Cap Gun Wars

In the late 1950s, when television Westerns were at the height of their popularity and just about every kid wanted to be a cowboy, there were two cap pistols that stood at the top of every kid's wish list. These were the Fanner 50 made by Mattel and the Stallion 45, a product of the Nichols Company of Pasadena, Texas. Both were fine weapons (well, alright "toys") that actually chambered metallic replicas of real cartridges. Individual caps could be placed inside each cartridge to produce a "bang" and a little smoke. And in the case of the Fanner 50 "shootin' shell" feature, plastic bullets could be seated in the cartridge to produce an effective range of, oh, several feet. Pretty neat stuff or, as Mattel's commercials repeatedly told us, "if it's Mattel, it's swell!"

Another of Mattel's claims was that the Fanner 50 was "the most authentic cap pistol in the world". I would dispute that assertion and did in fact choose to arm myself with the Stallion 45. I was not too concerned with the fanning function as my research of history had revealed that this technique was seldom employed in the Old West. As for caps that went "pop", I had my favorite vocal indication of a gun shot and that would suffice. I also knew that, though I may have received the gun as a gift, no one was going to replenish my supply of caps. And I couldn't afford to do so myself. So the whizz-bang (and very saleable) features of the two revolvers were mostly lost on me.

For nearly as long as I'd been interested in Cowboys and Indians (a popular term at the time) I'd been fascinated by and sought to learn more about what the times were really like. Even at this early age I recognized that much of what I saw on TV and in the movies was a fraud. Of course my attention to and concern with detail went largely unappreciated among my playmates. My insistence on authentic details and elaborate set ups to our scenarios was often greeted with impatience as they sought to get on with the shootin'. I could be kind of a pain in the butt.

So authenticity was my most important consideration. I had several gun books (a subject covered in a previous post) and I very well knew what a Colt Peacemaker looked like. Take a look at the photo above. The gun at top is an original Colt .45 caliber Peacemaker with original elephant ivory grips. The gun below is a Nichols Stallion 45. How much more authentic can you get in a pot metal cap gun? It's obvious that the patterns for the casting molds of the Stallion were made from an original Colt. The handle is the same size as the real deal (which may have been a problem for younger buckaroos). The original Peacemaker was a single action, meaning the hammer had to be fully cocked before the trigger would discharge the piece. The Stallion 45 (and the Fanner 50) are double action, meaning that pulling the trigger cocks and discharges the weapon. For this reason the Stallion 45 has a slightly larger trigger guard. The Colt offered standard barrel lengths of 7.5" (shown here), 5.5" and 4.75". The Stallion struck an easy handling compromise at 6.5". The Stallion 45 included cartridges that load into the cylinder in exactly the same way as the Colt. It's a beautiful piece and I think I chose well.

For comparison here are a couple Fanner 50s. The deviations from the actual Colt revolver are fairly obvious. The cylinder is shorter and the area behind the cylinder (called the recoil shield) is longer. The trigger guard is much larger and elongated to accommodate the double action trigger. The hammer spur is wider, presumably to facilitate the "fanning" function. The overall size of the Fanner 50 seems slightly scaled down from the original Colt Peacemaker. These differences aren't necessarily bad, they're just differences. Having never owned one I cannot speak to the function and reliability of the Fanner 50. I can say that 50 years on my Stallion 45 no longer indexes it's cylinder properly and the loading gate does not stay closed. It's to be expected that hard play has taken its toll on most toys and these cap pistols are no exception.

The Fanner 50 seems to have been the more popular with the junior cowboy set. Mattel apparently had a huge advertising budget and their entire line of toys was represented by skillfully crafted commercials that would be nearly irresistible to kids. Prices for collectible Fanner 50s range from $100 to $500, depending on condition and accessories (like holster and original packaging) that might accompany the gun. The Stallion 45 seems to command a little more, probably because fewer were produced. Going into the late '60s interest in the Old West waned and production of most of the top of the line cap pistols gradually dried up. Western style toy guns are still available today (with, of course, the red tipped barrel to distinguish them from real guns) but seem rather uninspiring compared to those from the halcyon years of the TV horse opera.

All things considered, I don't think there's any doubt that the Stallion 45 was in actuality "the most authentic cap pistol in the world.