Gunspinning

Gunspinning refers to the old west tradition and Hollywood legend of a cowboy gunslinger twirling his pistol around his trigger finger. Gunspinning is a western art such as trick roping, and is sometimes referred as gunplay, gun artistry, and gun twirling. Gunspinning is seen in many classic TV and film Westerns, such as Shane and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The majority of gunspinning is seen as a precursor to putting the gun back in its holster. It may be used as a fancy ending to a trick shot, or just to impress or intimidate an opponent.

Notable examples

Some modern day western performers and actors such as Dony Robert and Joey Dillon can spin guns in each hand, and even incorporate juggling and tosses over the shoulders and around the body. Joey Dillon is a multiple world champion at this craft. In Resident Evil: Apocalypse, lead actress Milla Jovovich spins her dual Colt .45's before holstering them. In the RoboCop franchise, police officer Alex Murphy (RoboCop) is known for spinning his modified Beretta 93R before holstering it inside his mechanical leg.

A famous and more recent example of the latter is actor Michael Biehn's portrayal of Johnny Ringo and his gunspinning duel with Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) in the film "Tombstone" (Doc parodies Ringo's gunspinning moves by duplicating them with a metal coffee-cup for comic effect). Champion Gunspinner Joey Dillon breaks down how these moves were done in an issue of True West Magazine.

See also

• Cowboy Action Shooting
• Fast Draw
• Gun fu