# TV show-Wanted, Dead or Alive **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2017, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-wanted-dead-or-alive/789349 "2017-06-19T01:54:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-wanted-dead-or-alive/789349/1 "2017-06-19T01:54:08Z")
What was the advantage of the sawn off rifle, “Mare’s Leg” that Josh Randall carried? He bought, and carried in his belt .45/70 s, but I’ve been given to understand that the Mares leg was chambered for .30/.30. He rarely aims the damn ting, just throws a lot of lead in the general direction of his target. Being TV, of course he nails them every time. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-wanted-dead-or-alive/789349/2 "2017-06-19T02:56:28Z")
The justification was that he could holster the rifle, but there was absolutely no advantage. The rifle was just a gimmick. Randall wore .45/70s because they were bigger and looked better on camera. There were more than 25 westerns on TV at one point (1959-1960) and the producers desperately tried everything to differentiate one from another, including guns. _The Rifleman_ used the large ring to turn a Winchester into a machine gun. _Yancy Derringer_ packed a guess-what in his tall hat, while _Bat Masterson_ used both a derringer AND a cane to beat the bad guys. Paladin in _Have Gun Will Travel_ carried a derringer in his belt buckle, in addition to his cool, carved handle revolver. _The Adventures of Jim Bowie_ replaced the gun with a knife, which the hero could throw about as far as a bullet could travel. _The Rebel_ used a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, which would have been even less accurate than Josh Randall. In an episode of _Tombstone Territory_ the good guys, the bad guys, and ANOTHER set of bad guys do battle over a Gatling gun. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-wanted-dead-or-alive/789349/3 "2017-06-19T07:15:02Z")
They’re more concealable better for horseback. The enlarged lever works better with gloves. Making one by cutting down a rifle is a super felony without tax stamps. But several manufacturers make them now which are legally pistols. Regarding caliber, per Wikipedia it was a .44-40, mostly obsolete today: > [@](#): > > While the guns were chambered for the .44-40 round, McQueen wore more impressive looking .45-70 rounds in the loops of his gun belt. In season one a doctor, after removing a bullet fired from the Mare’s Leg from the back of a criminal, identified the removed bullet as a 30-30 round. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-wanted-dead-or-alive/789349/4 "2017-06-19T14:34:55Z")
One could argue that he gained some advantages in knock-down power from the sealed chamber action and longer barrel (when compared to, say, a S&W New Model 3 revolver). The capacity was only six rounds, so no big advantage there.