"True Grit" Rifle Bloopers

Above, John Wayne takes aim with his Winchester 1892 carbine. IMFDB photo.

The 1969 True Grit is the beloved movie that garnered John Wayne his one and only Oscar.

However, there are some goofs in the movie when it comes to firearms.

True Grit was also a breakout movie for actor Robert Duvall as the outlaw Ned Pepper. In the movie Pepper carries a Winchester 1894 rifle. There's only one problem with this.

Above, Robert Duvall fires his Winchester 1894. IMFDB photo.

The story was set in 1880, before the Winchester 1894 was made.

Duvall wasn't the only one in the movie who carried a Winchester 1894. Actor Myron Healey also carried one during the scene where Rooster Cogburn (Wayne) unloads a wagon of prisoners.

From the Internet Movie Firearms Database:

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.

John Wayne carried a Winchester 1892 carbine in the movie. That rifle wasn't also around in 1880.

At least Glen Campbell used the correct rifle for the period.

According to the IMFDB:

La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) uses a Sharps 1874 Cavalry Carbine as his rifle of choice throughout the film.

 

Above, Glen Campbell and his Sharps 1874 carbine. IMFDB photo.

Hollywood is notorious for having props that were wrong for different eras. Some sharp-eyed fans have spotted that wrong Jeeps were used in Patton (1970), for example.