Stagecoach - the 1939 original version with John Wayne and Claire Trevor. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon - Jon Wayne and a very solid cast. Some of the writing was pretty lame The Outlaw Josey Wales Lonesome Dove. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Open Range - not really a Costner fan, but he was ok in this one and as usual Duvall carried the movie. Tombstone - Val Kilmer made this movie a good one. An honorable mention goes to Riders of the Purple Sage, I don't recall the names of the lead actors, because the book was one of the first "big westerns" I ever read and I like Zane Grey. I should read it again this winter.
For T.V. I agree with Bonanza but I liked The Legend of Custer. Branded Lonesome Dove The Rifleman. and Also The Wild-Wild West. For films it's hard to say. Open Range and Broken Trail two of the newer ones were both very good. The Ford-Wayne films were all very good as well. But the list would get pretty long.
Sorry to harsh on The Duke, but I always felt he did too much talking and not enough shootin'. 'When ya gotta shoot, shoot. Don't talk'-Tuco
Unbeknownst to most TV viewers Palladin actually carried a Browning Hi-Power which certainly made him the "suavest of the suavest" gunslingers of the Ol' West. But then aren't all who tote a Hi-Power suave gunslingers ! 13 + 1 in a Hi-Power certainly trumps 5 in a Colt SAA (chamber under the hammer left empty) when the chips are down. 9mm Hi-Power
My favorite movies are- Heaven’s Gate- Broken Trail- Quigley Down Under- Silverado- Open Range- Lonesome Dove - Tombstone - Josey Wales - A Fistfull of Dynamite. My favorite TV series are - Hell on Wheels- The Ranch - Yellowstone - Deadwood.
I've been watching the wrong program, because Paladin carried a revolver. What Richard Boone may have carried when he wasn't on the show is something completely different. Just saying....
But what about the radio version of Have Gun - Will Travel ? Just maybe that's when Palladin carried a Hi-Power. Hmmm...ever think of that...I guess not. Have Gun – Will Travel is an American Western series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. ... That radio series debuted November 23, 1958, more than a year after the premiere of its televised counterpart. 9mm Hi-Power Sirius' "Classic Radio Show" carries the radio version - again starring Richard Boone in the leading role - and they're quite well done - compelling stories, dramatic "action" etc..