You sure? I don’t remember that. I remember Peck having a seemingly hours-long fistfight with Charlton Heston that ended in a draw, and I remember him exposing Connors as a coward and a low-down mangy backshooter during their duel.
I’m not sure that’s a negative. Taking a role like that proves that Chuck was very secure in his manhood.
Your version sounds right. I do remember Peck and Heston keeping their fight – out away from other eyes – strictly between themselves, and that it was one of the most authentically staged such things since Shane. And I do remember Burl Ives getting nasty with Connors for some infraction or other. So maybe I did fuse the two events. In any case, Connors in that movie was a far cry from Lucas McCain.
There sure were a lot of specialized weapons in those days. TV was all about the advantage a sawed-off rifle or a holster Gatling gun could afford. In that respect, my favorite was Jim Bowie.
I’ve heard that from my folks as well–Encore Westerns was working its way through Gunsmoke for a while, and they commented on the earlier episodes having a distinctly different tone than the later.
Some of the specialized weapons:
Buntline Special (long-barreled Colt 45)–Wyatt Earp
Rapid-fire Winchester–Rifleman
Mare’s leg (sawed-off Winchester)–Wanted Dead or Alive
Over and Under Shotgun/Winchester–Shotgun Slade
Shotgun cut down to pistol length and carried as a side arm–Johnny Yuma
Derringer–Yancy Derringer
Six gun with an extra shotgun barrel adapted to it-Johnny Ringo
Pistol that converted into a rifle–Restless Gun
Pistol that used silver bullets -The Lone Ranger
I seem to remember one of the shows had a hero with a seven shooter but I don’t remember the show
Non-firearm
Bowie knife–Jim Bowie
Cane–Bat Masterson
Karate–Wild, Wild West and Kung Fu
Sword–Zorro
Righteous work there, TV time! I was just funning about the Gatling gun – I think.
Yeah, I assumed he was talking about the duel. The Heston/Peck fight was just stupid looking. These guys spent all night taking turns punching each other in the jaw.
Maybe but this thread is about TV characters, not actors.
Yes, but one reason I have trouble seeing The Rifleman as the toughest TV cowboy is because of those connections with the actor. My notion of “tough” applies more to Tommy Lee Jones in all his roles. But that’s why we have salt and pepper, right?
And if you want to bring outside of TV facts into it, Chuck Connors was also a Boston Celtic and a Brooklyn Dodger. Beat that!
How about that sharpened up broken calvary sword used by Chuck Conners on Branded? The opening credits show Conners’ superior officer breaking it over his knee and flinging it out of the gates of the fort. Talk about Freudian symbolism.
He also played for the Chicago Cubs. Mike Royko said there was no one who couldn’t hit the way he couldn’t hit.
My vote goes to Mongo. All he needed was a can of beans and men would flee in terror.
No doubt Mongo would win against the other guys mentioned here, if he was a TV cowboy. On TV he was the guy who got manipulated by a little kid.
Huh, I’d forgotton he played for the other team.
The Whipmaster, as portrayed by Bill Murray.
He told you to call him Bronco.
Woody from Toy Story…
^^^ 
God bless you always!!! 
Holly
Yeah, and in virtually every show he ended up stabbing someone with it. That broken sword got so much action!!
I hear tell he’s the deadliest pistoleer since Wild Bill Hickok. Do you think I should hate him? I mean, there’s just something around the eyes…