When Chuck Connors auditioned for the role, the director suddenly threw a rifle at him; the former Major League Baseball player caught it and got the job.

The series was created by Arnold Laven and developed by Sam Peckinpah, who wrote and directed many early episodes and based many characters and plots on his own childhood on a ranch.

Peckinpah's insistence on violent realism and complex characterizations put him at odds with the show's producers at Four Star, and he eventually left the show to create the short-lived series The Westerner.

McCain's signature Winchester Model 1892 rifle was modified with a large ring lever drilled and tapped for a set screw that could trip the trigger automatically, allowing rapid fire and emptying the magazine in under six seconds during the opening credits.

The rapid-fire trigger mechanism was originally designed to protect Connors from puncturing his finger while quickly cycling the rifle's action, since he no longer had to place his finger near the trigger for each shot.

Because the Winchester 1892 is a top-eject rifle, spinning it to cock it one-handed risked ejecting the loaded round, so the rifle was modified with a plunger to hold the cartridge in place.

Gunsmith James S. Stembridge modified two Model 1892 rifles for filming, while a Spanish-made Gárate y Anitúa 'El Tigre' lever-action, a near-copy of the Model 1892, was used as a stunt gun for scenes involving throwing or clubbing to avoid damaging the originals.

During the opening credits, McCain fires 12 shots from his rifle, but the soundtrack dubbed in a 13th shot so the gunfire would end in sync with the theme music.

The rifle used in the series was actually a historical anachronism, since the show was set in 1881 but the Winchester Model 1892 was not designed until 12 years later by John Browning.

The pilot episode, 'The Sharpshooter', was originally broadcast on CBS as part of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre in 1958 and guest starred Dennis Hopper before being repeated as the series premiere on ABC.

The show served as an early launching point for many future stars who appeared as guest performers before becoming famous, including Dennis Hopper, Michael Landon, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Dan Blocker, and Adam West.

The series was partially filmed at Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, California.

Three episodes of The Rifleman ('The Lariat', 'Death Trap', and 'Which Way'd They Go?') served as backdoor pilots for proposed spin-off Western series that never got picked up.

A February 1959 episode served as the pilot for the actual spin-off series Law of the Plainsman, starring Michael Ansara as Marshal Sam Buckhart, who had appeared in the Rifleman episode.

A planned 2011 remake of the series for CBS, to be executive produced and directed by Chris Columbus, was canceled a few months after being announced without a pilot ever being made.