A gallery gun, Flobert gun, parlor gun or saloon gun is a type of firearm designed for recreational indoor target shooting.
Gallery guns
Gallery guns are smallbore, single-shot or
/ref> 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
for the purpose of indoor shooting.
Gallery guns are still manufactured, although they are primarily used for
plinking and
small game.
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.
[ "History of firearms" (fireadvantages.com)][ "How guns work" (fireadvantages.com)] These cartridges do not contain any powder, the only
propellant substance contained in the cartridge is the percussion cap.
[ Shooting section ( la section de tir) of the official website (in French) of a modern indoor shooting association in Belgium, Les Arquebusier de Visé.] 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.
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