[3] It is perhaps best known for Robbins's most successful single, "El Paso," a major hit on both the country and pop music charts, as well as for its opening track, "Big Iron," a song that gained a resurgence in popularity online as an Internet meme after its inclusion in the 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas.

In 2017, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

"[9] In 1999 the album was reissued for compact disc on the Legacy Records label with the tracks resequenced and with three bonus tracks: the full length version of "El Paso," the B-side "Saddle Tramp" and the film song "The Hanging Tree."

It was part of Sony's American Milestones reissue series for classic country and western albums including, among others, At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash and Red Headed Stranger by Willie Nelson.

In 2010, "Big Iron" was featured in Obsidian Entertainment's role-playing video game Fallout: New Vegas as a track on the in-game radio.