The Pencil Test

Imagine you're looking at a used pistol with an intent to purchase it. If it has been well used, chances are that some parts may be worn out or broken. One part, in particular, is the firing pin, which may be broken, bent, blunted etc. Another part of interest is the mainspring, which may have lost some of its strength. Or perhaps you stripped your pistol in order to clean it, and you aren't sure if you put it back together properly. There is a simple test to verify that the firing pin and mainspring are working satisfactorily and this test is the pencil test, which we will study about today. The only tool you'll need to conduct this test is a pencil with an eraser tip on one end:

A standard #2 size pencil. Click on the image to enlarge. Public domain image.

1. First, make sure the pistol is empty.
2. Cock the pistol, making sure that it is still empty.
3. Insert a pencil with the eraser end first into the barrel and push it as far as it will go (do not force it, just push it in gently). For best results, use a new wooden pencil (such as a standard #2 size pencil, like the one pictured above), with the eraser in good condition
4. Hold the pistol vertically, with the barrel end aimed upwards.
5. Make sure that the pistol is indeed empty, then pull the trigger.
6. If the firing pin and mainspring are working correctly, the pencil will move noticeably. In many pistols models, the pencil will actually come shooting out of the barrel. If the pencil doesn't move, or only moves weakly, there may be a problem with the firing pin or mainspring.

This test works on various pistol models, both hammer-fired and striker-fired types. Of course, the distance that it comes shooting out of the barrel depends on the model of pistol and also the wear and tear of the parts. For 1911 pistols in good condition, the pencil should come flying out and go at least a few feet up in the air. Glock pistols will also propel the pencil out a good amount of distance, but generally not as far as a 1911. Of course, the test also depends on the shape of the firing pin and the hardness of the eraser. For instance, in some models of M&P pistols, the firing pin may pierce the eraser instead of shooting it up. In such cases, if the pencil is put in with the unsharpened end in first, it may come flying out better. Alternatively, a plastic ballpoint pen, such as a Bic, may be used. In general, hammer fired pistols tend to propel the pencil out farther than striker fired models.

For pistols that are equipped with decocking levers (such as Sig Sauer, Ruger P95, Beretta M9 etc.), a similar test may be used to ensure that the decocking safety mechanism is working properly. As before, the pistol is cocked and the pencil is pushed in as before and the pistol is held vertically. Then, instead of pulling the trigger, the decocking lever is pushed instead. If the decocker is working correctly, the pencil should not move at all. If it moves, that means the decocker is not working properly and the firing pin is contacting the eraser.

Now on to some videos, so that you can see what it looks like.

The first video is from user Sadie Thorne on youtube and shows a quick test with a 1911 type pistol.

This video comes with no explanation, but shows the test very nicely. Notice how far the pencil comes flying out of the barrel, when the trigger is pulled.

The next video is by stdlfr11 and shows the same test done using a CZ-75 pistol.

This video has the user giving an explanation of the test, as it is being done. Note that while the pencil moves noticeably, it doesn't move as far as the one in the previous video. The reason for this becomes clear when the user pulls the pencil out as you can clearly see the indentation that the firing pin made on the eraser, which could explain why it didn't fly out as much. If the eraser had been harder or if the user had put the pencil in with the unsharpened end first, it would probably have flown out of the barrel much better. The test does show that the firing pin is functional and is not broken.

So there you have it, a simple test using a pencil ensures that the firing pin and mainspring are working satisfactorily.

Handgun Shooting Analysis

In today's post, we will study the causes for inaccuracies when people shoot handguns. There is a handgun shooters chart, that helps shooters analyze what they are doing wrong. There are various variations of the same chart, but here's one public domain version, as designed by the US Army Marksmanship Unit.

Handgun Shooting Analysis chart, courtesy US Army Marksmanship Unit. Public domain image.

The above chart is designed for a right handed shooter. For a left handed shooter, the chart is mirrored vertically (e.g.) "Thumbing" is on the left, "Finger not on trigger correctly" is on the right etc.

The chart is pretty self-explanatory. For instance, if a right handed shooter is shooting too much to the left of the target, he or she is not placing the finger on the trigger correctly. However, some of these terms may need some explanation, so we will study those below.

Thumbing: When the shooter is squeezing the trigger, he or she pushes the right thumb and/or left thumb against the side of the frame, causing the front of the handgun to aim to the right (for a right-handed shooter. A left handed shooter will push the front of the handgun to the left). This causes the shots to end up to the right of the target.

Tightening grip when pulling the trigger: The shooter is tightening their hands along the grip, as the trigger is being squeezed. This causes the front of the gun to dip low and to the right.

Breaking wrist: This is caused because the shooter anticipates the recoil of the gun and does not lock the strong wrist properly. If the shooter tries to mimic the recoil, he or she breaks the wrists upward and shoots above the target. If the shooter tries to counteract the recoil, he or she breaks the wrists downward and the gun fires below the target.

Jerking: This happens when the shooter tries to fire the trigger as soon as the moving sights cross the target, adding excessive pressure to the trigger. This causes shots to end up low and to the left of the target.

Finger not on trigger correctly: This is caused when there is too little finger on the trigger. The trigger finger should cause the trigger to pull straight backwards. However, if there is too little finger area on the trigger, it will pull the trigger sideways and cause the shot to end up to the left of the target.

