Kevin Costner Reveals His Yellowstone Rifle Is A Family Heirloom
Kevin Costner says the 30-30 rifle his character uses in Yellowstone was given to him in real life by his father.
Though his fate on the show may be soon to end, Kevin Costner is still bringing Yellowstone audiences plenty of heartfelt moments both scripted and not. During a recent event appearance where he was granted the PCQC 2023 Lifetime Sportsman Award, the actor took to the stage for his acceptance speech and brought the crowd to tears. In the clip, which you can see below, the Waterworld actor shared a fun behind-the-scenes snippet with the audience revealing that one of the guns seen on the show is actually a family heirloom.
Having grown up in a hunting-centered family, Kevin Costner used his time behind the mic to celebrate the lives of his late parents who the actor revealed passed away just two years ago. Reminiscing on his childhood, the Yellowstone star said that his father gifted him a 30-30 rifle at the age of 12, a hand-me-down that he would cherish forever. Connecting his love for his family and his love of hunting, the celebrated star went on to say that he’s carried that gun alongside him every step of the way – even working it into his latest hit series.
Thinking back on a time when he could hardly handle the weight of the firearm, Kevin Costner choked up when speaking about how he now proudly sports the rifle in Yellowstone. From father to son to John Dutton, audiences can spot the Costner family heirloom on the scabbard of his horse. “That’s the very gun,” Costner revealed to the audience, sharing what it has meant to him to come from a family that raised him to enjoy the sport of hunting.
Now, anyone doing a rewatch of the fan-favorite Paramount series is sure to be on the lookout for the gun that kicked off Kevin Costner’s hobby and the way that he keeps his family’s legacy alive on the screen. In a show about family, the actor’s big reveal is very on the nose for the running themes of Yellowstone. Now filming the second part of the fifth season, there’s no doubt that Costner has returned to set with his father’s rifle, proudly showing it off.
Speaking of the Kevin Costner-led series, fans are more than eager to find out when they can expect Yellowstone to return to Paramount. Due to scheduling conflicts and setbacks, the current fifth season was cut into two separate parts with the first ending at the very beginning of the year. While we know that his character’s screen time will be less than what we’re used to, recently released promotional material has whipped fans into a frenzy worried that the end of the series, or at least of Costner’s family patriarch John Dutton, is on the horizon.
This year has been a big one for Kevin Costner’s time on Yellowstone as the actor nabbed a Golden Globe award for his work on the series. While it would be shocking to see him take a leave from the story, the show has been known to have its fair share of surprising moments and, as he’s now full speed ahead on his own Western project Horizon, it’s exceedingly likely that these are the final days of John Dutton. No matter what, audiences can at least expect to see a little bit more of John’s story play out with his rifle in hand in the second half of the fifth season.
