The Rossi Ranch Hand or the Taurus Mare’s Leg – SBR or pistol? Doesn’t matter. We want one, not least because Steve McQueen carried one in Wanted Dead or Alive.
Ever since I was a kid, I had wanted something like the “Mare’s Leg” pistol as used by Steve McQueen in the popular television show Wanted Dead or Alive. McQueen’s character, Josh Randall, carried a cut-down Winchester Model 1892 lever action rifle as a sidearm. However, finding a similar firearm in any caliber was a bit cost-prohibitive. Under the National Firearms Act in the United States, to make a concealable weapon from a firearm originally made and sold as a rifle requires payment of a $200 tax, approval from the BATFE, and federal registration of the firearm as a “short-barreled rifle.”
A Mare’s Leg-style weapon is as iconic and significant to cowboys and those who love Westerns as the Doom Super Shotgun SSG is to people who “Rip & Tear”.
The Rise of the Mare’s Leg
A number of companies have marketed functional reproductions of the Mare’s Leg, making them the same way as the original, by cutting down Winchester rifles (most of which are now considered collectible antiques). These reproductions have the same legal restrictions as the original: a rifle may not have a barrel length less than 16 inches without obtaining a tax stamp from the ATF, in accordance with the National Firearms Act. However, some companies made replicas registered as handguns, including Legacy Sports, JB Custom, and Eagle Squadron. These replicas had the fit and finish of an original Winchester 92 and a price tag to reflect this. These guns sell for in excess of $1200 retail, which is a lot of money to lay out for what can best be described as a “range toy”.
Lookin’ for a Rossi Ranch Hand for sale? Here ya go!
The original Mare’s Leg was made for the show by cutting down a .44-40 caliber Winchester Model 1892 rifle to a size that could be worn in a holster and shot one-handed. The barrel was cut down to twelve inches, and most of the stock was removed. For filming purposes, three of these guns were made, and all of them used a large loop on the cocking lever.
One gun had a slightly larger lever than the others, and one had an octagonal barrel instead of a round one. As a result, the actual gun used on-screen could differ within a particular scene.
These prop guns were all chambered for the .44-40 round, but McQueen wore larger and more impressive looking .45-70 rounds in the loops of his cartridge belt.
In season one, a doctor, after removing a bullet fired from the Mare’s Leg from the back of a criminal, identified the recovered bullet as a “.30-.30 round.”
The .30-.30 reference was a faux pax on the part of the writers as the series was set in the 1870s, and the .30-.30 (or .30 WCF), a popular lever-action cartridge of the 1950s, would not be invented until 1895.
In 2010, Rossi Firearms began offering a Mare’s leg under the name Ranch Hand. The Rossi version is chambered in .45 Colt, .44 Magnum/.44 Special, and .357 Magnum/.38 Special. The Rossi Ranch Hand is manufactured by Taurus in Brazil, and its price tag is half to one-third that of the Italian gun makers. It is functionally similar to the Rossi R92, their copy of the Winchester 1892 rifle.
We picked up a Ranch Hand chambered in .357 Magnum/.38 Special after handling one at the 2011 SHOT Show in Las Vegas. I remarked to a friend that, while I had been a collector of turn-of-the-century Winchesters (specifically pre-World War I) that I had been spoiled, and any lever gun made after 1964 seemed “cheap” to me, regardless of the manufacturer. His response was, “They’re cheap, but they’re still fun.”
This Rossi Ranch Hand isn’t the same as the one Steve McQueen carried for his Mare’s Leg in Wanted Dead or Alive, but it’s still plenty badass.
The Ranch Hand came in a plain cardboard box with a 12″ barrel, matte blue finish, and a walnut stock. Fit and finish was very similar to a post 1964 Winchester Model 94. The lever is a large loop and the saddle ring is a permanent fixture as opposed to a screw-in type. The safety works like a typical pre-64 Winchester with the hammer at half-cock, backed up by a secondary if somewhat flimsy safety lever on top. There is no provision for mounting a scope or a tang site and the tang seemed somewhat longer than those found on Winchesters. The front sight was a highly visible gold bead with an adjustable buckhorn rear sight. I chose the .357/.38 version for the ability to run cheap ammunition. This would not be a hunting or self-defense piece, just something to have fun with at the range. I have heard skeptics in the gun community ask “How do you shoot that thing? “What’s the recoil like?” and the ever-present “Why would you want something like that?”
Why would you want a Rossi Ranch Hand? Why WOULDN’T you want a mare’s leg like this?
I fired the ranch hand in a number of ways: single-handed, like a long-barreled pistol (Thompson Center Contender), from the hip with two hands (one on the forend) and “mock rifle style”, positioned like a rifle. True to form, however, the stock is too short to attempt any kind of shouldering. That’s the way it should be in this case, as this is a handgun.
At 50 yards, the Ranch Hand was dead on with semi-wadcutter .38 Specials. Switching over to the hotter .357 Magnum loads, I found the point of aim to be a few inches higher, and the increased recoil felt very slight. The only rounds which did not perform well were my .38 Special full wadcutters, where the bullet is seated flush with the case mouth. The overall length on these rounds were too short to cycle reliably from the magazine tube, but worked fine when individually loaded into the chamber.
