A few years ago my friend George Lowe sent me this unusual shooter. Well,it IS unusual,here in New Zealand!
A product of the 1940's,the Johnson Indoor Target Gun is actually a BB slingshot. It fires standard steel air rifle shot with considerable accuracy at "living room" distances. The Johnson has no real barrel,the upper half of what appears to be a barrel contains a force-fed BB magazine. A large rubber-band,rather than a spring,supplies the necessary energy to launch a missile. Riding a rail,in the lower half of the apparent barrel,is a slide which firstly, engages a large rubberband mounted over it then when retracted,strips a BB from the magazine. Pulled rearward by a "quick release"cocking gadget,the slide engages the trigger sear. Once careful aim has been taken via the peep and post sighting system,a squeeze of the trigger releases the loaded slide, the big rubber-band contracts, tossing a BB out the business-end!
A product of the 1940's,the Johnson Indoor Target Gun is actually a BB slingshot. It fires standard steel air rifle shot with considerable accuracy at "living room" distances. The Johnson has no real barrel,the upper half of what appears to be a barrel contains a force-fed BB magazine. A large rubber-band,rather than a spring,supplies the necessary energy to launch a missile. Riding a rail,in the lower half of the apparent barrel,is a slide which firstly, engages a large rubberband mounted over it then when retracted,strips a BB from the magazine. Pulled rearward by a "quick release"cocking gadget,the slide engages the trigger sear. Once careful aim has been taken via the peep and post sighting system,a squeeze of the trigger releases the loaded slide, the big rubber-band contracts, tossing a BB out the business-end!
From the,"those were the days" department! Illustrations from a 1947 LIFE magazine.
The team and The target!
