

The Restless Gun is an American western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Civil War. A skilled gunfighter, Bonner is an idealistic person who prefers peaceful resolutions of conflict wherever possible. He is gregarious, intelligent, and public-spirited. The half-hour black-and-white program aired seventy-eight episodes. Jeanne Bates appeared in varying roles with Payne in five episodes of The Restless Gun. The Restless Gun theme song begins: "I ride with the wind, my eyes on the sun, and my hand on my restless gun..." The song composer is probably Paul Dunlap, credited as the primary series composer, but could have been contributed to by either of the two other series composers, Dave Kahn and Stanley Wilson, also. Two versions are currently posted on YouTube, but neither posting lists any composer or performance credits.

Sep 23, 1957
Vint Bonner meets an elderly woman who asks him to do something about her grandson. The young man has already killed two men and vowed to add Vint Bonner to the list.
Sep 30, 1957
After promising a seriously wounded outlaw that he will get him to town alive to stand trial, Bonner meets five men, including a doctor, who want to bring the man in. But then Bonner learns that the five have just taken part in a lynching, and he becomes concerned that they will do the same with this prisoner.
Oct 7, 1957 - 30m
When the man's hotheaded younger brother is killed in self defense, Vint fears that his sheriff friend is too bent on revenge to bring the man who killed him back alive.
Oct 14, 1957
No overview available.
Oct 21, 1957
Bonner finds a wounded man on the road, and brings him to the house of a an embittered woman who lives alone. He promises her he won't tell about the man at her place, but he later learns that the man is a wanted outlaw.
Oct 28, 1957
No overview available.
Nov 4, 1957
No overview available.
Nov 11, 1957
No overview available.
Nov 18, 1957
No overview available.
Nov 25, 1957
No overview available.
Dec 2, 1957
No overview available.
Dec 9, 1957
No overview available.
Dec 16, 1957
No overview available.
Dec 23, 1957
No overview available.
Dec 30, 1957 - 30m
Bonner and two strangers trail a pair of killers. Kit: Roy Roberts. Lex: Claude Akins. Bonner: John Payne. Emily: Madge Blake.
Jan 6, 1958
No overview available.
Jan 13, 1958
No overview available.
Jan 20, 1958
A Quaker family encounters prejudice, hostility, and harassment from the residents of the closest town, who mistake their pacifism for cowardice. They also encounter it from the rancher Bonner has come to do business with, though the man's wife feels differently.
Jan 27, 1958
No overview available.
Feb 3, 1958
No overview available.
Feb 10, 1958
No overview available.
Feb 17, 1958
No overview available.
Feb 24, 1958
No overview available.
Mar 3, 1958
No overview available.
Mar 10, 1958
No overview available.
Mar 17, 1958
No overview available.
Mar 24, 1958
Emma Birch has organized the women of the town into a determined suffragette group; the men rebel and attempt to put the women in their place. Bonner becomes the reluctant mediator between the two groups.
Mar 31, 1958
No overview available.
Apr 7, 1958
No overview available.
Apr 14, 1958
Vint Bonner is wounded while trying to track down the Drake brothers. His elderly aunt nurses him back to health and tries to prevent him from going back after the Drakes when he has recovered.
Apr 21, 1958
Vint arrives in Prairie City, Kansas to visit friends and find that it has been taken over by a band of renegade Civil War veterans from Texas. They are lead by a man called Colonel Bromley.
Apr 28, 1958
No overview available.
May 5, 1958
No overview available.
May 12, 1958
No overview available.
May 19, 1958
No overview available.
May 26, 1958
No overview available.
Jun 2, 1958
No overview available.
Jun 9, 1958
No overview available.
Jun 16, 1958
No overview available.