Pushing: This happens when the shooter jerks the trigger finger forward, just as the gun fires. The solution is to practice a proper follow-through and hold the gun steady during and after the trigger is pulled.

Heeling: This is caused by the shooter putting too much pressure with the heel of the hand, while the weapon is being fired.

Weapons of Pirates

In our last post about Queen Anne pistols, we mentioned that they were carried by some pirates, notably the famous pirate captain, Edward Teach, better known to the world as "Blackbeard". In today's post, we will study the world of the pirates and the weapons they carried.

First, pirates have been around practically since man learned to build boats. Pirates have been mentioned in ancient Babylonian and Egyptian texts dating back to 1400 BC. The Greeks and Romans battled pirates in the Mediterranean sea. In fact, the word "pirate" is from the Greek word, pieraomai which means "attempt" (i.e. "attempt to rob for personal gain"), which morphed to the Greek word pierates which means "bandit" or "brigand", from which we get the Latin word pirata, from which we get the English word "pirate".  In the middle ages, the Vikings roamed the northern seas, but also sailed as far south as North Africa and Italy and sailed up rivers all the way up to the Black sea. The South China sea and the area between Malaysia and the Indonesian islands have had incidents of piracy since about 900 AD. In modern times, we have pirates off the coast of Somalia and in the strait of Malacca.

However, we will concentrate mainly on the weapons used by pirates during the so-called "Golden Age of Piracy", which happened around 1650-1730 AD. This was around the time that various European powers were competing with each other to build colonies and trade routes around the world. During this time, several notorious pirates were based off the Caribbean islands, but there were others who sailed around the coast of Africa and even as far as India. In fact, the biggest robbery ever made during the Golden Age of Piracy was by English pirate Henry Every (also called Henry Avery or Long Ben Every), who captured a couple of the Indian Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's ships in the Arabian sea, sailing back from Mecca to India loaded with jewels. With this single act of piracy, Henry Every became the richest pirate captain in the world, but he is not as well known as other pirates such as Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham, Bartholomew Roberts (a.k.a Black Bart), Henry Morgan, Captain Kidd etc. We will study the weapons used by pirates living in this era. By the way, not all pirates were English. Many were Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, American, Italian, Moors, Algerians, Africans, Turks, Arabs, Native Americans, Chinese, Malays etc.

It may come as a surprise to readers to find out that during the Golden Age of Piracy, many pirate ships actually operated more democratically than most countries. Every man on board a pirate ship had an equal vote and the pirate captain was elected by the members of the ship. If the pirate captain didn't perform his duties well, he could be voted out of his position as well. The quartermaster was also voted into power by the crew. One more interesting thing was that the pirate captain only commanded the ship when they were in combat. If they were not in combat, it was the quartermaster and not the captain, that decided where the ship would sail next. Pirate crews were generally promoted based on merit (unlike European navies, where most officers bought their positions). Pirates also came from different countries, races and religions, but they all had an equal right to vote and an equal share of the treasure. At a time where most people worked as slaves or as indentured servants, pirates actually signed work contracts when they joined a pirate ship. The contracts specified how much share of the plunder each man would receive (skilled sailors received more than unskilled men, as did specialized jobs such as captain, quartermaster, carpenter, surgeon, navigator, boatswain, gunner etc.), compensation to be paid in case a man was injured  or killed while performing his duties (workman's injury compensation in the 17th century!), how prizes were to be divided, awarding of bonuses for good work, the rules of conduct expected of each man and the penalties that would occur, if a man was to break the rules.

In many Hollywood movies, we see pirates fighting each other with sabers and showing some real fancy sword fighting skills. And while pirate ships are approaching merchant ships, they engage in heavy gun battles with cannons until the pirates can swing over to the other ship on ropes. So, is what we see in Hollywood movies really how pirates fought? The answers are very different.

Some of the laws and rules followed by pirates have been recorded by historians. From the contract signed by pirates who sailed under Bartholomew Roberts, we have the following section:

Article V - Every man shall keep his piece, pistols and cutlass at all times, clean and ready for action.

So what does the above sentence mean, particularly the three words in bold font? It gives us a clue as to what weapons pirates actually used. Notice that the cutlass (a short sword) comes third in the list, while "piece" is listed first. We will see what this means in the next few paragraphs.

First, let's deal with the question of swords. Pirate ships and merchant ships were very crowded at all times, with boxes and ropes all over the deck. Therefore a long sword was usually not very useful in combat aboard a ship, because there was usually no room to swing a long sword properly. Secondly, it takes a long time to train a person to use a sword well and only members of the aristocracy could afford to take sword fighting lessons (i.e. fencing lessons). Only a rich person could afford to buy a high quality long sword anyway. Third, long swords are heavy and can make a man tired much more quickly. Therefore, real pirates usually carried a short sword, such as a cutlass, which was much more suitable for fighting in close quarters. Alternatively, they carried axes or knives, since both were cheaper than swords and could also be used well in crowded spaces. However, none of these bladed weapons were usually their first choice of weapon either.

Now let's talk about cannon on ships. Most pirate ships were relatively small and could therefore carry small cannon only. Pirates would usually try to capture ships with as little damage as possible, so that they could take the captured ship and its supplies for themselves. So when they fired cannon at merchant ships, they usually fired small caliber shot to try and disable the crew, or fired chain shot to try and destroy some of the sails, to slow the ship down. They would also shoot warning shots away from the target, to try to get the merchant ships to surrender quietly. They usually never shot large solid cannon balls directly at ships, because this could cause the ship to sink before they captured it. If possible, pirates preferred to capture ships as undamaged as possible, so that they could use them in their own fleets.

