Chuck Connors is said to have fired 12 shots with the rifle in the opening credits.
The character 'Lucas McCain' was ranked #32 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue).
In the pilot for the series, by Sam Peckinpah (originally written for Gunsmoke but turned down for that show), Chuck Connors' character was named John McCain, not Lucas McCain, and he didn't have a son. It was producer Arnold Laven's idea to make McCain a widower with a son. Also, McCain was originally supposed to have been a dead shot with a pistol. Laven had the idea to use a customized Winchester rifle as McCain's weapon of choice.
This was said to be the first TV series ever to have an actor or an actress play a widowed parent.
Lucas McCain's rifle is an 1892 .44-40 Winchester.
Chuck Connors initially turned down the role of Lucas McCain because he thought the salary was too low. The show's producers then considered James Whitmore and John Anderson for the role, but when they saw Connors' chemistry with child actor Tommy Kirk in Old Yeller, they realized he was the best choice for the role and made him another offer, this time at a much higher salary. He accepted.
In some of the episodes, note that Lucas McCain (without any connection or relevance to the plot) will handle and fire his rifle with equal precision, sometimes with his right hand, and other times with his left hand. An explanation has never been given for this ambidextrous ability.
The script was originally written by Sam Peckinpah for the western series Gunsmoke. When that show's producers turned it down, he submitted it to Dick Powell, head of Four Star Productions, which produced the anthology series Zane Grey Theater. Powell liked it and gave the go-ahead for its production. It aired on March 17, 1958: "Zane Grey Theater" (1956) {The Sharpshooter (#2.21)}.
The original name of the ranch that Mark and Lucas were interested in purchasing was "The Dunlap Place." It had 4,100 acres.
Mark stated he could fire his father's rifle, but in later episodes it's learned that Mark cannot shoot it.
At the end of this episode when the doctor comes into the saloon to attend to Dennis Hopper's character, a brief glimpse of Paul Fix--who later played Marshal Micah Torrance--as the doctor can be seen. He has no lines in the scene and can be missed because he is seen pushing his way through the crowd to get to the bar.
Mark was 10 years old when he and his father moved to North Fork. In real life, Johnny Crawford was 12.
Margaret's maiden name was Gibbs.
Renowned Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Duke Snider plays Wallace.
Michael Ansara's character of Marshal Sam Buckhart was spun off into its own series, with Ansara again playing Buckhart, called Law of the Plainsman, which lasted from 1959-1960.
During the episode, there is a recurring song sung about the villainous character named Jake Pardee. One verse starts "One day in Peckinpah's saloon..." An obvious reference to Sam Peckinpah who created the series and who directed six episodes.
Tom King calls Oat Jackford 'old man'. In real life John Dehner was four years older than Bert Freed.
The man killed at he beginning of the show is Jonathan Dodd played by Ralph Moody. Beginning the following year (1961), Moody played Doc Burrage, a continuing character on the series.
Even though Richard Deacon that plays the traveling salesman has more lines than any other guest actor, he goes uncredited in this show.
A "Wanted" poster is visible in Micah's office for the Hole In The Wall Gang.
Jeff, Kevin, Mike and Steve Connors, all four boys of Chuck Connors, have uncredited roles as schoolboys in Griswold's class.
Pamela Cole's only ever appearance in television or movies.
Both Arnold Moss and Jamie Fields would go on to appear once each in the original Star Trek series.
Back from the dead, exactly three weeks before Ed Nelson's appearance as Ben Travis in the Illustrator episode was televised, Lucas McCain shot and killed Ed Nelson's character, Stacey Beldon in the November 22nd, 1960 televised episode Dead Cold Cash.
Joe Benson had two roles. Townsman of North Fork and bartender in Dillsville.
This was Glen Ryle's unique appearance in television or film.
This was Jeff Connors', Chuck Connors' real son, third and final appearance on the Rifleman.
Curiously this episode had two guest stars, Bruce Hayward and Betty Lou McVay, and this was their only appearance in any movie or television episode ever.
Lon Chaney had just played a character named 'Gordo' in a little-seen feature called Rebellion in Cuba (1961).
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