Barney's Colt

[Old Dog]

Flipping through the channels waiting for the wife to get home from work, happened on episode 19 of Season 5 of the Andy Griffith Show, originally aired on January 25, 1965. Barney actually fired his Colt! (Yeah, he did have one negligent discharge in his holster) Last five minutes of the episode, Barney was competing in the Police Pistol Competition. And he put six shots inside the 10-ring, right on the X with ol' Thelma Lou and Andy watching. This episode probably depicted more of Barney's revolver than many others in the life of the series.

I also liked this episode in that Andy and Opie pulled their pocketknives out and did some good ol' fashioned whittling.

Reminds me I need to pick up a nice specimen of the Colt Official Police to round out my collection. Also a reminder of how guns were not treated as evil in the TV shows of the '50s and '60s...(even though Barney had a history of NDs, by some accounts, in at least eight or nine episodes, hence why Andy only gave him one round).

 

[Pat Riot]

A couple of years ago I watched the entire Andy Griffith Show series on Amazon or Netflix. I really enjoyed that. I thought it was funny over the seasons how the rifle rack changed as did the guns in the rack. It kind of got on my wife’s nerves as I would stop the show and try to figure out what guns were in the rack and how often they appeared, disappeared and reappeared.

I wish I could remember the episodes, but a couple of times I thought Barney had an S&W model 10 instead of his Colt. But the Internet Movie Firearms Data Base doesn’t show that.
http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Andy_Griffith_Show,_The

 

[DTL]

Best part was learning Barney could shoot like that.

 

[Electricmo]

Where’s their ear protection?

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Where’s their ear protection?

Based on the tinnitus in my right ear I'd say we were not as concerned about that way back in those days...
Though I would sometimes put cotton in my ears when shooting 4 position .22 indoors.

 

[ontarget]

Based on the tinnitus in my right ear I'd say we were not as concerned about that way back in those days...
Though I would sometimes put cotton in my ears when shooting 4 position .22 indoors.

Tinnitus is the overwhelming sound in my life. So bad I can hear it over my car radio and my grandkids.
Being in a quiet place drives me to near insanity.
Went to the firing line for the 300 yard rapid fire. Realized I forgot my ear protection about 1 second after the targets came out of the butts. Hearing has never been the same.
On the bright side I did shoot a possible on that string.

 

[VMC]

I have the older cousin of the Official Police the Army Special that I inherited from my grandfather. It is a 32-20 caliber which I Luckly have plenty of reloading components stocked up for. I love shooting this caliber as well as the memories I have of doing so with Grandpa back in the 1960s. I found the walnut grips at Numrich because I just like wood grips better.

 

[doubleh]

Tinnitus is the overwhelming sound in my life. So bad I can hear it over my car radio and my grandkids.
Being in a quiet place drives me to near insanity.
Went to the firing line for the 300 yard rapid fire. Realized I forgot my ear protection about 1 second after the targets came out of the butts. Hearing has never been the same.
On the bright side I did shoot a possible on that string.

If you live long enough you may get to where you no longer notice it. I no longer notice it as long as I don't think about and when I do it's now a very low sound like hearing the wind blow.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I too seem to recall that sometimes Barney had a S&W Model 10.

I too have a Colt Army Special. The Colt Army Special was first produced in 1908. This one shipped in 1921.






The caliber marking on the barrel is for Colt 38 Special, which was simply Colts name for the 38 Special cartridge.








Here is my Army Special with some of the cartridges it could fire. From the left they are 38 Short Colt, 38 Long Colt, and 38 Special.






The Army Special was produced from 1908 until 1927. At that time Colt changed their revolver marketing strategy from the Military to the Law Enforcement field. So the name of the Army Special was changed to Official Police. Same gun, different name. The Official Police was produced from 1927 until 1969, over 425,000 of them were made.


P.S. My tinnitus sounds like running water. I only hear it if I think about it.

 

[VMC]

I have had Tinnitus, caused by lots of unprotected shooting and loud music, as a faint ringing for a great many years until lately. After minor surgery I took two weeks of antibiotics to prevent infection. Afterward strangest thing happened. Toward the end of the second week the ringing was replaced by a low frequency hum like a musical note. It's still a faint sound so I can ignore it most times. I wonder if this was caused by the medicine which was a stronger one than I have taken before and a longer period of time.

 

[Cemetery21]

1969, 14 weeks in state LEO academy. We shot 6 days a week with Smith Mod. 15s. No ear protection provided.
I don't hear tinnitus or much of anything anymore.

