daboyleroy
Member
Mare's leg
Wanted: Dead or Alive was a half-hour Western television show which ran from 1958-1961. It starred Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter Josh Randall. The character was noted for wielding a modified Winchester 1892 .44-40 lever-action rifle called the "Mare's leg". With a reduced stock and a barrel cut down to less than a foot long, Randall could carry it holstered on his hip. It was his signature piece, and now gunmaker Rossi is selling it in .44 magnum, .45 Colt, and .38 special/.357 mangum.
Of this design, Tamara Keel writes:
When I was younger, I used to think cut-down lever guns, a la Steve McQueen's "Mare's Leg" were just the coolest thing ever.
Now that I am older and actually know a little bit about firearms, I think they make about as much sense as a kickstand on a tank.
They still look cool though, and, y'know... Firefly.
"Forget that it's 1877, he was in the Union Army in 1864, which would make him 8-10 years older than his real age at the time. Forget that his sawed off Winchester 1892 didn't exist in this time frame, that it fired short pistol ammunition like .44-40 and possibly .45 Colt, that it couldn't possibly accept the long .30-30 cartridges on his belt that weren't developed until the Winchester 1894 came along. In the first episode he has to bury a murdered doctor and he pulls a U.S. military shovel circa 1944 from under his saddle. While he puts 19th century cuffs on some prisoners, ties some with rope, on one occasion he puts old fashioned leg irons on a prisoner's hands, way too dangerous and way too stupid for a pro like Josh Randall. In a feat too fantastic to believe, an outlaw takes away his sawed off Winchester and removes the firing pin without the aid of tools and without so much as removing the bolt from the receiver. Of course there's also that sawed off rifle of his that sometimes has a D-ring on the lever and sometimes a teardrop ring, a gun barrel that changes from round to hexagon, and a gun barrel that always has a bigger bore than the .30 caliber slug in a .30-30 shell. And let's not forget that the outdoor scenes seldom match the geography of the story lines and that more times than not they use the same western street sound stage for towns ranging from Wyoming to Arizona to Texas with just the store front names changing! All this in just the first half of the first season. LOL "
"Right from the start the show had the coolest lead-in ever with the camera focused squarely on Josh Randall's 'hogleg' as he slowly walks up to a wanted poster and rips it away from the board. There was something 'mighty' intriguing about the lone bounty hunter who brought in many more bad guys alive than dead. And then there was that sawed-off Winchester '86 and those large 45-70 caliber cartridges. I never did figure out how Josh could load so fast. It couldn't have taken more than three rounds in its magazine, but Josh could easily get off four or five rounds in rapid succession. What about Josh's horse? He/she seemed to prefer to walk sideways but could back up as well as Trigger. Great memories, no doubt. I've viewed countless westerns over the years and I am firmly convinced that absolutely no one but Steve McQueen could have played TV's purest bounty hunter. Todays version is colourized and I think that's fantastic. Even my kids will sit and watch from time to time"
One of the "good ole" shows.....for those of us that remember it,,,,along with several others. Opening tunes back then.....know the show just by the music
Bonanza.
Gunsmoke
High Chaparral
The Big Valley
Wagon Train
The Rifleman
Rawhide
Maverick
Have Gun Will Travel
The Wild West
Death Valley Days .....20 Mule Team" Borax, a product mined in Death Valley
No particular order
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