parts stand out as they have different finishes(like when Clint re-loads his pistol). In the next scene when the bar patron watches the army march in, you can see details of the pistol when The Ugly presses the gun to his check and as they turn BACK towards the camera. 2- The next close-up scene is when The Good(Eastwood) is cleaning his gun in the hotel room as the bad guys come up the stairs. He has to quickly assemble his revolver and load the cartridges and shoot them as they break through the door. The camera close-up is good enough to show the details of the modification to the Colt pistol. It shows him load the cartridges into the Cylinder. Clearly, this gun has been modified to shoot cartridges. The only problem with this scene is that this modification did not exist until AFTER the Civil War. 3- During the big Civil War battle at the bridge, there is a shot of The Ugly and The Good waiting the outcome and The Ugly slowly loads his pistol. This clearly shows the loading "Door" open. Still-- the pistol does not have an ejector to remove empty cartridges. 4- At the final stand-off scene, the camera jumps to each of the 3 characters and their pistols. A very close shot of The Bad(Lee van Cleef) shows his hand next to his Remington pistol in the holster. You can clearly see the brass percussion caps on each chamber. In all previous scenes, The Bad carries a Colt pistol. In this last scene, he is using an Remington percussion pistol--- but it makes you wonder--- Why does he have bullets on his pistol belt? SUMMARY - The pistols are BP pistols converted to fire cartridges, which was not authentic for the Civil War period. FYI, the scene of the stand-off in the town, one of the bad guys in the 2nd store landing has a Colt revolver Rifle. This was an authentic rifle for the Civil War period as some Union cavalry were armed with this "repeator" rifle. It is a cap & ball percussion gun and it was loaded by ramming loose powder and bullet down each chamber just like a pistol. Another technical blooper is the scene of the Union troops attacking the bridge. There is a short view showing a large artillery cannon firing. This cannon is larger than a field cannon. It is more like a naval cannon or a siege gun. This gun would have been much too cumbersome to haul out to a small battle at a bridge in New Mexico. Oh, BTW, Discovery Channel's "Myth Busters" tried to duplicate the trick of shooting the rope in two and it could not be done. Not even at close range. Link to Civil War Battles of New Mexico:: http://americancivilwar.com/statepic/nm.html Link about Gen Henry Sibley:: http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/battles/bystate.htm#nm