I had a rock in a butter tub. Dad called it a redneck rattle . . .
Your first toy gun as a kid...
- Thread starter PALADIN85020
- Start date
A genuine Mattel FANNER 50 with leather holder. Spring loaded cases with snap in plastic bullets. Put stick-on cap on the back, load and fire at a target.
sigp220.45
US Veteran
Apparently my first one was this Luger, with which I am threatening this bunny. My Dad was a newspaper editor and this probably bore some headline like "Local Boy With Abnormally Large Head Assaults Bunny With Nazi Gun".
The first one I remember is this dart gun, which instilled me with a lifelong love of all things Beretta.
The first one I remember is this dart gun, which instilled me with a lifelong love of all things Beretta.
Attachments
RobertJ.
Member
My mom has a photo of me when I was about 3 or 4, wearing a tank commander helmet and surrounded by a bunch of toy guns, including a bazooka. I don't even remember it. It didn't hurt that my dad was recently a Marine at the time. I had all the coolest toys. Dad and I both had battery operated tanks, and we'd build houses with Lincoln Logs, then drive the tanks over them.
The toy gun I really remember was my Johnny Eagle .45 auto. I was about 5 or 6, and it seemed huge. You could load it like a real gun, and the spring-operated ammo went pretty far. I can't help but think that my dad bought me most of them so he could play with them too. When I was 10 I got a Mattel M-16 Marauder and it was loud. I shot it next to mom and dad's bedroom early on a Sunday morning, then handed it to my sister before I went downstairs. She still gives me **** about that! That same Christmas I also got a Crosman 760, but that got treated like a real rifle.
The toy gun I really remember was my Johnny Eagle .45 auto. I was about 5 or 6, and it seemed huge. You could load it like a real gun, and the spring-operated ammo went pretty far. I can't help but think that my dad bought me most of them so he could play with them too. When I was 10 I got a Mattel M-16 Marauder and it was loud. I shot it next to mom and dad's bedroom early on a Sunday morning, then handed it to my sister before I went downstairs. She still gives me **** about that! That same Christmas I also got a Crosman 760, but that got treated like a real rifle.
Cap Firing SMG
Mine was a cap firing SMG! I think it was Mattel who made a cap firing copy of the M3 Grease Gun where the mechanism had to be wound-up and the spring mechanism would fire the perforated caps. My parent hated it as neither of them liked guns. I was banished to the playground in the next block over to shoot it because it "made too much noise in the backyard." With all of the caps being fired in the gun and it not being cleaned (what 9 year old knows about gun cleaning) the wind-up mechanism started rusting. The toy was banished to the separate garage where the humid weather worked it wonders. A few years later the mechanism was rusted solid and in one garage cleaning, the cap firing M3 replica disappeared.
As Paul Harvey would say, "Here is the rest of the story." Having grown up into a gun collector, that M3 cap firing SMG never left my mind. Many years ago I came across a fellow who was selling a NFA Registered M3A1 and I decided to relive my childhood. I purchased it from him so I now have my childhood dream, a real M3A1 capable of shooting .45ACP ammo instead of caps. Even as a concession to my parents (long since passed away) I have added a suppressor to the gun!
Mine was a cap firing SMG! I think it was Mattel who made a cap firing copy of the M3 Grease Gun where the mechanism had to be wound-up and the spring mechanism would fire the perforated caps. My parent hated it as neither of them liked guns. I was banished to the playground in the next block over to shoot it because it "made too much noise in the backyard." With all of the caps being fired in the gun and it not being cleaned (what 9 year old knows about gun cleaning) the wind-up mechanism started rusting. The toy was banished to the separate garage where the humid weather worked it wonders. A few years later the mechanism was rusted solid and in one garage cleaning, the cap firing M3 replica disappeared.
As Paul Harvey would say, "Here is the rest of the story." Having grown up into a gun collector, that M3 cap firing SMG never left my mind. Many years ago I came across a fellow who was selling a NFA Registered M3A1 and I decided to relive my childhood. I purchased it from him so I now have my childhood dream, a real M3A1 capable of shooting .45ACP ammo instead of caps. Even as a concession to my parents (long since passed away) I have added a suppressor to the gun!
Attachments
My toy guns were wood that my Dad made.
My first toy gun was a M-16. The father of a older boy who lived across the road saw that we really liked playing with the BB gun he had given his son. He made us each a child sized M-16 out of plywood. It was wonderful!!! My brother and I were only 5 yrs. old, probably a little young to be running around w/ BB guns. Sincerely. bruce.
my first toy gun was a revolver of some kind. It was a real gun that I found in a field next to my house. It was missing the cylinder and some rusty. My dad said I could keep it and even oiled it so the hammer would pull back. I don't think I could pull the trigger even if it worked because I was 5 at the time. I carried that thing every where. Had to use both hands to point it. If a kid found something like that now and was seen carrying it they would haul him off to Leavenworth. I now wish I knew what kind of gun it was.
