The Rifleman’s Rifle

During the 1950s and 60s, American television featured many Western-style series and films, as it was a favorite genre of the time.

In order for The Rifleman series to stand out from the rest, producers wanted to add a little flare to the main rifle used by Chuck Connors’s character Lucas McCain.

McCain was seen with a Winchester Model 1892 rifle that had a large ring lever addition, which allowed him to spin it around his hand to cock the rifle, as well as fire rapidly during the show and for the famous opening credits of the multiple gunshots.

Western fans were impressed by the rifle skills, giving this show an edge over all the rest.

Some of these die-hard Western fans may have picked up on one little detail that wasn’t quite accurate about this rifle, however.

As the show was taking place in the 1870s and 1880s, those who knew the model of the rifle would have noticed that it was the 1892 Winchester model, which means that technically it wouldn’t have existed for Lucas to be carrying around just yet.

Though most audiences would not have picked up on this fact, the producers were more interested in the above fact of how to make the show different and more interesting, hence using this model, which was modified to be able to perform the well-known tricks.

The show included a host of talented actors in the cast, starring Chuck Connors as the widowed ranch owner Lucas McCain and a young Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark.

Set in a small town in New Mexico territory, the show depicted the hard and dangerous life of ranch life during the 1870s and 80s.

The show aired for a successful five seasons – a long series of its time. It still warms fans’ hearts and brings on nostalgia for the older generations who grew up watching The Rifleman.

Chuck Connors starred in the Disney box office hit Old Yeller in 1957. His great acting on screen, coupled with charisma and confidence revealed just how valuable this actor really was.

The Rifleman was set to take place in the 1870s and 1880s, according to all of the backend information of the historical references and show notes.

The model that McCain carried in the show was the modified 1892 Winchester rifle with a large ring lever – allowing him to do the memorable handgun spinning. So since that model of rifle wasn’t actually made yet (considering when the show was taking place) this left some gun and history fans a little annoyed at the inaccuracy.

Claiming to have a valuable piece of history as part of the show’s props, Arnold Laven, The Rifleman’s producer said in one interview that Connors used the same famous rifle in the show as John Wayne used in the western legendary film Stagecoach.

The opening credits that came with each weekly episode featured 12 shots being fired with the rifle, which was supposedly an 1892 .44-40 Winchester model rifle. This claim confused some people, however…

Winchester Model 1895 Takedown Rifle (serial no. 81851), American, New Haven, Connecticut, 1913. Artist Winchester Repeating Arms Company. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

Straight from the start, The Rifleman became a favorite TV show of the time, ranking #4 in American television shows during its first season from 1958-1959.

Out of the 43,950,000 households that owned a television in America, 14,600,000 were the number of viewers for this series.

The Rifleman lost its place in the top 30 from 1962-1963.