When they are shooting the coins does the initial coin have a hole in it? When the indian bites it, it looks like it doesn't. The first guy shoots and is told he missed, then Stewart shoots and is told he has missed but he claims he shot through the hole, so he repeats the feat sing a postage stamp. Did dollar coins have holes in them back then?
shareFirst the two men shot at silver dollars being tossed in the air. Then they tossed a pendant from that Indian's necklace - this pendant had a hole in it already. But they couldn't tell if either man had really put his bullet clean through the hole. So, Stewart came up with the idea of pasting a postage stamp over the hole, so as to tell if a bullet had really passed through it when it was shot in mid-air.
Long story short: the silver dollars did not have holes in them - either before or after being shot in mid-air. They got bent when hit, but not "holed." It was only the Indian's necklace pendant that had a hole in it already (looked like a washer, as you said.)
To top it off that wasn't Hollywood fakery a stunt shooter made that exact shot
shareThat's some mighty fine shootin', pardner.
Just outa curiosity ledge, what's your source on that stunt shooter that made the shot?
shareThis has long been known. According to the Trivia section here, the shooting was done by a famous marksman named Herb Parsons, who I believe did similar work in other movies.
shareAnd why would they need a famous marksman? Toss the coin up, hit it with a blast of air. If they had a marksman actually shooting the coins, it surely took a few dozen shots to hit the coin. And what sort of evil voodoo does it take to get a bullet through the center of a flying/spinning coin at 20 yards?
shareI suppose it was easier to have someone actually shooting the washer while the actors (in the frame) take their own "shot", besides which the sound and effect of the washer actually being hit by a bullet would be very different from shooting a blast of air at it. (Not to mention an air blast would make a noise, would probably be more likely to miss the washer than a bullet, and wouldn't "push" the washer in a realistic way.)
As for using a marksman, he would almost certainly have been able to hit the thing right off, or at worst in two tries: that's why he's called a marksman. Depending on how the camera was angled, the washer may not have been as far up as it looked in the film. Finally, it would make no difference whether the marksman actually shot the bullet through the center or not. All we see from the ground is the washer being hit. A different washer with the stamp already "shot out" would be all they needed to create the illusion of an expert shot.
My dad took me to a sharpshooting show at a shooting range near Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. There was a guy, I wish I remembered his name, who would shoot nickels tossed high in the air, then give away the dented or bent coins as souvenirs. He also shot at small airborne wood blocks, then autographed them. He used a Colt .45 revolver, quick-drawn from a holster and shot from the hip, and he never missed.
shareInteresting. I would have that was impossible.
sharewow. very impressive.
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