The Rifleman

Did You Know?

• The Rifleman was adapted into a comic book by Dan Spiegle, distributed by Dell Comics.
• American toymaker Hubley produced a toy copy of McCain's rifle known as the Rifleman Rifle, Flip Special, or Ring Rifle.
• Marx Toys marketed a version called the Wild West with a loop lever replacing the standard straight lever.

Production

The series was partially filmed in Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, California. It was created by Arnold Laven and developed by Sam Peckinpah, who wrote and directed early episodes based on his own childhood. Peckinpah's insistence on violent realism and complex characterizations led to conflicts with Four Star producers, and he left to create The Westerner. The opening credits show McCain rapid-firing a modified Winchester Model 1892 rifle, which had a set screw to trip the trigger when the lever was cycled, allowing him to empty the magazine in under six seconds. The rifle's large ring lever also enabled a one-handed spinning technique.

Spin-offs and remakes

The February 17, 1959 episode "The Indian" served as a pilot for the NBC series Law of the Plainsman, starring Michael Ansara as Marshal Sam Buckhart, who later reappeared in "The Raid." Three other episodes were pilots for Westerns that never became series: "The Lariat" (March 29, 1960), "Death Trap" (May 9, 1961), and "Which Way'd They Go?" (April 1, 1963). Chuck Connors briefly reprised his role as Lucas McCain in the 1991 TV movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, alongside other television Western leads. In late 2011, CBS announced a remake with Chris Columbus as executive producer, but the project was canceled a few months later without a pilot.