"Rifleman" question finally answered

[jeanp1948]

I'm new to the lever-gun forum. I admit I'm not knowledgeable on levers. I'm a bolt action WW2 rifle/pistol collector and shooter. But I'm also 60 and remember Chuck Connors on the "Rifleman" real well and am watching the reruns on Plex Channel right now. I have never had these questions answered definitely:

1. Is his lever-gun a 1876 Winchester?
2. Is it a .44-40 caliber?
3. How many shots does he fire in the opening sequence of the show?
4. Any other pertinent info you could give me.

Please e-mail me at jeanbarb@verizon.net as I haven't figured out how to have a thread re-routed to my email account by using the directions.

[Hillbilly]

Guns and Ammo or one of the others ran a story on this very subect.

the rifle is a 92 win... there are at least 2 and a Mexican El Tigre that were made for the show.

I think he fires 7... if you are a musician they hit the tempo of the theme

the carbine is made up with a set screw in the lever...that screw can be turned in long enough to trip the trigger when the lever closes.

Conners was a long armed tall guy.. he played pro baseball and basketball in the 40's and 50's...he could spin cock with either hand.

My great uncle played minor leauge baseball with Conners... never liked him. Ed said he had a nasty temper and was a really poor looser.

[FWiedner]

I think he fired 12 shots.

[draperjojo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTRZ88WMWQQ

[Hillbilly]

it may have been 12... i watch Rifleman on dish channel 342 a couple times a week and never can count them....

i think I read those carbines are 44-40... Conners ended up with one of the studio guns in his personal collection.

Jeff

[Hagler]

jeanp1948,

Lucas McCain used a Winchester 1892, .44-40. Here is the lever:



Lucas, apparently, fires 12 rounds at the beginning of each show. If you ever get to see the opening sequence where Lucas walks out of the shadows, and onto a dimly-lit street, then you will see him:

1) Swing the rifle behind him, to load a round.
2) Drop to his knee, and work the lever to fire-off 12 rounds.
3) Stand up and flip the rifle in front of himself, then "blow smoke" out of the closed action.

That means that he loaded 13 rounds. His rifle holds, what 11 rounds?

I should also say that I have observed that, often enough, characters on the series treat McCain's rifle as though it were a sixshooter. Several times, after Lucas squeezes off 5-to-6 rounds, a secondary character comments on how Lucas is out of ammunition. On the other end of the count, I have seen Lucas fire something like 23 shots without reloading, then come up, ready to shoot more boolits.

These two Web sites will give more information:

http://www.riflemanconnors.com/

http://www.riflemansrifle.com/

Also, be it known that The Rifleman takes place in the early 1880s. The rifle in question did not exist until 1892. A couple times on the show, we see characters with crates of new rifles being delivered or opened. The crate may have something written on it, like "Carbine .44-40". What the charater takes out of the crate(s) is a Winchester 1892 carbine, all standard issue, nothing fancy.

Chuch gave away the rifles from the series. Golfer Arnold Palmer got one of them. You can see it in Florida, at the Golfers Hall of Fame. I heard Sammy Davis Junior got one, too. I am uncertain of where the third one went. Chuck Connors had at least three other rifles made, for his use during personal appearances. The author of a recent magazine article (who/ which one?) owns one of these "second three" rifles. I remember he said it hung on the wall at Chuck's house. The author finally got up the "courage" to shoot it like McCain did.

...and, Chuck Connors was somewhere between 6'5" tall, and 6'6" tall. He played both pro basketball, and pro baseball. During his time in the U.S. Army, he played sports whenever he could. He moonlighted in sports!

Shawn

[jeanp1948]

Thanks for the info friends. I also thought I could count 13 shots in his opening sequence. I also knew the show was set in New Mexico in the late 1870, or early 1880's so the '92 wasn't around then so I thought maybe the '76 in .44-40 was accurate but wasn't sure.

jeanp1948

[DPris]

Fired 12 shots, sound of the 13th was dubbed in by the sound guys.
Denis

[Hobie]

Also, it is the 1873 that was chambered for the .44 WCF (.44-40) not the 1876 which is a scaled up version of the 1873 (or visa versa depending on the author) chambered for much larger cartridges.

[getitdone1]

Go to this site for bio and grave site of Chuck Connors.

www.findagrave.com

Also many other famous and not famous people can be found there.

Don McCullough

[Gun Smith]

As I have mentioned before, I actually worked on one of the series' guns. I worked in a refinishing shop in San Diego that reblued dozens of guns for the movie and TV business. Over the years we have all given up on the entertainment business being accurate in it's use of period firearms. Although there have been a few films and TV series that have tried to do a better job of using period correct replicas for their productions. Remember, Hollywood is not a "gun savey" town, and they create their productions for the maximum action value over historical reality.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Fired 12 shots, sound of the 13th was dubbed in by the sound guys.
Denis

Denis,
If it was 13 fired they would have had to dub in two extra shots. The 20" win 92 carbine will only hold 11 rounds.

Over the five year run of the series there was a total of 4 wins and 1 El tigre used. It is believed that the El tigre was given to Sammy Davis jr. who guest starred in two episodes. The first two winchesters were develope by Rodd Redwing of Stembridge gun rentals. The later guns were made by Mo Hunt of North Fork production before Mo Died. It's not clear if Mo made the later show guns or just the guns after the show but I do know Mo did end up with one of the original show guns.
Before Mo died he and I became acquainted because of our mutual interest. He sent me an autographed pic of Johnny Crawford, McCain's son mark in the series.

[rock-steady]

Could the blank cartridges OAL have been short enough to allow 11 in the tube and 1 in the chamber?

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Could the blank cartridges OAL have been short enough to allow 11 in the tube and 1 in the chamber?

The most common blanks used were the 5 in 1's. They are as long as the 44-40. If there was one in the chamber it would have fired with the lever in the up position.

[DPris]

Hi Steve,
Somewhere around here I have a copy of an early 1960's article written by Rod Redwing on the gun & Connors.
Can't find it, but I recall it saying one shot was dubbed in. Looking at Wikipedia (who's NEVER wrong ), it said Connors fired 13 shots in the opener, one more than the rifle held.
From the article & other sources over the years, I've always heard one shot was dubbed, so that's consistent at least.
Much as I hate to say it, Wiki done let me down on the overall count.
Denis

[lever-4-life]

There was also a rifle that was taken to photo op's and meet and greets. it is a 92 .44wcf, I held that one

[Gun Smith]

Fellow above mentioned Sammy Davis Jr. I did a lot of plating for him. He was a GUN NUT! Worst gun I ever plated was a Browning Superposed for him. After we plated the gun I had to completely refit every part. It took me hours! Sammy also had one of the fastest draws in Hollywood.
I think I have read that there were a total of 6 flip specials, three in the series and three that Chuck had built that he used on tours after the series was over. If I remember right the original 3 were owned by the Stembridge gun rental company. I worked one of the M.92's and not the El Tigre copy.

[rangerider7]

I have an "El Tigre" in 44-40. It is a fun carbine to use as a truck gun. They are not as slick as the winchester 1892s but just as accurate. At least this one is.

[Hagler]

Just in time:

http://www.riflemansrifle.com/may1960.htm

The whole article about the Flip Special is on that page.

Shawn