Now let's talk about the word "piece" that we saw earlier. The word "piece" refers to a "fowling piece" or a "hunting piece", i.e. a musket used for hunting birds and animals. In general, a "piece" in pirate language, could refer to any long arm, whether musket, rifle, arquebus or blunderbuss. These were usually the first weapon of choice for pirates.

The musket was generally available to the common man during the Golden Age of Piracy era, so it was pretty easy for pirates to get their hands on them. A well trained pirate crew could injure or kill several defenders from longer ranges, so that there would be less resistance by the time they boarded the ship. They would target officers, sailors operating the sails and those near the gun ports. Well aimed musket fire in volleys could inflict maximum damage to their opposition, without sinking their ship, which is why pirates preferred using muskets to cannon.

A typical flintlock musket. Click on the image to enlarge. Public domain image.

These muskets were originally designed to hunt bird and animals and were pretty sturdy, with long heavy barrels. While many of them were originally smoothbore, they were still capable of relatively accurate fire. Pirates would sometimes load them with one larger ball about the size of the barrel bore and two smaller balls about half the bore size. This was done to increase the probability of hitting the target. Successful pirate crews carried multiple muskets for each pirate, up to four or five per pirate, and they would all be loaded and ready to go, as they approached their prey. This allowed the pirates to keep shooting rapidly at their prey as they approached it. They would also work in teams, where one pirate would fire muskets, while the other pirates would reload them.

The musketoon is a shorter barreled version of the musket and were more preferred, because they were easier to handle in confined spaces, such as those found on ships. Some musketoons had flared barrels like the next weapon, the blunderbuss, although the blunderbuss was generally even shorter.

A Blunderbuss. Note the flared muzzle.

The original term for this weapon was donderbuss and this name appears to be Dutch. The word "donder" means "thunder" and "buss" means "pipe" in Dutch and German languages. They were generally made with brass or bronze barrels, since these resisted corrosion from seawater better than iron barrels. The flared muzzle allowed the user to quickly pour powder and shot down the barrel and load the weapon easier on a moving platform. Pirates would load blunderbusses with multiple shot pellets, scrap nails, rocks etc., and use them at closer ranges. On a crowded deck, a single shot could disable a group of enemies, so they were used to clear a path so that the pirates could board.

As they boarded their enemy's ship, pirates often carried multiple pistols with them. Many of these were single shot flintlock models and quite a few of them were built with flared barrels like a blunderbuss. to enable quicker reloading.

These pistols often had decorations around the muzzle that looked like a dragon's mouth and hence, these pistols were called "dragons". Military troops that carried such pistols were called "dragoons" and the pistols were then referred to as "dragoon pistols".

There were also general purpose flintlock pistols that many pirates carried, as these were also easily available.

A typical British flintlock pistol designed for naval service. Click on the image to enlarge. Public domain image.

In addition to these, some pirates also carried Queen Anne pistols, which we saw in the previous post. This is because Queen Anne pistols were designed to hold the ball inside the barrel without any wadding and there was much less risk of the ball or powder falling out of the pistol.

These pistols were used practically at point-blank range. Since they were all single shot models, pirates usually carried several of them, either tied around their necks with short pieces of rope, or tucked into a belt. The butt of the pistol handle was often a heavy brass plate (as the two examples above show), so after the pistol was fired, the user could turn it around and use it as a club.

In some cases, they would carry multi-barrel pistols. Some of these were just pistols with multiple barrels and separate triggers to fire each barrel separately. Other models featured a single trigger and multiple barrels that could be turned into position as needed.

A pistol with two separate barrels, two flintlocks and two triggers. Click on the image to enlarge.

An over under pistol with two barrels, two pans, but a single flintlock and single trigger. Each barrel was rotated into position by hand and then fired.

There were also volley fire weapons that could fire multiple pellets in different directions simultaneously, so as to spread the damage with a single shot. An example of such a pistol is shown below.

A duckfoot pistol. Click on the image to enlarge. Public domain image.

The example shown above is a duckfoot pistol using a flintlock firing mechanism. It is called a "duckfoot" because it resembles the foot of a duck. In general, multi-barrel pistols were less reliable than single barrel pistols and therefore, they were not frequently used.

Finally, there was the pirate short sword, the cutlass. This was usually the third weapon of choice and pirates usually didn't use them unless they really needed to. Forget the long drawn out sword battles shown in Hollywood movies, real pirates kept the fighting time down to a minimum. Real pirates would carry a cutlass with one hand and a pistol with the other. The cutlass would be used to block the opponents sword, while the pirate's other hand would fire the pistol at point-blank range. Sometimes, the pirate would use a combination weapon that combined a cutlass and pistol together.

A combination of cutlass and pistol. Click on the image to enlarge.

This allowed the pirate to both shoot and cut with a single arm, while the other arm could carry another pistol or a grenade or some such object.

Besides these three weapons, pirates often carried axes, knives, grenades, stink pots etc. However, most pirates preferred using (in order of preference): long guns (such as muskets, rifles and arquebuses), close range powerful shotgun type weapons (musketoons, blunderbusses), pistols and finally swords, axes and knives. Therefore, the Hollywood myth of pirates preferring to use swords and fighting long duels on decks with swords is completely false. They preferred using firearms to bladed weapons.

