[glockten]

Watching "The Andy Griffith Show" just now, my curiosity was piqued by the gun rack in the sheriff's office. I thought I saw an '03 Springfield in it, but didn't get a good look.

Can anyone ID the guns in Sheriff Taylor's gun rack?

[Dr. Nick Riviera]

All I remembered was shotguns, great post though!!

[glockten]

Welcome to THR, Dr. Nick!

[Justin]

Hi Dr. Nick! :D

[Mark Tyson]

Another Simpsons fanatic joins THR . . .

[Don Gwinn]

HI, Dr. Nick!

[clown714]

IIRC

yes,

'03 and a coupla '92's or '94's and a shotgun or 2.

clown

[Johnny Guest]

I DO remember Andy and someone else, prolly Barney, walking down a rural road on some kind of man hunt. Andy was carrying a scope sighted bolt rifle, typical deer gun.

Funny thing - - I DO remember there being a gun rack, but nothing special in it, as you might see in a small sheriff's office of the time period - - No Thompson, no BAR, no Win 07 or Rem 81, no gas launcher. Maybe just pump shotguns, lever rifles, and such.

Best,
Johnny

[SquirrelNuts]

Some RPG's sure would have spiced the show up though. I remember watching it on TBS as a kid. I do not recall this, but a good dynamite fishing episode would fit that show well.

Good Times.

-SquirrelNuts

[Bowlcut]

Hi Dr. Nick.....

But yea dont think they ever really showed the gun rack in anything other than passing. And this is from watching the 14 hours of andy on tbs a few years in a row :D. And I always wondered where they kept tha ammo cause I dont think I ever saw any around....other than Barney's bullet :neener:

[444]

I remember seeing an episode where Andy was "clearing" a warehouse with a full sized pump shotgun. It looked to me like a Winchester Model 12.

[alarmguy]

I recall seeing an episode when Andy was hunting with an O/U shotgun. I didn't see it close enough to identify the model.

[Red Label]

I too have been always curious as to what kind of guns were in the rack. The one episode with Andy hunting with an O/U also included a Skeet competition against a woman shooter. I believe she beat him if I remember right. Anyway it sure would be interesting to find out the "guns in the rack"

[Mal H]

Red Label - The episode where Andy was solidly beat by the woman is one of my favorites. That wasn't just any actress, she was indeed an actress, but she was also an expert shooter. It was Gail Davis who played Annie Oakley in the TV show of the same name in the 50's. She did her own shooting in that episode, no acting involved.

The moral of the episode was pretty good also. Don't be so sure of yourself if you don't know who you're up against. She played him for all he was worth. He started out all macho and ended up with egg on his face. Priceless.


[Added]
And she was mighty purtty to boot! http://www.skypoint.com/members/schutz19/oakley.htm

[redneck]

I seem to remember an episode where a local goat was suspected to have eaten a case of TNT at an abandoned shack. The townfolk were in a panic and one guy demanded Andy go kill the goat. Andy walked over to the gun rack and thoughtfully picked up one gun, then put it down and picked up a Win 94 (or some sort of levergun) and handed it to the guy "You go right ahead!" :D

[kb0zos]

Have fun ID'ing these

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/748/jn3.JPG

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/748/3theandygriffithshowbarney.jpg

[Titan6]

Zombie Thread.

All I rememeber is the show was solidly anti:

- You almost never needed a gun to catch a bad guy.
- If you had or wanted a gun you were an irresponsible nut or a criminal.
- If you ever tried to use a gun there was a 100% chance that something would go wrong and a good chance the gun would be used against you.

[rocinante]

Another Mayberry fan here. Unlike Barney Andy never holstered a side arm and I can't recall Andy ever using a gun in line of duty. There was one episode where out of town thieves broke into the bank to ransack an empty vault and he was waiting but I can't recall any firearms. Seems everyone in Mayberry was pretty nice even the criminals. The mountain Darlings always were packing but never shot any one. Maybe I am dumb but I can't remember him even having to get physical with anybody either.

The show wasn't pro gun or really anti gun. He just didn't need them. Gun neutral?

[Bruce333]

Andy fires a gun in the episode where Aunt Bea is working at the print shop for counterfeiters. It wasn't his gun though, he took it out of someone else's (Warren?) holster.

[nightscool]

I think Andy strapped a revolver on in the episode where the gold shipment came through town. Also I don't think the show was anti but was meant to be more about idyllic small town life than it was a cop show.

[iafirebuff]

Yes, Andy did strap a holstered sidearm a time or 2 :)

[STW]

Another positive portrayal of guns was one where bank robbers poised as movie makers and, when discovered, one (Gavin McCloud) began to pull a gun on the "sheriff who doesn't carry a gun." Andy pointed out a car load of deputies (Floyd, Goober, and at least one other) all with rifles and/or shotguns pointed out the windows. The situation rapidly deescalated. <g>

[Nate C.]

As a kid, I spent many an afternoon watching reruns of the Andy Griffith show. It came on just as I got home on the school bus. It remains about the only old show that I never seem to get tired of watching.

I don't consider it to be 'anti', just a nostalgic look back.

[lee n. field]

All I rememeber is the show was solidly anti:

Naaah. One show I remember, a guy Sheriff Andy had sent to prison, came back looking for him. Misunderstandings ensue, and Barney gets all excited. Turned out, he wanted to thank Andy for setting him on the right track, and presented him with the gift of a shotgun.

