[texagun]

My other thought today is old JW must of had hands the size of a teenage girl...From everything I can see of the originals, small finger grooves and the flat bottom....only conclusion I can come to is JW had small hands

John Wayne was well-known to have huge mitts. His handgun grips and his personal lever action rifles were often modified for his huge hands. The article quoted above (and published in the NRA magazine) comments on this regarding the pistol in the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City.


"Just when this Colt was converted to Single Action Army configuration is not known, but there is evidence that it was so modified especially for Wayne. The trigger guard has not only been enlarged, but also rounded by expert cutting and welding. This trigger guard appears to have been cut from a Bisley and, according to the original Butterfield's Auction brochure, was done to accommodate Wayne's extra large finger and to allow him to twirl the gun more easily."

 

[texagun]

I'd likely not forgiven myself now knowing that JW had little girl hands. And worse yet only ever shot blanks.

Here's another photo of JW's "little girl hands." Must be Photoshopped, huh? Looks like Steve McQueen had a few too many, or maybe he was just glad to see the Duke.

 

[texagun]

I'm sure most have seen this photo of "John Wayne's Favorite Gun" that was on the cover of the NRA's American Rifleman magazine in October of 2007. Serial Number 309795, it was described as "his personal gun and may have been his workhorse." It was a 6 page article with several photographs included. The grips seem to be identical to the ones on the gun pictured above with a different serial number (207059). He had 2 sets of grips made in case one got damaged on a photo shoot. When he got the grips he took them home and soaked them in tea to get the coloring that he wanted.

 

[texagun]

That's the Dude with the Duke.