Now, let us look at a curious paragraph in the contracts signed by pirates that sailed with the pirate captains Edward Low and George Lowther around 1720 AD.

Article VIII - He that sees a sail first, shall have the best Pistol or Small Arm aboard of her.

As you can see, the contract clearly states that the first pirate to see the sail of a merchant ship, would be rewarded with the best firearm found on the captured ship, not the best sword. Therefore, they clearly valued firearms more than swords.

Queen Anne Pistols

In today's post, we will look at a type of pistol that was around in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: the Queen Anne pistols (otherwise called turn-off pistols). These were generally in use from around 1650 to 1780 AD.

First, we will investigate the origin of the name. The first models of this type of pistol date back to around 1650 or 1660 AD in England, but they really started becoming popular during the reign of Queen Anne of England (she was born in 1665 AD and ruled England from 1702 to 1714 AD). This is why they are popularly called as Queen Anne pistols.

So what makes these pistols different from other pistols of the era? There were several features unique to these pistols which we will study:

1. The breech and lock of a Queen Anne pistol were forged together as a single piece, a feature that did not become common in firearms until the middle of the nineteenth century.
2. Unlike most weapons of this era which were loaded from the muzzle, most Queen Anne pistols were loaded from the breech.
3. The barrel of a Queen Anne pistol was screwed on to the chamber. This was one of the key distinguishing features of a Queen Anne pistol.
4. The barrel was tapered from the breech to the muzzle.
5. The caliber of the bullet ball was made larger than the bore of the barrel. Since these pistols were loaded from the breech, there was no need to use a ramrod or wadding, unlike most other firearms of the era.
6. Though early model barrels were smoothbores, later models featured rifled barrels for better accuracy.

Like most firearms of that era, these pistols used flintlock firing mechanisms. The barrels of most models of Queen Anne pistols were shaped like miniature cannon barrels. 

A Queen Anne Pistol. Click on the image to enlarge.

Image is  licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license by Trulock at Wikipedia

Queen Anne type pistol made by Galliard in Lausanne, Switzerland around 1760. Click on the image to enlarge.

Image is  licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 France license.

To load this type of pistol, the user would first unscrew the barrel from the chamber (this is why they are also called turn-off pistols). The chamber is designed to be long and narrow, with a cup on top. After unscrewing the barrel, the user would load some black powder into the chamber and then place a bullet ball on to the cup. Then the user would screw the barrel back in place and tighten it with a key. Notice that the barrel is tapered from the breech to the muzzle. This is a deliberate feature. The diameter of the bullet is larger than the diameter of the barrel at the breech, therefore it cannot roll out through the barrel. The bullet stays in place on the cup and holds the black powder in the chamber, without using any wadding.

When the user pulls the trigger, the flintlock mechanism ignites the black powder in the chamber, which burns and produces high-pressure gas in the chamber. The hot gases push the bullet out of the cup and through the barrel. Since the barrel is tapered from the breech to the muzzle, the bullet is deformed as it is pushed out of the barrel. The bullet forms such a tight seal within the barrel that the high pressure gas gives the bullet much more velocity than muzzle loaders of that era.

In some early models, the barrels were smoothbore, but later models began to feature rifling in the barrel, in order to improve accuracy. This meant that they had higher velocity and better accuracy than most other pistols of that era. Although some infantry officers carried them for close range fighting, these were not used much as military weapons, because they took longer to load than muzzle loaders and could not be easily re-loaded in the middle of combat. Therefore, the majority of purchases were by civilians. 

These pistols originated in England, but also spread to France, Switzerland etc. Several of them were used by Americans during the American Revolution. It is thought that most of these came into American hands after the Siege of Boston. 

The nice thing about such pistols was that most of them were made in sizes that could be easily stowed in a coat pocket, or tucked into a belt, thereby allowing them to be easily concealed. This is why they became popular among civilians as a self-defense weapon. Many were owned by rich people and therefore, quite a few examples are highly decorated with silver and gold engravings.

These pistols were also popular with pirates, The infamous pirate, Edward Teach, better known to the world as "Blackbeard", has been depicted in several portraits, carrying a number of these pistols around his body.

The pirate captain Edward Teach, alias "Blackbeard". Notice the pistols tucked into his belt.

The character, Jack Sparrow, in the Pirates of the Caribbean series of movies, also carries a Queen Anne type pistol and hands it to Angelica in the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Now, we present a small movie showing the features of this pistol:

Happy viewing!

The Lorenzoni Repeater

In our last post, we looked at an early weapon that was capable of rapid reloading, the Kalthoff repeater. In today's post, we will look at another weapon's system from that era that attempted to solve the same problem, the Lorenzoni repeater.

As was mentioned in our previous post, the main issue with early firearms was that, after shooting a shot, the user would have to spend some time reloading the weapon, before he could fire again. Before the invention of technologies such as cartridges and breech-loading weapons, reloading was a process that took a minute or two. Since a firearm is useless unless it is loaded, gunsmiths were trying to reduce the reloading time as much as possible. One of these inventions was the Lorenzoni repeater.

The Lorenzoni repeating system was invented by a gunsmith named Michele Lorenzoni from Florence, Italy around 1660 or so. He used it for both muskets as well as pistols.

Click on images to enlarge.

It consists of a firearm which has two magazines located above the trigger. The top one holds bullets and the bottom one holds the gunpowder. There is a long lever located on the left side, which can be used to move a revolving breech drum. The drum has two chambers within it.