[JR1]

All I rememeber is the show was solidly anti:

- You almost never needed a gun to catch a bad guy.
- If you had or wanted a gun you were an irresponsible nut or a criminal.
- If you ever tried to use a gun there was a 100% chance that something would go wrong and a good chance the gun would be used against you.

Couldn't be more wrong about that. The show often talked about hunting in a positive light. Andy never hesitated to use a gun when need be. He did holster up on several occasions. There was the episode with the lady skeet shooter. There was also an episode in which Barney participated in a pistol match of some kind.

If anything it was pro-gun.

[Titan6]

Couldn't be more wrong about that. The show often talked about hunting in a positive light. Andy never hesitated to use a gun when need be. He did holster up on several occasions. There was the episode with the lady skeet shooter.

Well remember hunting and skeet are approved activities by more than 50% of the democratic Party so they are okay. Just because they have been chased off of mainstream TV these days does not mean that once the other side held that they were not okay.

There was also an episode in which Barney participated in a pistol match of some kind.

Must have been a single shot match as he was too incompetent to carry more than one bullet.

[Avenger29]

Some RPG's sure would have spiced the show up though. I remember watching it on TBS as a kid. I do not recall this, but a good dynamite fishing episode would fit that show well.


They went better than fishing with dynamite. One episode featured a goat that had eaten dynamite...

[lookn4varmints]

I remember a bunch of shotguns (Gomer on the roof and then Andy has to tell him to take the gun out of his mouth) LOL!

I, also, remember one lever action, unscoped rifle. Remember when Andy's aunt and uncle came for a visit. The uncle's name was Ollie. Ollie visited Andy in the office one day and pulled a lever action off the rack and dry fired it a bunch of times while boasting of how he taught Andy to shoot. :banghead:

IMHO, AG was one of the best shows in all of TV history!

[spwenger]

Unlike Barney Andy never holstered a side arm and I can't recall Andy ever using a gun in line of duty.
...is that Andy did not routinely holster a sidearm but, when he felt the need to be armed would usually take a full-length, ribbed pump shotgun out of that rack, rather than a typical police "riot gun." I am also under the impression that the rack and its contents varied over the years but that it usually contained a few lever-action rifles, along with anything else that the property master had in it at any particular time.

[Red Label]

Cool isn't it. Question is still out there. Anyone ID the guns? Oh by the way. Andy used a gun quite a bit in the shows. It seemed like his go to gun was usually a shotgun.

[rust collector]

Rack contents did indeed change from show to show, but was a generic assortment of nondescript rifles and shotguns.

No anti gun content at all, unless the message that guns are not a solution to every problem is anti...

I enjoyed the show back then and still do. Thoughtful plots and great casting made for an engaging reminder of what can be lost in the name of progress.

[Halo]

I remember one episode where Andy was cycling the action of a rifle to unload the tube magazine. I don't remember which episode that was though.

That is truly a timeless show. I was born well after its heyday, but since it's required viewing for North Carolinians I know most of the episodes. The B&W ones at least. I don't like the post-Barney ones nearly as much.

[trailgator]

It was a lot better when it was black and white. Don Knotts quit because Andy Griffith was quitting (until a last minute contract agreement). The show went from B&W to color, and wasn't quite the same after that.

[CaptMac]

The bolt gun is actually a Carcano you can see the hole the clip drops through in some episodes when the camera focuses on Barney sitting there by the radio.

[35Rem]

Saw the one about the guy Andy shot that came back and gave him a shotgun for changing his life Last Night. Pretty cool. Looked like a Remington 11-48, but it wasn't on screen very long. It was interesting how Andy threw it about 15 feet across the room onto the couch when Barney turned the lights off in the house to catch the guy by surprise. Not so good gun handling skills...

[Halo]

How about a rendition of good ol' 14-A?

[El Barto]

Great show. I always viewed it as being pro-gun if anything because they showed guns as being a "matter of fact" and a tool when needed. Andy always got one when necessary but only when justified. I got the idea that Andy didn’t need to carry a gun because of how peaceful Mayberry was and Andy’s belief that men were actually good in nature.

Remember the one where Andy was going to arrest some old farmer and the guy kept shooting at him but Andy kept on walking up to the house? The farmer got a little too close to Andy’s hand by the fencepost and that only made Andy angry?

How about the time the carnival came to town and Opie lost money on the rigged shooting game but Andy showed up and cleaned the guy out.

Good times….


As a side note, the Police Chief where my dad lives has held that position since 1970. Is that a record?

[Iggy]

Andy took a 30-30 out of the rack and handed it to the Mayor and told him to shoot a goat full of dynamite yesterday on re-runs....:eek:

[trailgator]

How about the time the carnival came to town and Opie lost money on the rigged shooting game but Andy showed up and cleaned the guy out.

Funny, I'm reminded of that episode every time I watch the beginning of Michael Bane's "Shooting Gallery" show. :)

[W.E.G.]

In before the lock! :D

[doc2rn]

Andy kept his gun in the holster in the top right hand drawer of the desk. He usually pulled it out put it back and grabbed a rifle. I was addicted to that show growing up. I havent seen an episode in probably 20 yrs.

[takhtakaal]

http://starpacker.com/cgi-bin/store2/html/images/barny.jpg

[lonegunman]

http://http://www.andygriffithshow.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=1263&fullsize=1



http://http://www.andygriffithshow.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=9&pos=6


http://http://www.andygriffithshow.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=23


It looks like it varied.