True Grit (1969)

True Grit (1969) Movie poster Country United States Directed by Henry Hathaway Release Date 1969 Language English Studio Paramount Pictures Hal Wallis Productions Distributor Paramount Pictures Main Cast Character Actor Rooster Cogburn John Wayne La Boeuf Glen Campbell Mattie Ross Kim Darby Emmett Quincy Jeremy Slate Ned Pepper Robert Duvall Moon Dennis Hopper Tom Chaney Jeff Corey Goudy Alfred Ryder Col. G. Stonehill Strother Martin Sheriff John Doucette

True Grit is the classic 1969 Western film starring John Wayne as Deputy U.S. Marshal "Rooster" Cogburn, who is hired by a young girl to hunt down the man who murdered her father. Wayne returned to the role in the 1975 sequel, Rooster Cogburn, which co-starred Katharine Hepburn. The film would go on to receive two Academy Award nominations, with Wayne receiving his only Academy Award for Best Actor. The film was based on the Charles Portis novel of the same name, which was adapted again as a 2010 feature film with the Coen Brothers directing and Jeff Bridges in the role of Cogburn.

The following weapons were used in the film True Grit (1969):

Handguns

Single Action Army

Deputy U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn (John Wayne) keeps a Colt Single Action Army or "Peacemaker" with a 4 3/4" barrel, known as the "Civilian" or "Quick Draw" model, and fitted with mellow aged ivory-style grips as his sidearm of choice throughout the film. "Lucky" Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall) also keeps a Quick Draw Peacemaker which he uses when facing Rooster during the film's climax. While watching Rooster load his Peacemaker, Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) asks him why he keeps one chamber empty, to which he replies, "So I won't shoot my foot off." Carrying a single-action revolver with the hammer resting on an empty chamber is in fact a good safety method, because if the hammer were resting on a loaded chamber and something strikes the hammer, the gun could discharge and possibly cause some kind of injury. Rooster wields his Peacemaker with his Winchester Model 1892 rifle akimbo at the climax of the film.

At one point in the film, Rooster tells Mattie about how when he was in the Civil War, he did the same dual wielding guns method while on horseback. He claims he fired two "Navy sixes" with the reins in his teeth. The two "Navy sixes" he mentioned using were either a pair of Colt 1851 Navy revolvers (or one of its many Southern copies, such as the Griswold & Gunnison Revolver since Rooster fought for the Confederates), a pair of Colt 1861 Navy revolvers, or one of each. It is possible they were a pair of .36 caliber "Navy" versions of the Remington Model 1858 New Army or a pair of .36 caliber Navy versions of the Starr Model 1858, but this is unlikely, as the Starr revolver was unpopular and the Colt Navy and Army revolvers and the Army version of the Remington 1858 were more commonly used than the .36 caliber variants of the Remington Model 1858 in the Civil War.

John Wayne actually used three identical Colt Single Action Army revolvers in this film. Two of them were rented to him by Stembridge Gun Rentals. They were genuine Colt Single Action Army revolvers and one of them was either chambered for .44-40 Winchester Center Fire or .45 Long Colt, while the second one was definitely chambered for .45 Long Colt. The third one was Wayne's own personal gun. Although he owned many Colt Single Action Army revolvers, this gun, serial number 309795, was the only one of his personal Colt Single Action Army revolvers he used in his films. This gun did most of the shooting in his films. Even though it was always billed as a .45 Colt, it was chambered for .44-40 WCF in reality. The interesting part is, this gun didn't leave the factory as a regular Colt Single Action Army. It was originally a Colt Single Action Army "Bisley Model" with a 5.5 inch "Artillery" barrel, and was chambered in .45 Long Colt. It was later rebuilt to resemble an average Colt Single Action Army with a "Civilian"/"Quickdraw" barrel and was converted to fire .44-40 WCF cartridges. All three of these guns were fitted with ivory-style grips (manufactured by Maurice D. Scarlac out of a material he developed called Catalin). Wayne like them so much that he took these grips home and personally "tea-stained" them to give them that desirable "mellow aged ivory" look. Two sets of these grips were made for Wayne (the second set being a spare just in case if the first set broke). These grips all had three finger grooves in the left-hand side of the grips for Wayne's middle, ring, and pinky fingers of Wayne's right hand for as they wrapped around the revolver's grip frame. The grooves can be clearly seen in the climactic gunfight between Rooster and "Lucky" Ned Pepper and his gang when Rooster has the gun tucked into his waist band.

