Just watched a episode of the Rifleman where a sheriff (not Mica) used ballistics to find who killed a friend of Lucas.
He fired bullets into bales of hay and then examined them under a magnifying glass to match the striations from the gun barrel.

Quite interesting as forensic ballistics had to be in it's infancy back then. Thought I had seen every episode of the The Rifleman but don't recall this one.

I thought I saw all of them too, many times over, but don't recall this one at all.

That one came through the rotation on The Western Channel a few weeks ago. I wondered how much of that was “period correct”.

quote:

Originally posted by hudr:
I wondered how much of that was “period correct”.

Crude forensic ballistics had been around since the early 1800s in England and France, although its use was not widespread until the following century, due in part to the fact that the microscopes of the time had serious limitations.

It eventually gained popularity in the early-to-mid 1900s, due mainly to advances in magnification tools and the pioneering work of a handful of individuals. The first organized Forensic Ballistics unit was set up by the NYPD in 1925, and the FBI followed suit in 1932.

As a result, it's potentially period correct for the late 1800s, although I wouldn't expect that a rural lawman out West would know much about it. And unless there was some major obvious flaw in the rifling, a simple magnifying glass likely wouldn't be powerful enough to make a definitive match between rifling marks on a bullet. So it's potentially plausible, but not probable.

Realistically, it's likely just an anachronism, with the show's writers just pandering to the American public's increased fascination with all things police/forensics in the 1950s/1960s.

The Rifleman was a great show.... about a rancher that we never see do any ranching.
And once a week he kills a few people and nobody seems to mind.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
The Rifleman was a great show.... about a rancher that we never see do any ranching.
And once a week he kills a few people and nobody seems to mind.

I’m watching a couple episodes on AMC right now.
One thing I’ve noticed.... do NOT call Lucas Mcain a sod buster....apparently that gets his dander up.

And he is a Deputy... Kinda.... Sometimes.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
The Rifleman was a great show.... about a rancher that we never see do any ranching.
And once a week he kills a few people and nobody seems to mind.

Every time he goes to Town the local grave digger and coffin maker...make a few bucks.

And like You mentioned...no one seems to mind. LOL.

It's that creepy way he looks at the camera while he's reloading during the opening credits that bugs me out.

I'd have been cranky too, if I was the handsomest guy around and never got frisky .

fun fact:
In real life little Johnny Crawford had a brother ( bobbie)that was on another tv show called Laramie
http://www.whosdatedwho.com/dating/johnny-crawford

I find it interesting that all of the principals in the TV westerns back then wore the same clothes week after week.

There was a short-lived series, taking place shortly after the end of the "wild" west, in the early 1970s whose whole premise was forensics: Hec Ramsey, played by Richard Boone, known better for Have Gun Will Travel.

I saw an episode of Bonanza where Hoss was on trial for murder. Hop Sing got him off by comparing ‘chops’. His term for fingerprints. All was well afterwards at the Ponderosa. Until the next week.

Lucas Boy killed 110-120 in total. Yes, folks have actually counted them up.

I remember one show where the Sheriff or somebody concluded that the victim was shot with a .45 and the suspect carried a .44.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Hec Ramsey

Hec Ramsey was one of the shows shown on NBC's Sunday Mystery Movie along with Columbo, McCloud, and McMillan & Wife.

Season 5, Episode 21 "The Bullet"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0686678/

Lucas travels to a town and gets mixed up in a murder mystery when he tries to find a missing friend. The Sheriff introduces a strange concept: ballistics. Lucas is leery, but plays along with him.

Storyline:
Lucas McCain travels to a nearby town looking for a fellow member of the North Fork Cattleman's Association who has failed to return home. En route, he comes across a gambling hall owner named Griff who is trying to scare one of his patrons into paying off his gambling debts. Lucas puts a stop to it and takes Griff into the local Marshal who seems less than interested in what is going on. There's more to the Marshal than meets the eye however and he introduces Lucas to the concept of ballistics. He also has every intention of using science to prove that Grigg is responsible for killing Lucas friend.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
Lucas Boy killed 110-120 in total. Yes, folks have actually counted them up.

Yes, but they were all bad.

quote:

Originally posted by NK402:
I find it interesting that all of the principals in the TV westerns back then wore the same clothes week after week.

Matt Dillon had just one outfit, but I always figured Arness was so damn big, that was all that fit him.

quote:

The Bullet

Here's the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC2h-nzjw4s