Yup, seen a similar one as a rifle. Got the wind knocked out of me horsing around with my brother.
15 Years before Quigley Down Under, my brother and I envisioned a version of Cowboys and Indians that would have better fit the Australian frontier, than the American West. You see, we had received a couple of unique toys from the era as gifts and decided to break them out and play. One of the toys was a blowgun that shot darts similar to a modern-day Nerf gun and the other toy was a cap powered long rifle that shot a cork ball just like the one you posted. The first round my brother had the blowgun and I had the cap powered long rifle, I lost the first round as he spotted me first, plus he could shoot the blowgun like no other with a distance greater than our living and dining room together. The second round we switched toys, I had the blowgun and my brother the long rifle. I spotted my brother first and soon realized the short coming of having a primary school kid’s lung capacity, the projectile from the blowgun barely left the end of the tube and as a result the dart landed part way across the dining room falling far short of the open concept living room. My brother shouldered the long rifle, I tried to back pedal, but much like the cartoons where the character's legs were moving like wheels, my body remained still…I had trouble moving my sock covered feet backwards thanks to mom's freshly waxed floors. Suddenly, I seen a flash that was quite confusing followed by a loud bang. The next thing I remember was by brother positioned above me as I lay on the floor, he was shaking me saying "if you tell mom, I'll kick your butt". At first confusion set in then things slowly started coming together as it would seem he slid a firecracker down the long rifle and fished the wick out one of the two vent holes. The flash I noted was dad's cigarette lighter igniting the firecracker, once the firecracker went off, it substantially increased the velocity of the cork over the speed of a single flat cap. My brothers aim and follow through was true as he was an excellent hunter and the cork projectile hit me square in the chest. I had fallen from trying to run backwards on the waxed floor and a combination of the cork and/or fall somewhat knocked the wind out of me. We were back playing again after a short milk break and negotiated agreement that firecrackers were not going to be used as a propellant in further adventures with the toy long rifle. Later Mom came home, and we helped sis carry the groceries in like nothing ever happened. It did take a few days for my pride to heal after losing two games in a row to my older brother....
Years later, my wife didn't fully understand why I wanted our son to have his picture taken with a beat up, well used toy long rifle and a ratty old Teddy Bear. Being the good wife she is...she didn't question it too much and had the picture taken while I was at work. I had envisioned a little different picture, the bear with the toy long rifle on top and my son setting next to bear. The picture turned out well non the less.
