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by gone on February 1st, 2007

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Who was the 'fastest gun' in the Old West?

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Answers. 33 helpful answers below.

  • by Anonymous on February 1st, 2007

    Anonymous

    Some say it was John Wesley Hardin. Edit. Kid Curry was said to be so fast that he could hold his hand out at waist height, drop an object, draw and shoot it three times before it hit the ground.

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  • by Spunts.answered 67 questions in 1 hour. on February 7th, 2007

    Spunts.answered 67 questions in 1 hour.

    audie murphy.

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  • by HoboJoe on August 7th, 2011

    HoboJoe

    Glenn Ford, The Fastest Gun Alive.
    Oh Never mind, you are too young.

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  • by buxtonite ..slowly losing my mind on May 18th, 2009

    buxtonite ..slowly losing my mind

    to be totally honest on this ... none, its been proven that todays " fastest guns" would out draw and out shoot any of the old timer's. Almost all of the so called feats about them are just fables to help build up their reputation's

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  • by Timjon on May 18th, 2009

    Timjon

    Doc Holiday

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  • by the48thpresident on June 21st, 2008

    the48thpresident

    "some say it was bla h blah blah" fools, doc holliday was the fastest bar none!!!!!!!!!obviosly! dont be foolish.

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  • by archer834 on January 26th, 2008

    archer834

    I agree about Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan. Read that same thing. Harry "Sundance Kid" was s'posed to be really fast too.

    Can't take anything away from James Butler Hickok though. He's the only one I ever read about that actually did the 'showdown' in the street thing, with Dave Tutt, did in Phil Coe too.

    I never read much about J. W. Hardin (did read that thing about him gettin' the drop on Wild Bill was made up, and started AFTER Bill had been check out), Curry, Sundance and even 'the Kid' actually pulling with folks, but Bill did and 'got er done' with lead zigging around. Seemed he'd keep his cool and shoot straight, once.

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  • by RockAngel on February 11th, 2007

    RockAngel

    Doc Holiday was pretty fast...

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  • by horsegal13 on February 7th, 2007

    horsegal13

    i always thought it was billy the kid- oh no wait he was the youngest... nevermind

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  • by Nick21 on February 7th, 2007

    Nick21

    I was going to say Annie Oakley but I guess she was more of a sharpshooter.

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  • by lethaldose on April 10th, 2009

    lethaldose

    I always heard it was john wesley hardin too, I think it was "Wild Bill" that started saying that. I guess we will never know unless we get a time machine, but Wild Bill was probably in more gunfights than any other person in the west and I guess he probably would know.

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  • by supergrit on April 27th, 2009

    supergrit

    if were talking shooting armed men as opposed to targets, i'll take doc holliday.

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  • by mythcraze23 on March 31st, 2009

    mythcraze23

    tough one.... probaly Butch Cassidy or Doc Holiday

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  • by Chappy on December 3rd, 2009

    Chappy

    I've been doing some research on this for my own curiosity. Many "experts" agree the Doc Holiday was as fast as Wild Bill although they never met. Doc was as skillful with a knife as he was with a six-gun making him deadly. Kid Currey and John Wesley Harden were known to be cold blooded, and having the worst tempers, hated lawmen, and shot first and asked questions later, yet in a "fair" gunfight, their speed really isn't discussed just their brutality and pension for violence. Kid Currey and Doc Holiday did not ever meet I believe as Doc was born 8 years sooner and died when Kid Currey was just starting out. Kid Currey was mainly in the east where Doc and the rest were out west. Wild Bill and Doc Holiday were in a class by themselves and were real gunfighters, where as the other two were cold blooded killers. So I think we are safe with either Wild Bill or Doc Holiday. Personally, I think eye witness accounts, along with body type, and intellect as well as Doc knowing he was dying and therefore not afraid of death made him the fastest.

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  • by anddeb on March 3rd, 2009

    anddeb

    Doc Holliday

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  • by Hay Boo on May 18th, 2009

    Hay Boo

    1. James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock
    2. John Wesley "Wes Hardin" "N=word Killer" Hardin
    3. John Henry "Doc" Holiday, John Peters "Johnny Ringo" Ringo
    4. All the rest.

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  • by Hay Boo on May 18th, 2009

    Hay Boo

    1. James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock
    2. John Wesley "Wes Hardin" "N=word Killer" Hardin
    3. John Henry "Doc" Holiday, John Peters "Johnny Ringo" Ringo
    4. All the rest.

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  • by Doc Holliday on March 3rd, 2009

    Doc Holliday

    Doc Holliday was, and he straight put the fear in folks cause he just didn't give a S!#$.

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  • by RangerMatthias on January 11th, 2011

    RangerMatthias

    Later in life, Wyatt Earp became an advisor on early Hollywood westerns and said that the fastest gunman he ever saw was Luke Short. He claimed that Short was so fast that he (Earp) couldn't see Short's hand move when he drew.

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  • by Henry_S1278 on January 24th, 2011

    Henry_S1278

    I'll go along with Wild Bill Hickock and Johnny Ringo as being really fast draws. However, accuracy was always more important and fast guns got shot in the back of the head while awake (like Hickock and John Wesley Hardin) or temple when they were asleep (like Ringo). In general fast guns would not meet each other face to face. You only get to lose once.

