From: firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
      
   John Dean wrote:   
   > The convention in most Westerns is to show gunbelts with loops for   
   > ammunition. Wouldn't exposure of cartridges like this be a magnet for   
   > dust, mud, rain and all manner of natural phenomena prone to interfering   
   > with the efficiency of the round?   
   > Did people actually wear this kind of gunbelt in the second half of the   
   > 19th century, as opposed to the type of belt with ammunition pouches   
   > common in the armed forces?   
      
   I think this is one of those things that shouldn't be generalized. If   
   one anticipated the need for rapid reloading, such as regularly   
   traveling in country where a prolonged attack was possible, it makes   
   sense. Or, of course, if one's occupation called for it. But if you look   
   at such as trail drivers sitting for portraits, you often see a simple   
   holster on the pants belt or simply stuck in the waist.   
      
   Wearing a "rig" is something of a burden. For anticipation of casual   
   need for a shot or two, perhaps to shoot a mad cow to which one had   
   become tied fast and was unable to control or confronted on foot, five   
   rounds would be deemed sufficient, or more than sufficient, when the   
   pistol was worn as a matter of culture. And a holster on the pants belt   
   was all that was needed and desired and was less clutter to deal with.   
   And the simple act of a quick toilet break becomes that much more   
   tiresome with a gunbelt to remove and replace, as any uniformed officer   
   can testify.   
      
   Contemporary first-person accounts of those who set off to work cattle   
   frequently mention acquiring a pistol, sometimes by trading off a rifle,   
   but I don't recall any of them mentioning purchase of a "gunbelt."   
      
   The Hollywood image expects a fancy rig with lots of cartridges in   
   loops. But it's largely a false image in the context of working cowboys.   
   Gunfire was not welcome around cattle, and later 19th century large   
   corporate ranches frequently banned the carrying of firearms.   
      
   But yes, some did wear such, but only with reason.   
   --   
                          Gerald Clough   
       "Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)