Exhibit for July 30, 31 & Aug. 1, 2010:
John Wayne’s Winchester Big-Loop carbine from the movie Stagecoach.
If you are a Western movie fan, this is a gun you’ve seen in the hands of the Duke,
as he twirled it to flag down the stagecoach at the film’s beginning scene. Like
most movie studio guns, it likely had on-screen roles in other Wayne classics like
True Grit and El Dorado.
Lorne Greene’s Winchester Model 1873 carbine from the TV series, Bonanza.
This nickel-plated carbine was there on the Ponderosa with Hoss and Little Joe!
Bonanza was one of the longer-running western TV shows that first aired in 1959
and ended in 1973 after a run of 430 episodes had aired.
Chuck Connor’s Winchester Model 1892 rifle from the TV show, The Rifleman
Come by and look over the famous Winchester rifle that TV sheriff Chuck Connors
fired at the beginning of each show. Unlike John Wayne’s Winchester, this gun
has a special set-screw fitted to hit the trigger as the loop comes up to a closed position.
Clint Eastwood’s Walker revolvers from the film, The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Once considered the most powerful handgun in the world, one of these .44 caliber
sixguns also was used by John Wayne and Kim Darby in True Grit. Converted
from percussion ignition to use blank cartridges, these heavy revolvers were
originally designed to be carried in saddle holsters.
You can visit the National Firearms Museum exhibit at the Capitol Expo Center all three days.
If you come to the gunshow, also remember that “Hollywood Guns,” our special exhibition of movie guns
will be open (with free admission) at the NRA Headquarters just up the road.
For more information, call (703) 267-1600 or email nfmstaff@nrahq.org.