John Wayne's trademark Colt Single Action Army revolver chambered for .44-40 Winchester, serial number 309795, in John Wayne's trademark "half-breed" gun belt.

Colt Single Action Army 4 3/4" barrel "Quick Draw" model - .45 Long Colt

"Mr. Rat, I have a writ here says you're to stop eating Chin Lee's cornmeal forthwith. Now it's a rat writ, writ for a rat, and this is lawful service of the same. See, doesn't pay any attention to me."

BANG!

Rooster Cogburn fires his SAA into the air.

Lucky Ned Pepper with his SAA during the showdown with Rooster.

Rooster fires his SAA and Winchester '92 akimbo style, with the reins in his teeth when facing Ned Pepper and the Parmalee brothers.

Ned Pepper shoots Rooster's horse Bo with his SAA.

Pepper prepares to shoot Rooster with his SAA.

Rooster shoots a diamondback rattlesnake in the snake pit with his SAA as he climbs down to save Mattie.

Colt Walker 1847

Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) inherits her father's Civil War handgun when he dies, which is a Colt Walker 1847. Mattie uses it when she encounters Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey) and is knocked down by the recoil of the gun and manages to shoot him in the gut with it. He then manages to charge her and take the gun due to several misfires (which were Rooster's fault, as he had loaded it incorrectly while drunk, and also overloaded the chambers with powder which caused the tremendous recoil). The gun manages to fire once more in the hands of Mattie and grazes Chaney's head, though the recoil knocks her into a snake pit. When Mattie first shows the gun to Rooster, he calls it a Colt Dragoon, but it is clearly too large and lacks a loading lever latch that the Dragoon models had. Also, the Walker has no percussion nipples, showing that it is firing cartridges.

One of the original cartridge conversion Colt Walker 1847s used by Clint Eastwood in the film The Outlaw Josey Wales. Since deactivated by the Prop Store of London - .44 caliber.

The Sheriff (John Doucette) gives Mattie her father's Colt Walker revolver.

"Why, by God, girl, that's a Colt's Dragoon! You're no bigger than a corn nubbin, what're you doing with all this pistol?"
Note no percussion nipples, showing that its made to fire metallic cartridges

Mattie: "It belonged to my father, he carried it bravely in the war, and I intend to kill Tom Chaney with it if the law fails to do so."
Rooster: "Well, this'll sure get the job done if you can find a fence post to rest it on while you take aim."

Mattie aims her Colt Walker at Tom Chaney before shooting him in the gut.

Mattie shoots Chaney a second time with her Walker Colt and falls backwards into a snake pit.

Chaney looks down at Mattie in the snake pit with her Walker Colt in hand before being killed by Rooster's SAA.

Mattie gives Rooster her Walker Colt at the end of the film.

Colt New Service (Mock-up)

Lucky Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall) is seen in a few scenes using a Colt New Service mocked up to look like a Single Action Army by adding a fake ejector rod (see also The Long Riders). These guns were used by actors too slow to handle a single-action only revolver and required a double-action trigger pull for quicker shots. However, it is strange that he uses this gun as he is never required to fire it rapidly and when facing Rooster at the end of the film, the gun switches to an actual SAA instead.

Colt New Service - .45 ACP

Ned Pepper fires his mocked-up Colt New Service revolver in the air.

Ned Pepper firing his mocked-up New Service at Rooster during the climax of the film before it turns into an actual SAA.

Shotguns

12 Gauge Double Barreled Shotgun

A U.S. Marshal helping Rooster Cogburn unload the outlaws from the Indian Territory is armed with a 12 Gauge Double Barreled Shotgun. Later, Farrell Parmalee (Kenneth Becker) is seen armed with a side-by-side as well.

Stoeger IGA Coach gun - 12 gauge

A U.S. Marshal helps Rooster unload outlaws from the Indian Territory with a side-by-side in hand.

Farrel Parmalee with a side-by-side in hand.

