I doubt the "gunfighters of the Olde West" gave much of a damn about their guns, and the remains of those guns tend to prove that. The genuine Old West guns I have seen were beat to death, without finish, parts broken, etc. To those people a gun was a tool.
To those who don't quite get that idea, let me ask if you own a spade or a pick, and if so when did you last clean it, oil it and coddle it? It's a tool, right? You finish digging the hole where your wife wants to put in a tree and then toss the tools in the corner of the garage until next time.
Did the old timers fan their guns? There are some guns in museums with the triggers tied back with rawhide, but they have the hammer altered for slip hammering, another story entirely. I have little doubt that guns were fanned in a tight corner, but "spray and pray", or "cover fire" is not a good idea with a six-shot revolver that takes half an aeon to reload.
If one really wants a revolver to put out bullets rapidly and accurately, the answer lies not with fanning a Colt SAA but with buying an S&W 627.
Jim
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