Description: Twin Pirate Gun, Midway, 5/74, #569, two players and two guns, 8-track sound tape player and electronic target sound, ray gun with eight light activate targets, rocking boat gives feeling of sea waves, a timed game with unlimited shots where the quickest most accurate player gets the points, black light. Size is 29.5" wide by 35.5" deep by 69" high.

One in the series of similar 1970s twin gun games including Chicago Coin's Twin Rifle (1971), Foreign Legion Twin Machine Gun (1971), Big Top Twin Rifle (1973), and Twin Skeet Shoot (1974).

If you have a Midway Twin Pirate for sale, please contact me at cfh@provide.net

Thanks to Mark, you can hear the 53 second version of the 8-track sound for Twin Pirate of "Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main" by clicking here. The singers don't sound much like pirates, and this doesn't sound much like a song swashbuckling pirates would sing, but the song was apparently in the public domain. I could not find the original artist for this exact track. But a very similar style/sound is Dick Byron & the Sandpipers - Sailing, Sailing (1950) on Golden Records, which you can find on Youtube or here, which is a bit longer at 71 seconds. There's also a more rock n roll pirate song that works well, which is not so goofy here (3 minutes long.)

Since the original 8-track tape player runs off 120vac (pink wire from game-over relay, and a blue wire), I replaced the original 8-track with a DY-SV17F mp3 player for about $5. This runs off 5 volts, so a small 5vdc switching power supply connected to the original 8-track tape player 120v power connector. On the DY-SC17F just have the Tx/io0 connected to ground. This way when a game starts, it will play the 00001.mp3 song on the mp3 player automatically.

Since Twin Pirate is a light optic game (opposed to stylist rifle), a good light source from the rifles are required for the game to operate. This is done with a very bright halogen lamp inside the gun, which projects light through several optics, and out the gun barrel. The gun barrel has an optic mounted inside (with two small allen screws) keeping it in place. Normally this optic can not be damaged, as it's a good 10" from the end of the barrel. However, at the end of the gun barrel is another plastic optic that is easy to damage. This optic can be accessed by a user and molested, making the gun inoperable. The gun's projected light should be pretty bright and make a circle about 1/2" in diameter on the game's targets. If the end barrel optic is damaged, the light diffuses, and won't properly focus on the targets' light sensors. Hence the game will never register a "hit", making Twin Pirate a Twin NoFun Pirate.

Sometimes the guns' halogen light source just burns out, or gets dim. If that happens, it will need to be replaced. The original lamps are marked 10.8 volts 30 watts TZA/DZA 10.8v 30W, or Ushio DZA JC10.8V-30W, or Narva 55169 DZA, or GE43. Some other halogen replacements can also be used. Mats Lönnborg describes how he replaced the gun light using standard halogen 12volt 25watt lamps, and used silicon or a rubber tape/glue to reproduce the ceramic base around the original bulb. Using a lamp without the silicon will blow the bulb in about two shots due to the vibtrations from the recoil in the rifles (the connecting legs to the lamp filiment breaks). Note the rifles' halogen lamps also get very warm after a set of plays with the original or the new lamps.

Is there an LED replacement for the TZA 10.8v 30w halogen light bulb? The simple answer is "no." Not that it's impossible to retrofit an LED, but the light focus will be altered, so there's a good chance an LED won't work. The TZA bulb goes through several lenses inside the gun, and it's designed for the TZA bulb.

In addition to the light gun setup, there is also a stylist board for each gun. This complicates things a bit. Midway did this so when targets that are not to register "hits" (via the program stepper unit) do not get random light scoring - like a kid with a flash light! But unfortunately, the stylist board must be positioned correctly, or even legitimate "light hits" will not score. This really makes you wonder why Midway bothered with using light scoring at all, if they also needed gun stylist boards!

Midway changed their two direction scoring motor for Twin Pirate and Gangbusters, part number 40–606. Then switched this smaller bi-directional 120vac motor, with a very long gearbox. To use this motor, a 5mfd 360v non-polorized startup capacitor is used (much like your home air conditioner unit.) The cap is required, as the scoring motor will not turn without the capcacitor.

Note Midway Twin Pirate Gun had *two* different backglasses available. The more rare glass has a red background (instead of blue/green.)

Manual is available for viewing as is the Parts Catalog.

If you have a Midway Twin Pirates for sale please contact me at cfh@provide.net