Stallion 45 Cap Guns from Pasadena and other Stallion Cap Pistols

This Website
Copyright ©
Mike Nichols
All Rights Reserved


	The Nichols Stallion 45! THE KING OF THE DIE-CAST CAP GUNS!

	The first in the Stallion Series of Toy Cap Guns was the world famous Nichols Stallion 45. This is basically a Colt 45 Peacemaker and was made in Pasadena, Texas at the original Nichols Industries plant. This gun used the first 2-piece bullets that actually fired smoke out through the barrel.

How's this for a magnificent way to start the Pasadena Stallion 45 page? This is the 2nd model, which has very minor "improvements."

Photo thanks to Chuck Quinn.

Here's a fine Pasadena Stallion 45 that has been mounted to a nice frame.
This offering is by Gary Cooper. Thanks!
CLICK ON PHOTO TO SEE A LARGER PHOTO


Simply a nice pair of photos from our friend Ken Thompson. Thanks Ken!

	WORD OF ADVICE
	This website will have a LOT of "Thumbnails" for the Cap Guns, that when clicked on "Pop-Up" into larger images and more information. If you have your browser set to reject Pop-Ups or your Internet Service Provider is currently set to eliminate Pop-Ups, you are not going to enjoy this website as much as you would like. There are hundreds (mostly from folks like you) on this site.

A nice pair of Stallion 45s from Pasadena, Texas! Aunt Ruth molded the
Longhorn Steer for the right grip originally for the Silver Mustang, but it was
used for the Stallion 45 as well. See the actual molds on the Mustang page.
CLICK ON GUNS TO SEE NOTCHED VERSION!

This gun was hurriedly put together, but not into production yet, just before the Toy Fair in New York in 1950. A few of the prototypes were taken there and they created a sensation. Once Lewis and Talley came home, they immediately put the Stallion 45 into production, since they had sold out over a year's worth at the Toy Fair.

Even though this particular pistol was considerably higher priced than the first Nichols Cap Guns, it was enthusiastically received by the public and became the cornerstone of the company.

Now here's a couple of kids having a good time with a pile of Pasadena Stallion 45s. Actually this is the author (who still has white hair!) and his cousin Susan Gail on his daddy's desk in the old Pasadena plant. This photo was taken about 1951 or so. There were about 35 brand new Stallions on the desk and at today's prices for unfired mint guns, that's about $10,000 worth. Why didn't we save them?

Here is a piece of the Mickey Mouse Club show in 1955 that shows Roy (Jimmie had them too) with what appears to be Nichols Stallion 45's from the Pasadena days. In the film segment, I don't see the characteristic Circle "N" logo on the grips, so they couldn't have been the MK-II's plus they weren't made until 1957. However, I don't ever recall seeing black grips on Pasadena Stallion 45's. You tell me! Notice that the chrome frame divides the grips on Roy's right gun. Real guns usually don't have that feature or Hollywood prop guns. But there wasn't another Cap Gun on the market at the time that looked as much like Stallions as these. (Jimmie Dodd was my hero! He wrote almost all of the songs on the show and was a born-again Christian who taught values to kids, both on and off the set. He died of cancer at 54.) This photo is used without permission and I just hope that Walt Disney doesn't sue me, for I have nothing but respect for them and I don't sell anything. You will also notice that all of the Mouseketeers had toy guns and didn't turn out to be criminals!!!


	Standard Stallion 45 Bullets CLICK TO SEE!		Machined Stallion 45 Bullets CLICK TO SEE!

	45 Bullets and a Box! CLICK TO SEE!		3rd Party Red Stallion Grips CLICK TO SEE!

Okay Nichols fans, here is the DEFINITIVE ANSWER to Nichols Stallion 45 bullets. We are going to talk about them from left to right.

1.) Nichols machined aluminum - Rare
2.) Nichols cast aluminum 1st variation - very scarce
3.) Nichols cast aluminum 2nd variation - scarce
4.) Nichols cast zinc alloy - most common
5.) After Market cast lead (?) - reproduction made in China.

(Naturally this doesn't include reproduction bullets made by private people, but merely represents what the major picture looks like.)

Many thanks to Rich Hall of Cap Gun Toys for furnishing the text and the photos!




	Pasadena Stallion 45 Shipping Box







	Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged View! Photos thanks to Brian Roeder

And with the invention of 2-piece bullets, we had to have round caps! The one in the lower left is the earliest variation, but look at the one in the upper right-hand corner! Its colors are reversed. I had never seen that before.
Photo thanks to Jamie Linford one of our advertisers.

Well, here's a type of Stallion Round Cap Box that you won't see every day! Very unusual
Photos thanks to Jim Clowers.
(CLICK TO SEE LARGER PHOTO)




	Stallion Round Cap Cartons











	These are cartons of the round caps, but you might notice that the ones on the top have pictures of the Pasadena Stallion 45. Since they are labeled Jacksonville, Texas, then that means that they were produced before the Stallion 45 MK-II. The interesting thing about the lower left two cartons is that the colors are reversed. I don't know why they did that, for you will also notice that the carton itself is the same-except for the caps that are falling out of the little box on the front! The end of the lower right carton seems to say that there are 50 boxes in the carton. Well, that doesn't make any sense, as there are twelve in a layer and I have calculated that there are probably 6 layers, which makes 72 boxes of caps. So...are there 50 caps per box? You tell me. Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged View! Thanks to Chuck Quinn for the above photos! One of our many advertisers.

	A Note About The Aluminum Stallion 45 Bullets
	At the beginning of the Korean War the government banned the use of lead by private companies because the metal was considered critical to the war effort. The Nichols company was forced to find another metal from which to make their bullets so they chose aluminum. —MN
	This set looks like it was made yesterday. In case you can't read it, the little price tag says, "JERRY'S BIKE SHOP" and the price is FIFTY NINE CENTS. I am jealous. I think this is the same box as mine, but in decent shape. Dag nabbit! Photo thanks to Ken Thompson!

