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The Mustang 500 has been called by some
aficionados as the most beautiful Nichols Cap Gun ever made. And many people
would agree. The Mustang 500 was made in 1959 and though it was one of "The Big
Guns," it was still only priced at $1.98.
This was one of the guns that was plated
with the newer vacuum plating process. In this process, then guns were hung on
racks, which were then rolled into large vacuum chambers and little pieces of
metal were hung on electrical wires. After a "near-perfect" vacuum was pulled
on this chamber, the voltage was pumped through the little pieces of metal and
POW (!) the little pieces of metal disappeared and the guns were coated with
them. When I saw this I couldn't believe it! Amazing! Well, seeing was
believing and when the guns were wheeled out, sure enough, they were
shiny.
Uncle Talley was very proud of the looks of this
gun.
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| DON'T FORGET TO SEE
THE OTHER CAP GUN BRANDS! |
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TODAY'S FEATURED ITEM
ON THIS WEBSITE!
There are
over 4,500 pages (including those from thumbnails—and the site is still
growing!) on this website that will give you more information plus BIGGER
PHOTOS!
Super MOC Hubley
Colt .45
Photo by Scott McCollum
CLICK ON THIS
THUMBNAIL TO GO TO THE PARENT PAGE FOR THIS ITEM.
(then go find
it!) |
| WE HAVE LOTS OF BRANDS OF CAP GUNS BESIDES
JUST NICHOLS ON THIS WEBSITE. |
We see a
Mustang 500 box. Could there possibly a Mustang 500 INSIDE???
(*** CLICK ON BOX TO FIND OUT ***)
Courtesy of
Phyllis Nichols
And here is the same
basic box BUT WITH A SILVER HAMMER AND TRIGGER.
Many thanks to
Jamie
Linford for the above photo! |
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The Mustang 500 was a very unusual gun in
that it was BOTH single action and double action. You could pull the hammer a
little way back and it would click about 1/8" from the "home" position. Or you
could pull the hammer all of the way back and it was ready to fire. Just like
the original Colt 45. Or you could just pull the trigger with the hammer down
and the gun would fire. OR (!) You could hold the trigger down and "fan fire"
the gun as fast as you might want. I never had a problem with accuracy when fan
firing it, for the Bad Guys seemed to get hit just as often, however with
lesser cowboys their aim was impaired considerably.
You might also
notice that this gun has the famous Stallion 45 MK-II type "Circle N" insets.
And nice staghorn grips. This gun was also made in blued versions and used the
Fury 500 roll caps.
The factory in Jacksonville became known as "The Circle N Ranch"
and was quite large. Eventually the plant had over 600 employees. The slogan of
the company was "Gunsmith To Millions Of Cowboys." Since Nichols Industries
moved to Jacksonville in 1955, it has become a city that probably has the
highest ratio of "medium-tech" manufacturing in Texas. A few years ago Talley
Nichols was honored as "The Industrial Founding Father of
Jacksonville.
Very nice Mustang 500. This
gun was really one of Uncle Talley's favorites. It was, however, very
complicated from an engineering point of view.
Great photo
contributions by Bob Garvey!
One of Uncle Talley's
mottos was, "Keep Your Powder Dry!" Millions of young cowboys won't ever forget
him. (or that phrase!) |
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This photo
shows how it "breaks down." This gun has been fired before by some young
desperado.
It may be a "tall order" at
today's grocery store, but here is a tall order from yesteryear's grocery
store.
A
BIG BAG OF CAPS! These were standard roll caps of the 1950's by Nichols. These
particular roll caps are actually quite rare.
Another nice
photo contribution
by Robert Nichols |
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These fine photos
are from Scott McCollum |
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Steel Blu Mustang 500 Set
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Boxed
Set |
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Twin Cap
Guns |
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Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged
View!
Many thanks to Ron Joyner for these photos! |
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And here
is another good photo of a steel blue Mustang 500.
Thanks to Dan Morphy of
Morphy Auctions for this photo. |
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Similar gun, but from
the left side
Thanks to Bob Garvey for this photo. |
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This is the rare Mustang 500 in the
"Shadow Box" with the black stag grips. I didn't even know they made one of
these. It was probably during the Nichols/Kusan years. I had to include the
close-up of the grip for it shows the rearing Mustang instead of the usual
Circle "N". Another reason to think that it was "post Uncle Talley." As far as
I know, this remains the only Cap Gun in the Nichols series that has this
medallion on the grip. Tell me different and I will change it. This is an
incredibly rare set. You will notice that it says, "Triple Action," for it
means that you can fire this Cap Gun in single-action, double-action or you can
"fan" it. Another distinction. Uncle Talley did love it.
CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR LARGER PHOTOS
These photos are
by Belinda Quan from Chuck Quinn's collection. (above and below)
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Black Mustang 500
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Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged
View!
Many thanks to Martin Simpson for these photos! |
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This must be the same exact Cap Gun as above, but "dumbed down"
without the fancy Gold Circle "N" Inserts in the grips. The grips actually look
the same as Klondike/Stallion 44/Stallion 38 MK-II grips. Maybe it is from that
same era.
And here's a group photo
of all 3 of the black versions. Thanks to Chuck Quinn for these
photos.
Here's a final piece of
advice on this particular Cap Gun. Since this is a rather large "break-down"
gun, then you will notice that it has very large "flaps" that come down towards
the trigger when it is closed. These flaps tend to flare out with time and on a
nice model, they should fit rather tightly. There should be a minimal gap
between them and the main body of the cap area. Also...the locking mechanism
(on the left side) should fit closely. It is very easy for an example to have a
mechanism that you have to, sort of, be careful when you close the gun to make
sure that the latch engages properly. If you are looking at a Mustang 500, be
sure to investigate these 2 features and make sure that everything is quite
tight. Find a tight one and you have a winner.
Here is a really nice photo
of the "cylinder area" (okay, so it doesn't have a revolving cylinder) of the
Mustang 500. The flash could interfere a little less though and my usual
recommendation is not to use a standard flash. Have your light reflected
indirectly so it doesn't just reflect directly back into the camera. However,
this is still a nice photo.
This nice photo by Ronnie
Orlowski.
Here's
an even better view of the box. Though there apparently were Mustang 500's with
a little gold on them (hammer, trigger and breakdown release), AND without, I
haven't seen a box that shows them without the gold.
May as well stick in a good
photo of a Fury 500 Dispenser Pack. This is what was recommended for the
Mustang 500.
Thanks to Chuck Quinn for the
above photo! One of our many advertisers.
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Mustang 500 in Stallion 45 MK-II Box!
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This is a
very rare variation on the Mustang 500 in that it has different grips and a
much different box than the standard single piece box.
Many thanks to
Jamie
Linford for the above photos! |
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PRICES
(These prices are merely guidelines to help beginners. Experts
don't need help!)
See PRICES for more info on
guidelines. |
| DESCRIPTION |
MINT VALUES |
AVG. VALUES |
| Mustang 500 w/o Box |
$255-295 |
$165-215 |
| Mustang 500 w/ Box |
$415-495 |
$240-265 |
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| We will be
happy to list toy shows and the like (free), if you will please send them to me
at: . |
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| Should you
have some nice photos and/or some text, please send them to me at:
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