edgargarrett
08-16-2005, 01:04 AM
Paul Abel is really an incredible shooter. I went to school with his youngest son, when Paul was Sheriff of Pottawatomie County, OK. In fact, he was a legend in east central Oklahoma, although not on the same scale as Dan Combs, "Jelly" Bryce, Bill Jordan or Elmer Keith.
http://www.oklarifle.org/
“THESE OLD PISTOLS”
By Paul W. Abel
SHOOT-N-IRON
Training Academy
During my stay on this earth and especially during the past sixty years, I have had the privilege and the opportunity to own a pretty good number of handguns. My Great Grandfather gave my first real guns to me. He gave me three firearms. I became the proud owner of an H & R .410, a Crescent Arms pump 22 LR, which was a Remington clone, and an H & R nine shot, four inch barreled 22-caliber revolver. To load or unload the revolver you had to push a little lever located under the barrel on the front of the gun’s frame and hold it in while you removed the cylinder pin. The cylinder then could be removed from the frame and you used the same pin to punch out the spent cartridges. It had a brushed or dipped nickel-plated finish and black hard rubber grips. It shot very well. He made me a holster for the pistol out of an old cowboy boot top. I think I was eight years old when I took possession of that pistol. I sure got a lot of training with those guns. He was a pretty good shooting coach. I still have the revolver along with both the rifle and shotgun, but the handgun’s holster didn’t make it this long.
Since that period in my life good handguns have occupied space on my hip almost constantly and still do. For almost forty years a revolver, mostly a Smith & Wesson model 19 chambered in .357 magnum saw me through some pretty tight situations. I have carried other Smith & Wesson revolvers in other calibers from time to time. I have carried, Smith’s Military & Police 38 specials, the 38-44 outdoorsman, the S&W model 29 in 44 magnum or 44 special, and on other occasions I carried a Smith revolver in 45 ACP or 45 Long Colt. Once in a blue moon I carried a semi-automatic, a Colt, as a primary pistol loaded with 45 ACP’s. They all worked well but I always seemed to come back to the “K” framed model 19 revolvers.
I usually carried a backup handgun. More often than not that was another model 19 in a home spun shoulder rig under my jacket. A Colt Combat Commander in 45 ACP was another gun that served that purpose very well. I was lucky in the fact that I never did have to bring the Commander into action during my almost 40 years in Law Enforcement. It was a great comfort knowing that either backup gun was there. The second model 19 always had a little advantage over the 45 as it used the same ammunition as the primary. On some rare occasions I carried a little Model 36, S&W Chief in 38 special as the backup in the summer time in an ankle holster inside my right boot or in a hidden inside the pants holster. I used the heavier caliber’s most of the time though because if you had to use the back up the chips were really down and you were in real deep stuff. I guess I was lucky in the fact that the primary model 19 usually did the trick with out having to use the backups. A good backup pistol can be of great comfort if the going gets rough.
In 1959 my good friend the late Captain Dan Combs of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol was putting on approximately two hundred shooting exhibitions per year, using both live and blank fire ammunition for schools, civic groups and law enforcement around the state. The programs were then as they are now correlated with gun and traffic safety, drug and alcohol abuse and anti-violence in the schools with a little country, mom and apple pie thrown in for good measure. I practiced with Dan almost constantly. I was the firearm Instructor for the Shawnee Police Department. I almost lived down on that range. Dan was down there too every time he could get away. I learned a lot from Dan Combs. In fact it was through him that I was privileged to meet a number of other real pistolilaros and exhibition shooters.
Bill Jordan was an Assistant Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol and later the Law Enforcement Representative for NRA. D. A. “Jelly” Bryce was a member of the FBI and a former member of the Oklahoma City Police Department. Elmer Keith was a top shooter, hunter and writer. He was the real pro with both the .357 and 44 magnums. Combs, Jordan, and Bryce were as good as they came both in handgun shooting and fast draw. Elmer Keith was a shooter at the top of the list with any gun. Sadly, I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with Mr. Keith as I would have liked to. These guys were all quick and accurate. Hanging around with the likes of them, a little of their talent just had to rub off onto me. Not much, but maybe a little bit.
Combs and Jordan could draw revolvers, both carried Smith & Wesson’s mostly model 19’s, in around one tenth of a second and hit what they were shooting at. Bryce favored the 34-44 Outdoorsman in either 38 or 44 special and he was undoubtedly the fastest human I ever saw drawing a handgun from under a coat. He also could shoot a model 12 Winchester pump shotgun faster than most folks could fire a semi-automatic. I’ve seen him empty his pump, loaded with five rounds, before many very good shooters could get off three shots with the auto’s. I had the privilege being coached by all of these pros. I believe I was taught by the best.
