If you know me, you’re probably aware that I enjoy the sport of Western Fast Draw. I’m a life member of the Cowboy Fast Draw Association and the current Vice-Chairman for Area 6 in the World Fast Draw Association. And in Oregon, I’ve started or helped to start, three Western Fast Draw clubs. Cool huh?
Truth be told, I like Fast Draw in all of its forms. Click through to my other site, Oregon Fast Draw to see why. It’s an exciting sport. And it is, as some of my Fast Draw buddies like to say, “the most fun you can have with the lights on.”
Okay, that’s a little inappropriate. But when you’re talking to a man with a gun, well you tend to be kind of respectful, you know?
I like to think that my interest in Western Fast Draw gives me an edge in writing Western fiction. Not that I’m the fastest, you understand. I’m no world-class shooter. But I understand guns, have a good deal of experience in the martial arts, and love relating what I know about both to readers.
I’ve had some good gun coaches. A week with Bob Munden in Montana in 2009 took a full three tenths of a second off of my draw. And a weekend with Jon “Trickshot” Wilson in 2011 carved an additional fraction of time so that I can—when I’m adequately hydrated, have plenty of sleep, and have a barking dog climbing up my, well you know what–can pull a six-shooter from my holster and get off a shot down range at under 4/10s of a second.
That’s fast, but it isn’t the fastest.
Here’s a clip of my friend Jon Wilson, in a TV pilot called “the Ultimate Gunfighter.” Everyone of the people in the trailer are outstanding. And Jon–well don’t tell him this, because sometimes he can have a big head–he’s probably the fastest.