The Old West may have quieted down over the past century, but the Arizona Gunfighters are determined to keep its wild history alive.

“It was a simpler time, when good and bad was more defined than it is now,” says Bob Charnes, who founded the 13-year-old organization with his wife, Dale Charnes, and the late Corky Corkran.

The group now performs gunfight re-enactments at least once a month throughout the state. The original troupe of 29 participants has increased to more than 60, and the players’ ages range from 7 to 73.

“They get into a part, and they're a whole different person,” Charnes says. “That's part of the allure of it; you can be someone else for a moment.”

That's what happened when Jeff Johnson of Apache Junction joined the Gunfighters six years ago.

“I thought, ‘Not only can I read about it, but now I can re-enact it!’” he says. “It's a joy to get into our outfits to perform in front of a group. When we get done with the show, people come up to us and say, ‘My God, it felt like I was actually there.’”

The Arizona Gunfighters have several tightly choreographed fights to choose from when they perform. On Saturday at Mesa's Rockin’ R Ranch, the group will re-enact the shootout at Tombstone's OK Corral, where the Earps and Doc Holliday battled it out with the Clantons and McLaurys.

Charnes says it's one of the Arizona Gunfighters’ most popular acts.

“I think it sort of gets back to the historical aspect of it, especially for people who are new to Arizona who have always heard of this particular event,” he says. “What's interesting to me about it is it remains a subject of controversy 124 years after the fact. You would think the gunfight itself would have been the end of it, but it wasn't.” Other acts include “House of the Rising Sun,” written by Dale Charnes.

“When the show is on, you're in the 1880s, you're doing what you'd do in the 1880s, and you're in character,” Dale says. “Historically, we try to keep it accurate.” Performing can be a lot of work, but it's fun, too, according to Bob: “Where else can you empty a .45 into somebody and have them get up and say, ‘OK, let's go do it again’?”