Buffalo Bill Center of the West acquires “Lone Ranger” John Hart’s pistol

The “Hi Yo, Silver!” cry of the Lone Ranger is at once familiar to sixty-somethings who watched the television series as kids. Now, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, has acquired the Lone Ranger pistol belonging to actor John Hart; it is on display in the Center’s Cody Firearms Museum.

Hart carried a Colt .45, a single-action army revolver, when he portrayed “the masked man” in the original series between 1952 and 1954. Although not used in the filming of The Lone Ranger, the firearm the Center acquired is one of several Hart owned throughout his acting career. The firearm’s coverage engraving and steer head ivory grips, completed by Master Engraver Ben Shostle, make this firearm particularly striking. To any lover of westerns and firearms, this gun is truly a must see.

In his early career, Hart appeared mostly in westerns. He played many minor roles in some fairly well known films, but audiences remember him most for replacing Clayton Moore in 1952 for two seasons of the television show The Lone Ranger when Moore demanded a higher salary.

Along with the revolver, the Center also acquired autographed photos of Hart in costume and an unconventional cookbook, Cowboys in the Kitchen, he penned in the 1990s. The book is more of an anecdotal memoir of Hollywood tales, cheeky hunting advice, and even a section on “women and liquor.” This book provides some levity in the kitchen and shows off the personality of the man behind the gun.

The Cody Firearms Museum has placed the Lone Ranger revolver and accouterments on display in its “Hollywood guns” exhibit case. For more information, contact Ashley Hlebinsky at [email protected] or 307-578-4048. You may also visit our firearms blog, Unloading the Myth.

Since 1917, the award-winning Buffalo Bill Center of the West has devoted itself to sharing the story of the authentic American West. The Center is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. For additional information, visit centerofthewest.org or the Center’s Facebook page.