Saw the '92 John Wayne used in the Searchers

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Just got back from Hollywood and saw on display the '92 John Wayne used in the Searchers. The oversized loop would be described as a butcher job if any of us had paid a gunsmith to have it done. I was surprised the find the barrel full length, I thought I heard somewhere that John Wayne had the barrel shortened to prevent cutting his face with the front sight when he spun it. Looked like the serial number was 88,000 range.

There was a document on display with the rifle. Nothing really to describe anything about the gun. I suspect this was the same rifle used by Chuck Conners in The Rifleman but there were no notes referencing that.

The rifle is a part of the Warner Bros Studio tour. Also on display is the suit Clint Eastwood wore in the bank robbery shootout scene in the original Dirty Harry and the Gran Torino from the movie of the same name.

[fouronesix]

The Duke's loop lever 92, and I think there may have been more that one variation used in his movies, was different than the Rifleman's. I think the Rifleman's was made especially for Connors and was modified a couple of times to "fit" his size and technique in prep for the series. It has a set screw type stub added to the trigger guard so that when the lever is brought up into full battery, the set screw stub hits the trigger and fires the rifle. Interesting that the Rifleman series is set in Southern NM in the 1870s and the rifle is a Win 92. Guess they had to use the 92 instead of the 73 to fit the design requirements of the "semi-auto" part of the story.

[jh45gun]

JW probably had several I had read too the one he used in stagecoach was shortened. Maybe the better he got with it the less he worried about battering his prominent beak. LOL Connors also had several at least three of them I had read and McQueen had more than one mares leg too he had several also.

[DaveCampbell]

I have held the '92 that John Wayne used in "Stagecoach." Yakima Canut and Wayne collaborated on the large-loop lever to allow Wayne to twirl it. The barrel was shortened to 15 inches before the NFA nonsense occurred, but it is now registered as a short-barreled rifle. It was one of two rifles so modified. Movie guns are always made in at least pairs, in case one gets messed up during production.

I also had the opportunity to fondle the "Rifleman" rifle Chuck Connors used in the television series. It has a screw threaded into the lever to allow Connors to shoot it as the lever closes. Thankfully, blanks don't recoil much otherwise Connors would have probably gotten injured.

BTW, the Mare's Leg that Steve McQueen used in "Wanted Dead or Alive" has an aluminum barrel capable of only firing blanks in order to get by the NFA requirements.

I was able to enjoy playing with these guns when I worked at the NRA and they were on loan to the National Firearms Museum. They had to go through or photography studio before they went on display.

[jh45gun]

The original Mare’s Leg was made by cutting down a .44-40 caliber Winchester Model 1892 rifle to a size that could be worn in a large leg holster and used with one hand. The barrel was cut down to a length of twelve (or possibly nine) inches, and much of the butt-stock was removed. For filming three guns were actually made, each with an enlarged loop on the cocking lever. The first gun differed in the size of its lever enlargement, and the last gun had an octagonal barrel instead of a round one. The actual gun being used could sometimes change from shot to shot in a given scene. While the guns were chambered for the .44-40 round.

[oldred]

Interesting that the Rifleman series is set in Southern NM in the 1870s and the rifle is a Win 92. Guess they had to use the 92 instead of the 73 to fit the design requirements of the "semi-auto" part of the story.


Nothing unusual about that those idiots (and I didn't stutter!) in Hollywood rarely got anything right when it came to guns of the old west, just look at how often 92 Winchesters are used during the civil war era! One thing about Hollywood westerns they never let facts get in the way of the story no matter how ridiculous it was!

[429421Cowboy]

I saw one of his rifles, I believe the original used in "Stagecoach", on display at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City a couple years back that he and Yakima Canutt "modified" and I too was struck by how poorly welded and finished the job was. Looked like a heat-n-beat job and grafted a another strip of flat stock into the loop, it certainly was not a professional job!

[jh45gun]

Well that is what it was Canutt was no gunsmith he was a great stuntman and part time actor.

[KCSO]

If you reference "I Taught Teh Rifleman to Shoot" fom Guns Magazine you will get the article by Rod Redwing who was the coach for Steve and Chuck. He goes into the making of the guns and the modifications necessary to make them work. Chuck's rifle originally didn't have the set screw and the opening shot Chuck is actualy working the trigger with his finger. They changed the gun because he pinched his finger and as both a pro basketball and baseball player they didn't want to take a chance with damaging his fingers. The Rifleman gun also had a modification to the action to keep the rounds from dropping out as the gun was spun. I have the detail in my shop notes somewhere. The mares leg of Steve's would have had a 9" barrel at most and would have only held 5 rouds of 44-40 at most. It also had no sights. According to Redwing Steve got to be about as fast on the draw as a regular revolver man and actually practiced shooting live ammo on occasion. Chuck was darn near as good with live ammo as could be as Redwing says he could regularly bounce a can across the ground hip shooting. When I saw him as a young man he was spinning both rifles one in each hand and could pop off blanks like crazy.

[Char-Gar]

There are several John Wayne big loop Winchester 92s in collections and museums around the country. He had and used more than one.

[jh45gun]

If you reference "I Taught Teh Rifleman to Shoot" fom Guns Magazine you will get the article by Rod Redwing who was the coach for Steve and Chuck. He goes into the making of the guns and the modifications necessary to make them work. Chuck's rifle originally didn't have the set screw and the opening shot Chuck is actualy working the trigger with his finger. They changed the gun because he pinched his finger and as both a pro basketball and baseball player they didn't want to take a chance with damaging his fingers. The Rifleman gun also had a modification to the action to keep the rounds from dropping out as the gun was spun. I have the detail in my shop notes somewhere. The mares leg of Steve's would have had a 9" barrel at most and would have only held 5 rouds of 44-40 at most. It also had no sights. According to Redwing Steve got to be about as fast on the draw as a regular revolver man and actually practiced shooting live ammo on occasion. Chuck was darn near as good with live ammo as could be as Redwing says he could regularly bounce a can across the ground hip shooting. When I saw him as a young man he was spinning both rifles one in each hand and could pop off blanks like crazy.

I had heard about McQueen shooting live ammo which is why he called it a mares leg because of the recoil. I had also heard that he was as fast with it. If there was a dummy gun with a aluminum barrel I do not think it was one of his might have been for some other TV show or movie.

[KCSO]

According to Doc Carlson the dummy gun was used for a while while they got straight with the BATF, seems like their paperwork wasn't in order before the first episode was shown.

[waksupi]

According to Doc Carlson the dummy gun was used for a while while they got straight with the BATF, seems like their paperwork wasn't in order before the first episode was shown.

The show was before GCA 68. Were there barrel length restrictions before that?

[KCSO]

Since GCA of 1934 was enacted.

[StratsMan]

Some may say it's semantics, but we should refer correctly to laws that affect our hobby...

The "Gun Control Act" of 1968 (GCA '68) didn't regulate barrel length... The "National Firearms Act" of 1934 (NFA '34) DID establish minimum rifle barrel length at 16 inches (without extra licensing)....