The BEST episodes of The Rifleman season 3

Every episode of The Rifleman season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Rifleman season 3!

Widower Lucas McCain can fire a round with his specially modified Winchester in three-tenths of a second. Added to his high moral code and resolve enable him to help Marshal Micah Torrance maintain order in town while raising his son, Mark, on a ranch near North Fork, New Mexico.

Last Updated: 11/19/2024Network: ABC (US)Status: Ended
The Wyoming Story (2)
star
8.00
10 votes

#1 - The Wyoming Story (2)

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/14/1961

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)

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Watch Now:Amazon
Baranca
star
7.93
15 votes

#2 - Baranca

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/1/1960

When an outlaw leader lures Marshal Torrance out of town, Lucas is the only one who can stop him from lynching a local man who killed one of the members of his gang.

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Watch Now:Amazon
Strange Town
star
7.90
20 votes

#3 - Strange Town

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/25/1960

Lucas tracks an escaped prisoner to a town that turns out to be run by the gunman's brother, notorious for shooting people in the back.

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Writer: Jack Curtis
Watch Now:Amazon
The Actress
star
7.88
8 votes

#4 - The Actress

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/24/1961

A deathbed request from an old friend sends Lucas to a neighboring town in search of the man's long-lost sweetheart.

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Watch Now:Amazon
The Wyoming Story (1)
star
7.78
9 votes

#5 - The Wyoming Story (1)

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/7/1961

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)

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Watch Now:Amazon
Dark Day at North Fork
star
7.73
11 votes

#6 - Dark Day at North Fork

Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/7/1961

Blinded in an explosion, Lucas fights despair as he prepares for a meeting with a gun-toting enemy.

Directors: Paul Landres
Watch Now:Amazon
Dead Cold Cash
star
7.69
13 votes

#7 - Dead Cold Cash

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/22/1960

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

Directors: Richard Moder
Watch Now:Amazon
The Queue
star
7.67
12 votes

#8 - The Queue

Season 3 - Episode 34 - Aired 5/16/1961

A Chinese man and his son fight prejudice as they try to open a laundry in North Fork.

Directors: James Clavell
Watch Now:Amazon
Face of Yesterday
star
7.67
12 votes

#9 - Face of Yesterday

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/31/1961

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.

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Watch Now:Amazon
Trail of Hate
star
7.65
17 votes

#10 - Trail of Hate

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/27/1960

Lucas is out for vengeance when Mark is used as a pawn in a bank robbery scheme.

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Watch Now:Amazon
Short Rope for a Tall Man
star
7.60
10 votes

#11 - Short Rope for a Tall Man

Season 3 - Episode 27 - Aired 3/28/1961

Lucas, accused of horse theft, struggles to clear himself before a lynch mob catches up.

Directors: Paul Landres
Writer: Tom Gries
Watch Now:Amazon
Miss Milly
star
7.60
10 votes

#12 - Miss Milly

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/15/1960

A new store owner upsets the town by demanding that all credit accounts be paid off.

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Watch Now:Amazon
Closer than a Brother
star
7.60
10 votes

#13 - Closer than a Brother

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/21/1961

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

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Writer: Cyril Hume
Watch Now:Amazon
Miss Bertie
star
7.58
12 votes

#14 - Miss Bertie

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/27/1960

A lively old lady arrives in town hot on the trail of a notorious bandit and the reward money for capturing him.

Directors: James Clavell
Watch Now:Amazon
The Pitchman
star
7.53
17 votes

#15 - The Pitchman

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/18/1960

When Mark finds gold on their property, a fast-talking salesman who tried to sell Lucas a new lightning rod offers instead to buy the ranch's mineral rights.

Directors: John Rich
Writer: Jay Simms
Watch Now:Amazon
The Promoter
star
7.50
10 votes

#16 - The Promoter

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/6/1960

Lucas and Mark attempt to reform a con-man.

Directors: Richard Moder
Watch Now:Amazon
Stopover
star
7.46
13 votes

#17 - Stopover

Season 3 - Episode 31 - Aired 4/25/1961

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

Directors: Budd Boetticher
Watch Now:Amazon
The Prisoner
star
7.44
9 votes

#18 - The Prisoner

Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/14/1961

Two ex-Confederate officers seek revenge on Lucas, who served as prison guard during their internment.

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Watch Now:Amazon
The Mescalaro Curse
star
7.42
12 votes

#19 - The Mescalaro Curse

Season 3 - Episode 30 - Aired 4/18/1961

Lucas is marked for death: he was foreman of a jury that convicted an Apache.

Directors: Jesse Hibbs
Watch Now:Amazon
The Clarence Bibs Story
star
7.38
13 votes

#20 - The Clarence Bibs Story

Season 3 - Episode 28 - Aired 4/4/1961

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

Directors: David Friedkin
Watch Now:Amazon
Woman From Hog Ridge
star
7.31
16 votes

#21 - Woman From Hog Ridge

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/4/1960

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

Directors: William Claxton
Watch Now:Amazon
The Martinet
star
7.30
10 votes

#22 - The Martinet

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/1960

A former army captain comes to North Fork to kill the man who shot down his son in a gunfight - Lucas McCain.

Directors: Joseph H. Lewis
Watch Now:Amazon
Long Trek
star
7.27
11 votes

#23 - Long Trek

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/17/1961

Lucas and Marshal Torrance run in trouble transporting a captured killer back to face trial.

The Lonesome Bride
star
7.27
11 votes

#24 - The Lonesome Bride

Season 3 - Episode 32 - Aired 5/2/1961

Two pranksters write away for a mail-order bride, using Lucas's name.

Directors: Otto Lang
Death Trap
star
7.25
12 votes

#25 - Death Trap

Season 3 - Episode 33 - Aired 5/9/1961

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

Directors: Arnold Laven