Shoot Out Rifle

The Shoot Out Rifle, manufactured by Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company, is an electro-mechanical (EM) shooting-gallery game - not a traditional flipper pinball table - that debuted at the October 1975 Music Operators of America (MOA) exposition in Chicago. Cash Box reported in November 1975 that deliveries to distributors were underway. Though referred to simply as "Shoot Out" in the trade press, the backglass and factory flyer carried the full name "Shoot Out Rifle."

True to its Western theme, the game challenges a single player to shoot against the clock for a quarter per play. Its most distinctive feature is the audio design: an 8-track tape provides a honky-tonk piano soundtrack that, during the saloon's "Shoot Out Target" feature, switches to a track augmented with a male voice repeatedly urging players to "get ready for the big shootout" before returning to the standard music track. Blacklighting was also used to enhance the playfield's visual presentation.

Little else is documented about the Shoot Out Rifle's design team or commercial reception, but its layered sound gimmick makes it a notable example of Chicago Coin's mid-1970s Western-themed shooting games.