The Gunsmith: Have Gun, Will Travel (April 26, 1959)

“The Gunsmith” is an episode of Have Gun, Will Travel, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 26, 1959. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Paladin arrives in a town to find an elderly German gunsmith, Hans Riker, brutally beaten by a gunfighter named Link Dobi who wants to buy a perfectly crafted gun from Riker's collection. Though Riker refuses to sell and fears Dobi's violence, Paladin decides to intervene before Riker gives in to the demands.

A frontier town, primarily in Hans Riker's gun shop, 1875

Characters: Paladin, Hans Riker, Link Dobi, Sheriff King, Hey Boy

Listen for: A skilled gunsmith's moral struggle over a dangerous weapon and a gunfighter's pursuit of the perfect gun for deadly purposes.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.