Henry Mares Leg SBR

[SuperSixEvo]

Has anyone else watched the Mares Leg SBR video posted by IV8888 on youtube? They basically took a .44 mag Mares Leg, got the SBR tax stamp, and added a full length stock. The end result is basically a .44 mag rifle shorter than the carbine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6zzKPEyHhE

interesting video .... as a Steve McQueen fan, the Mare's Leg concept does carry a high degree of fascination .... while I have no evidence to base it on, I find it hard to believe that someone at some point in the old west didn't cut down a lever action as they cut down shotguns .... doing so would make it much easier to conceal .... I've seen videos of 44 Mag revolvers fired ranges shown in the link so I have no doubt a Mare's Leg could do so as well ....

Old post I know I am responding to but the Mares Leg was never an actual old west weapon. The gun was created purely in Hollywood by a gentleman from western shows and got its start on Trackdown starring Robert Culp when Josh Randall was introduced in a episode and thus began Wanted Dead or Alive.

If I can find that video on this ai will post it. And the name Mares Leg may have actually been given by Steve McQueen himself if I recall correctly.

[SuperSixEvo]

A good video on the Mares Leg and how it came about.........

The term "mare's leg" was introduced in 1957 in the TV series Trackdown, where Steve McQueen first appeared as a bounty hunter.[3] Steve McQueen and his Mare's Leg went on to star in the CBS TV series Wanted Dead or Alive.[4]

Designed by Kenny "Von Dutch" Howard, an experienced artist and gunsmith,[5] the original Mare's Leg was made by cutting down a .44-40 caliber Winchester Model 1892 rifle to a size that could be worn in a large leg holster and used with one hand. The barrel was cut to a length of nine inches,[1] and much of the butt-stock was removed. The original Mare's Leg did not have sights. McQueen was involved in the final design, suggesting the duck-bill hammer and enlarged lever loop, and initiating a redesign of the custom holster.[1] The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was not consulted before the program aired and producers had to pay taxes totaling $1,100 in connection with the National Firearms Act of 1934.[1]

During filming three guns were made, each with an enlarged loop on the cocking lever. After filming started, the size of the levers was made smaller on all 3 guns. The second and third guns bore octagonal barrels instead of a round one. In a continuity oversight, a gun sometimes changed partway through a given scene. While the guns were chambered for the .44-40 round, McQueen wore more impressive looking .45-70 rounds in the loops of his gun belt. In season one a doctor, after removing a bullet fired from the Mare's Leg from the back of a criminal, identified the removed bullet as a .30-30 round.[6]

As of the 1980s, one of the original guns was on display at the now closed Spaghetti Station Restaurant and Museum (999 Ball Road, Anaheim, California).[7] Another is in the Autry National Center of the American West.[8] In 1964, French singer Gilbert Bécaud auctioned off one of the Mare's Legs used by Josh Randall. This auction took place in Paris in the presence of actor Steve McQueen, and the money raised was donated to the French Movement for Children's Villages (an association renamed in 2013 "Action Enfance").[9]

There have been a number of toys based on the Mare's Leg, from small cap guns to larger detailed toys complete with a holster.

https://youtu.be/x8jgWBPZAgs?si=u38ZBK5ETsIYd0ip