It may be impractical for hunting and the hiking trails in Northern Nevada as a sidearm, and I would definitely prefer a revolver in the same caliber for self defense against any local predators. However, for blasting away at targets at the range and pretending to be Josh Randall for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, there’s really no substitute.
As of this time, the Rossi Ranch Hand is not currently in production. A new alternative can be found in the Henry Mare’s Leg from Henry Repeating Arms.
If you don’t get it or still think it’s goofy, but like the concept of a Trapper Style Winchester with a 12″ barrel, it makes a good start for that project by paying the $200 tax and investing in an aftermarket buttstock.
We are hoping to begin just such a project soon with one of these in .45 Colt or .44 Special, possibly with a threaded barrel. Stay tuned!
⚠️ Some hyperlinks in this article may contain affiliate links. If you use them to make a purchase, we will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. It’s just one way to Back the Bang. #backthebang
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Mike Searson
About the Author
Mike “the Mook” Searson is a veteran writer who began his career in firearms at the Camp Pendleton School for Destructive Boys at age 17. He has worked in the firearms industry his entire life, writing about guns and knives for numerous publications and consulting with the film industry on weapons while at the same time working as gunsmith and ballistician.
Though seemingly a surly curmudgeon shy a few chromosomes at first meeting, Searson is actually far less of a dick and at least a little smarter than most of the Mad Duo’s minions. He is rightfully considered to be not just good company, but actually fit for polite company as well (though he has never forgotten his roots as a rifleman trained to kill people and break things, and if you look closely you’ll see his knuckles are still quite scabbed over from dragging the ground).
You can learn more about him on his website or follow him on Twitter, @MikeSearson.
5 Comments
Ian Koss
on August 6, 2020 at 16:15
I have the Rossi Ranch Hand in 45LC. Bought it exactly for the same reasons. It’s a hoot to fire and dead on “Wanted” or not!
The car in the top photo is McQueen’s Jaguar XKSS. Jaguar had won LeMans three times “on the trot” with their D-Type roadster (1955-57) and the XKSS was a road-legal version of the D. They intended to build 25 but the factory burned after #16 (the remaining nine finally were built as one-offs in 2016). The 209 cu. in. straight-6 makes about 260 bhp and about as many pounds-feet of Q, which makes the barely 2000-lb car rather spritely. 0-60 was 5.2 and top speed 150+. McQueen’s exploits in the car were so notorious, the LA County Sheriff offered a $50 bounty to any of his officers who could catch him and ticket him. The car, now in the Petersen Automotive Museum, is valued at $30-ish million.
This story notes that this thing would be a good SBR which has me thinking “truck gun!” (Perfect for a carjacking too. “Hey there pardner, drop that smokewagon and step away from the horseless carriage real slow like…”*spit tobacco*).
Realistically how much of a pain would swapping out the stock be or is it too early to ask that?
Apart from filing the form and paying the $200 tac and engraving the maker info; you would just need to add a stock. A winchester 94 or 92 stock would do the trick as would a Rossi 92. These stocks will require fitting as the tang size is inconsistent between guns but it is not too much of an asskibker if you take your time
Find what’s in stock, and where, and compare prices.
⚠️ Some hyperlinks in this article may contain affiliate links. If you use them to make a purchase, we will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. It’s just one way to Back the Bang. #backthebang
⚠️ Some hyperlinks in this article may contain affiliate links. If you use them to make a purchase, we will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. It’s just one way to Back the Bang. #backthebang
I have the Rossi Ranch Hand in 45LC. Bought it exactly for the same reasons. It’s a hoot to fire and dead on “Wanted” or not!
Boyds just came out with a stock for a Rossi lever gun.
The car in the top photo is McQueen’s Jaguar XKSS. Jaguar had won LeMans three times “on the trot” with their D-Type roadster (1955-57) and the XKSS was a road-legal version of the D. They intended to build 25 but the factory burned after #16 (the remaining nine finally were built as one-offs in 2016). The 209 cu. in. straight-6 makes about 260 bhp and about as many pounds-feet of Q, which makes the barely 2000-lb car rather spritely. 0-60 was 5.2 and top speed 150+. McQueen’s exploits in the car were so notorious, the LA County Sheriff offered a $50 bounty to any of his officers who could catch him and ticket him. The car, now in the Petersen Automotive Museum, is valued at $30-ish million.
This story notes that this thing would be a good SBR which has me thinking “truck gun!” (Perfect for a carjacking too. “Hey there pardner, drop that smokewagon and step away from the horseless carriage real slow like…”*spit tobacco*).
Realistically how much of a pain would swapping out the stock be or is it too early to ask that?
Apart from filing the form and paying the $200 tac and engraving the maker info; you would just need to add a stock. A winchester 94 or 92 stock would do the trick as would a Rossi 92. These stocks will require fitting as the tang size is inconsistent between guns but it is not too much of an asskibker if you take your time