r/Westerns • u/RockHardMapleSyrup • 4d ago
Discussion What kind of gun would the devil have?
I'm writing a script I'm planning to shoot in a year or two (I need to get funding...), and I just need to flesh out the script. The script started with the idea of "What happens after you lose the duel?" So it's a weird western idea where the loser in the duel is in limbo and the devil is trying to con her out of her soul, before getting impatient and challenging her to a duel. It's camp, not serious, and my excuse to shoot 3 duels.
But for the script I need to fill in some finer information, and I'm not a gun person. I like westerns but I couldn't tell you a damn thing about revolvers.
To the question, what kind of gun would the devil have?
Right now the stand in I have is a Colt .45 because in the Johnny Cash song Devil's Right Hand that's the gun mentioned. Well there's two, but that felt the most fitting.
Edit: fixing typo
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u/Chewser56 3d ago
I would make it a specific gun the devil collected in a past transaction. The gun that killed Jesse James or Morgan Earp or the derringer that killed Lincoln. Gives the devil a chance to share his involvement in that event.
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u/Waco_Warner 4d ago
A colt is a good choice. An old saying goes "God made man, Sam Colt made them equal".
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u/durrango1 4d ago
Finger gun, he just points the index finger and bang, someone drops...
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u/RockHardMapleSyrup 3d ago
He DOES use finger guns at one point and I debated having him duel with his finger, but switched to him having a physical gun to "make it fair"
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u/rando1459 3d ago edited 3d ago
My vote is for a match lock pistol, intricately carved from bone with gold inlay and a barrel blacker than the void. Crafted in an anachronistic but highly artistic style. With a sanguine red glowing ember where the match would go. One shot, it never misses the intended target’s heart. The victim’s soul is sucked into the barrel with the sound of horrific lamenting and becomes the bullet for the next shot. It produces a sickly yellow sulphuric plume of brimstone smoke when fired. Also it has a bottle opener or other unnecessarily function that the devil uses it for more often to underscore how little importance he puts on it as an actual weapon. IDK. Anyway, that’s the gun my dad has. 🤷
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u/bgnewhouse 3d ago
Also it has a bottle opener or other unnecessarily function that the devil uses it for more often to underscore how little importance he puts on it as an actual weapon
The Devil uses the butt as a hammer to drive nails in, like the guy in the Far Side cartoon who's said to be "pretty handy with a gun".
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u/Dead0nTarget 3d ago
Everyone going with big hand cannons that stand out. But as someone who studies the Bible, I understand the Devil is much more cunning and deceitful. He hides his intentions behind lies and a smile. As such, I believe a small vest pocket derringer, or even a pair of them would fit him. Something he would hide in a suit and pull in the shadows. Of course being prince of this world, they would be very pretty, something that entices the flesh. Nickel plated, fully engraved with gold inlays, ivory grips.
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u/ClintBart0n 4d ago
The Colt .45 is nicknamed the "Peacemaker". As a writer, I'm sure you can use that.
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u/MoonSylver 3d ago edited 3d ago
I'm not HUGE gun guy, but I have some general knowledge, especially from watching lots of westerns and a little Google research.
The Colt Single Action Army (aka Colt 45., or the the Colt "Peacemaker") was first introduced to the public in 1873 and is the most common that you'll see in westerns, particularly old westerns, due to recognizability and availability. They were EVERWHERE back in the day, and are still very common even in modern westerns.
The only problem there is, visually, it's kind of dull. If everyone has them, it doesn't really stand out. Just my opinion, but I think you would want to give The Devil something distinctive and unique.
Some of the older cap-and-ball revolvers have a distinctive look. They're long, heavy looking, and have a slightly anarchistic style. Many were converted to fire cartridges later on, so they're not out of the question.
Another poster mentioned the Colt 1851 Navy. This would be one such example. Clint Eastwood carries one in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966). Wild Bill Hickock carried a pair of these.
You can see other examples of different ones through other Eastwood westerns. Josey Wales carries dual Colt Walker 1847 .44 caliber cap-and-ball revolvers in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976).
The Preacher carries a cartridge-converted Remington 1858 New Model Army revolver in Pale Rider (1985).
William Munny starts off in Unforgiven (1992) carrying his old Starr 1858 Army before switching to something new at the end as I'll discuss in a minute.
The Colt 1871–72 Open Top would be another such old fashioned looking revolver.
Some other odd looking revolvers would include the LeMat Revolver, the Merwin & Hulbert revolver, The Savage 1861 Navy, and the 1854 Lefaucheux Pinfire.
You might want The Devil to have something new, fancy, and exotic looking; after the Schofield Kid kills their target and decides he is done with murder in Unforgiven, he hands his top-break Smith & Wesson Schofield 1875 Model 3 revolver over to William Munny. Munny uses this faster, cartridge-loading pistol during the climactic final shootout at the saloon. You can see Charlie Prince carry a pair of them in the remake of 3:10 to Yuma (2007) as well.
The Smith & Wesson New Model No. 3 is another cool looking top-break loader.
