What he said: "Calloway would win"

What everyone understood: "Calloway would win, because I think Ricketts' lame and hasn't done anything badass even tho Calloway only drew fast and then died a millisecond later"

Im inclined to say Ricketts based on him surviving the blackwater massacre, helping John in Mexico plus he outlived Calloway, but for a 50-60 year old drunk, Calloway had some serious quickdraw on him to the point where he almost Arthur, so it could swing either way

Worth noting that Landon Ricketts' participation in the Blackwater Massacre is only a rumor for now, since RDR2 didn't gave more details on that event, which was very recent.

I get the feeling anyone saying Ricketts is ‘lame’ either hasn’t played the 1st game or is just wilfully ignorant.

Before we meet Landon there are stories of him killing dangerous outlaws in addition to surviving the Blackwater massacre. I mean all of these rumours may or may not be true but still we can’t completely omit them.

Then there’s the stuff we ACTUALLY see. Firstly, Landon teaches Marston the third and final level of dead eye, meaning he at least does have a good amount of experience regardless of how true the rumours are. Then he helps defuse a hostage situation, break Luisa out of jail, carrying her on his back despite his advanced age. Then he outruns the goddam Mexican army all while doing a passable job at either dodging or shooting all while on horseback. Finally, he goes against the Mexican army AGAIN and helps save hostages from the colonel deep within Mexican army territory. Again this is all while he is incredibly old, dying of old age in 1914

Plus if we include undead nightmare then he single handedly defends an entire town from the undead

Meanwhile all Calloway does is have a fast hand which you don’t actually need to get into duels and gunfights to do, you can just practice. Meanwhile Key witnesses to his exploits call bull and let me tell you, I’m MUCH more inclined to believe and outlaw on the run than a man about to make total bank on his autobiography, provided his exploits are true.

Well, in my opinion he's still an old skadouchebag that's past his prime.

I preferred the Mexican Army over those crappy and poor rebels anyway.

@Gold Master308 fair point. Ultimately though I’d say that it doesn’t matter whether or not he actually participated in the Blackwater massacre, as we have borderline confirmation that Landon Ricketts at the very least participated in multiple gunfights and killed a notable amount of people, compared to Boy Calloway, who’s adventures appear to be mostly fabricated and relegated to rumor-like sources, while Ricketts is at least reputably formidable enough to be mentioned by lawmen as a dangerous killer.

> he's still an old skadouchebag that's past his prime.

Okay, but this post is about him in his prime.

Like most people here, I'd also say Ricketts. Calloway's biggest tale was that he killed 14 men at Lewsey Hollow, but even the storybook has Ricketts claiming he shot most of them in the back, which I think can be interpreted as the game's way of telling us that everyone knows he's a bit of a fraud - even the storywriters. In any case, Black Belle didn't think much of him and nor did Slim Grant, as Calloway never showed up to a duel (possibly meaning he may be a coward). Calloway also doesn't have much recognition among lawmen or gunslingers, compared to Ricketts, who's generally revered.

Ricketts, on the other hand, is shown to be genuinely respected by the residents of Chuparosa for his competency and he's not at all cowardly. He also teaches John level 3 dead eye, which shows he must be an experienced shootist. So even if his tales are exaggerated too (which they're probably not to the same extent as Calloway anyway), there's at least something to go off based on what we see in-game.

In his prime, Ricketts would've been better anyway. Calloway was never taken seriously so he can't have been anything that striking in his prime. Perhaps above average given that he's got a quick draw, but probably nothing better than that.

Ricketts by a Mile 😂

Same as @Tre Olds