I'm watching the movie right now and was thinking the same thing.
Short Cut, Draw Blood
Some trivia for you. The SK 1878 shotgun was built using reproduction Colt 1878 shotguns. There were three shotguns built for Appaloosa. The hero shotguns fired 12 gauge blanks and one 8 gauge non firing shotgun used to film the loading sequence. The shotguns were built by Steve Karnes for Gibbons Ltd.
shareHe really does. He is known for his thorough role preparation, including the character, weapons, horses, terrain, weather, etc., but dislikes the term "method" actor.
"Mortensen dislikes the term 'method' but he sure knows how to throw himself into a role: he studied Russian history and literature ahead of his Oscar-nominated turn in Eastern Promises (2008), he slept in sub-zero temperatures and wore wet shoes during the shoot of The Road (2009), and he drove around Germany and Poland visiting concentration camps to play a Nazi in Good (2008)." -- quoting Tara Brady in The Irish Times