Where Black Powder Shooters Come From

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Percussion revolvers have always fascinated me. Sure, I carried a pair of six-guns for protection from the  Armies of Unnamed Evil, just like every boy of seven. The names Hubley and Mattel were as important to me as Colt and Springfield are to me today. But in the times in-between, my interests fell upon models I assembled from kits offered by Revel and Pyro. The latter company provided my first toy Kentucky flintlock long rifle, along with an intuitive understanding of how flintlocks worked. These kits were too fragile to take outside, so I contented myself with stalking bears from behind the living room sofa. Those were wonderful times, precious and irreplaceable. Incidentally, I did not own a coonskin cap.

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I received an assembled Revell Blunderbus as a Christmas present from my next door neighbor. 

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Somewhere along the line my sister, in her cowgirl persona,  had a model of an  "engraved" 1873 Colt Single Action Army. I believe my father assembled these models, as I was too young to remember. My sister was, and is, the Real Deal, and in her teens was a councilor at a summer camp called Hidden Villa, where she proved herself to be an excellent horsewoman.

I was amazed to find that somebody had the kit's empty box sale on eBay, and judging from the box's cover photo, my memory of the revolver was spot on. The seller dates the box at 1953.

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For the most part, these models were dimensionally accurate. It is interesting that this plastic Colt 1860 actually replicated the "creeping" loading lever pivot that allowed the rammer to seat the round ball in perfect alignment.

More than sixty years would pass between the assembly of that 1860 and my sharing its memory with you. I can't help but handle my Pieta 1860 and not ponder the impact those toys would have on my shooting future.