I had so many John, hard to tell which was first. I do remember some Hubley autos that had reddish orange plastic grips. I also remember a metal or tin revolver looking thing that clicked when you pulled the trigger. I think I also had one like you pictured. I had a Mattel lever action rifle and a Fanner 50 might have been one of my last. Right at the end of the toys, there was also a Mattel nickel snub that looked like a DS or Smith M-10. It came with a plastic shoulder holster. It might be the reason all of my Smith revolvers are nickel.
Last edited:
That is it..........
that's the one that I started off with, also.
Loved the smell of burnt caps, when you opened up the side plate, to reload and get back at those BG's !!
Thanks for the memories.
that's the one that I started off with, also.
Loved the smell of burnt caps, when you opened up the side plate, to reload and get back at those BG's !!
Thanks for the memories.
wheelgun28
Member
I cant recall my first, my uncle who was in the service at the time had some metal guns that I think were lighters or cap guns. When my grandparents saw me with them they went away.
I'm sure I had some cap or dart (suctioncup) guns. I can recall a cowboy set too, but what really sticks out is a "pop" gun rifle. I know it was a Daisy, lever-operated made a pop with a burst of air from the barrel, maybe a 960? It was a great toy for playing cowboys and indians with kids in the neighboor hood. I learned that if I were to push the barrel into the dirt and give a twist the barrel would hold dirt in it. It became a dirt shot gun of sorts, nice mud on your friends clothes was a big hit!
I'm sure I had some cap or dart (suctioncup) guns. I can recall a cowboy set too, but what really sticks out is a "pop" gun rifle. I know it was a Daisy, lever-operated made a pop with a burst of air from the barrel, maybe a 960? It was a great toy for playing cowboys and indians with kids in the neighboor hood. I learned that if I were to push the barrel into the dirt and give a twist the barrel would hold dirt in it. It became a dirt shot gun of sorts, nice mud on your friends clothes was a big hit!
The one I remember most was a neat Single action style cap pistol with a screw on barrel extension and detachable shoulder stock to make it into a rifle. My Grandmother or Uncle one gave it to me for my birthday in Marion Ohio in the late 1950's.
Just looked it up and it was called a Restless Gun - 1957 circa. Found a photo on line also
Just looked it up and it was called a Restless Gun - 1957 circa. Found a photo on line also
Attachments
Last edited:
7 years old, Xmas present, two gun Lone Ranger silver cap gun and holster rig. So proud of them wouldn't take them off, even slept in them for the first week. Anything and everything in my neighborhood both two legged and four legged was drawn on and shot multiple times...lol
DWalt
Member
It wasn't my first cap gun (I had many of them when I was a kid), but the one that stands out in my mind was different from most, and I have never seen another. It was a "Pirate" pistol that resembled an 18th Century flintlock pistol, except it had a double O/U barrel. The stock was brown plastic. You put a single cap in where the hammer could hit it. At that time you could get caps in perforated sheets, and could tear them off one at a time, like the way postage stamps used to be sold. My favorite way to use it would be to put a 1-1/2" firecracker in the muzzle and light the fuse. Just like shooting a real gun. That was back when firecrackers were more powerful. The barrel never blew up after hundreds of firecrackers had been used in it. Great fun.
Back in my old southern Ohio home town there once had been, back around the early part of the 20th Century, a factory that made toy cap guns and caps. There was an explosion in the cap manufacturing area which destroyed much of the building and killed several women workers, actually young girls.
Back in my old southern Ohio home town there once had been, back around the early part of the 20th Century, a factory that made toy cap guns and caps. There was an explosion in the cap manufacturing area which destroyed much of the building and killed several women workers, actually young girls.
Last edited:
bulletslap
Member
OLDSTER
Member
It would have been a Roy Rogers or Gene Autry cap gun like this one. Although we would get a bigger bang by hitting a whole roll of caps with a hammer 
Deceasedeye
Member
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2018
- Messages
- 449
- Reaction score
- 900
My first was a strange one, it was around 1946. The gun used suction on paper (not paper caps) to create the bang. It was very mechanical and very hard to shoot, wore my hand out trying. I wonder if anyone remembers this one, I can't find many who do.
Cap Gun Six Shooter
Does anyone remember a six shooter cap gun that came with 6 bullets that fit in a cartridge case where you pulled out the "bullet", placed a round cap under the "bullet", and you only had six shots. You had to reload like a real gun. I think I had one when I was in the 5th grade? Playing cowboy was the neighborhood sport of the times in the early '50s.
Does anyone remember a six shooter cap gun that came with 6 bullets that fit in a cartridge case where you pulled out the "bullet", placed a round cap under the "bullet", and you only had six shots. You had to reload like a real gun. I think I had one when I was in the 5th grade? Playing cowboy was the neighborhood sport of the times in the early '50s.
Similar threads