To reload this firearm, the user points the gun downwards and rotates the long lever forward and back. On the forward motion, a measured amount of gunpowder and a single ball fall from their respective magazines into their separate chambers in the revolving breech drum. As the lever is pushed to its forward most point, it also cocks the flintlock and closes the frizzen cover. Then as the lever is pushed back, the ball and gunpowder that were loaded into the revolving breech chambers earlier, fall into the firearm breech. A little extra gunpowder falls into the firing pan and the gun is now ready to fire.

A pistol using the Lorenzoni system. Click on image to enlarge.

The revolving breech block is very precisely made, so that it seals off the powder magazine when the long lever is moved back into position. This is so that when the weapon is fired, the flame does not travel backward into the powder magazine and ignite it. A typical weapon of this type holds about 6-10 shots and it only takes a few seconds to reload between shots. Therefore, this weapon gave its user an immense advantage over other firearms of that era.

Here's a video demonstrating how the system works from the Forgotten Weapons blog:

As with the Kalthoff system, a firearm using this system needed very skilled machinists to manufacture and repair it. Therefore, this was not used for mass produced firearms. Also, because black powder burns dirty, powder fouling becomes a problem after a few shots. Firearms using this system were of high quality and usually purchased by wealthy people.

Michele Lorenzoni is known to have made a few of these weapons using this system, but they are very rare today. His family continued to make weapons using this system, well into the 18th century. His invention was also used by other people. It is recorded that an English gunmaker named Abraham Hill appropriated and patented the Lorenzoni system in London on 3rd March 1664. The very next day, the famous English diarist, naval administrator and member of parliament, Samuel Pepys, recorded in his diary that "There were several people by trying a new-fashion gun brought my Lord this morning, to shoot off often, one after another, without trouble or danger, very pretty".

The Lorenzoni system also saw use in America, in the form of the Cookson gun, which we will study in the next post.

Utility Firearms: Meat Processing Industry

In the meat processing industry, there are certain tools that are used to enable a quick humane death of a food animal. There are two basic types of firearms used here: (a) captive bolt type and (b) free bullet type. We will study both types in this post.

The first captive bolt pistol was invented by one Dr. Hugo Heiss of Straubing, Bavaria, Germany in 1903. The captive bolt type of firearm serves to stun an animal into unconsciousness, so it may then be processed. The pistol is placed against the skull of the animal and the trigger is pulled. The captive bolt pistol, as its name indicates, does NOT actually fire a bullet. Instead, it uses the force of compressed air, or a blank cartridge, to push a bolt forward with great force, which drives it into the animal's skull, thereby stunning it. After the blow is struck, spring tension pushes the bolt back into the device, as the figure below illustrates:

There are two types of captive bolt pistol: (a) the penetrating type, where the bolt has a sharpened tip and actually penetrates the skull into the brain of the animal and (b) non-penetrating type, where the bolt has a blunt rounded tip and doesn't penetrate the skull, but uses the concussive force generated to stun the animal. The pictures below show examples of both types:

Captive bolt pistol with penetrating bolt. Click on image to enlarge

Captive bolt pistol with non-penetrating bolt. Click on image to enlarge

Captive bolt penetrating type pistols driven by compressed air are now banned in the United States after a case of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) was detected in 2004. This is because the compressed air (unlike using a blank cartridge) forces infected brain matter into the bloodstream of the slaughtered animal. Since cattle blood is reprocessed for protein supplements in animal feed and milk replacements for calves, it could potentially spread the disease to other animals. Penetrating type pistols using blank cartridges and non-penetrating types are considered safe.

Since the bolt (i.e. the projectile) does not entirely leave the pistol, captive bolt pistols are not regarded as "firearms" in many jurisdictions and hence do not need any special paperwork.

The other type of firearm used in the meat processing industry is the free bullet type. In this case, a real bullet is indeed fired out. They are essentially small-caliber pistols designed specifically for putting an animal down. One of the first practical ones was designed by the famous English firm W.W. Greener of Birmingham in 1865. Called the Greener Humane Cattle Killer, this device quickly became the standard of the British War Office in the Veterinary and Butchering departments, was adopted by the British Admiralty's Victualling yards and was adopted by many veterinarians and butchers.

It consists of a short rifled barrel with a bell shaped muzzle. The bell serves to muffle the sound of explosion as well as protect the operator from muzzle flash. It has an ordinary spring striker that is struck by a wooden mallet. The piece containing the striker is screwed off the barrel, a cartridge is then inserted into the chamber and the piece screwed back on. The instrument is placed on the animal's forehead and the back end is tapped with a mallet to discharge the weapon. This model uses specially designed low power .310 caliber "cattle killer" cartridges manufactured by Kynoch Ltd.

Even though they weren't considered "firearms", such devices had to undergo proof tests and since W.W. Greener's main factory was located in Birmingham then (the firm's headquarters are now in Chippenham), these devices were marked with Birmingham Proof House markings.

Despite the small caliber bullet, if placed in the correct spot, only a single shot is needed to put an animal down. Since this spot varies for different animals, Greener included a set of diagrams in the package, indicating the best spot to use for different farm animals.