    Doc Holliday wasn't as fast or as accurate as Hickock and Ringo. There are accounts of Doc getting into gun fights in bars where neither Doc nor his opponent were able to hit each other with a bullet.

    I enjoyed the movie "Tombstone". But, the shootout between Ringo and Doc just didn't happen in real life.

    I believe that Ringo fell asleep by a tree and someone snuck up and shot him in the temple. I believe this because he was shot in the right temple and he was left-handed. So, he probably didn't commit suicide. Also, his gun belt was on upside down. I figure his killer did that to prove he was killed but decided later not to take the credit for killing Ringo for fear of being tried for murder. There is a long list of people who wanted Ringo dead and who lived nearby who could have done it.

    It is unlikely that Wyatt Earp or Doc killed Ringo because they were living in a different state at the time.

    "Tombstone" got behind schedule during shooting/filming so a lot of facts and historical sequence were sacrificed in getting the movie done and in theaters before "Wyatt Earp". The thinking was that the first movie to make the theaters would make money and the second one would not. And, that's exactly what happened. "Tombstone" made a lot of money and "Wyatt Earp" lost a lot of money.

    Another movie that has caused confusion is "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid". Interestingly Kid Curry and not The Sundance Kid was the best gun fighter in Butch Cassidy's "Wild Bunch". And, in the movie " they gave the gun fighting skills to the wrong "Kid" and changed the name of the gang (to "The Hole in the Wall Gang") to avoid confusion with the movie "The Wild Bunch".

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  • by lisadye on November 26th, 2010

    lisadye

    Doc Holliday by far, for those who say it is Hardin, he just shot people for no reason, not alot of actual gunfights. And there is no record they ever met in a gunfight so how can these people say he is the fastest, he killed mostly people who pissed him off, not against actual other fast gunfighters. So how can the fact that most of the people he killed were ordinary folks and people he caught off guard, except Wild Bill Hickcock, but they met but never actually drew on each other. He is not the fastest, because he killled the most, that just makes him a mad killer. Doc is the fastest in my opinion and from something I just read in a quote about Doc from Wyatt Earp, he said Doc was the nerviest and fastest guy he had ever seen. As well as a doctor, kind and a gentleman. Unlike Hardin. That's just my opinion.

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  • by call_me_ishmael on May 18th, 2010

    call_me_ishmael

    Why its good ole 'Wyatt Earp' of course, or his side kick John Henry "Doc" Holliday

    "I'm your huckleberry"

    I absolutely love that line.... awesome!!:D

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  • by supercolossus on May 18th, 2010

    supercolossus

    On June 19, 1899, Joesph B Chester aka Papa Chester, could drop 4 objects from knee height, draw and shot all four object before they hit the ground. He also hold the world record for kill 3 men in the same gunfight.

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  • by supercolossus on May 18th, 2010

    supercolossus

    On June 19, 1899, Joesph B Chester aka Papa Chester, could drop 4 objects from knee height, draw and shot all four object before they hit the ground. He also hold the world record for kill 3 men in the same gunfight.

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  • by Tim_J on February 26th, 2011

    Tim_J

    quick draw mcgraw could throw a coin in the air......then chug a beer.....belch......then fart and stll draw and hit the coin before it hit the ground...

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  • by maxpeters on August 7th, 2011

    maxpeters

    I read where Wes Hardin used to make money by putting on shooting exhibitions. He would draw, shoot a playing card at 5 paces in under 2/5's sec. He would then sign the card and sell it to whomever was standing around and wanted it. This was in his later years after he got out of prison.
    So I would say that that makes him damn fast. And accurate enough.

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  • by dt_wade on June 21st, 2008

    dt_wade

    Kid Curry

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  • by goober on September 22nd, 2008

    goober

    smoke jensen,,,by far

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  • by Weylon on December 9th, 2011

    Weylon

    Will Smith.

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  • by glassjames on December 9th, 2011

    glassjames

    To be truthful about the whole matter. Speed was not the only factor on what set these men apart from the rest. It was the ability to calmly draw their revolver and hit their target while being fired upon. If in that time they were not shot and managed to put their opponent down they were declared the victor and thus the legend(s) grew.
    True, today's gunfighters would more than likely be faster and deadlier than many of the old cowboys, I am sure most of them today would not react well to being actually fire upon. Thus allot of their speed and accuracy would suffer.
    Having served as a Ranger i more than once witnessed Delta Force or Seals calmly dispatching the enemy while being fired upon from. Not everyone is capable of this and if you are, you have the edge in a gunfight, Today or a 150 years ago.

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  • by maxpeters on August 7th, 2011

    maxpeters

    Share your answer...

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  • by Nemo_S on August 7th, 2011

    Nemo_S

    apparently none of them were fast enough...

    ~Nemo~

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  • by terri-lee on January 6th, 2010

    terri-lee

    doc holliday or wild bill hickock most accurate sniper probably david crockett , dan boone was up there too but because he never was at alamo he isnt so well known.knife fighter was Jim bowie thus the bowie knife/died at alamo also with d.crockett,as did all that were brave enough to stay n defend it from the mexicans under the leader of the mex army san miguel,and his huge no.s some of the mexican soldiers actually begged their boss to save crocketts life as he was a living legend,he did not!

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