The barrel was eight inches long, and it shot a rifle cartridge of forty grains of powder and a blunt-ended bullet that made a terrible missile.

This weapon depended from a belt worn loose resting upon the left hip and hanging low down on the right hip so that none of the weight came upon the abdomen.

This was typical, for the cowboy was neither fancy gunman nor army officer.

The latter carries the revolver on the left, the butt pointing forward.
An essential part of the cow-puncher's outfit was his "rope." This was carried in a close coil at the side of the saddle-horn, fastened by one of the many thongs scattered over the saddle.

In the Spanish country it was called reata and even today is sometimes seen in the Southwest made of rawhide.