Jonah Hex’s Gunspinner Extraordinaire
Joey “Rocketshoes” Dillon gives us a sneak preview of Josh Brolin’s gunmanship in the 2010 Western.
By: Henry Cabot Beck 08/01/2009
“I’m 30 now, and I have one foot in the youth market, and one foot in being taken seriously, finally, as an adult. It took a long time for people to stop looking at me as some kid playing with guns, to get that respect. It’s nice to have that “3,” that age in my resume, because people think I look younger than I am. Being older, officially, seems to put people at ease, people who are considering hiring me to coach and teach for movies. It helps if they’re assured that I’m not a kid who might accidentally shoot their star.”
So how did this former “kid” get his nickname Rocketshoes? “When I was about 18 I took some metal header flanges, about four inches long, that resembled the rear of a rocket, flared out at the back, and I made some metal straps and screwed each to the outside of a shoe. The round pipe flange was a perfect fit for three “D” model rocket engines for each shoe. I ran wires up my leg to a handheld ignition battery pack. The idea was to run faster. I knew the faster I would run, the more I would be kicking my heels toward my butt. So I put some metal plates in my rear pockets, just in case I would burn through my pants back there. Well, it worked well. Every time I lifted a leg, it was wanting to shoot forward. However, those rockets are only good for a couple seconds. So if your foot race is longer than that, the added weight was actually not advantageous. My right shoe and sock caught fire, but someone standing by with a hose put it out. Ever since, my name has been Joey Rocketshoes. I officially changed my middle name to Rocketshoes.”
He adds, “I was going to change my last name, but the wife didn’t want to be Mrs. Rocketshoes. Oh well.”
Now Dillon spends his time modifying guns so actors like Brolin can perform with them more effectively. But first, he must select the proper weapons.
In the case of Jonah Hex, who first appeared in 1972, the character is most often seen handling Civil War-era handguns: Walkers, Dragoons and so forth. “When I discussed that with Brolin, we realized that there were a lot of variations in his guns, because the story had been reborn so many times, with different artists,” Dillon says. “Some of the guns kind of look like Remingtons, some are definitely Colt Peacemakers and a few of them look like 51 Navy’s. The Dragoons weren’t all over the place, but they were there enough, so we got four guns to cover our bases. Hex has got a set of Dragoons on his saddle holsters, and he carries two different guns on his hips. I know he uses a Peacemaker on one side, with a 7½ barrel; then I went with a ’58 Remington cartridge conversion, with an eight-inch barrel, on the other.
“I set up the guns with the help of Keith Walters, the prop master and armorer. We went to my sponsor, Cimarron Firearms, so all the guns they use in the film will come back to me. There’s six Dragoons, and I took all the bluing off—they have a real cool steel look to ’em—and then Josh has got the Remington and the Peacemaker, and a backup for each of those.
“Josh wanted to have the appearance of having a different gun on each hip, so it looked like he just grabbed guns from people as he went along, a collection of stuff he’s picked up off bodies or who knows what. He loved the idea of the Dragoons, when he’s doing the big heroic horse-riding shots, having those huge guns to fire from the saddle.
“I did some more work on the hammers. The Remington’s hammers are kind of small, so I cut it and welded about a half-inch extension right in the center to bring the hammer up to that of the Colt. The Colt hammer I heated and bent forward a little bit, so there was more of a spur to grab with his thumb when he spun it around—a good modification for the quickdraw, because he was really big into learning the quickdraw.”
Comments (2)
Watched him lose then come back and win the next year his first gun spinning World Championship in Deadwood, SD. Tons of heart and fortitude.
Thadd Turner
Met Mr. Dillon in Sedona this past July. A real pleasure to watch and even greater to speak with. He really pays attention to those around him and makes you feel glad to have met him. A great asset to the spirit of "The West"!! Thank you Mr. Dillon, and True West for bringing you to us!!
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