[Tacblack]

What caliber was the rifle used on the TV show The Rifleman. Just wondered if anyone knew.

[Kevlarman]

I know it was a Winchester "Trails End" rifle that Connors used, and that it was availabe in .357 magnum, .44 magnum, and .45 Colt. Which he used, I have no clue.

[GW45]

It's on a website - type in Lucas McCain Rilfe Caliber and it will bring up a few sites - one of those has where you can buy one or have yours converted.

I looked and it said it was a 44-40.

Bought my dad the 2 dvd set and was curious waht it was too - so I looked it up.

[Mal H]

I believe the "Trail's End" model came out in the late 1990's when Cowboy Action Shooting took off. Since The Rifleman show was in the 50's or early 60's, it kinda predates the TE.

[foghornl]

Sort of vaugely remeber The Rifleman series. A couple of references to ".44-40 cartridges" float around my brain.

[Skullboy]

The rifle Chuck Conners used was a modified Winchester Model 1892.It was either chambered in .38-40, or .44-40.The handguard had a set screw at the rear of the trigger guard that tripped the trigger when the lever was closed.This was the secret to he rapid firing.Also, for the trivia buffs, when Chuck is walking down the street in the opening of the show, you here him fire 11 rounds.He actually only fires 10 rounds, and the 11th round was dubbed in to time out with the music.

The 1995 issue of the Guns & Ammo Annual has a article on famous western movie guns.The coolest one in the article was the cut down Winchester Model 1892 called the "Mares Leg" used by Steve McQueen in the show Wanted - Dead or Alive.

SKBY.

[BenW]

I've been watching the Rifleman reruns now that they're back on the Hallmark channel. I distinctly remember on the "ballistic fingerprinting" episode that Lucas says he uses 44-40. So that's the cartridge in the storyline. I don't know if the rifle used was actually chambered for same.

[9mmepiphany]

ok now that we've settled that...how about mcqueen's gun

which calibre was it? i though the extra rounds on his belt were 30-30 or was it a double row of pistol cartridges.

[triggertime]

If memory serves, Josh Randall's "Mare's Leg" was chambered in .44-40, but producer John Robinson didn't think .44-40 looked fearsome enough. So Randall's shell loops were made to actually hold .45-70 cartridges.

[MrAcheson]

Dunno about the Mare's Leg, but his belt was full of .45-70 cartridges.

[Skullboy]

Triggertime is correct on the cartridges.I have the magazine article right in front of me.The .44-40 rounds didn't have the same visual effect the .45-70 rounds did.So they used the larger rounds in "Josh Randle's" gun belt.

There was a limited edition non-firing replica made of the "Mares Leg" by Robert Lanthier.It had to be made non-firing due to federal law.

Quote the article:
"Even more excited than the viewers was the U.S. Treasury Department, for the gun had inadvertantly fallen afoul of the governments machine-gun law.Legalities were quickly settled when the producer agreed to pay a $500.00 manufacturers tax,plus a $200.00 tax for each of the 3 guns that had been built for the show, making them the most expensive firearms used in any TV Western at the time."

The two round barrel "Mares Legs" have disappeared,but the third(an octagon barrel) is on display at the Gene Autry Museum in Los Angeles.

SKBY.