A Blast From The Past

This morning I stumbled across a blast from my past. When I was little The Rifleman was my all time favorite TV show. I was five when I found one of the rifles from Hubley under the tree Christmas morning. I know there were other gifts that year but I couldn't tell you what they were.

My folks thought it was cute when the Rifleman rifle replaced my teddy bear for what I slept with. My wife insist it warped me for live. In my defence these days it's a 1917 Colt under my pillow rather than any of the 1894's.

This Hubley rifle was my constant (away from school) companion for four years before my younger brother accidently broke the stock off. After several attempts to repair it my Dad finally convinced me it was a lost cause. It disappeared a few days later to my horror.

Some things you never forget.

A couple of years ago I was asked at a writers conference about the rifle Chuck Conners carried as the rifleman. What kind was it?
In the day I had thought it was a Winchester 1894 30-30 like my Dad's. I had since learned it was a Winchester 1892 chambered for .44-40.


How did he get it to fire so fast? There was a set screw set in the lever that would press the trigger as the action was closed. This made the weapon an accident waiting to happen. When the action was opened it was difficult to not fire it. The best bet is to fire out the magazine.


"How did you learn all this stuff" the folks in my weapons program asked?


Come on folks! You never forget your first love.