Apollo Moon Shot Rifle

The Apollo Moon Shot Rifle, manufactured by Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company and announced in Cash Box in December 1968, is an electro-mechanical (EM) shooting-gallery game - not a flipper pinball - with a space/science-fiction theme, evoking the excitement of the era's real-life space race. Cash Box previewed the game as "coming soon" in late November 1968, with a formal new-game announcement following in mid-December.

Gameplay offers 20 shots per game at a 10- or 25-cent price point, with four drop targets, four moving targets, and one flashing star target providing varied challenges. Blacklighting enhances the playfield's visual presentation, and the game could be configured for extended play or replay operation.

Little is documented about the Apollo Moon Shot Rifle's designer, but its space-age theme and target variety made it a fitting entry in Chicago Coin's shooting-gallery lineup at the close of the 1960s - a period when America's space program captured public imagination.