W.W. Greener produced several versions of this, including a pocket version for veterinarians, which was very popular. The model finally became obsolete in the 1960s when its unique .310 caliber cartridges became almost impossible to obtain. Due to demand, the firm has recently started manufacturing a Mark II version that uses a .32 ACP cartridge. W.W. Greener also made other models manufactured in different calibers to put down horses, sheep, pigs etc. and even a special version designed for use on dogs alone.

Blunderbuss

A blunderbuss is a short range defensive weapon that reached its popularity in the 18th and 19th centuries. We will study this unique class of firearms in this post.

A typical blunderbuss is a muzzle-loader with a relatively short barrel that has a distinctive trumpet-shaped flare at the muzzle end of the barrel. The caliber of this weapon is typically large and it was often used by filling the barrel with multiple smaller pellets.

A Blunderbuss. Note the typical flared muzzle end of the firearm.

The original term for this weapon was donderbuss and this name appears to be Dutch. The word "donder" means "thunder" and "buss" means "pipe" in Dutch and German languages. Blunderbuss class weapons also appeared in handgun form, intended for cavalry. These early pistol blunderbusses often had decorations around the muzzle that looked like a dragon with an open mouth and hence were called "dragons". The cavalrymen who used such blunderbuss pistols were therefore called "dragoons". One such example of a dragon pistol is shown below:

The trumpet shape at the muzzle is the distinctive blunderbuss feature that distinguishes it from other firearms of that period. Since a blunderbuss is designed to fire several pellets at the same time, the flare was thought to increase the spread of pellets. The flare also makes it easier to load powder and pellets into the firearm. People mounted on horseback, or in a rocking coach or ship, found this feature very useful indeed. Also, since these are shorter weapons compared to the muskets of the era, they are more easy to manipulate on horseback or a ship deck. This is why they were very popular among cavalry, pirates, mail coach guards, naval personnel etc.

Blunderbusses designed for navies and pirates typically had their barrels made of brass instead of iron, to prevent rusting. Since they are designed to spread multiple pellets around, one such shot could easily deal with several closely packed enemies with a single shot. Hence, they were often carried into action by boarding personnel. 

While most blunderbusses were designed as everyday practical weapons, some blunderbusses were also works of art:

Blunderbuss commissioned by Tipu Sultan of  Mysore, India. Click image to enlarge.

Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License by UploadAlt at wikipedia.com

The above weapon was custom made for Tipu Sultan, who ruled the Kingdom of Mysore in the 18th century. This fine weapon uses a flintlock firing mechanism and the barrel has engravings and gold inlays. Tipu Sultan was known to employ several European craftsmen and this weapon represents the latest in technology of that period.

As breech-loading weapons became more common in the 19th century, the blunderbuss gradually became obsolete and was replaced by the carbine.

Concealed Weapons

In our last post about combined firearms, two of the examples (the whip pistol and King Henry VIII's mace) are also examples of a concealed firearm. Well, technically, Henry VIII's mace is a weapon anyway, even though it conceals pistols within it. We also looked at derringer pistols earlier, which were designed to be concealed. In this post, we will look at some firearm designs that were designed to be hidden and give the illusion that the user had no means of self defense.

The first class of weapons we will look at is the firearm-cane class. Canes or walking sticks are often used by elderly people as a walking aid for hundreds of years. In the 19th and early 20th century, they were also seen as a fashion accessory that was popular with the gentlemanly class, whether young or old. For many centuries, people have concealed objects in canes. For example, there are stories of spies hiding messages in hollow walking sticks and an enterprising missionary to China smuggled silkworms to the west inside his hollow walking stick. Prince Edward, son of Queen Victoria, even commissioned a cane which had a hidden flask of whiskey within it, as well as a built-in hidden compass on the top of the cane knob, so that he could find his way home after a night of drinking!

The Japanese had the Shikomizue and the Romans had the Dolon, both of which concealed swords within a hollow walking stick. In the 18th and 19th centuries, sword canes also became popular with the wealthy classes of Europe. In the 19th century, people soon began to conceal firearms within canes as well. Such weapons were made by many English and European manufacturers:

The above example fires .410 caliber shotgun shells. The trigger is a foldable one and may be kept hidden, when not in use.

The above image is a cane made by Briggs of London in the 19th century. It conceals not only a sharp dagger, but also a 4-cylinder pepperbox revolver that fires .22 caliber ammunition.

These days, canes that contain concealed weapons are illegal in many countries, but some countries have a clause that they can be legally sold if they are over 100 years old. Therefore, older weapons are often seen in auctions.

The next weapon we will look at was invented by a Frenchman named Jacques Turbiaux in 1882. It was called a Palm Pistol:

This is a weapon designed to be concealed within one's fist and can be fired by squeezing the spring loaded lever in the back of the gun. The cartridges are loaded in a rotating turret with the bullets facing outwards. There were two version, a 7 shot version using 8 mm. cartridges, like the image shown above, and a 10 shot version using 6 mm. cartridges. The lever has a double action operation, in that it rotates the turret to the next shot, before firing it. Turbiaux obtained an US patent in 1883 and the Minneapolis Firearms Company produced a licensed version that fired 7 shots in .32 caliber. These weapons are typically rare today and sell for about $1500-2000 dollars in auctions.

In modern days, people have sought to conceal firearms in various guises. The following three pictures are some examples that were developed by spy agencies of various countries:

The first weapon is designed to look like a tire-gauge, but also fires a .22 caliber cartridge. It was supposedly used by CIA agents in the 1950s and 1960s. The next is a weapon designed to look like a camera, but carries a pistol within the lens. The third looks like a typical briefcase carried by a businessman, but hides a Hecker & Koch MP-5 submachine gun within it. It is fired by a hidden trigger concealed in the carrying handle of the briefcase.

