Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! This beat-up Winchester 1892 doesn’t look like much until you realize it’s the gun that launched Steve McQueen into stardom. Originally a standard 1918-manufactured rifle, it was chopped down into this distinctive “Mare’s Leg” configuration for McQueen’s role as bounty hunter Josh Randall in “Wanted Dead or Alive.” The story starts with McQueen and his buddy Kenneth “Von Dutch” Howard cooking up this wild idea in Von Dutch’s LA shop around 1958. Take a lever-action rifle and turn it into something you could wear on your hip. They sawed the barrel down to 9 inches and cut the stock back to a pistol grip, creating what McQueen called “the power and accuracy of a rifle with the mobility and easy handling of a revolver.”
The name supposedly came from McQueen’s range sessions with live ammo. Without a stock to brace against, that short barrel would buck like a mare’s leg. Even the quarter-load blanks used on set packed enough punch that the muzzle blast became a concern during filming. This gun changed firearms culture. The “Mare’s Leg” became so popular that toy companies started making replicas, and real versions became sought-after collector items despite the NFA paperwork headaches. Today, multiple manufacturers still produce “Mare’s Leg” pistols to avoid short-barreled rifle restrictions.
The show only ran three seasons, but this gun’s impact was permanent. Not bad for what started as a “gimmick” to help sell a TV pilot.
Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!
“Steve McQueen Screen Used Winchester Model 1892 ‘Mare’s Leg’.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4095/44/steve-mcqueen-screen-used-winchester-model-1892-mares-leg. Accessed 12 Aug. 2025.
Writer | TheFirearmBlog
Writer | AllOutdoor.com Instagram | sfsgunsmith Old soul, certified gunsmith, published author, avid firearm history learner, and appreciator of old and unique guns.
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