The Stallion featured elegant scrollwork, 2-piece firing bullets, a rotating cylinder that rotated 1 bullet every time you pulled the trigger, beautiful white grips (with a Longhorn Steer on one side and a Rearing Stallion on the other), and quality workmanship throughout. This pistol was later reworked into the Stallion 45 MK-II and it differs from that later model in that it has the only "ruby" in the handle of any of the Nichols Stallion pistols and is not quite as ornate, but the overall quality of the MK-II was higher. Originally the 2-piece bullets were turned on a lathe and these are quite rare, but later bullets were die-cast from zinc alloy for the insert and the base was stamped from brass. The individual caps fit into this base. When the gun was fired, a puff of smoke would come out of the barrel. The caps were made by Al Cohen of Houston, Texas.

	Leather Holsters
	In the early days of the company the leatherwork was farmed out to various independent companies. The most notable of these for Nichols Industries was Tex Tan. If you will notice, on the home page I have featured a holster that was made by them for my dad, Lewis W. Nichols, Jr. This holster was custom made, as were others, as special gifts to special people. We still have this holster in our family. I did, however, for "artistic reasons" take the liberty of rearranging it a little in order to make everything fit on the home page graphic. The holster is actually a double holster that holds 2 Stallion 45's from Pasadena. You might notice the "LWN" initials. In later years there actually was leatherwork done in Jacksonville. I remember watching an old man when I was younger (hey, he was probably 45!) making holsters. He would select a particular hide from the stack and then place it on the press and then arrange a leather die somewhere on this hide-to get the maximum yield from the hide-and then REMOVE his hands (!) and press a button with each hand and CLICK! The platen would come down and instantly a piece of leather had been transformed into something that pretty much looked like a holster. I just stood there mesmerized by this process. —MN

At the bottom of every page is a Circle "N" Logo and when you click on it, it will take you back to the top of the page.

Pasadena Stallion 45

Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged View!
Many thanks to Paul M. Bouder for the above photos!




	When I first saw this box, I didn't believe it! This box is for the Pasadena version of the Stallion 45, but during the year and a half (or so) that it was manufactured in Jacksonville. I don't think they ever changed the tooling on the barrel to say, "JACKSONVILLE." I really think that the nicest part of this box is that, as of now, it belongs to me! Photo thanks to Jerry Carney!

Folks...How's this for a super rare box? As has been stated before, in the earliest days Nichols was just happy to have anybody sell their Cap Guns. They had a special relationship with Tex Tan and provided them with the Nichols Stallion 45's and Tex Tan made 2 different boxes. This seems to be the rarest of all. This is a single piece box.

Thanks to Don Raker for this submission!

If that isn't enough, then here's the second version (or was it the first?) of the Tex Tan box. This is the 2-piece box.

Thanks to Joe Muscanere for this submission!

Here's a good look at the inside of the box although it doesn't have the little manual.

Thanks to John D. Lukacs for this photo.

I know I have another right above this, but Ron sent an even bigger picture of the set, so if you click on it, then you can see it even bigger. You will notice that the 6 bullets are in a little cardboard box. This little box is more rare than the Cap Gun by far. Little kids would just throw it away. I don't know why he threw in an extra set of grips.

Thanks to Ron Wright for thiese photos.

Here is a holster made by Melvin G. Miller of Houston, Texas that was suitable for either left or right-handed Buckaroos. This is a pretty rare box and can actually be found by itself, whereas some boxes strictly will come with the Cap Guns inside. But this is still a wonderful catch and I narrowly missed out on this one!@#%^&&#$#!

CLICK ON BOX TO SEE EVEN MORE
Thanks to Doug Hamilton for this submission!




	Pasadena Stallion 45 (Notched Version)









	Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged View! Photos thanks to Jim Turner!

Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged View!
Original tooling		More original tooling
Above photos by Robert Nichols
Tex Tan box from the 50's.		The original Stallion 45.
Above photos by Ted Dietrich

Notched 1950 gun and box		Same basic box, but from Nichols
Above photos by Ken Thompson
Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged View!
Right Grip		Left Grip
Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged View!

A nice ad in some trade publication for the Stallion 45 from Pasadena,
the toy of the year in 1950!

Thanks to Ken Thompson for the nice photo.

Though there are "fake Stallion 45's" (people have gold plated them), we in the family count as the "real thing" those that were actually gold plated by the factory itself at the time. This particular Stallion 45 was gold plated by the factory in the 1950's in Pasadena and is a family member's prize. It fostered the idea for the famous Stallion 45 MK-II Presentation Model later on. Notice that on this Cap Gun all of the main parts were gold plated.

Again, thanks Robert Nichols for the photo
One of the quality features of the Stallion 45 is that a youngster could take it apart and find out what made it work. Many guns of the period from other companies were cast and riveted and couldn't be taken apart. Attention to detail however, was evident when you took the Nichols guns apart.

These pistols are still a collector's item and command a very high price—especially when "Mint In The Box."

The Stallion 45 is so popular that many people around the world have collected them. This is a notched version that has been put in a nice walnut display case. The really interesting thing about this is that the owner of the display case has had the "Circle N" etched into the glass on the case's cover. Nice job!

Thanks to Ken Thompson for the photo.

This beautiful Stallion 45 was spruced up by Ed DeVries, just because he could. He gold plated the cylinder and the hammer. Somewhat the opposite of the famous G-45 Stallion 45 MK-II. I thought it looked beautiful, so I stuck it here, showing what can be done in good taste.

Thanks for this photo from Ed DeVries.