lonesome Dove rifle ?

[Country Boy]

What kind of rifle did Gus use in the movie. I understand they have made a steel model but I don"t know who makes it or the model. My son wants to buy onewith the tang sight which Gus (Robert Duval) adjusted to make a long shot on an outlaw. E mail me clcbears@hotmail.com.  Appreciate any help.

[tacklebury]

There appears to have been 2 different ones depending on which scene you are referring.  The first was the 1860 Henry Yellowboy and the second was an 1866 Henry also.  There are a few manufacturers making replicas of these.  The sight was a flip-up barrel ladder sight common on these types of guns.  My 94 Winchester carbine still has one of these on it. 
 
http://www.uberti.com/firearms/1860_henry.php
 
 

[hillbill]

what cartridge did the yellowboy use?jus off the top of my head i thought he was useing the orig henry with the 44 rimfire.which would of made that shot all the more impressive.was the yellowboy chambered in 44-40?

[tacklebury]

I believe you are correct on the 44-40.  They also made them in 32-20 and 38-55 if memory serves.  Back then, they considered the .45 Colt to be too small a rim for a rifle with the tolerances they could hold.  These days, .45 colt is the way to go in my opinion if looking at doing SASS etc.  Easier to buy and reload also. 

[.22-5-40]

Hello, The rifle Gus used in the movie is a model 1860  brass framed henry (really Gun-Metal..a type of bronze).  There were a small amount made with iron frames.  The sight you see Gus adjusting is a barrel mounted ladder sight.  B. Tyler Henry was master Toolmaker at the New Haven Arms Company.  he developed the .44 rimfire round..and in his honor, Oliver Winchester later had every .22 rimfire case head stamped with the letter H..remember those?
   When the Winchester Company was formed, their model 1866..or "improved Henry" was brought out with wood forend and King's patented side loading port.  It was chambered in the same .44 rimfire round.  The only other round this 66' was chambered in was a centerfire..It was the same case as the .44 Henry, only in c. fire..alot of these were bought up by Brazil.
    That was quite a shot by o'l Gus!  It is said the 200gr. lead bullet propelled by 28grs. of black was comparible to todays .44 special.

[lakota]

.22-5-40's info is right on. Gus used the 1860 Henry throughout the movie. In the scene where Gus and Pea are fighting the indians in Montana that shot arrows into Gus's leg I do believe that Pea was shooting an 1866 Winchester.
 
Kevin Costner also used the 1860 Henry in Dances With Wolves.
 
I have a Uberti 1860 Henry in .45 Colt. It is a very nice rifle. Its a little on the heavy side but it is a very accurate gun. I bought mine from Cabelas 10 years ago. I think I paid 700 bucks. They are not cheap. I imagine they have gone up since then.

[cwlongshot]

This one?..
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23UhypY-pUg
 
This next one is labled "best scene" I would have to agree,,, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwnEtskIq-c
 
CW

[lakota]

At least Gus's Henry rifle is loaded. In the first video you can see the brass magazine follower is halfway up the forearm. Now if you watch Dances With Wolves Kevin Costner goes through the whole movie with an unloaded Henry rifle. In every scene where I can see it the magazine follower is resting against the reciever-indicating an empty gun! I dont know why but little firearms errors like that get on my nerves.

[sidewinder319]

Sorry the 38-55 was a target round developed for the Winchester Single Shot Mdl of 1885. It was latter chambered in Winchester long action lever guns such as the Mdl 94 etc. This round was too long and a center fire round which would not have worked in the early Henry's.

[StrawHat]

The Henry was a rimfire and the 1866 was available in 44 Henry rimfire or 44 CF as 22-5-40 has indicated.  The 32 WCF, 38 WCF and 44 WCF were all available in the 1873 another of the better Winchester repeating rifles and one about which a whole movie (including the title) was made.  They also became available in the 1892 from Winchester and rifles from other makers.
 
The 38-55 was first chambered by Marlin in the Ballard single shot rifle.  It was later used by Winchester (among others) as a repeating rifle cartridge.

[R Lawson]

In about 1990, at a huge gun show in Fort Worth Texas, my wife and I encountered a tall slender cowboy exhibiting three fine Henry rifles in a single rack - it's all he seemed to have for sale.  I asked to see the one with a tang sight.  I was very impressed and asked what he was asking for it.  At the time a good original Henry was going for about $5K.  He drawled, "...well, they want me to sell all three together.".  As he said it, he passed us a ring binder full of sheets in doc protectors.  To our shock, it was all the paperwork from the production company for the three Henrys  used in the making of Lonesome Dove!!  The one I was holding was the rifle Gus used to shoot his horse, then shoot over it!!  The cowboy said that they wanted $25K for the three.  He carefully explained that if we gave him $500 to hold, we could take the paperwork to our bank in Wichita Falls to get the cash while he held them for us.  We were positively floored, but we had just gotten married (her second, my third) and bought a house - we were both active duty Air Force.  We were forced to pass up this deal.  About ten years ago, we heard the same rifle set was on sale for over $200K.  To date, we consider this one of our biggest gun show mistakes, but if you've got the cash and can find them, they are probably still out there!

[sidewinder319]

Thats the way it is. Your ship comes in and you are stuck at the airport.