A gallery gun, Flobert gun, parlor gun or saloon gun is a type of firearm designed for recreational indoor

target shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms ( firearms and airguns, in forms su ...

. These guns were developed in 1845, when French inventor

Louis-Nicolas Flobert Frenchman Louis-Nicolas Flobert (1819–1894) invented the first rimfire metallic cartridge in 1845. It was a major innovation in firearms ammunition, previously delivered as separate bullets and powder. The rimfire cartridge combined both elemen ...

created the first rimfire metallic cartridge by modifying a

percussion cap The percussion cap or percussion primer, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. This crucial invention gave rise t ...

to hold a small lead bullet. In the 19th century, gallery guns were typically

pump-action Pump action or slide action is a repeating firearm action that is operated manually by moving a sliding handguard on the gun's forestock. When shooting, the sliding forend is pulled rearward to eject any expended cartridge Cartridge may refe ...

rifles chambered in

.22 Short .22 Short is a variety of .22 caliber (5.6 mm) rimfire ammunition. Developed in 1857 for the first Smith & Wesson revolver, the .22 rimfire was the first American metallic cartridge. The original loading was a bullet and of black powd ...

. Gallery guns are still manufactured, although by the late 20th century, they have been eclipsed by

airgun An air gun or airgun is a gun that fires projectiles pneumatically with compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized ''without'' involving any chemical reactions, in contrast to a firearm, which pressurizes gases ''chemica ...

s for the purpose of indoor shooting.

Gallery guns

Gallery guns are smallbore, single-shot or

rifles, typically chambered in

. Some of the more popular guns are the

Winchester Model 1890 The Winchester Model 1890 is a slide-action repeating rifle produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in the late 19th and early 20th century. History In the late 1880s, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company asked John Browning to desi ...

Colt Lightning Carbine The Colt Lightning Carbine or Colt Lightning Rifle was a slide-action (pump-action) rifle manufactured by Colt from 1884 until 1904 and was originally chambered in .44-40 caliber. Colt eventually made the Lightning Rifle in three different ...

, Gevarm open bolt and the

Winchester Model 62 The Winchester Model 62 is a slide-action repeating rifle produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in the early 20th century. The gun replaced the Model 1906. It was a take-down rifle that was able to accept most .22 caliber rimfire ca ...

. Home shooting parlors and galleries began to decline in the early 20th century. However, gallery guns went on to be used in shooting galleries in carnivals, fairs and amusement parks. By the late 20th century, gallery guns have been eclipsed by

s for the purpose of indoor shooting. Gallery guns are still manufactured, although they are primarily used for

plinking Plinking refers to informal target shooting done for pleasure, typically at non-standard targets such as tin cans, logs, bottles, or any other homemade or naturally occurring target. Practice In contrast to shooting done at established targe ...

and small game hunting.

Flobert guns

Frenchman

invented the first rimfire metallic cartridge in 1845. The 6mm Flobert cartridge consisted of a percussion cap with a bullet attached to the top. These cartridges do not contain any powder, the only

propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the e ...

substance contained in the cartridge is the percussion cap. In Europe, the .22 BB cap (introduced in 1845) and the slightly more powerful

.22 CB The .22 CB cap (conical breech cap) is a more powerful version of the .22 BB cap (aka: 6mm Flobert) rimfire metallic cartridge, which was invented by Louis-Nicolas Flobert in 1845. The .22 BB cap and .22 CB cap are interchangeable and are rela ...

cap (introduced in 1888) are both called "6mm Flobert" and are considered the same cartridge. These cartridges have a relatively low muzzle velocity of around to . Flobert also made what he called "parlor guns" for this cartridge, as these rifles and pistols were designed to be shot in indoor shooting parlors in large homes.

Parlor pistols

Parlor pistols came into fashion in the mid-19th century; they typically featured heavy barrels and were chambered in a small caliber. They were used for target shooting in homes with a dedicated parlor or gallery for this purpose. The

Remington Rider single shot pistol The Remington-Rider Single Shot Derringer Parlor Pistol was made by E. Remington and Sons between 1860 and 1863. Only two hundred were produced. Description It is a .17 (4.3 mm) caliber pistol, featuring a three-inch (7.6 cm) brass barre ...

was one of the better-known American-made parlor guns.

Saloon gun

Saloon guns were smoothbore weapons that fired 6mm Flobert rounds, but can refer to a large caliber firearm that was made to shoot a smaller caliber round in indoor shooting galleries by use of a chamber insert called a Morris tube. The Morris tube was shaped to the cartridge that the weapon was capable of firing and inside this tube was a smaller chamber for the round (typically .255 Morris) to fit.

References

External links

Winkler Parlor Pistol
* Guns of the American West {{Use dmy dates, date=March 2017 Firearms by type