While shooting history is filled with tall tales and mythmaking, Ed McGivern was the real deal. As a record-setting exhibition shooter, celebrated firearms author, and famed shooting instructor, Edward “Ed” McGivern needs no introduction to serious firearms fans.

Few Ed McGivern guns are held in private hands today, and Rock Island Auction Company has the privilege to offer several examples of McGivern's iconic revolvers  in the upcoming August 15-17 Premier Auction in Bedford Texas, including his Model 40 Centennial, his K-22 Outdoorsman, and his set of K-22 Target Masterpiece Model 17 revolvers.

Fastest Gun in the World

Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska during the twilight years of the Wild West, Ed McGivern was destined to be a marksman. McGivern was a self-taught shooter, cutting his teeth on semi-automatic pistols before gravitating toward the double action revolver, a move that would prove to be a more than ideal match for the talented handgunner.

While working as a sign painter for his day job, Ed McGivern spent years refining his shooting technique, using electric timers to find the fastest angles for his quick draws and aid in honing his hand reflexes. Though the squat 5’5” McGivern didn't fit the popular image of the Hollywood gunslinger, he let his shooting talk for him. He started touring with Wild West shows in the early 1900s and by the 1930s he would earn the title “fastest gun in the world.”

Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting

Working with his Philadelphia patron, Walter Groff, Ed McGivern gained fame around the country as an exhibition shooter, demonstrating his fast draw, speed shooting, and accuracy on aerial targets like cans, shotgun clays, and quarter-sized lead discs. As the crowds grew, so did the complexity of Ed McGivern's legendary trick shots.

Some of Ed McGivern's most notable pistol trick shooting feats included hitting two targets with two revolvers simultaneously, shooting through the .5” center hole of a washer thrown in the air, shooting dimes on the fly, driving a tack or nail into wood with a bullet, and splitting playing cards that had been tossed into the air edge on.

McGivern documented his accomplishments and many of his guns in his 1938 book, 'Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting.' One of those revolvers, a K-22 Outdoorsman, is for sale this August at RIAC, along with a set of K-22 Target Masterpiece pre-Model 17 revolvers and a pre-Model 40 Centennial owned by McGivern, as well as a .38/44 Outdoorsman revolver presented by McGivern to a former pupil and a consecutively serial numbered .38/44 Outdoorsman ordered by another McGivern associate on the same day as its nearly identical twin.

Ed McGivern's K-22 Outdoorsman

Our first Ed McGivern revolver for sale this August was shipped to the famous shooter on December 22, 1931. McGivern used this Smith & Wesson K-22 Outdoorsman extensively in exhibitions and training seminars.

This historic Ed McGivern K-22 Outdoorsman is mentioned on page 166 of 'Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting,' where various targets shot with this exact revolver are shown and noted by serial number in the photo to demonstrate that the gun's accuracy was not effected by the immense amount of shots put through it. At the time of publication, Ed McGivern notes in his book that this K-22 had been fired over 200,000 times.

A copy of a May 1936 letter addressed to D.B Wesson is included in which Ed McGivern notes that this gun had been used for four years by eight policeman (presumably for training) and had fired 300,000 rounds. At some point, the gun had its barrel shortened from 6 inches to its current 4 inch configuration, and this could have been in 1935 when McGivern had the revolver returned to Wesson.

An Ed McGivern Presentation S&W .38/44 Outdoorsman

Next, we have a pre-WW2 Smith & Wesson .38/44 Outdoorsman that was presented by Ed McGivern to a friend and shipped on May 24, 1933. The revolver, serial number 42093, bears a factory gold-inlaid inscription on the right of the frame that reads "From Ed McGivern to F.W. Millington."

F.W. Millington is pictured aiming a revolver on page 136 of 'Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting,' where Ed McGivern notes Millington as a "most outstanding performer" and a "former pupil and associate of the author."

The included factory letter lists this revolver alongside a nearly identical .38/44 Outdoorsman, serial number 42094, which was ordered by a Dr. F.H. Applegate of Racine, Wisconsin, another McGivern associate. Both Millington and Applegate appear to have been notable revolver shooters in their own right and ordered their models the same day.

