Weird Westerns discussion
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Weird West Weapons
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There's a spark rifle in the last book. Very steampunk. I wanna ssay it wwas a modified rifle that made use of a crank to charge it up before spitting bolts of electricity.
Then there's Roland's revolvers from the Dark Tower. Mostly unique in what they're made of.
That's all that comes to mind at the moment.
The lines of the Volcanic pistol were the basis for the look of Mal's pistol on Firefly. You can see it in the odd grip and the blocky main action. The real Volcanic never quite took off, but the design led directly to the Henry rifle.I did like how the Dark Tower turned the revolvers of the Gunslinger's into almost relics. But I'm sort of blanking on anything else.
This is *mostly* relevant. While doing research I came across some real weapons that are right out of fiction. I most certainly will be referring to one or more of them in stories in the future. http://samknight.com/?p=1498
There's an image I like that comes from the Deadlands Classic handbook of a mad scientist using a flamethrower (it's basically a pot bellied stove with a rifle stock and high pressure hose attached to it) hosing down a horde of "prairie ticks" - red ticks about the size a medium-sized dog. I always thought that was pretty neat.
"Hink could make out six dead men on the ground, pieces and parts of them tossed about, and on fire. Cedar must have gotten the hang of that flamethrower." --Tin SwiftOne day, I am going to shut up about these books. But today is not that day.
Mod
This isn't from a weird western but it was a gun from the western age but I'm talking about the colt revolver from the show super natural. It was a gun that could kill immortal beings made by Samuel colt
Mod
Haha ash I knew I liked you for a reason. Absolutely love that show
Mod
I agree that it has some issues but... What issues do you have with the show
Mod
That said, I still enjoy it a lot. I'm hooked on it but like, I'm constantly waffling between liking the boys and wanting to kick Dean in the balls. I hear season 11 might go Elder Gods, so i'm interested in seeing how everything gets there.
Haha never realized that about people of color on that show good observation skills. With dean though I kinda like that he is a lady's man lol
I've always been fascinted by the LeMat revolver ever since I discovered its existence reading League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Or, to be more honest, the annotations thereof.I liked it so much that I introduced one into my novel that's made from a melted down relic and blessed for shooting demons. A golden nine-cylinder grapeshot pistol just seemed incredibly cool to me.
While revising my upcoming novel and going over things, one thing I've really focused on is the talk and usage of pistol swords. I mentioned this in another thread of how I was planning on using them. One thing I first noticed was I hardly talked about them in the first five chapters so upon the recommendation of Quentin I went back and talked about pistol swords in five different incidents.I've done some research on them and the best thing about them is that because people gave up on them for being such an oddity it allows me to use this to my advantage. Since it's such an odd and weird weapon and not very effective I have brought them in my book where they gain a new way to become what they weren't and perhaps I can bring some nostalgia back to them. Since they were all but non-existent in 1920 when it comes to being used this allows me to not only place them as regular weapons in the book but I can tweak them and make them more appealing and even more usable.
One thing I have decided that is while they do differ in size the book will stick to pistol swords within the medium and small range. When I read about them I found that they were actually used in the movie "Gangs of New York", Leonardo DiCaprio's character is seen using one. So I figure maybe using pistol swords won't be such a bad idea after all.
When I was on Pinterest earlier someone kept posting very odd looking early flintlock pistols. Some of them were some of the weirdest guns I've ever seen. One of them was normal looking until the barrel of the gun which had 4..strangest thing..I would imagine it shot all 4 at the same time.
Mod
One weapon I always love in westerns is the Mare's Leg winchester. it just looks so stylish.
A strong contender for the "weirdest weapon" used in a western is the boomerang Lou Castel uses to dispatch the villians in Mátalo!
I think the guns in "The Sixth Gun" graphic novel series are pretty interesting weapons.I also thought the use of cards as magic weapons in "Second Hand" by Rajan Khanna in Dead Man's Hand: An Anthology of the Weird West was a really interesting weapon. I realize that magic cards or cards as weapons is a pretty standard trope in Spec Lit, but I thought Khanna did a good job with it in a Weird West setting.
I recently wrote a western horror poem called Spirit Revolver that talks about a mysterious gun that is able to take down certain entities. I imagine the idea has been done before in fact Supernatural did it if I remember correctly but yeah. I'll share it sometime to get people's thoughts.
Justin wrote: "I'll share it sometime to get people's thoughts."Justin,
I have published a lot of speculative poetry. If you want critique or feedback, send me a message and I'll see what I can do for you.
Mod
Book 2 will feature two new weapons as well that I'll share when I do up the kickstarter campaign for it.
Ashe wrote: "Book 2 will feature two new weapons as well that I'll share when I do up the kickstarter campaign for it. "You should find someone to make replicas of the weapons to auction off or something. I'd like a Damascus-steel styled Bowie with an Elder sign. That would be pretty bad ass!
What style of gun?
Mod
The gun's basically an orc-sized double-action revolver. Got a mock up cobbled together based on parts from three other revolvers. Hoping maybe I'll be able to fit an illustration of it in the art package from kickstarter.
Now that I think about it, I don't have any plans for any weird west weapons for my WIP Brimstone Express. There was one idea that I'll have to bring into motion and perhaps look into creating others because after all the whole idea of a weird west is to have some weird creative weaponry in them.
Justin wrote: "I recently wrote a western horror poem called Spirit Revolver that talks about a mysterious gun that is able to take down certain entities. I imagine the idea has been done before in fact Supernatu..."This idea has come full circle! I have included a spirit revolver in my WIP, brimstone Express. A miner has the gun but how he got it and why he needs it are currently unknown. The gun like I described back in 2015, can kill evil spirits and creatures with one shot. This gun can come in handy to those who need it.
Aside from a spirit revolver which the book may or may not turn into a series to revolve around(no pun intended), I also plan on incorporating some other weird weapons to add a bit of flavor to the book and my characters.I am going to focus on the main characters gun. it's a normal gun but perhaps I'll make it a rare or one of a kind. One character has a knife he uses a lot which I may make a bit more personal to him to add flare. Then I will add some other weapons here and there along with some strange contraptions and gadgets never before seen in a western or any book. The ideas will come to me.
I didn't include any created weird west weapons aside from a spirit revolver because I didn't want to overdue it on weird weapons and possibly take away from the storyline. But there is at least one in my book.
Weird Westerns
Books mentioned in this topic
Dead Man's Hand: An Anthology of the Weird West (other topics)Tin Swift (other topics)
What kind of weird west weapons have you come across in novels and have you found them to be unique?
Which ones have you enjoyed and how do they differ from a normal weapon such as a gun or sword? Also if possible try to describe the weapon and tell us what it's like and how it compares to a realistic weapon.