Mustang 500 Cap Guns

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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.

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!

Back of box.

Many thanks to Dave Klahn

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!)



		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

These fine photos are from Scott McCollum




	Steel Blu Mustang 500 Set



	Boxed Set				Twin Cap Guns



	Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged View! Many thanks to Ron Joyner for these photos!



	And here is another good photo of a steel blue Mustang 500. Thanks to Dan Morphy of Morphy Auctions for this photo.

	Similar gun, but from the left side Thanks to Bob Garvey for this photo.

This set is rather wonderful in that it has a genuine Nichols holster to go with it. I used to love to watch the man cut out the leather pieces for holsters. You can bet your bottom dollar that you won't see this particular set very often.
Photo by Chuck Quinn.

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)




	Black Mustang 500









	Please Click On Each Thumbnail For An Enlarged View! Many thanks to Martin Simpson for these photos!

I just couldn't resist putting this fine Mustang 500 here. Notice that it has the red inserts in the grips. This would probably have made it an early version because Kusan did all they could in the last days to save money and this would have involved an extra step.

Photo thanks to Dave Brem.

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!




	Mustang 500 in Stallion 45 MK-II Box!







	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!