Ed McGivern's K-22 Target Masterpiece Revolvers

Our next Ed McGivern guns for sale are a fantastic set of Smith & Wesson K-22 Target Masterpiece pre-Model 17 revolvers owned by the famous shooter. The first gun of the pair features "ED McGIVERN/1948" engraved on the left side of the frame. The revolver left the factory on February 17, 1948, and its mate was shipped on May 9th of the same year as part of a batch of matching revolvers.

Smith & Wesson historian Don Mundell remarks "The invoice does not mention the engraving; however, I believe Smith & Wesson did the engraving at no charge for their friend, Ed McGivern. These revolvers were given by McGivern to Robert Kaurin of Lewiston, MT. In the words of McGivern, in his inscription on the front page of Kaurin's signed copy of 'Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting' that's include with the lot, Kaurin was a "sincere and loyal friend."

Included with the set are the gold boxes for each revolver, the aforementioned signed copy of 'Fast & Fancy Revolver Shooting,' an extensively tooled leather belt and holster rig by Victor Ario of Great Falls, MT, and a scrapbook brimming with information on McGivern and Kaurin, including letters between the two, newspaper clippings, a target from Kaurin, and photographs of Kaurin shooting with McGivern's grandson.

Ed McGivern's Model 40 Centennial

The "Centennial" revolver, a Chiefs Special with a concealed hammer and a grip safety, was introduced in 1952 for Smith & Wesson's 100th anniversary. Ed McGivern received an early example of the model, serial number 140, shipped from the factory on June 18, 1953. In addition to the standard markings, this pre-Model 40 revolver is engraved "ED / McGIVERN" on the right side of the frame.

The McGivern Bead Front Sight

Ed McGivern experimented with numerous iron sight styles throughout his shooting career. His preference was a type of iron sight with a small diameter rear aperture and a black post with a domed-gold bead for the front. Each of the Ed McGivern guns for sale at Rock Island Auction Company feature examples of this unique sight. The 1952 Smith & Wesson Centennial Catalog describes the McGivern sight as follows: "This is another dual-purpose sight different from the Call design in that the bead is a half sphere of gold which protrudes from the rear face of the Patridge blade."

The Centennial Catalog goes on to state, "The advantage of the McGivern bead lies in the fact that its globular shape will pick up skylight from practically any angle and reflect it back to the eye of the shooter. Its originator, Ed McGivern, the famous speed and exhibition shooter from Great Falls, Montana, holds this sight to be the best possible for aerial work, or where targets are dark colored and not clearly lighted."

The Speed of Ed McGivern

Needless to say, Ed McGivern set numerous records for fast and fancy revolver shooting, including achieving a world record for "the greatest rapid-fire feat" on September 13, 1932, in Lewistown, Montana, performing five shots in 2/5 of a second. This record still stands today.

Ed McGivern demonstrated that shooting with both extreme accuracy and speed was possible, an ideal combination in close-up self-defense situations that relied on instinctive reflex. In 'Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting,' Ed McGivern wrote that with sufficient practice "the subconscious mind can, will, and does make corrections instantly or within a very few hundredths of a second, while the gun and target are moving, and in plenty of time to score hits."

With age and arthritis catching up to him, Ed McGivern turned his attention to training police officers, federal agents, and servicemen, and he was called to testify in at least 37 trials as a firearms and ballistics expert. In addition to his famous book, McGivern also wrote numerous articles for outdoors and shooting magazines of his era and collaborated with Douglas Wesson on 'Burning Powder,' a 1938 booklet offering detailed instruction on revolver shooting and handgun hunting.

Ed McGivern: The Fastest Gun Shooter of His Era

Elmer Keith called Ed McGivern "the fastest and finest double-action revolver shot that ever lived and probably ever will." Though shooting has evolved in the decades after his death in 1957, McGivern’s advice on trigger control, holsters, sight alignment, proper grip, and shooting fundamentals are still more than relevant for today’s handgunner.

Ed McGivern’s name continues to rank high in the pantheon of renowned exhibition shooters, with some of his handguns proudly displayed at the National Firearms Museum. In 2001, Smith & Wesson offered a Performance Center Heritage Series Model 15-9 revolver in .38 Special commemorating the legacy of Ed McGivern. While these commemoratives are gorgeous revolvers, there’s nothing like owning one of the legendary trick shooters’ real-life wheel guns, true treasures in arms collecting that are a rare opportunity for the most dedicated arms collectors, Smith & Wesson fans, and students of firearms history.

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