solid aluminum handguns for movie props and toys

I think sometime in the 1950's my father ordered some of these solid aluminum handguns through magazine advertisements. He liked to hang these pistols on the wall. He had a Colt 1911, Mauser 1896, Luger and P-38. Years later I found the P-38 which had the grips painted and the Mauser 96 also painted silver. These pistols were manufactured by Lytle Novelty Co from the 1930's to the early 1950's. They were used as movie prop guns and later sold as kids toys through magazine adds. They are not quite full size, but very close, i used a 1913 Mauser in one of my photos for comparison.Attachment 131118Attachment 131119

Those replicas are pretty cool. The local gun shop had a collection of these and from 10 feet away they looked pretty real. When I was a kid I had a full size plastic model of a luger that I put together from a kit. The toggle worked and the detail was good. It didn't hold up too well in our mock battles. At the price of classic collectible firearms today and all the legal hassles involved, it makes a good case for collecting replicas. Salt Flat

Oh, Also-- that is one fine broomhandle (the real one)

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Originally Posted by Salt Flat

At the price of classic collectible firearms today and all the legal hassles involved, it makes a good case for collecting replicas.

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I'd agree and would love to have such a thing but they went and prohibited those years ago here. Specifically...not a real one that's welded up, just anything resembling one.

I have a plastic Luger capgun made by MARX, I think anyway. Only about half size. It does work. Toggle goes back with the trigger pull. I see P-38's sometimes in my flea market trips but they've all been broken so far so I haven't picked one up. I've seen others also but don't recall seeing any full sized aluminum ones. I'll have to keep my eyes open.

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Originally Posted by RCS

They are not quite full size, but very close,

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I wonder what the reason was for not making them full size?

I am only guessing but sometimes the item in the mold will shrink - this of course depends on many factors.

years ago an enterprising M1 rifle collector decided to have some steel solid no trap door buttplates made up
from a company, they were cast but shrinkage was not figured into the pattern. Consequently the screw holes
on the butt plates did not line up with the stock holes !

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Originally Posted by RCS

years ago an enterprising M1 rifle collector decided to have some steel solid no trap door buttplates made up
from a company, they were cast

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I'll bet he paid dearly too, would be a bitter pill.

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Originally Posted by RCS

I am only guessing but sometimes the item in the mold will shrink - this of course depends on many factors.

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Yes, that is why the "Pattern", normally made out of wood for sand casting, is made a little larger than the required finished size.

If they were "Die-Cast" I would have thought that they would have taken shrinkage into account when making the dies.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

shrinkage

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No one would know when they see it running past in a movie so...they didn't make them for us anyway.

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

No one would know when they see it running past in a movie

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I realise that...it would have been just as easy for the company that cast them to make them on a scale 1:1, i.e. full size/life size.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

it would have been just as easy for the company that cast them to make them on a scale

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I would think so too...