Hi:
Watching western movies I observe different positions that the Winchester rifles are carried on the saddle.
Is one method better ?

Jimmy

I go right side, butt to rear. Barrel tight to horses sholder. The butt forward carry creates a chance for a branch to get between the horse and gun. Works for me.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Just watched True Grit again last week, had been a long time. What a great film.

The only way for me is rifle on the horse’s left side, butt to the rear. It’s right there when you dismount.

Unlike in the movies, we don’t shoot while on the horse!!

“Bold words for a one-eyed fat man.”

How ever John Wayne did it, has got to be the right way. :-)

Have a blessed day,

Leon

Certainly a valid point. My offside rigging is set, I make periodic adjustments on the left side. I prefer not to have to work around my scabbard to access my cinch and latigo. Most of my horses are fine with a right side dismount, more for steep terrain reasons than rifle access. But if I thought a few seconds would make a difference I could step off on the right.JMHO/YMMV

You can shoot off any horse, once.

Waiting for Mule Packer.......................................

Near-side, under my leg, butt to rear.........Sights and or scope up.

* Left side, it's the side I mount and dismount. In rough country,
I just carry my rifle across the saddle swell in front of me.
Butt to the rear, if your horse is tied to a hitchin post or tree,
ya got room to draw your rifle outta the scabbard, as opposed to butt forward.

For hunting,
I use the Boyt style of full length zipper'd leather scabbard. (jest like ol uncle Elmer)


.

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

There are lots of ways to carry.

I sure don't want to go against John Wayne, but I don't think many of his movie sets had real steep mountains that his horse had to lunge up. Also, based on the picture that Rusty posted, it doesn't look like he was spending eight hours in the saddle either, or else his rifle would be rubbing one heckuva sore against his calf. Wait a minute!!! What am I saying??? It's John Wayne! John Wayne probably wouldn't even feel that big sore on his calf. But, believe me, I sure as heck would, but I'm a wimp compared to the Duke.

Seriously though, while there a lot of ways to pack a rifle scabbard on a riding animal, this is the way I prefer. Mostly because of our terrain, I carry mine on the near side (left side), right side up, with the barrel down pointing to the rear, and the stock up towards the head of the horse.

The main reason I pack my scabbard this way is based on the following incident. A group of guys were hunting out here on horseback. One of them had his rifle with the butt pointed backwards as we often see in the movies...exactly like the John Wayne photo. They were climbing a fairly steep hill and decided to rest their horses at the top.

While this group of hunters was stopped, another hunter rode up and said with a big grin on his face, "This must be my lucky day because look what I found!" He held up a nice-looking Winchester lever-action rifle.

The hunter who rode with his scabbard and rifle stock pointed towards the back of his horse, checked his scabbard and, with a sheepish look on his face, found that his rifle had slipped out during the climb. I wasn't there, but the story was told to me, and while I had always packed my rifle the way I explained before, I made sure I still packed my rifle that way since.

Anyway, that's just my preference. Of course, you want to make sure the stock is placed so it doesn't interfere with the animal's head or his natural movement. Again, that's just my two cents worth...and, like I've said many times before, it probably isn't even worth that much.

This short video gives a good demonstration as to how I like to carry my rifle on horseback.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

Mule Packer's rational pretty much mirrors why I like to carry my woods/ATV revolvers cross-draw in a Bianchi 111 Cyclone at 10-11 o'clock!

Hey Mule Packer, the video you linked led to this interesting video about how to desensitize a horse to gunfire. He took a horse that had never been around gunfire and within a few minutes was shooting a .357 revolver right next to the horse.

His assistant was wearing hearing protection, but I don't think he was, and that horse probably wasn't either.

IIRC (?) this method was used by the "Brown Boot" U.S. Cavalry

I supposed it depends on the size of the rifle as to how you carry it.

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- Change it back -

The first time I carried a rifle on a horse, I found that the most mass (rear end of a rifle) placed even if angled heavy side up, tended to move more than the butt end forward. I've had rifles come out of a scabbard facing the rear, but never from when the butt faced the front.

Your results may differ, but this is my personal experience.

To add: Scabbards on mules/donkeys following a saddle horse, DON'T put your rifle on them, they always seem to lose rifles in scabbards no matter what position!

Hope that helps.

Smart man.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

I've been watching re-runs of, Cimarron Strip on YouTube and was again aware of this issue. They pack like Wayne did.

My main authority for this sort of thing was Jack O'Connor, who showed in, Outdoor Life how a modern .270 should be packed on a horse. His rifle scabbards had hoods, to keep dirt off and prevent loss.

I've never liked horses and avoid them, but I don't pack into wild country on them, either.

As for cavalry, if the saber is under the rider's left leg, the rifle/carbine will be on the right.

I think the '03 Springfield and comparable length SMLE .303's were carried butt up, on the right.

Wyatt Earp mentioned that a man "armed to the teeth" had two revolvers, a Winchester in a saddle scabbard, and a shotgun hung from the saddle horn. The last wasn't mainly for hunting quail...

This is absolutely true, if you carry butt to rear, positive retention is a must. I get by with a saddle string through the sling secured with a square knot. Do not rely on friction in a rear facing scabbard.

Lee Van Cleef in "A Few Dollars More"

Enjoy watching westerns and how the rifles are carried on horseback.
Heres a old picture I borrowed from another forum.
At the Lajitas Trading Post in 1916, from Big Bend Museum.

Attached Images

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I always carried mine the same way as Mule Packer. I once knew a guy who carried his butt-to-the rear who lost the rifle when his sling got caught on a low limb while riding in the timber. Pulled it right out of the scabbard, and it was some time before he noticed. He got the gun back but lost a lot of time backtracking himself. Didn’t do the gun much good either.

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Everybody could shoot

My dad spent a lot of time on horses around the ranch. He carried his 1894 Winchester .25-35 in a scabbard on the right side, butt to the rear and higher with more angle than the John Wayne picture.

This allowed him to draw the rifle as he dismounted for a quick shot at a coyote. No steep hills in eastern Colorado, and the angle kept the rifle secure in the scabbard.

My crowd always carried slicks [no sling or scope] to the rear. They usually were levers. Scoped rifles were best in a hooded case left side. The rational being if you needed a gun fast on a horse it was probably a close fast shot. Far away enough for a scope you had time. Hey it worked 40 + years ago.

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Front sight and squeeze

It has been some time since I carried on a horse or mule, when I did,
I carried stock to the rear but elevated. Environment around these parts
consist of hills, heavy timber, brush, vines, low cedar limbs, so, a lot
less snagging with stock to the rear.
It appears that John Wayne's rifle would slide out just walking
down a level road.