 

[Speedo66]

Where’s their ear protection?

Or eye?

In the Army we were told to put cigarette filters in our ears.

 

[Dunross]

You know, it has never occurred to me until this thread that I have a Barney Fife pistol in the safe! (laughing)

Yeah, no hearing or eye protection in those days. I don't recall ever wearing any until I went in to the service in 1983. Count me among the Tinnitus Legion. sigh...

 

[jak67429]

I have barnys pistol, even have the leather flap holster.

 

[SwampWolf]

Yeah, no hearing or eye protection in those days. I don't recall ever wearing any until I went in to the service in 1983.

I was in the Air Police for four years (1962 to 1966) and we had two ways to protect our hearing during our bi-monthly pistol re-qualifications: you could either stuff cigarette filters or brass cartridge cases in your ears. "What" is the word I use the most anymore.

 

[Tallball]

I have one like that. I'm not as good a shot as Barney, but it's a good shooting revolver.

Colt Army Special

• Tallball
• Mar 4, 2018

 

[JT-AR-MG42]

"What" is the word I use the most anymore.

My favorite is when I say 'I'm sorry , I heard you, I just can't understand you'.
They (usually a woman) always just speak louder anyway.
Working the leads on a diesel fired hammer (with a piece of rag stuffed in my ears)
along with years of shooting in arroyos didn't help my frequency hearing.
I'd swear that there is someone playing with the volume controls of my tinnitus at times though.

Thelma is a bit out in front of that cylinder, hope the cylinder gap on the pistol is tight!

JT

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I'd swear that there is someone playing with the volume controls of my tinnitus at times though.
JT

Same thing happens to me. It also seems to change pitch.

 

[Rudolph31]

My favorite is when I say 'I'm sorry , I heard you, I just can't understand you'.
They (usually a woman) always just speak louder anyway.
Working the leads on a diesel fired hammer (with a piece of rag stuffed in my ears)
along with years of shooting in arroyos didn't help my frequency hearing.
I'd swear that there is someone playing with the volume controls of my tinnitus at times though.

Thelma is a bit out in front of that cylinder, hope the cylinder gap on the pistol is tight!

JT

Just tell her her enunciation sucks. They appreciate little tips like that!

 

[Master Blaster]

Back in 1970 I was 10. When we shot our .22 rifles and shotguns we stuck cigarette filters in our ears.

Sometime in the 70s hearing protection and eye protection became the standard. Most of my friends fathers worked for du Pont. Big push for hearing and eye protection probably came from them.

1974 I got my Boy Scout rifle marksmanship, and shotgun merit badges at camp Rodney, the instructor made us wear safety glasses and muffs or ear plugs.

 

[sgt127]

Strangely, it seems Barney carried his 4” revolver in a 6” holster.
if thats all I had, I’d still feel pretty good.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

You know I thought I always remember using ear plugs, but Master Blasters post just reminded me that I never wore them when I was out with the 22 when I was a kid, which was often.
Dad had us (me and my identical twin brother) out shooting 22s from the time we could hold the thing up. Don't remember the Marlin being that loud.
Not sure I have any tinnitus but I hear a constant static noise all the time so I probably do.
Can't say it's from shooting as much as working in a glass plant in the hot end. You could scream at the guy beside you and he couldn't hear you.
From the time I bought my first revolver when I was about 16 (cap and ball), I would use ear plugs, 1974 on.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Strangely, it seems Barney carried his 4” revolver in a 6” holster.
View attachment 1072602 View attachment 1072603 View attachment 1072604 View attachment 1072605 View attachment 1072601 if thats all I had, I’d still feel pretty good.

I wonder why Andy never carried one.

 

[C0untZer0]

Went to the firing line for the 300 yard rapid fire. Realized I forgot my ear protection about 1 second after the targets came out of the butts. Hearing has never been the same.
On the bright side I did shoot a possible on that string.

This is pretty much the same thing that happened to me. I was competing in the 86th Training Division Rifle Competition. I loaded 21 rounds at the bench, went to the firing line and didn't realize I'd left my ear plugs at the bench until after I fired the first round. I should have raised my hand and come off the line, but I didn't because I was competing.

Now I hear cicada buzzing in my right ear all the time.

 

[sgt127]

I wonder why Andy never carried one.

There was an episode where he said he wanted to be respected. Not the gun getting the respect. I think they were going to do a movie called “The Sheriff without a gun.” On that episode.

Andy occasionally strapped on a gun when hunting fugitives and, sometimes grabbed a long gun out of the rack.