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