I was working the midnight shift for Shawnee Police Department and just before I got off shift at 7:00 AM. I got a call from Dan Combs informing me he was on the way to my house. I got home and found Dan and my wife having coffee and waiting for me. Dan said that he had a big problem but I could solve it for him. He said that there had been a mix up in his exhibition scheduling. He was slated to put on an indoor, blank fire, fast draw program at the Seminole High School at 11:00 AM that morning. I said that didn’t seem too tough. He said he was real glad to hear that because he also had to be in Guymon, Oklahoma at 2:00 PM that afternoon. Now, that is near two hundred fifty miles away. There was no way he could make both programs. He said that he needed me to do the show at Seminole for him so he could make it to the Guymon program. He said he had already told the Seminole High School Principal that I would be there in his place. I curtly advised him that he was out of his ever loving mind because I had never done anything remotely like that before and was not about to start on that morning.
After Dan did, just some, arm-twisting, I finally agreed to do the program at Seminole. I guess he was pretty sure that I would do the show for him. No way was I going to replace Dan Combs. Heck, no body could do that. I could do most of the stunts that he did, but doing it in front of a crowd of kids and teachers for the first time in my life was to be one of the hardest things that I have ever done. Dan left one of his prop kits with me and I had the all of the necessary guns and holsters that would be needed. He handed me a pretty good supply of .357 magnum blanks. Now all I needed was some moral support. I called Alwin Walker an extremely close friend and shooting buddy of both Dan and myself. I sort of demanded that he make the trip with me. He said to pick him up and he would hold a gun loaded with real bullets on me while I did the program. I figured I was going to need just that.
I confess, as the show started I was scared to death. I would have rather fought a dozen wildcats than to walk out onto that stage. Actually the show went off better than I thought it would. I lost most of my stage fright and didn’t miss a shot. It was not exactly like what Dan would have done, but it was well received. I actually not only felt relieved at having it over with, but there was a certain amount of satisfaction in the fact I knew I could do it.
The lecture part of the show went well and I was able to get the information we wanted to convey out to the kids and even kept their attention. The hour plus show was over before I knew it.
Continued...
http://www.oklarifle.org/
“THESE OLD PISTOLS”
By Paul W. Abel
SHOOT-N-IRON
Training Academy
During my stay on this earth and especially during the past sixty years, I have had the privilege and the opportunity to own a pretty good number of handguns. My Great Grandfather gave my first real guns to me. He gave me three firearms. I became the proud owner of an H & R .410, a Crescent Arms pump 22 LR, which was a Remington clone, and an H & R nine shot, four inch barreled 22-caliber revolver. To load or unload the revolver you had to push a little lever located under the barrel on the front of the gun’s frame and hold it in while you removed the cylinder pin. The cylinder then could be removed from the frame and you used the same pin to punch out the spent cartridges. It had a brushed or dipped nickel-plated finish and black hard rubber grips. It shot very well. He made me a holster for the pistol out of an old cowboy boot top. I think I was eight years old when I took possession of that pistol. I sure got a lot of training with those guns. He was a pretty good shooting coach. I still have the revolver along with both the rifle and shotgun, but the handgun’s holster didn’t make it this long.
Since that period in my life good handguns have occupied space on my hip almost constantly and still do. For almost forty years a revolver, mostly a Smith & Wesson model 19 chambered in .357 magnum saw me through some pretty tight situations. I have carried other Smith & Wesson revolvers in other calibers from time to time. I have carried, Smith’s Military & Police 38 specials, the 38-44 outdoorsman, the S&W model 29 in 44 magnum or 44 special, and on other occasions I carried a Smith revolver in 45 ACP or 45 Long Colt. Once in a blue moon I carried a semi-automatic, a Colt, as a primary pistol loaded with 45 ACP’s. They all worked well but I always seemed to come back to the “K” framed model 19 revolvers.
