How the "Mare’s Leg" got its name.

[Kelly Green]

As a boy one of my favorite TV shows was “Wanted Dead or Alive” starring Steve McQueen as bounty hunter Josh Randell. I was in awe of the cut-down Winchester 92 that he carried on his hip, it was the most unusual gun I had ever seen.

The show’s producer, John Robinson, conceived the idea for the gun, he wanted something no other TV western had. The rifle was chambered in .44-40 Win but McQueen carried .45-70 Gov’t cartridges in his gun belt because Robinson thought they looked better on television.

The Mare’s Leg was hard to define, was it a rifle or a handgun? The problem confounded the U.S. Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division also. It seems that the Treasury agents spotted the rifle/handgun on TV. They finally categorized it as a “machine gun” and slapped the producer with $11,000 in fines and registration fees. The Mare’s Leg became the most expensive gun on any TV western.

How did it get its name? Well, Steve McQueen being Steve McQueen took the gun to the range to see how it felt to fire it with live ammunition. Because of the short barrel and sawed off stock, he said it kicked like a mare’s leg.

I learned this bit of history in an article titled “Sequels” by Rick Hacker in the September 2012 issue of the NRA’s American Rifleman. The article also covers the “Duke’s” guns and others. It’s an informative bit of history on the guns of early TV westerns. If you are not a NRA member then please give some thought to joining.

 

[rags]

And now you know the rest of the story...

 

[Straightshooter2]

Kelly, it was a fascinating article about the old Hollywood guns as was the other article about Major Hession's 1903 Springfield which he used to win at the 1908 London Olympics. He donated the gun to the program at the beginning of WWII that collected guns for the British homeland. Due to their 1930's gun control laws and loss of equipment at Dunkirk, the Home Isles were virtually defenseless. Hession had two plaques put on the rifle. One proclaiming the victories and world records set with it and the second asking that after the Germans were defeated, the rifle be returned to him. It was returned and is now in the NRA museum. The really interesting part of this article about this rifle and all the other guns sent to England during the war is that it was told to an English reporter who had been pontificating on why Americans should give up their guns and join the rest of the civilized world. The writer of this article pointed out to the English reporter that if our British cousins ever find themselves in a similar pickle, American gun owners are still here to bail them out. And that a people who don't learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them.

Two really great articles in the American Rifleman and I echo Kelly that if you're not an NRA member, you need to think about joining.

 

[belairdave]

"Wanted Dead Or Alive" was one of my boyhood favorites also... Wrecked a good BB gun trying to make my own "Mares Laig" Later, Dave

 

[JcMack]

Did they catch up to Johnny Yuma? "He roamed thru the west" you know. Maybe he paid his $200.

 

[Texas Star]

Did they catch up to Johnny Yuma? "He roamed thru the west" you know. Maybe he paid his $200.

I think Yuma had a Colt M-1860 Army .44 grip frame on his gun. The longer handle was the tip off.

But it was a normal revolver, nothing to interest ATF.

 

[Alpo]

I believe he was talkin' about this'un. Not the Colt, the shotgun. It's hanging from his saddle horn in the top left pic and he has it in his hand in the bottom right pic.

As a little bit of trivia, I believe the gun that The Rebel used was the same one that Mississippi used in El Dorado.

 

[therevjay]

A lever action "machine gun?" Yeah I guess that makes sense, It was made by a machine & was a gun. (oops hope no old DI heard me say gun)

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Do any of you realize how close it came to being called a mother......

 

[pilgrim6a]

Cut down rifle= $200 fed tax.
Cut down shotgun = $200 fed tax.
Manufacturer makes a short shotgun + $5 fed tax. Why? Who knows?
The Rossi and Puma lever pistols are made as pistols and have no restrictions.
Are they handguns? After shooting a few, I have decided they are devices for disassembling ammo.

Good to see ya back Caj.

 

[BaldEagle1313]

And now you know the rest of the story...

I can't be the only person here who heard Paul Harvey's voice in their head while reading that...

I remember back in the 70's when I worked in a warehouse that I specifically timed my morning break so I could listen to The Rest of the Story on the radio.