Carnival Rifles

M

Montana Pete

Guest
I'm a senior citizen. When I was in my teens the carnivals always had shooting stands. You shot at ducks or similar cut-outs that moved on a track. Some also involved paper targets -- bullet holes almost had to make one hole in the center ring to win anything.

The most popular .22 was the pump .22 repeater. Another that I vaguely remember was the little Browning patent .22 that was bottom ejection, and was fed by a tube magazine in the butt. It was made by Browning, of course, but also by Remington using the Browning patent.

The concessionaire had tubes of bullets that looked a bit like drinking straws. He would uncork a tube and pour the contents into the tubular magazines on these rifles. They used .22 Shorts.

It was hard to win a teddy bear, but I suppose it could be done. These rifles are very light and not especially stable. The Lord only knows if the sights were "on."

Does anyone else remember this? Can anyone suggest any other models of .22 that would have been commonly seen at these concessions?

Did anyone -- or his dad -- ever win a stuffed animal?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
When I was a kid and shooting galleries were common, I did not care about winning anything. It was all about shooting targets. I spent many a happy morning at shooting galleries on Saturday mornings. All the ones I was ever in used Winchester .22 model 62's and a few model 61's. I well remember that they were stamped "Gallery model".

I miss the "DAY" of gallery shooting!:)
 
Winchester 12890's, '06's and 62's..... some of the FINEST little pumps ever made. I still cringe that I installed a barrel liner for a customer in an '06 back in the early 80's, Gallery Gun. He wanted a "nice little .22" and I gave him one.


These little gems are commanding thousands of dollars today provided they're still shiny....... rust and pitting has destroyed most of them.


I'm too young to have ever fired one in the fair, they'd been replaced by the .177 BB machine guns when I shot for prizes. I remember a machine gun booth where the guy just BUGGED me to shoot because I was wearing a Mason Dixon Guns & Ammo hat..... he wouldn't let up. So I said I'd shoot IF he could get me a cloth coon instead of the fuzzy bunnies and bears and alligators hanging in his booth..... This little airgun shot good. I won and spent the next hour tracking down a gray coon! ;) He did make good, Carny Code......


al
 
When I was a kid there was a shooting gallery in Spokane Washington, I spent two or three days a week shooting there, they used 1890 Winchester stock loading 22 shorts, I remember the tubes of 22 shorts very well. sights were worthless but once I saw where the bullet hit I could clean up on dolls and bears and my favorite corn cob pipes. I didn't take anything from them other than a few pipes, they would let me shoot a few tubs for free. A very fond memory. I bought a gallery gun a few years ago for $1700 in very good shape but its not a stock loader.
 
The sites were always off a bit. I would put down 50 cents for shooting two tubes of ammo. The first round was to see where the bullets were hitting, the second to get the prize. The rifles I remember was fed into the stock, it could have ben a Remington, Darn ,that was over 50 years ago. My dad gave me a Remington 121 slide action 22 in 1949 so it was around that time. My family would go into town to attend the county fair. When I was a teenager it was one of the fun things to do, seeing the city girls was ok to.
 
Gallery Guns

I always figured the barrels must be shot out, as I doubt they were ever cleaned. Probably encrusted with lead.
 
alinwa said:
Winchester 12890's, '06's and 62's..... some of the FINEST little pumps ever made. I still cringe that I installed a barrel liner for a customer in an '06 back in the early 80's, Gallery Gun. He wanted a "nice little .22" and I gave him one.


These little gems are commanding thousands of dollars today provided they're still shiny....... rust and pitting has destroyed most of them.


I'm too young to have ever fired one in the fair, they'd been replaced by the .177 BB machine guns when I shot for prizes. I remember a machine gun booth where the guy just BUGGED me to shoot because I was wearing a Mason Dixon Guns & Ammo hat..... he wouldn't let up. So I said I'd shoot IF he could get me a cloth coon instead of the fuzzy bunnies and bears and alligators hanging in his booth..... This little airgun shot good. I won and spent the next hour tracking down a gray coon! ;) He did make good, Carny Code......


al
Click to expand...

What is a 1890 Win. worth to you ? Good shape and shoots good too. Friend on mine wants to sell one.
 
yat3b35 said:
What is a 1890 Win. worth to you ? Good shape and shoots good too. Friend on mine wants to sell one.
Click to expand...


While I appreciate the offer, I'm not buying right now...... I'm in construction ;) Trade maybe, but I got no spare money. :eek:

I'll ask around though, there's a gunstore here in town with a sign out "Buying Collectible Winchesters"

al
 
leftyo
You are right, after looking at some pictures my sister has of me at that park I am shooting a semi auto, it appears to be a 1903 Winchester but I am not sure. My memory remembers shooting the pumps more than the others. At any rate it is a great memory. But it does have me worrying about my memory of how good looking my first girlfriend was.
 
good old 1890's

Yes , they were fun to shoot at the carnivals. I remember how they used to set up at and in our local church yard. I don't see carnivals anymore. Guess it's just my location.
Speaking of the 1890's 22rf, my dad had bought one at Montgomery Wards store for 15.00 brand spanking new. It was a 22rf wrf. You don't see too many of those at the range these days. But all I have to do to see one, is to open my safe, for I still have it. What fond memories.
 
I forget what the rifles or how many shots you got, but I do remember the ones with paper targets, you had to shoot out the "B" to win. Brings back memories, thanks, Douglas
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top