I watched an old episode of the "Rifleman" tonight and could not ID the Winchester he carries. Is it an 1872 .44-40??

No idea what model but I heard that it among other Hollywood guns were just sold at auction. I looked to see the sold prices but couldn't find it.

Most Hollywood leverguns were M92 Winchesters.

Most Hollywood leverguns were M92 Winchesters.

Did any come standard with the big loop lever or was that Hollywood crap??

I'm not aware of all the options available for the Winchester leverguns.

IT WAS A 1892 AND HOLLY WOOD PUT ON THE LEVER.guns of the old west mag has an article on that gun.remember 1894s only were made in pistol cal.the last 15yrs?

Do they still those in working configurations? How cool would it be to have that kind of lever action rifle?

check with Legacy Sports, EMF and Navy Arms. The Rossi has been offered with the loop lever on a couple of occasions, but cannot remember by whom. Check with Stevesguns.com (Port Arthur, TX) he may be able to help you with that loop lever. Chuck Connors' 1892's was put together by his arms coach, Rod Reddwing. I understand he had two Winchesters for most work and an El Tigre carbine for use in saddle scabbards just in case the stock got rowdy. The set screw for the trigger was added after the pilot was shot as well as the plunger above the chamber.

IT WAS A 1892 AND HOLLY WOOD PUT ON THE LEVER.guns of the old west mag has an article on that gun.remember 1894s only were made in pistol cal.the last 15yrs?

Was this one a .44-40? I try to count the shots in the opening scene and I get 14 most of the times?

They were reported to be .44WCF. 14 shots? Welcome to Hollywood! Remember their one true standard-never let reality stand in the way of exciting editing! Other interesting side notes-Connors' was totally ambidexterous thereby avoiding reversed negatives and his Winchesters had full 20 inch barrels while John Wayne's was shortened.

There was an article in Guns and Ammo a couple of months back that told about the guns. Don't know the validity of the article but it seemed believable.

The article is in the February issue of Guns and Ammo. It starts on page 66.

I think the official count is 11 shots, but I've always counted 12 shots fired in the opening sequence. This was backed up by wikipedia as well. They also said the gun was actually supposed to hold 9 shots.

Was this one a .44-40? I try to count the shots in the opening scene and I get 14 most of the times?
The recent G&A article written about the rifle confirms the studio adding an extra round. :)

Great article, too.

Chuck Connor's gun was a Win. 1892 in 44-40. I read an article in the American Rifleman awhile back about Chuck Connors and his gun. I remember the article saying Chuck designed and rigged up the gun himself. The author claimed that Chuck figured out the set screw arrangement for the rapid fire scenes and would back it off for normal use.

When I was a Kid that was one of my Favorite TV shows. I can still picture and here the opening of the show with Luke McCain firing off the "92" and then the announcer saying --- "The Rifleman, staring Chuck Connors", and then he would say the name of the boy who played Luke McCain's son, Mark. I can still picture the Sheriff's face as well. That and "Gunsmoke" -- my how things have changed.

Regards:
Rod

Chuck Connor's gun was a Win. 1892 in 44-40. I read an article in the American Rifleman awhile back about Chuck Connors and his gun. I remember the article saying Chuck designed and rigged up the gun himself. The author claimed that Chuck figured out the set screw arrangement for the rapid fire scenes and would back it off for normal use.

When I was a Kid that was one of my Favorite TV shows. I can still picture and here the opening of the show with Luke McCain firing off the "92" and then the announcer saying --- "The Rifleman, staring Chuck Connors", and then he would say the name of the boy who played Luke McCain's son, Mark. I can still picture the Sheriff's face as well. That and "Gunsmoke" -- my how things have changed.

Regards:
Rod

I saw the same article. Thre was a set screw in the lever that engaged the trigger when the lever was worked. It would fira as fast as he could work the lever, then just back off the screw when not needed.

As Blackhawk44 referred to the longer barrel, it's important to note that Chuck Conners was a long tall drink of water. Having those long arms was how he could spin that long thing. I read an old article (by Rick Hacker maybe?) where the author got to look at one of the actual rifles once, and couldn't resist the childhood urge to spin-cock it, whereupon he cracked himself in the head.

I found a website a couple of years ago that talked about some of those gimmick guns from the old westerns, like this one and the "Mare's Laig from "Wanted Dead or Alive".
Darned if I could find it now, but it was pretty interesting. It had a lot of scanned articles on the guns from gun magazines of the era. It might be worth looking for if one was that interested.