Two years after Jimmy Stewart chased a very special firearm, 1952 brought a flick that followed a similar concept. Springfield Rifle features Gary Cooper in a Western that involves another amazing weapon.

Set during the Civil War, Union Major Lex Kearny (Cooper) gets a dishonorable discharge related to cowardice in battle. This disrupts his life in a mix of ways, especially when his family feels shame.

However, it turns out Lex did all this as a ruse so he could go undercover among Confederate forces to reveal rustlers. When this pretense becomes unveiled, Lex needs to use the experimental and extremely powerful “Springfield rifle” to survive.

Although I implied Rifle followed in the footsteps of Winchester, they don’t really share plot similarities. While both involve special firearms, they diverge in pretty much all other ways.

Ignoring story domains, I think Rifle offers a downgrade from Winchester due to its choice of lead actor. Put bluntly, Cooper simply never approached Stewart in terms of talent.

Although I can see Cooper’s appeal as a screen presence, his acting often seemed stiff and unnatural. Sure, he still could do well at times, but in general, I think he became a negative more than a positive in many of his films.

Cooper’s iffy chops turn into a problem during Rifle, as he simply lacks the range to pull off the role’s demands. Given the ways Lex must balance his real life and his subterfuge, the part needs an actor with layers and nuance.

That’s not Cooper. He plays Lex as The Gary Cooper Character and never produces anything more resonant.

As such, Cooper does fine in the tough guy scenes but he falters when the movie asks for more range from Lex. I can’t call Cooper’s performance a disappointment, but his work nonetheless acts as a liability for this complex character.

It doesn’t help that Rifle comes with a fairly scattered and less than focused plot. The story doesn’t evolve in a particularly coherent manner.

Instead, Rifle tends to feel like a collection of semi-related scenes that exist mainly to reveal the title weapon. Eventually.

Rifle takes its own sweet time to involve the powerful firearm. A lot of this comes across like dawdling and the film doesn’t tend to use that space terribly well.

At 93 minutes, Rifle seems short enough that it doesn’t wear out its welcome, and it brings the occasional effective action scene. The whole package doesn’t connect well, unfortunately, so this lands as a scattershot Western.

Springfield Rifle appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Apparently thanks to the film stock involved, this turned into a spotty image.

Sharpness became the primary issue, as a good chunk of the movie seemed a bit soft and tentative. While the visuals could also seem tight at times, the presentation lacked consistency.

No issues with jaggies or moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws remained absent, but the film seemed grainier than expected.

Colors leaned toward blues and browns and seemed generally fine. “Warner Color” – basically Eastmancolor – stocks could fade and these hues didn’t impress, but they functioned well enough.

Blacks leaned a little thick, but shadows seemed positive. Though this turned into an inconsistent result, the movie remained more than watchable.

The DTS-HD MA monaural audio of Rifle appeared fine for its era, and speech was more than adequate. The lines showed age-related thinness, but they were always perfectly intelligible and without edginess.

Effects resembled the dialogue. Those elements lacked much depth but they were without notable problems.

Music was adequate for its age, as the score tended to be a bit tinny. There wasn’t much range to the music, but again, that stemmed from the limitations of the very old source. This became a perfectly acceptable mix for its vintage.

Along with the movie’s trailer, a few shorts appear, and So You Want to Enjoy Life (10:59) offers a live-action reel. Part of a series, Life follows the clumsy misadventures of McDoakes (George O'Hanlon, later famous as the voice of George Jetson).

In this one, Joe thinks he’ll die soon and comedy results. I’ve not felt wild about most McDoakes efforts, but this one actually amuses.

We also get two Classic Cartoons from the early 1950s: Feed the Kitty (7:23) and Rabbit’s Kin (6:53). In the first, a kitten charms a tough dog named Marc Antony.

However, his owner warns him not to bring anything more into the home, so he needs to hide his new friend, a task that becomes difficult due to the kitty’s innocent mischief. This turns into an excellent short.

As for Kin, Pete Puma chases a cute little bunny who takes refuge in Bugs’ hole. Bugs saves him and wards off the attacks from the hungry feline. I never liked Pete and the short becomes a bit of a dud.

At times, Springfield Rifle delivers a good Western action experience. However, it becomes hampered by a stiff lead performance from Gary Cooper and a general lack of narrative momentum. The Blu-ray comes with erratic but acceptable picture as well as age-appropriate audio and a few bonus materials. Rifle winds up as a mediocre Western.