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The Best Episodes of The Rifleman

Every episode of The Rifleman ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Rifleman!

The Best Episodes of The Rifleman

The Rifleman is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was...

Seasons5

  1. Background image for The Sheridan Story
    8.7/10(281 votes)

    #1 - The Sheridan Story

    S1:E16

    Frank Blandon, a man with only one good arm, wanders on to the ranch. Lucas gave Blandon a job to ""hire him and Mark a clear conscience"". General Sheridan and his patrol wandered by and Lucas offered to let them stay the night at the ranch. Blandon pulled a gun on General Sheridan, as it turned out Blandon was a confederate soldier, who once had General Sheridan in his gun sight during the war. Blandon hung fire, but Sheridan did not hesitate and blew out Blandon's shoulder. General Sheridan shamed Blandon out of exacting his revenge, then lifted Blandon's spirit by praising Johnny Rebs' fighting spirit. Sheridan ordered that Blandon be taken to a hospital to have his shoulder properly mended, carrying out his Commander in Chief's last order to ""Bind up the Nation's wounds.""

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Cyril Hume
  2. Background image for Death Trap
    8.6/10(164 votes)

    #2 - Death Trap

    S3:E33

    Lucas recognizes Dr. Simon Battle as an ex-gunslinger with whom he once traded shots.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for The Sharpshooter
    8.5/10(477 votes)

    #3 - The Sharpshooter

    S1:E1

    Lucas McCain and his son Mark arrive in North Fork, New Mexico. Looking to start a new life, they come across a ranch to their liking, which is for sale. Lucas enters a Turkey Shoot in hopes of winning the down payment for the ranch. Jim Lewis, the man who runs North Fork, has bet on Vernon, a young gun he brought in, to win. When talk of Lucas' reputation back in the Nations circulates around town, Mr. Lewis gets nervous and he makes trouble for Lucas by threatening Mark's life.

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  4. Background image for The Deadly Wait
    8.5/10(179 votes)

    #4 - The Deadly Wait

    S1:E26

    Dan Nowry, released from Yuma prison, arrives in North Fork intent on getting even with Marshal Torrance,who helped send him to jail.

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    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for The Money Gun
    8.5/10(186 votes)

    #5 - The Money Gun

    S1:E33

    When his employer begins to suspect him of embezzlement, bookkeeper Asa Manning decides to hire a professional gunman to take care of the problem.

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  6. Background image for Face of Yesterday
    8.5/10(176 votes)

    #6 - Face of Yesterday

    S3:E19

    Lucas thinks he has seen a ghost when a young man, eerily similar to a man he killed in the Civil War, challenges him to a gunfight.

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    Writer:Unknown
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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Rifleman

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  8. Background image for Stopover
    8.5/10(194 votes)

    #7 - Stopover

    S3:E31

    Trouble brews at Lucas's when a whisky salesman and a gunfighter fall for the same woman.

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    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for The Marshal
    8.4/10(321 votes)

    #8 - The Marshal

    S1:E4

    Micah Torrance, a once famous lawman, is introduced as a drunken derelict, who stumbles into North Fork. Micah, nursing an arm crippled in a gunfight, is hired by Lucas to help out at the ranch. Three outlaws ride into town looking for revenge against Micah. When they kill the sheriff, it's up to Lucas and Micah to protect North Fork. Micah becomes North Fork's full-time Marshal.

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  10. Background image for The Sister
    8.4/10(232 votes)

    #9 - The Sister

    S1:E9

    Rebecca Snipe is returning to North Fork after a long visit away. Before her stage left, she over hears a man saying he's going to North Fork to kill a big man with a big mouth. Upon Rebecca's arrival in North Fork, Mark is smitten with her and gets it in his head to play matchmaker between her and his pa. Thinking Lucas has intentions on their sister, the Snipe brothers come looking for Lucas to see if he measures up to their standard of being good enough for her.

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  11. Background image for The Indian
    8.4/10(203 votes)

    #10 - The Indian

    S1:E21

    U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart arrives in North Fork in search of renegade Indians suspected of the brutal killing of a Texas Ranger and his family, but the townspeople are suspicious of him when they discover that he too is an Indian.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Cyril Hume
  12. Background image for Woman From Hog Ridge
    8.4/10(165 votes)

    #11 - Woman From Hog Ridge

    S3:E2

    Lucas shoots a horse thief who turns out to be a member of the Boyle clan, and now Ma Boyle is after him.

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    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Dead Cold Cash
    8.4/10(142 votes)

    #12 - Dead Cold Cash

    S3:E9

    The widow of a bandit killed by Lucas plots a grotesque revenge.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for The Wyoming Story (2)
    8.4/10(151 votes)

    #13 - The Wyoming Story (2)

    S3:E21

    Mark heads for Wyoming to search for Lucas, who's on the trail of a gang illegally selling weapons to the Indians. (Part 2 of 2)

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    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for Closer than a Brother
    8.4/10(158 votes)

    #14 - Closer than a Brother

    S3:E22

    Lucas looks for answers when recovering alcoholic Micah Torrence returns to the bottle—and turns in his badge.