Concealed weapons like these are illegal in most countries around the world, so the only concealed weapons these days are manufactured by intelligence agencies or custom built for criminals and are not available to the public. In fact, most of these designs are kept secret. Some countries allow certain concealed weapon items to be legally bought or sold if they can be classified as "antiques", so some historical items, such as pistol canes and palm pistols, are seen in auctions.

Combined Firearms: Other Weapons

In the last few posts, we have seen firearms combined with axes, with swords and knives and with daggers. In this post, we will look at some examples of firearms combined with other weapons.

The first ones we will look at are available for display in the Historisches Museum in Dresden, Germany.

What we have here are a pair of German-made spear heads dating from around 1560. Each spear-head has two pistols, one on each side of the head. The pistols are powered by wheel-lock mechanisms, which the Germans were very good at producing, due to their expertise with clocks and clockwork mechanisms. Note that the first spear head is also very heavily decorated indicating that it was built for a rich customer. The first spear head also has a note that says it was built by one Peter Peck of Munich.

The next set of weapons may be seen in the armory display at the Tower of London, England.

Image taken from W.W. Greener's The Gun and its Development, Second Edition. Click on image to enlarge.

The above image shows a round shield with a built in matchlock firearm. These shields date from the 16th century and were ordered by King Henry VIII for use by his bodyguards. About twenty specimens still remain in the present day. The pistol uses a breech-loading mechanism. Also note the grill on the shield. This allows the user to hide behind the shield, but still aim the firearm at the enemy.

The image above is also due to King Henry VIII of England. It is currently on display in the Tower of London as well. This is a combination of a spiked mace with three hidden matchlock pistols in it and is called Henry VIII's Walking Stick. He was known to wield this weapon personally and often took it with him when he would wander about town at night, to check to see if his constables were doing their duty. Unfortunately for him, one of his constables at the parish of St. Magnus (near the London bridge) did his duty very well. He confronted the disguised King at the bridge-foot and demanded to know what this suspicious character was doing with a mace so late in the night. When the King tried to escape, the constable called a watchman to assist him and together, they arrested the King and tossed him into a unlit, cold, tiny prison cell for the night (Such prisons for vagrants, debtors and beggars were called Poultry Compters). In the morning, when his identity became known, the King personally summoned the constable and the watchman who'd arrested him. The two came in trembling, fully expecting to be tortured and beheaded. Instead, they were commended for their honesty and integrity and rewarded with large gifts. The King also immediately passed a law that granted an annual stipend of 23 pounds as well as a large quantity of bread and coal annually for ever to the prison where he spent the night, for the benefit of his fellow prisoners and any other future prisoners! In an article in The London Magazine Vol. III from 1833, it was mentioned that the parish was still receiving its annual grants.

The above image shows a whip which conceals a flintlock pistol within it. The barrel is about 12 inches long and the firing mechanism is concealed by the tassels on the whip. This particular specimen was once the property of a notorious Neapolitan bandit. However, it must be noted that such whip-pistols were not exclusively used by bandits alone. In the 17th and 18th centuries, similar weapons were presented to drivers of French mail coaches travelling south of the town of Lyons.

Combined Firearms: Daggers

In our last post, we studied the combination of a firearm with a sword. In this post, we will look into a relative of the sword, the dagger, which was also combined with firearms throughout history.

The combination of a firearm with a dagger was more common than combining a firearm with a sword. For one thing, they were cheaper. Also, unlike a sword, a dagger wouldn't be unbalanced as much and the firearm is also easier to manipulate and aim than if it was attached to a sword. As with swords, many of the early combined dagger pistols were made in Germany.

Image taken from W.W. Greener's The Gun and its Development, Second Edition. Click image to enlarge.

In the above image, we have a fine 16th century pistol dagger. This specimen uses a wheel lock mechanism. Note that unlike the pistol swords we saw in the previous post, this one has the barrel pass through the middle of the blade, thereby giving it better balance. The removable muzzle stopper piece is seen at the right bottom of the image. The muzzle stopper is removed to load the weapon and when replaced, forms the point of the dagger blade. The weapon is fired by depressing a small stud in the handle. The weapon is also beautifully ornamented, indicating that it was made for a rich customer.

In 1838, the United States Navy commissioned the Elgin Cutlass pistol, which is the only combination firearm ever to be officially accepted as a standard weapon by a military anywhere in the world. This combined a percussion lock pistol with a 11.5 inch long bowie knife.

This weapon was not only the first combination firearm officially accepted in military service, it was also the first percussion lock weapon adopted by the US navy. They were originally designed for use with the Navy South Sea Expedition. This is a .54 caliber weapon with a 11.5 inch blade. It had some success, especially in a battle in the Fijian islands in 1840. However, only 150 of these specimens were ever made. A few were used in the Civil war, but were unpopular with the troops. Some of them made it to civilian hands and were used in the Wild West.

Click on images to enlarge.

