Collecting Western Toys: Books For Western Toy Pistols

I only have two books on the subject of collecting Western cap pistols of which Backyard Buckaroos is the best. It not only has pistols and rifles but Cowboy outfits for kids, badges, knives and a bunch more. Because absolutely no reference book has everything, I bought the Cap Guns book as well. It's far thinner having less pages and covers far less but does fill gaps left by the other book. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

"Backyard Buckaroos COLLECTING WESTERN TOY GUNS"  by Jim Schleyer

(Krause Publications 1996)

"Cap Guns with Values" by James Dundas

(Schiffer Publishing 1996)

Leslie-Henry Maverick Pistol with Stag Grips 1960s

Another cap pistol joins the arsenal. This time it's a Leslie-Henry with 'stag' grips (the grips that have vertical lines). Real stag grips are antler, not horn and are denser than horn. It was a popular material for knife grips as well as kitchen utensils. 

This toy is a 1960s era piece from what I can gather and is a character named item. The hugely popular Maverick TV series ran from 1957 to 1962 starring James Garner and Jack Kelly as two poker playing brothers traveling the American frontier and in the process fighting the ever-present bad guys. Without the original packaging it can be hard to pin down who made the guns and when (I'll cover my reference material in another post). Although, generally speaking, character branded toys were made at the same time there namesakes were popular in American culture. Western toy pistols are still being made today but are not too likely to be branded for our TV heroes of the past. 

This is a larger size gun - I guess calling it "full size" would be appropriate for Western toy cap guns. They're still smaller than a real life pistol though because hey, they're meant for kids! Until then - Enjoy! Opa Fritz

The cap chamber is different on this pistol vs. the ones posted previously. The chamber is spring loaded, released by a little latch just forward of the finger guard. The chamber is situated in the center of the pistol.

(T) Maverick pistol (B) Pony Boy

Nichols Spitfire Hip Gun with Clip

Here's a nifty little cap gun that found its way into the collection recently: Nichols Spitfire Hip Gun with Clip. The clip was meant to slide onto a childs belt and theoretically the hip gun could be drawn and fired quickly. I s'pose once there was a bit of play wear that was possible, but mine is in near mint condition and the little gun - 8 1/2" (21.59cm) long - fits quite snugly into the clip. There are two 'bullets' which consist of an inner piece and outer sleeve. Little round caps (which I don't have) would be placed on the inner piece and the sleeve placed over it. Then the bullet gets inserted into the chamber ready to fire. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Nichols Dyna-MITE Derringer with Original Box

I'm not through with Alamo postings by any means but while we're on the subject of the Old West, let's look at a couple of other toys. Here's a nice cap gun made by Nichols: the Dyna-MITE derringer. These were fun to have as kids playing Old West or Cowboys and Indians because you could hide them in your pocket and surprise your opponents just when they thought your were disarmed - but you only get one shot! LOL Enjoy! Opa Fritz