The Rifleman

Kaeto said:

They also added a plate on the top of the rifles so the shell wouldn't fly out when he spun cocked the thing. He did sometimes use a saddle scabbard that had the rifle butt sticking out behind his saddle.
After the series ended Chuck kept one of the rifles and had it at his home until he died. Johnny Crawford who played the son has said that Chuck was like a second father to him.

Chuck Connors also starred in a short lived series called Cowboy in Africa. That series was based on the adventures of Jim Fowler (Marlin Perkins sidekick on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom). About live capturing animals for zoos using cutting horses and lassoing them like they were cattle.

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Chuck Connors also starred in a TV series called "ARREST AND TRIAL," playing a lawyer. This show was curiously similar to today's "LAW AND ORDER" series -- even to the format of the show. It's interesting to see him, an actor seen most often in western garb, all spiff ed up in a tie and business suit arguing the law. I sorta wondered.,..if he lost a case, did he bring out that ol' Winchester and start spinning it?
It is on DVD if anyone is interested.

Acera said:

In the show, it did not have a tab that could be folded, it had a screw that could be backed out. Just tricks of the filmmakers trade.

Look closely and you can see it on the bottom of the trigger guard.

Got that picture from the following link, you will also notice regarding the OPs point, half of the pictures are left handed shooting/holding and half are right handed shooting/holding position.

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/The_Rifleman




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I can tell you I had a Rifleman cap gun (rifle) when I was a kid and it had the same little lever you could flip down and "rapid fire" with the lever only!

Still one of my favorite shoes from the old days. Wasn't Chick also an olympic athlete? An original Boston Celtic, the rifleman always had a strong moral for each show. Johnny Crawford played a great part also. Both were class acts.

It seems that the show was anti handgun. Lucas never packed a handgun and as pointed out earlier, he even jerry rigged a stock when he was forced to use one.
The bad guys had handguns.

.308 Norma said:

Yeah, I see it. Interesting! Thanks!
I was a little older than bangswitch in 1963, when the show was cancelled - I was 15. But the episode I was referring to in my post, where I noticed Chuck Connors was firing both left handed and right handed, was shown earlier today. A local television station shows two, back to back episodes of both "The Rifleman" and "Gunsmoke" every afternoon here, right after one episode of "Bonanza." Those shows, along with participating on THR forum make for some pretty decent entertainment while I'm stuck inside on these cold, wet and muddy afternoons.

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i watch it on amc on a lot of cold and wet saturday mornings.

X-Rap said:

It seems that the show was anti handgun. Lucas never packed a handgun and as pointed out earlier, he even jerry rigged a stock when he was forced to use one.
The bad guys had handguns.

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I question your questionable logic.

An old friend's mother dated Mr. Connors back in the 1960s. He was known as a fine gentleman.

Berger.Fan222 said:

Over the course of my adult life, I've done about 20% of my rifle shooting left-handed. Similar with pistol. Killed a couple of deer that way also, due to unique circumstances where the right handed shot was obstructed, but the left handed shot was available. Some of the NRA Qualifications require shooting with the non-dominant hand also. For me, it just makes sense for a proficient rifleman to have some level of capabilities with both hands.

Thanks for the reminder. I bet we could all stand a bit more practice with the non-dominant hand.

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Inspired by this thread, I hit the range yesterday for some left handed practice. Been a while since I practiced left handed with a sling. Accuracy is improving, but still lots of room for growth.

Handgun is OK left handed with two hands, but need a lot more practice with one hand lefty.

Great thread , unfortunitly I can't contribute to it. The rifleman is certainly my go to show at nights and Sunday mornings for a looooooong time. Did ya know Chuck was the first to break a "backboard" in b bal? hehe
It wasn't a slam dunk but loose bolts on the rim and Cucks mightly ball handling that shattered the glass 1946.
Any new information brings new light to big fans of the show.

Ya might want to consider contacting the folks over at the
http://www.therifleman.net and see if they would want elements or a paper on the topic to add to the site, many American Rifleman would appreciate it!
Also if anyone is interested check out Mike Dimuzio " The Rifleman"
also check out https://www.riflemanconnors.com/riflemanconnors_index_page.htm
The wikipedia on The Rifleman is quite extensive on details as well.

edited ,
Why doesn't the Rifleman use a handgun?
In the episode The Angry Gun Lucas is quoted saying "Im a rancher, I use my gun for hunting animals, not men.

I've known shooters who can shoot either side with no appreciable difference. That's a non issue for me as far the show goes. That said the Rifleman is hardly a documentary of Old West life.

witchhunter said:

Still one of my favorite shoes from the old days. Wasn't Chick also an olympic athlete? An original Boston Celtic, the rifleman always had a strong moral for each show. Johnny Crawford played a great part also. Both were class acts.

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And the Brooklyn Dodgers. One of a few who played two professional sports.

He was also drafted by the Chicago Bears, so that's three. He was a big guy almost as big as James Arness.

My dad is left-handed (now in his 80's). Except he writes right-handed because that is how he was taught in school and shoots right-handed because that was how he was taught in the Army.

Like others have mentioned - it was something from that age.

In that age to be left handed was to be thought of inferior intelligence.

Maybe he's like Matthew Quigley.

Crawdad1 said:

He was also drafted by the Chicago Bears, so that's three. He was a big guy almost as big as James Arness.

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.
.He was drafted but never played for the Bears or any AAFC or NFL team.

Speaking of John Wayne's Stagecoach rifle, it is here in OKC at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, along with a lot of other memorabilia from him and other old time western movie and TV stars. A really neat gallery where you will recognize a number of items and say "Hey I remember that from movie X!"

I had one of those rifles as a kid. I couldn't seem to operate it like Lucas could though. I also had a snub nose pistol and lever action rifle that shot plastic bullets that were reloadable. There was a spring in the case, the plastic bullet snapped into the end of the case. The bullet had small tabs on the outside so that when it was squeezed by the cylinder wall when the hammer hit it, it shot out of the shell and out the barrel. Kind of cool at the time. I think Mattel made them.
-mike

Mattel Shootin' Shells.
Gotta have the Greenie Stick 'Em caps on the back end to make the package complete.
Denis

I am not sure this information will be accepted but Chuck Conners also made other "Movies". He starred in at least one porn film. My buddy saw stills from the movie. And he wasn't with a woman. I would never have believed it but the guy who told me about it was totally trustworthy.

As for being left handed the term for it is Sinistrous. The root word for Sinistrous is Sinister. A long time ago left handed people were considered evil and in league with the Devil who is always shown to be left handed. The former president was left handed by the way...

Ratshooter said:

I am not sure this information will be accepted but Chuck Conners also made other "Movies". He starred in at least one porn film. My buddy saw stills from the movie. And he wasn't with a woman. I would never have believed it but the guy who told me about it was totally trustworthy.

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Horse crap!!!! Nothing but internet bull ****. I figured sooner or later someone was going to show up with crap like that.

Well Crawdad I was told about this around 1976, way before the internet. My buddy had the magazine with the pictures. If you don't want to believe it that's your choice. You may not know it but not everything comes from the internet.

Those pictures have been proven to be fakes.

I figured it was around the 70's with the rumors about Rock Hudson, everyone was trying to dig up dirt on every leading actor in Hollywood.
They have been proven without a doubt to be fake. As Dog said.

My apologies for my post above, Ratshooter.