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 such ...

. These guns were developed in 1845, when French inventor Louis-Nicolas Flobert created the first rimfire metallic cartridge by modifying a

percussion cap The percussion cap, percussion primer, or caplock, 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. Its invention gave ...

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

pump-action Pump action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by moving a sliding handguard on the gun's forestock. When shooting, the sliding forend is pulled rearward to eject any expended cartridge (firearms), cartridge and typically to co ...

rifles chambered in .22 Short. 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 uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate projectiles, similar to the principle of the primitive blowgun. This is in contr ...

s for the purpose of indoor shooting.

Gallery guns

Gallery guns are smallbore, single-shot or

rifles, typically chambered in .22 Short. Some of the more popular guns are the Winchester Model 1890, Colt Lightning Carbine, Gevarm open bolt and the Winchester Model 62. 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 and small game hunting.

Flobert guns

Frenchman Louis-Nicolas Flobert 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 another motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicle ...

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 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 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