Rifles

Winchester Model 1892 Saddle Ring Carbine

Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) keeps a Winchester Model 1892 Saddle Ring Carbine with a large lever loop chambered in .44-40 as his rifle of choice throughout the film and is most notably seen using it during the film's climax when he fires it akimbo style along with his Single Action Army, twirling the rifle with the large lever loop to cock it with one hand (this action most likely inspired the same technique used by Arnold Schwarzenegger with the Winchester Model 1887 shotgun in Terminator 2: Judgement Day). Wayne and stuntman Yakima Canutt created the so-called Hollywood lever for the movie Stagecoach. It was a technique refined by Chuck Connors in the series The Rifleman and Connors was clearly the master of spin-cocking a Model 1892 (easy for Connors who was 6' 5" tall).

Winchester 1892 Saddle Ring Carbine with large lever loop - .32WCF/.38-40/.44-40/.25-20.

Rooster unloads prisoners from the Indian territory with his Winchester '92 carbine under his arm. Note large lever loop.

Rooster takes aim with his Winchester '92 carbine at Moon (Dennis Hopper) and his partner Quincy in their house.

Rooster points his '92 carbine at Moon.

Rooster fires his '92 carbine at Ned Pepper and his gang.

Rooster flip cocks the '92 carbine with one hand during the climax.

"Fill your hand, you son-of-a-bitch!"
Note that the grooves in the grips of Wayne's revolver, which is tucked into his waist band, can be clearly seen.

Rooster fires his '92 carbine akimbo style with his Single Action Army, with the reins in his teeth when facing Ned Pepper and the Parmalee brothers.

Rooster's '92 carbine becomes out of reach when Pepper shoots his horse Bo, who traps his leg under his dead body.

Sharps 1874 Cavalry Carbine

La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) uses a Sharps 1874 Cavalry Carbine as his rifle of choice throughout the film. When hunting, he manages to pretty much destroy a turkey with the rifle. Later in the film, he manages to shoot Ned Pepper's horse from a long distance and is mocked by Rooster for missing the shot claiming: "Maybe next time if you aim for for the horse, you might hit Pepper." He fairs better at the film's climax and manages to shoot Pepper off his horse from an impressive distance before he can kill Rooster.

Sharps 1874 Cavalry Carbine - .45-70 Government

La Boeuf destroys a turkey with his Sharps 1874 Cavalry Carbine.

La Boeuf shoots Ned Pepper's horse with his Sharps 1874 carbine.

La Boeuf takes aim at more of Pepper's men.

La Boeuf comes to Matties' rescue with his Sharps 1874 carbine in hand.

La Boeuf points his Sharps Carbine at Chaney.

La Boeuf shoots Ned Pepper off his horse with his Sharps Carbine.

Winchester Model 1894 Saddle Ring Carbine

A U.S. Marshal helping unload outlaws from the Indian Territory is seen armed with a Winchester Model 1894 Saddle Ring Carbine. He is seen with it in hand when telling Mattie to wait another day to talk to Rooster Cogburn. Later in the film, Ned Pepper is seen with a '94 rifle and fires it into the air to let Rooster know where he is. It clearly has a longer receiver and the more complex lever system under the gun helping tell it from an 1892 rifle. It is anachronistic for the film, which is set in 1880.

Winchester 1894 Saddle ring Carbine - .30-30

A U.S. Marshal tells Mattie to wait for Rooster with his Winchester 1894 Saddle Ring Carbine in hand.

Ned Pepper with a Winchester '94 carbine in hand.

Ned Pepper fires his '94 carbine in the air.

Winchester Model 1866 "Yellow Boy" (Mocked-up as Henry 1860)

Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey) is seen using a Winchester Model 1866 "Yellow Boy" with the forend removed to look like a Henry 1860 to murder Frank Ross (John Pickard), Matties' father. Dialogue confirms they intended the gun to be a Henry rifle in the film. Later, Chaney is seen with an actual Henry instead.

Winchester Model 1866 "Yellow Boy" - .44 RF

Chaney points his Winchester Model 1866 mocked-up like a Henry at Frank Ross.

Chaney with the Winchester 1866. Note how it clearly has a loading gate instead of a twisting barrel, which shows it is not a Henry rifle.

Henry 1860

Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey) is later seen with an actual Henry 1860 when Mattie first finds him. He keeps a sling attached to it.

Henry 1860 - .44 RF

Chaney armed with his Henry 1860 when he meets Mattie. Note how the rifle clearly has a twisting barrel instead of a loading gate.