The Rifleman

The American Rifleman magazine ran a nice article about the gun a few years ago.

Two things about the "spin cocking", one was that Connors height let him spin the carbine and not drag the muzzle into the ground, and the other was that they rifle was "modified" to keep the ammo from falling out when he spun it.

The "auto fire" was a setscrew, as others have said, and so not instantly changeable.

However, there is a rapid change design, had one on one of my toys as a kid. Instead of a set screw in the lever to fire the gun, it had an "L" shaped (roughly) piece pinned to the lever, which pivoted by finger pressure alone. Flipped "back", it lay flat against the lever, and did nothing. Flipped "forward/up" it pulled the trigger when the lever was fully closed.
 
I had one too.

I've contemplated having one fabricated on a new Winchester 92, but it'd have to be a snug fit to avoid slipping itself into the "activation" position inadvertently.

If it did, the gun would fire unexpectedly on closing the action & that could be a serious oops with live ammunition, depending on there it was pointed at the time.

And, hitting the ground was not the issue. With a 20-inch barrel you need to worry about hitting the torso or arm. :)
Connors had the reach to pull it off.

I have a new large-looper coming from Winchester in a couple months.
I might just have that little flip-out lever added.
Still wouldn't be able to spincock it, but really no need anyway.
Tried on a Rossi version years ago & it just dumped rounds on the floor at my feet.

My 16-inch Model 94 in .30-30 actually functions quite well during spincocking.
Bit of a stretch, but I can see that potentially being a useful feature IF the gun ever had to be operated with an injured off hand or arm.

Denis
 
That was my favorite show as a kid...have only owned a Marlin lever gun though, in 35 Rem. I also like the show "Sledgehammer" in the 80's....even had a 629 too but not with ivory grips LOL.
 
Thanks to the show, I've never been very long without a lever action rifle.
And the show helped postpone at least one evenings high school home work every week.
Hard to believe that Connors has been gone 22 years, now.
Johnny Crawford, the young actor who played his son, is still going strong as an actor, singer and guitarist.
He still has about the same face, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzZ8ISVnbsg
 
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Here's a nice view of Connors's Winchester with Phil Schreier of the National Firearms Museum, including the set screw which allowed the carbine to fire on lever close.

It's also noticeable that John Wayne, no little guy himself, had his large-loop Winchester significantly shortened for the Stagecoach role, so that he could spin it without continually hitting himself in the face.
 
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