[ithacaartist]

I probably had other cap guns, but the two that stand out were the "Fanner 50" and the "Shootin' Shell", both by Mattel. The '50 had a real leather single holster rig which impressed me with its realism at the time. The other had brass cases with plastic bullets that clicked in place to load. As I recall, it was double action, and with each fall of the hammer, a round was actually struck by it. This did two things simultaneously. First, it would ignite the round-cut, self-adhesive, single-dot cap that was stuck to the back of the round. The hammer also pushed the round slightly forward in the cylinder, which would compress the small tabs located on either side of the bullet, which released the projectile from its retention within the case--and the plastic bullet would fly out of the unobstructed barrel. IIRC, it had enough momentum to knock a plastic army man, or cowboy/Indian figure off its feet. Great for wars in the neighbor kid's gravel driveway next door to my grandmother's house, where we would take turns shooting at our respective enemies in dug-in positions, machine gun nests, etc.