[DL] What the Holster will tell Ya

["Guild Mistress" <guildmistress@mybc.com>]

Most of us are familiar with the standard, open top holster that hangs
straight down the leg. This is the primary type of holster that we see
in the movies but there are other types as well. 

The crossdraw holster is just like the standard holster except the butt
of the gun faces forward. This holster is a sure sign that its owner
spends a lot of time in the saddle. Its not very easy to draw from a
standard holster while riding.
The crossdraw solved this problem by allowing the cowboy to draw by reaching
across his body. The trade off was that he couldn't draw as fast as someone
with a standard holster when walking. It should be mentioned, however,
that there are records of gunfighters who taught themselves to be just
as quick drawing from a crossdraw holster, with the same side hand so
they weren't drawing crossbody, as most are with a standard holster.


Fast draw holsters resemble standard holsters except they tilt the gun
barrel forward slightly. This way if a cowboy is slapping leather and
he accidentally fires too soon he is much less likely to shoot himself
in the foot or leg. 

And, as with guns, there were exotic holsters as well. A good example
is the swivel holster we see in The Quick and the Dead. This type of
holster was attached to the gun belt by means of a swivel. The bottom
of the holster was open to allow one to shoot through it. The gun itself
was firmly fastened into the holster to prevent slippage and to keep
it from falling out if something tipped the holster over. All one had
to do to make the gun ready for firing was to shove back and down on
the butt. A good gunfighter with this kind of holster was blazingly fast,
making him very hard to outdraw. However, the holster did have one fatal
flaw. 

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