CAP GUNS

Way before any interest in air rifles (BB guns), or real .22 rifles, came cap guns. $1.95 could get a tiny revolver barely big enough to get your hand on. By pulling the trigger back and cocking it, you could insert a single cap, carefully torn off your 50-cap roll; red paper on top, white paper underneath, with a small lump of gunpowder between. You didn't fold 2 or 3 together and put them in the gun to make it loud. Everyone would tell you horror stories about someone putting out an eye, or blowing the thumb off, or exploding the entire gun. Everybody bought one or two of these guns; not to use, but to lend to some kid who didn't bring one.
The next step up was a full size revolver, still with a dummy cylinder, but opening at a hinge point in front of the trigger guard, to reveal a place to insert an entire roll of caps inside. Now you could shoot as many as 50 times (just like movie cowboys) without reloading, but you would suffer a few duds from time to time, and you had to remove the torn and smokey strip of used caps sticking up out of the hammer area.
The ultimate western cap gun was a revolver with a rotating cylinder, that received metal cartridges with plastic bullets. Ususally one rich kid in the neighborhood had one, and would let you spin the cylinder once. But in reality, they were not more fun. You had to buy special caps, "Greenies" that were round. They came on wax paper; you peeled them off and attached them to each round, placing them in the cylinder's chambers. A well prepared rich kid would also attach caps to his extra ammo on his holster belt. But you only go six shots, and it was time to reload. And sometimes the caps fell off, and got wedged in the mechanism that turned the cylinder. How embarasssing!
My favorite was a military 45 semi-automatic, World War II style, like all the commandos used in the comic books. A tray popped out of the grip (where rounds of ammo would be placed) and you loaded a roll of caps in there. I loved mine, chrome plated with imitation tortoise-shell on each side of the grip.
And there is the most popular use for caps of all: spreading a strip out on the side walk and hit'em with a hammer. Lots of spark, bang, and smoke, and Mom hated it. If you were really brave, you could scratch a cap with your fingernail. Not much pop, and sometimes a little pain, but it impressed the younger kids.
There were other weapons which I remember fondly, but I'll save that for another time. But the cap guns represented a lot of fun, and we never thought of ever shooting any for real.