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  16. Background image for End of a Young Gun
    8.3/10(313 votes)

    #15 - End of a Young Gun

    S1:E3

    Lucas is forced to give refuge to Will Fulton, a young bank robber, who was injured while saving Mark's life. While staying at the McCain ranch Will gets a taste of a life better than the one he's been leading. He's met a girl and grows tired of a life on the run. Will this young man have a change of heart before his brother returns for him and the stolen money?

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  17. Background image for Duel of Honor
    8.3/10(224 votes)

    #16 - Duel of Honor

    S1:E7

    When an Italian Count arrives in North Fork, his strange attire attracts the attention of Groder, a town bully. Groder trying to have fun with this stranger, destroys some of the Counts currency, mocks him, and tries to humiliate him. Eventually the Count challenges Groder to a duel and asks Lucas to be his Second. They meet at dawn and the Count, the offended party, brings his single shot dueling pistols, something Groder is unaccustomed to. Lucas as second must see that all rules of the duel are adhered to.

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    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for The Safe Guard
    8.3/10(223 votes)

    #17 - The Safe Guard

    S1:E8

    Floyd Doniger comes to North Fork, looking to start a new life. He's got a steady job as the guard at the new bank and he's entertaining ideas of settling down on a spread of his own. Also arriving in North Fork are three men who followed the bank's new safe, figuring any town needing a safe like that must have money to put into it. At the grand opening celebration of the bank, the three men discover the new bank guard is their old pal, Floyd. The three men try to convince Floyd to join them in robbing the bank, after all with a man working inside it should be easy.

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  19. Background image for Young Englishman
    8.3/10(221 votes)

    #18 - Young Englishman

    S1:E12

    Lucas accuses the young foreman of a neighboring ranch of rustling one of his calves.

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  20. Background image for The Second Witness
    8.3/10(175 votes)

    #19 - The Second Witness

    S1:E23

    Lucas puts his life in jeopardy when he agrees to testify in a murder case where the first witness was killed before he could testify, and the killer is still at large.

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  21. Background image for The Hawk
    8.3/10(163 votes)

    #20 - The Hawk

    S1:E29

    Young Mark manages to capture a hawk, but then falls into danger from a rattlesnake. When a stranger comes to his rescue, the grateful Mark invites the man home, unaware that he is on the run from the law.

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    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for The Wyoming Story (1)
    8.3/10(154 votes)

    #21 - The Wyoming Story (1)

    S3:E20

    Lucas agrees to take a job as a federal undercover agent and goes to Wyoming to investigate rumors of sales of arms to renegade indians. His life is endagered by the town drunk who stumbles onto his true identity and purpose. (Part 1 of 2)

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    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for The Clarence Bibs Story
    8.3/10(144 votes)

    #22 - The Clarence Bibs Story

    S3:E28

    A janitor-turned-gunfighter whose reputation hangs on one lucky shot—and a lot of gall.

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    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for The Gaucho
    8.2/10(199 votes)

    #23 - The Gaucho

    S1:E14

    Rumson, without even saying to whom he had sold his property, left the bill of sale with the bank and moved away from North Fork. Curge, who's highest offer was upped by $1,000.00 is upset because Rumson sold out to a ""peppergut"". The Argentez family who bought the place are from Argentina. Lucas arranges for Mark to hang out with Manolo, who teaches Mark to use the Bolas. Manolo is angered at anyone who shows interest in his sister, he believes she is only for a ""Caballero"". Her latest suitor, Ned Dunnell, has been found murdered and the townsfolk are quick to believe it was Manolo.

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    Director:Jerry Hopper
  25. Background image for The Pet
    8.2/10(163 votes)

    #24 - The Pet

    S1:E15

    Ward Haskins guns down Joe Flecker, who has evidence that could be used to blackmail him. Haskins thinks the information was given to Lucas, since he brought Flecker to the doctor before he died. Stirred up by Haskins behavior, Lucas goes through Flecker's things, finding a wanted poster for Haskins in the sole of Flecker's boot. He also finds Doc Burrage drinking. Doc is discouraged because three children have died of an anthrax epidemic that he has the new serum for, but nobody is willing to allow him to administer it in time. Haskins rides out to the ranch and is bitten by Flecker's horse, which is now believed to have anthrax. Mark overhears about how anthrax always causes death and is worried because he had bitten by Flecker's horse, also.

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    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for The Photographer
    8.2/10(188 votes)

    #25 - The Photographer

    S1:E18

    Abel Goss, the photographer who took Lucas' wedding photograph, is in North Fork doing a portrait of Mark standing in the street. When Goss sees Col. Whiteside and his sidekick Jamison, he recognizes them as the butchers who tortured him and others while he was captive in their prisoners of war camp. When Lucas stops him from killing them, Goss swears to kill those men. Whiteside planned to call Goss out, but he had Jamison shooting from the upstairs hotel window, as his insurance. When the shots are fired, Whiteside is dead, shot in the back, and his gun hadn't been fired. Goss is arrested and at the trial Lucas and Mark have different testimonies. Mark reenacts the scene in the street, and Lucas backs Mark's theory , using the photographic negative Goss had shot of Mark.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

Best Episodes Summary

"The Sheridan Story" is the best rated episode of "The Rifleman". It scored 8.7/10 based on 281 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Cyril Hume, it aired on 1/13/1959. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Death Trap".