What Caliber do you think the Rifles in True Grit were?

[wavetrain75]

I just finished reading the book to my kid, as recommended by this forum. It never mentions what caliber any of the firearms were.

Mattie carried her father's cap and ball pistol that everyone said was too big for her. The two times she fired it it knocked her over. Lots of options there.

Rooster carried a repeating rifle and pistols of the same caliber, and was noted for not being especially long range. I'll say .25-35.

LaBoeuf carried a powerful Sharps. He was a Texas ranger so I assume it was .45-70.

Chaney carried a Henry repeating rifle but that's about we know.

[TMair]

Wasnt Mattie's a Colt/Walker? those where BIG 44s, way more powder capacity then the other 44s of the time.
Werent the originals Henrys 44s?
Terry

[mouthpiece]

Stonehill had a .303 Elliott Express. At least he had some shells on his desk for one.

[Cimarron]

It seems that I have read somewhere that the Texas Rangers were issued Sharps percussion carbines that had been converted to .50-70 Govt.. I know in the first True Grit movie, John Wayne refers to Glen Campbell's carbine as a .50 Sharps.

I can't imagine Rooster using anything other that a pistol/rifle combination chambered in .44 WCF (.44-40 as it was called in modern times). That combination was used by many lawmen and outlaws in the old Indian Nations.

As for the Henry .44, it was a rather anemic rimfire with a 200g slug and between 23 and 28 grains of black powder depending on the loading. Interesting to note that the 1866 Winchester was also chambered in the .44 Henry rimfire cartridge.

[RIHMFIRE]

Original true grit

http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/True_Grit_(1969)


new true grit
http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/True_Grit_(2010)


for some reason the link will not got to the full page
click the next true grit 69 or 2010 to the right ......its very small text

[Ysabel Kid]

Matte's would have been a .44 caliber had it been a Walker or any of the Colt "horse pistol" Dragoon revolvers. I agree that Rooster's would have probably been a .44-40 WCF for both his rifle and revolver. The Henry was indeed the anemic .44 Rimfire. The question is abut the Sharps, as there were a lot of choices.

[Cimarron]

I finally found my source, after the Civil War the government converted 31,000 of the Model 1868 Sharps percussion carbines to the new .50-70 Government metalic cartridge to be issued to state militia, local constabulary and the Texas Rangers. I think the Coen brothers used a .45-70 since the cartridges in Matt Damons belt just dont look like .50-70's.

[JerryB]

I don't really see that Rooster's rifle and pistol could have been "25-35"

[20cows]

Thanks for the links, Rihmfire!

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

I don't really see that Rooster's rifle and pistol could have been "25-35"

+1 The 25-35 wasn't a revolver cart.
John Wayne had a Win 92 in 44WFC but his revolver was a 45lc. Both guns were shot with 5 in 1 blanks.

[M. M. Wright]

What NKJ said and I thought the cartridges for the Sharps looked like 50-70 to me.

[Malamute]

What year was the story set in? That would have a bearing, if we're talking real life possibilties.

[wavetrain75]

I don't really see that Rooster's rifle and pistol could have been "25-35"

Oh, I meant 32-20, but that's way too small.

What year was the story set in? That would have a bearing, if we're talking real life possibilties.

Roughly 1895.

[vancelw]

What year was the story set in? That would have a bearing, if we're talking real life possibilties.

1870s. (1873 if I remember correctly) Snow was on the ground, but I can't recall if it was Spring or Winter.

[tomtex]

I don't really see that Rooster's rifle and pistol could have been "25-35"

+1 The 25-35 wasn't a revolver cart.
John Wayne had a Win 92 in 44WFC but his revolver was a 45lc. Both guns were shot with 5 in 1 blanks.

Sure it wasn't a 44/40

[Cimarron]

At the end of the movie when Mattie visits the wild west show she has a program/advertisement for it dated 1903. Earlier she states that it has been 25 years since her adventure in the Indian Nations. That would make the time period about the winter of 1877-78.

[vancelw]

At the end of the movie when Mattie visits the wild west show she has a program/advertisement for it dated 1903. Earlier she states that it has been 25 years since her adventure in the Indian Nations. That would make the time period about the winter of 1877-78.

1878-79 is what I thought I remembered, but I found several book reviews that placed it at 1873. Mattie did say it was in November.
Of course, Mattie has to be narrating after 1907 because she refers to Oklahoma, but mentions it was called Indian Territory at the time of her tale. Rooster died in 1903, so I guess that makes sense for the time on the Wild West show and her narration. I think the movie makers take a leap in logic when they arrive at the 25 year figure. The only mention of 25 years I find is Chaney's age and the Wild West show's flyers says Rooster was the scourge of Territorial outlaws and Texas cattle thieves for 25 years.
On the other hand, a Google search says the federal courthouse in Little Rock was built 1876-1881. Makes somewhere around 1877-79 sound more like it. I'm sure Portis left the specific year out on purpose.

The time frame would explain the scarcity of leverguns other than the Henry.

EDIT: I don't know why I was thinking Little Rock instead of Ft. Smith (other than old age). I googled the right town and found that Judge Parker did not get to Ft. Smith until 1875. So...1873 is still too early and the later half of the decade is more likely.