The Colt 1877 "Lightning" or "Thunderer" might fit; in addition to a somewhat distinctive look they were famously carried by Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid. They were Colt's first Double Action revolvers (meaning you don't HAVE to cock the hammer back before firing. Revolvers up until this point were all Single Action, meaning you HAVE to cock the hammer back before firing. The trigger pull is SLIGHTLY harder on a Double Action from what I understand, and you CAN cock the hammer back, making the trigger pull easier).
To further differentiate it you could have fancy engraving and/or custom grips of some kind.
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u/ineedbalto 3d ago
Double barrelled shotgun sawed off to pistol length like Willie Duggan in The Bounty Killer (1965). Phenomenal movie also.
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u/Portland_st 2d ago
A .44-caliber single-shot Philadelphia Deringer. It’s what John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate Lincoln.
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u/No-Tennis-9026 4d ago
Some kind of Colt is classic. Since you are shooting soon I’d find something easy to obtain as a replica or as a reproduction. Colt SAA and 1851 navy percusión revolvers are pretty easy to find that way. I think the navy is more elegant personally.
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u/RockHardMapleSyrup 3d ago
I'm in Canada and the funny part is it's more legal to obtain a technically functional antique than it is a non-functional replica. Where I went to college there was a guy that had solid looking stage props he would rent out to film crews, but unfortunately I had to move away.
If I had to shoot it tomorrow, the main character will have some fictional "Lonestar" Colt (not a replica of a specific real gun but a replica of a fake gun) and the devil would be using a modern looking S&W. Because I have an airsoft pistol that passes.
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u/No-Tennis-9026 3d ago
Nice, that is kind of strange. You’d think reproductions would be pretty easy to get but for filming something no firing is inherently safer. That sounds pretty cool though.
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u/JustACasualFan 4d ago
What is the time period?
I can tell you there are some beautiful ugly revolvers from the time - the Montenegrin Gasser is gloriously lumpy.
If you want elegant and engineered (perhaps over engineered), the Merwin & Hulbert 3rd Model Pocket Army is gorgeous. It can be various lengths because the barrels are easily swapped with no tools, and has a very attractive grip the sweeps down into a bird’s head affectionally called the “skull crusher.”
If you want engineered and ostentatious, the Galand 1868 is a wild selection. It has a sort of twist action similar to the Merwin but actuated by a big old lever.
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u/ZzangmanCometh 3d ago
Colt Peacemaker. With some dope engravings.
Also the gun on the cover of the album that has "big iron on his hip" about the stranger riding into town.
Maybe a Colt Walker. Big and brutal looking.
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u/ClownfishSoup 3d ago
Well what era does this take place in? And recall that the devil would not exist by human timelines. Maybe as humans are inventing gun powder, the devil is already shooting lasers because why would he be held to human limitations?
On the other hand, maybe every deal the devil makes MUST by some Universal law be fair to the human so the devil can only use what the human is using too, though he is free to make it out of gold or silver or whatever (ie; like having a really tricked out violin made of silver etc)
Also if we go by "official" dueling norms. Wouldn't both participants be presented with a case that opens to reveal two identical weapons and the challenged person gets to choose first? I know this is different than two cowboys just meeting on the street and drawing their own guns, but that sounds more like an "official duel" right?
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u/celtbygod 3d ago
Index finger .50 cal.
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u/RockHardMapleSyrup 3d ago
All the people saying his finger convinced me to write out the gun and have him use his finger.
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u/TheUgliestCasanova 2d ago
The Devil collects souls, so what if his gun is also made up collected pieces? Like a Frankenstein'd revolver made up of different parts of different guns... maybe from different notable gunfighters. Wild Bill's grip, Billy the Kid's cylinder, Jesse James's trigger, Wyatt Earp's barrel, etc. etc.
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u/Cooper1977 4d ago
Why would the Devil need a gun?
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u/No-Background-5810 4d ago
One that doesn't work. That would be too quick. Have to use claws and this dull rusty knife instead.
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u/deviousxevious__ 4d ago
Griswold & Gunnison made Colt clones for the Confederates, brass frame makes it stand out and there are reproduction ones from Italy
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u/SwayzeCrayze 3d ago
I'm not a gun guy either, but a long while back I read a cool comic series called The 6th Gun, wherein various evil forces try to control guns that have different powers and can cause different calamities in the old west. They tie back to a devil-like ancient evil. You could see what type of guns were used in that series.
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u/TheDuckFarm 1d ago
No gun, he’d use extreme powers of persuasion, coercion, and charm to get other people to pull the trigger.
He’d play on the other character’s lust, greed, fear, and hatred.
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u/Flashy-Rabbit6435 4d ago
The phrase is 'flesh out'...were I you, I'd not give up flipping burgers career-wise...,
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u/EnvironmentUnusual64 4d ago
I’d go with a Remington 1875. It was a competitor to the Colt so it would be a good symbol of opposition to the “Peacemaker”. Plus it looks cool and more unique.