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Article #261: Toys - Guns Of The Old West

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In the 1970s, John Denver recorded a song the 1882 Lever Action Carbine. The gun is
called "I'd Rather Be A Cowboy". Well, 37 inches long and weighs 5.5 pounds. The
long before that song came out, kids were gun was known as the "Little 86" because
pretending to be cowboys with a vengeance. of its very fast action. The gun is made
And to meet that need and desire, toy out of wood and has a real working lever.
companies came out with quite a number of This was probably the most popular model
toy guns and accessories for the young of western gun during the time it came
cowpoke. We'll take a look at just a few out.
of the hundreds of western guns and sets If you wanted something from the Civil
you could get, 40 or 50 years ago. War, you could get that too. There was
Let's face it. Old west guns were just so the 1860 Enfield Civil War Musketoon. The
cool. Nothing else looks like them and gun was 40 inches long and weighed 5
the care that was used to make replicas of pounds. The percussion lock is stamped by
these guns by many of the manufacturers the London Armory with the Royal Crown.
was nothing short of amazing. Some of It's a two band musketoon. This is an
these rifles and pistols were so realistic actual replica of the gun they used to
looking that you couldn't tell them apart fight in the US Civil War.
from their real counterparts. If you wanted something a little smaller
One of the most popular of these rifles than a rifle, you could get them too.
was the M1865 Remington Rifle. This was Back in the 1950s, there was a pair of six
no light weight gun. It was 44 inches shooters that came out that were sold
long and weighed five pounds. This was a under the title "Western Man" made by Roth
replica of the very first cartridge firing American Inc. The guns shot roll caps,
system, rolling block sporting rifle. which were very popular in the 60s and
This was a very realistic looking gun and 70s. Today, it's almost impossible to
quite durable, made of very hard wood. find these caps. The set came with two
Want to shoot more than one bullet without guns. Both had pearl handles and metal
having to reload? No problem. You also barrels and each one had its own holster.
had the M1850 Revolving Musket. This was These were without any doubt the most
a replica of the six shot infantry rifle popular six shooters made during the time.
of the era. It was built with a revolving The roll caps made quite a loud noise and
cylinder firing system that was very aided to make these guns very realistic
realistic. The gun was 42 inches long and sounding to add to their realistic look.
weighed 5.5 pounds. It was also made out These guns only scratch the surface of the
of very hard wood. number of western guns that had come out
Looking for a lever action rifle? There during the time. Yes, John Denver was so
were plenty of them too. One of them was right. Kids would rather be cowboys.






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