(currently being re-designed) Jack's Cap Gun Justice

Jack's Cap Gun Justice (currently being re-designed)
Sometimes you need an editorial device. That is where the cap gun comes into play. Say you are watching the News or Judge Judy or American Idol and something strikes you as wrong. POW POW POW goes the cap gun. Little bits of red cap paper fill the air along with the sweet smell of fired caps. "...I love the smell of caps in the morning..." Good wins over evil or smart wins over stupid - that's Cap Gun Justice.

How it began:

Recently cap guns have become my new obsession. It started just before Valentine's Day 2007 when my wife told me she wanted cap guns. Lucy, about a year ago, discovered Western movies and TVLand's classic westerns. Bonanza and Gunsmoke were the first of her favorites (Gateway Westerns). Soon we added the Western Channel to our cable tv. Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Audrey and Roy Rogers have joined our list of favorite shows. Also Maverick (I perfer Bret to Bart), Bat Masterson, Sugarfoot and The Rifleman and yet the list still growns. You can see how cap guns have become required props for our TV watching. I went online in search of cap guns, I ordered some pink "girl's" cap guns (pink holster and pink grips). The vendor told me that since we live in NYC, there is a law requiring cap guns to be green and orange. I told the vendor, via email, to send a NYC version 2 gun holster set. We received 2 two gun holster sets. Lucy's cap guns are green with orange handles and mine are orange with green handles. I ordered 5000 caps (100 rolls) between mid Feb and end of March we went through 4500 caps. The next order was 9000 caps, we will see how long those last. (by May 20, we had 650 caps left) On this page, I will post pictures of my collection and other classic cap guns. I collect new reproductions and well as vintage cap guns.

LESLIE HENRY Colt 45

My next EBAY experience was the big 11 inch LH Colt 45. A reproduction, made by the same company that produced the NYC orange and green guns. The orange and green guns are great. They have strong hammers and never miss a cap. However, the LH Colt 45 seems to miss every 4th shoot and if the caps are slightly off center all the caps will not fire. It seems the silver was painted on after the gun was assembled. The rotating cylinder, which is not tight and wobbles a lot, has a unpainted area at the top and bottom. My problem was not with the seller but with the manufacturer.

The gun, holster and belt is called "a rig"

It made me kinda sad

There were about 20 cap guns being offered by the same seller. The photos had the same bright blue background and must have been taken at the same time. All the guns were unused and in mint condition. They were the very best of the best, all were classic cap guns. I am sure they were from an estate sale. It made me kinda sad to think some guy died and their wonderful cap gun collection was for sale on EBAY. Years ago I was looking in a dumpster on 8th Avenue. It was the contents of someone's apartment. I looked through file folders (dated 15 to 20 years before) full of various newspaper articles and scribble notes. The dumpster was full of personal and household objects. Somebodies' life was thrown away in a dumpster on 8th Avenue. Now, back to cap guns, I got a great example of an original LESLIE HENRY Colt 45 with a black finish and white handles. (I already collected a reproduction Colt 45 - silver with black handles) The holster that came with the new gun is made of some vinyl material. Maybe that fancy leather I got on 7th Avenue will make a good holster.

How it came to me...

This beautiful little cap gun (7 in overall) set was discarded by an employee where I work. I am not sure of the story, but this is what I think happened: The employee was being transfered to Houston Texas to work on a special project. I think someone gave it to the employee as a "gag gift" to prepare the employee for the badlands of Texas. Over five years have pasted since that employee went to Houston. My co-workers found the set in a storeroom, knowing my passion for cap guns, gave the set to me.

Original v. Reproduction Cap Guns

It is not actually original v. reproduction cap guns it is more like original AND reproduction cap guns. It started with the now famous (because I said so) green and orange reproduction guns. By trolling Ebay I found the original was a HENRY or maybe a HALCO (oh well, I am confused too). I was outbid on a mint version but I got one that is in good condition (not perfect). I think is neat to have both the reproduction and the original. The major problem with the original gun that I got: the door covering the cap compartment is loose. It will not stay closed. The same happened to one of my orange and green guns. I was practicing twrilling the gun and I dropped it (twice) and now the door covering the cap compartment is loose. If I can figure out how to fix the green and orange gun, I can fix the original.

(currently being re-designed) Jack's Cap Gun Justice

Various Classic Cap Guns

HUBLEY Padlock Cap Gun - from the mid 1960's