6 Things You Never Knew About ‘The Rifleman’

Lori Acken July 31, 7:00 am

THE RIFLEMAN, Johnny Crawford, Chuck Connors, (Feb 1959), 1958-1962. — Richard Hewett/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection

Even in a TV landscape overflowing with Westerns, The Rifleman stood out. Debuting in 1958, the show starred lantern-jawed former pro athlete Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain, the titular rifleman — a Civil War veteran turned rancher on the unsettled New Mexico frontier. McCain owned a customized Winchester that could fire 12 shots in rapid succession and he wasn’t afraid to use it, but only when he absolutely had to, setting him apart from some TV gunslingers of the time.

The Rifleman was also unique in that McCain was a widowed father, singlehandedly raising his young son Mark (Johnny Crawford) in a loving home with firm moral values. The show was reportedly the first ever to portray a single parent, and the combination of exciting Western action and traditional family values made the show an instant hit. The Rifleman ran for five seasons and over 160 episodes before it went off the air in 1963.

If you’re a diehard fan of The Rifleman, or just started watching via streaming, here are some fun facts and behind-the-scenes stories you may not know about this groundbreaking series.

1 Sam Peckinpah wrote the original ‘Rifleman’ script for Gunsmoke

Peckinpah, a groundbreaking writer and director of Western films, got his start writing TV scripts, including a dozen for Gunsmoke. He originally intended the script that would become The Rifleman pilot for that series, but it aired instead on Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre. Soon after, Peckinpah and The Detectives producer Arnold Laven teamed up to develop the concept into the gritty Chuck Connors series.

Peckinpah left The Rifleman after a single season, after he and the network found themselves at odds: ABC and the show’s producers pressured him to tone down the series’ violence, while he insisted that the lessons Lucas McCain taught his son accurately reflected the hardscrabble life they were living. In a 1962 interview with The Paducah Sun, Connors supported Peckinpah, saying “How can children learn to cope with violence unless they know what it’s all about?”

2 Connors was a careful steward of the show’s gun violence

Even though Lucas McCain’s sharpshooting skills were a focal point of The Rifleman — and even though Connors supported Peckinpah’s penchant for realism — Connors ensured that killing not be taken lightly on the show, and that the media knew it. “I cannot understand the casual treatment of death on many television shows,” Connors reportedly said in a newspaper interview about the show. “Even a lawman in the performance of his duty remembers a killing to his dying day … We have never killed just for the sake of killing; and, in fact, we have had many episodes with no killing whatsoever.”

Connors also insisted that Lucas’ discussions with Mark, after Lucas had killed a man, reflected that the ultimate goal was for people to be good to one another and end gun violence.

3 Johnny Crawford got fired from The Mickey Mouse Club

An original Mouseketeer, the then 9-year-old Crawford didn’t even last one season. But it all worked out. “I got fired because I couldn’t learn the dance steps fast enough,” Crawford told The Vancouver Sun in 1973. “That was my first major break, because being fired freed me to work.”

Crawford worked steadily in series television prior to landing the role of Mark McCain at age 12, including on the Western shows The Lone Ranger, The Sheriff of Cochese, Have Gun – Will Travel, and Wagon Train. Crawford was already a fan of Connors from his baseball days, and the pair developed a close relationship that lasted long after The Rifleman ended.

“During the course of the five years of our run, he had two hit records, and he was nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor,” Connors reflected of his young costar. “And yet, when the show was finished after five seasons, Johnny went around and thanked everyone in the cast and crew, and he still called them ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma’am.'”

4 McCain’s rifle was ahead of its time …

Everett Collection

The rifle used on the set of The Rifleman had yet to be invented in 1881, the year in which the show was set. Firearm designer John Browning designed the 20-inch barrel Winchester in 1892. The piece was customized by prop provider James S. Stembridge, who often supplied modified firearms for movies and television. The Winchester 92 featured a large lever loop with a trigger mechanism that allowed Connors to fire 12 shots in a few seconds, which became a hallmark of the show.

A natural athlete, Connors took to the weapon easily, making the shoot-em-up action all the more exciting.

5 … And so was Connors’ wardrobe

THE RIFLEMAN, from left: Patricia Barry, Chuck Connors, 'The Woman', (Season 1, episode 132, aired May 5, 1959), 1959-1960

Everett Collection

Some eagle-eyed fans of The Rifleman have pointed out that Lucas McCain wore Wrangler jeans, and producers made no effort to hide the distinctive “W” stitching on the pockets. Problem was, Wrangler jeans didn’t hit the stores until 1947, six decades after Lucas wore them to ride the range. McCain also sported a Lee ‘Storm Rider’ jean jacket, which first hit stores in 1953.

6 Parents wrote to Connors seeking parenting advice

The show’s fan often wrote to Connors seeking parenting advice, which Connors found worrisome. Though he had four kids of his own, Connors, who died in 1992 at age 71, reminded fans that McCain’s wisdom came courtesy of the series’ writers, not Connors’ personal experiences.

What are your favorite memories of The Rifleman? Tell us in the comments below.