Shot
Tubes
These tubes
into which the BBs are loaded, and which screw into the barrel, were originally
called “shooting barrels.” Today, they are simply called shot
tubes and that is the expression we use. All Plymouth No. 25 shot tubes
were designed to hold 50 shot.
To load the
gun, it was first cocked. The tube was removed by unscrewing it from the
barrel. Then the tube’s spring was compressed by moving a tab,
called the “shot follower,” toward the front of the tube and
locking the tab into a notch. This done, the BBs could be loaded into the
tube through a loading hole. When full, the shot follower was released,
allowing the spring to put pressure against the loaded shot. The tube was
then screwed back into the barrel making sure to hold the muzzle downward to
prevent shot from falling out the back of the tube. If this happened, the
tube might not screw back into the gun.
Front
and back of early No. 25 instructions tag.
It
contains instructions for loading and using the No. 25 pump gun.
Seven
variations of early shot tubes – left to right, earliest to latest
Earliest
nickel tube
Later
nickel tube
First
blued tube
1930
vintage blued tube
First
tube with retainer spring - circa 1932
Blued
tube with normal retainer spring
Painted
tube
Continue to The
No. 105 Junior Pump Gun