Festus Hagen

[Bob Wright]

I was watching a Gunsmoke episode recently and there was a shoot out. (Imagine that!) I noticed Ken Curtis, as Festus, was firing a Winchester from the left shoulder. But he carried his Colt on the right hip and fired it right handed.

Thought I was the only one who did that.

Bob Wright

From IMBd: On Gunsmoke (1955) as Festus Haggen, he always drew and fired a pistol with his right hand -- but whenever he had to use a rifle, he would bring it up to his left shoulder and pull the trigger with his left hand (sighting with his left eye and squinting with his right). Often, Festus would squint with the right eye partially closed as well. This means he is right handed but left eye dominant. There are many other actors who do this too. Clint Eastwood does it on Rawhide. Steve McQueen, Sidney Poitier and David Caruso have been known to do it too.

 

[woodsy]

Same here. Left eye dominant. Right-handed. But I don't have to squint.

 

[turd]

Good catch, Bob. I guess I never noticed. Have watched Gunsmoke episodes over and over.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

I'm right handed and shot right handed with rifle and handgun. I went blind in my right eye due to glaucoma from an old injury about the time I started SASS. Therefore I had to learn to shoot long guns left handed. I later learned to shoot handguns left handed as well as right handed which gives you a slight advantage while shooting in SASS. Keeps you from having to shoot with your weak hand.

 

[txramfan]

I'm also left eye dominant , shoot long guns left handed , I also am right handed and shoot hand guns right handed. Been this way all my life, I've been told as a child my mom stopped me from using my left hand and forced me to use my right hand. My daughter is left handed and my mom thought it should be corrected when she was very young.

 

[cowboycopus]

Not to change the subject, Ken Curtis is also quite a good singer as well as acting in many movies.

 

[Snake45]

Clint Eastwood is reported to be a true ambidexter.

Back in the '80s, I took Mas Ayoob's LFI-I and -II classes. Part of the -II class involved firing shotguns around barricades from both sides. Ayoob told us that about 20% of people who learn this drill go on to shoot shotguns left-handed full-time from then on. I later learned that this is almost exactly the same percentage of people who are cross-dominant. Coincidence? I think not.

A while back I spent a whole summer teaching myself to shoot handguns left-handed. Got to where I can shoot better left-handed than most people can right-handed. But shooting a long gun left-handed just doesn't work for me at all.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Snake.
When I first tried shooting my Marlin 1897 22LR left handed it was almost impossible to shoot like that. But after 2500-3000 rounds of 22s and putting down and picking up the rifle it got the memory muscles where they needed to be. It was a situation where I had to learn or not compete in SASS which would have caused me to miss a great time in my life.

 

[LDM]

Not to change the subject, Ken Curtis is also quite a good singer as well as acting in many movies.

He started in show business as a member of the "Sons of the Pioneers" with Roy Rogers. In the film "Rio Grande" he sang "I'll Take You Homw Kathleen" when the regimental singers serenaded Maureen O'Hara's arrival at the fort.

 

[Bob Wright]

Shooting the old Browning A-5 left handed is trip! That sort of sluggish click-clacking bolt handle right in front of your eyes is pretty distracting!

Bob Wright

 

[Snake45]

Snake.
When I first tried shooting my Marlin 1897 22LR left handed it was almost impossible to shoot like that. But after 2500-3000 rounds of 22s and putting down and picking up the rifle it got the memory muscles where they needed to be. It was a situation where I had to learn or not compete in SASS which would have caused me to miss a great time in my life.

Jim,

I believe you. It took me an entire summer of shooting left-handed before the gun didn't feel like a foreign object in my left hand. Couple years ago I built up a 1911 with arched mainspring housing, just because I had one on hand. Up to then I'd been shooting flat MSHs for over 40 years (now, about 50 years). Again, it took me a whole season of shooting before the thing didn't feel like a foreign object (with right hand--I don't think I've shot that gun left-handed yet).

When I shoot one-handed left-handed, I cant the gun over 20 or 30 degrees and use my right eye--that's how dominant it is.

 

[Bob Wright]

He started in show business as a member of the "Sons of the Pioneers" with Roy Rogers. In the film "Rio Grande" he sang "I'll Take You Homw Kathleen" when the regimental singers serenaded Maureen O'Hara's arrival at the fort.

Even befoe that Ken Curtis sang with one of the big bands.

Bob Wright

 

[Wyandot Jim]

"When I shoot one-handed left-handed, I cant the gun over 20 or 30 degrees and use my right eye--that's how dominant it is. "

Snake
Not sure but I don't think you need to do this. I know I don't have to do anything different when I shoot handgun either left or right handed. Some of the SASS matches I shoot one handed and some two handed depends on the category, but all are left gun left hand right gun right hand.
Give this a try. Put a patch over one eye and yell fill your hand you SOB

 

[eveled]

I always believed I was ambidextrous. When I had Carpal tunnel syndrome they did a test they put sensors on my fingers then shocked my wrist. They measured how long it takes to feel the shock in your fingers.

The technician got a strange look on his face. And said "thats never happened before". Of course I had to know what he meant.

He said it tells him which is the dominant hand and for the first time it didn't specify.

 

[Selena]

Even befoe that Ken Curtis sang with one of the big bands.

Bob Wright

In memory of Mr Carstairs... Tommy Dorsey. I really do miss the guys of that era.

 

[hittman]

Curtis Wayne Gates.
Also was the son in law of director John Ford.

His dad was one of the first Sheriffs of the county where they lived in Colorado. If you look at the county web site they have pictures of all the former Sheriffs. His fathers picture has a note of "Father of actor Ken Curtis".

Ken Curtis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ole442]

Ken Curtis "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" Festus Country

 

[ole442]

And don't forget the TV show "Ripcord"!

 

[Mega Twin]

I too am blind in my right eye and shoot long guns left handed and hand guns right handed

 

[redfernclan]

I'm just screwed up. Write left handed. Kick a ball with my left foot. Right eye dominant and shoot right handed. Hold a pistol with my right hand. Shoot pool right handed, unless I'm in a pinch and then shot left handed. I remember being a kid with a fork in my left hand and a spoon in my right. I remember my parents being amazed when they put me in front of a chalk board and told me too draw the biggest circle I could. I would draw the left side with my left hand and then put the chalk in my right hand and draw the right side. Over the years it came in handy because I became a mechanic. To get your hand in a lot of places, you can't chose which hand. only one side or the other will fit.