I usually carried a backup handgun. More often than not that was another model 19 in a home spun shoulder rig under my jacket. A Colt Combat Commander in 45 ACP was another gun that served that purpose very well. I was lucky in the fact that I never did have to bring the Commander into action during my almost 40 years in Law Enforcement. It was a great comfort knowing that either backup gun was there. The second model 19 always had a little advantage over the 45 as it used the same ammunition as the primary. On some rare occasions I carried a little Model 36, S&W Chief in 38 special as the backup in the summer time in an ankle holster inside my right boot or in a hidden inside the pants holster. I used the heavier caliber’s most of the time though because if you had to use the back up the chips were really down and you were in real deep stuff. I guess I was lucky in the fact that the primary model 19 usually did the trick with out having to use the backups. A good backup pistol can be of great comfort if the going gets rough.
In 1959 my good friend the late Captain Dan Combs of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol was putting on approximately two hundred shooting exhibitions per year, using both live and blank fire ammunition for schools, civic groups and law enforcement around the state. The programs were then as they are now correlated with gun and traffic safety, drug and alcohol abuse and anti-violence in the schools with a little country, mom and apple pie thrown in for good measure. I practiced with Dan almost constantly. I was the firearm Instructor for the Shawnee Police Department. I almost lived down on that range. Dan was down there too every time he could get away. I learned a lot from Dan Combs. In fact it was through him that I was privileged to meet a number of other real pistolilaros and exhibition shooters.
Bill Jordan was an Assistant Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol and later the Law Enforcement Representative for NRA. D. A. “Jelly” Bryce was a member of the FBI and a former member of the Oklahoma City Police Department. Elmer Keith was a top shooter, hunter and writer. He was the real pro with both the .357 and 44 magnums. Combs, Jordan, and Bryce were as good as they came both in handgun shooting and fast draw. Elmer Keith was a shooter at the top of the list with any gun. Sadly, I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with Mr. Keith as I would have liked to. These guys were all quick and accurate. Hanging around with the likes of them, a little of their talent just had to rub off onto me. Not much, but maybe a little bit.
Combs and Jordan could draw revolvers, both carried Smith & Wesson’s mostly model 19’s, in around one tenth of a second and hit what they were shooting at. Bryce favored the 34-44 Outdoorsman in either 38 or 44 special and he was undoubtedly the fastest human I ever saw drawing a handgun from under a coat. He also could shoot a model 12 Winchester pump shotgun faster than most folks could fire a semi-automatic. I’ve seen him empty his pump, loaded with five rounds, before many very good shooters could get off three shots with the auto’s. I had the privilege being coached by all of these pros. I believe I was taught by the best.
I was working the midnight shift for Shawnee Police Department and just before I got off shift at 7:00 AM. I got a call from Dan Combs informing me he was on the way to my house. I got home and found Dan and my wife having coffee and waiting for me. Dan said that he had a big problem but I could solve it for him. He said that there had been a mix up in his exhibition scheduling. He was slated to put on an indoor, blank fire, fast draw program at the Seminole High School at 11:00 AM that morning. I said that didn’t seem too tough. He said he was real glad to hear that because he also had to be in Guymon, Oklahoma at 2:00 PM that afternoon. Now, that is near two hundred fifty miles away. There was no way he could make both programs. He said that he needed me to do the show at Seminole for him so he could make it to the Guymon program. He said he had already told the Seminole High School Principal that I would be there in his place. I curtly advised him that he was out of his ever loving mind because I had never done anything remotely like that before and was not about to start on that morning.
After Dan did, just some, arm-twisting, I finally agreed to do the program at Seminole. I guess he was pretty sure that I would do the show for him. No way was I going to replace Dan Combs. Heck, no body could do that. I could do most of the stunts that he did, but doing it in front of a crowd of kids and teachers for the first time in my life was to be one of the hardest things that I have ever done. Dan left one of his prop kits with me and I had the all of the necessary guns and holsters that would be needed. He handed me a pretty good supply of .357 magnum blanks. Now all I needed was some moral support. I called Alwin Walker an extremely close friend and shooting buddy of both Dan and myself. I sort of demanded that he make the trip with me. He said to pick him up and he would hold a gun loaded with real bullets on me while I did the program. I figured I was going to need just that.
I confess, as the show started I was scared to death. I would have rather fought a dozen wildcats than to walk out onto that stage. Actually the show went off better than I thought it would. I lost most of my stage fright and didn’t miss a shot. It was not exactly like what Dan would have done, but it was well received. I actually not only felt relieved at having it over with, but there was a certain amount of satisfaction in the fact I knew I could do it.
The lecture part of the show went well and I was able to get the information we wanted to convey out to the kids and even kept their attention. The hour plus show was over before I knew it.
Continued...