The above two weapons are Katar knives from India, circa the 18th or 19th centuries. Both weapons feature two firearms attached to them. In the first picture, we have two flintlock pistols, one on each side of the blade. The heavy blade has an engraving of the Hindu Dieties Shiva on one side and Kali on the other. The blade is made of the best pattern welded steel and the handles and sides have floral patterns that are inlaid with gold. The second Katar has two percussion lock pistols, one on each side of the blade. Like the first one, this is also heavily engraved. One side of the blade has a scene with two cranes and the other side has two elephants charging at each other. The blades are designed to be used as thrusting as well as slashing weapons and could easily go through mail or even plate armor.

In all the above weapons, they all feature single-shot pistols. After the advent of revolvers in the mid 1800s, some weapons began to incorporate revolver technology along with daggers.

The above images feature two examples of a type of weapon called the "Apache Revolver". This is a weapon that was produced in the late 19th to early 20th centuries (about 1870 to 1918). Most of these weapons were produced by French or Belgian (especially around the town of Liege) manufacturers, such as N. Dolne and J. Deleaxhe. The reason for its name is because it became famous as the sidearm of a notorious Paris based gang of criminals called Les Apaches. This distinctive weapon consists of a pepperbox revolver using pinfire cartridge technology, coupled with a knuckle duster (a.k.a. brass knuckles) and a wavy blade. The blade, the knuckle duster and the trigger are all foldable. Folded up, it measures only 11 cm. in length and can easily be carried in a pocket. When it is unfolded, it expands upto 20 cm. in length. The whole weapon weighs about 380-400 grams. It was generally carried with the first chamber unloaded, so that it could not be accidentally fired while it was still in the user's pocket. The user could put his fingers into the finger holes of the brass knuckles and punch someone with it, without unfolding it. Alternatively, the user could unfold it and use the brass knuckles as the handle and either shoot the revolver or stab the enemy with the blade. The firearm part was definitely underpowered and inaccurate and the blade was only a couple of inches long, nevertheless it was used quite a bit in the Paris underworld. Note that the sample on the left is heavily engraved. Quite a few gangsters had this done to show off their weapons and such weapons may actually be the first examples of "gangsta bling"! These weapons continued to be used in the 20th century. One example of a combination brass knuckles and pistol, called the Le Poilu, was manufactured by the French during World War I.

The next two examples are the sort of weapons that were designed along the principle of Swiss army knives. Both are dated to the 1860s and are both made by different firms in Sheffield, England. The first one is made by the firm of Unwin and Rogers and combines a pistol with two folding blades. The pistol is in .28 caliber and uses a rimfire cartridge. Unwin and Rogers received their patent in 1861 and made these weapons in many other calibers as well, such as .32, .34 etc.

The second one is made by another Sheffield firm called R. Turner & Co. This one uses a percussion cap and is in 0.22 caliber. It also contains a knife, corkscrew, hole punch, hook and tweezers. The cylindrical knob at the left side of the body is the cocking lever and is pulled out to cock the weapon. The picture below shows the other side of this weapon

The user would remove the barrel and breech and load the weapon and put the percussion cap in the end of the breech nipple. The user would then pull the cocking knob at the back of the weapon. On firing the weapon, the breech and barrel would also leave the weapon as a secondary projectile.

In the next post, we will cover some other combinations of firearms with other weapons.

Combined Firearms: Swords

In our last discussion, we explored how axes and pistols could be combined together into a single weapon. In this post, we will explore pistols combined with swords.

Early pistol swords and knives were mostly used in Germany and France by hunters, as a secondary backup weapon to their hunting rifles. The image below shows a combination of a hunting knife with a wheel lock pistol dated to 1546.

Image licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License from user Unforth at wikipedia.org.

Click on image to enlarge.

This weapon was made in Germany and is now to be seen in the NY Metropolitan Museum collection. Note that the pistol barrel is located entirely on the back of the blade.

Combination of a wheel-lock mechanism with a sword has been in use since at least the 16th century. Since swords were traditionally much more expensive to manufacture than axes, knives, spears etc. and wheel-lock mechanism was also more expensive than other firing mechanisms, such weapons were usually used by aristocrats. Since they could afford it, these weapons were usually heavily engraved and decorated as well.

German-made Riding Sword from circa 1575. This combines a rapier with wheel-lock pistol. Click image to enlarge.

Hungarian/Polish Saber with wheel-lock pistol from circa 1565. Click image to enlarge.

In the golden age of piracy, a weapon that combined a flintlock pistol with a cutlass was used by pirates as well as navy officers, for boarding purposes.

Click on images to enlarge

The illustrations above show two such designs. The first is actually a replica of a French made cutlass-pistol. Both these examples feature a single-shot flintlock pistol attached to the side of the cutlass. Pirates would swing over to the victim ship and discharge their pistol first and then close in for hand-to-hand sword fighting. Since the same hand could discharge the pistol and hold the sword at the same time, this left the pirate's other hand free.

All the above weapons depicted here are single shot weapons. Somewhere during the 19th century, when revolvers started to become popular, several French, Belgian and German manufacturers such as Lefaucheux, Lepage, Dumonthier, T.A. Rauh & Co. etc. began to combine pinfire revolvers with swords. This allowed the user the option of firing multiple shots without reloading. Such weapons were never officially adopted by any military, but were very popular among officers in many European countries. In fact, in the Paris Exhibition of 1867, there were over 30 models of swords-revolvers on display.

The above is a Belgian made weapon from 1877. The revolver uses pinfire cartridges and the trigger is behind the hilt, as is the loading gate for this weapon. Unusually, the scabbard has a depression on the outside so that the revolver barrel stays outside the weapon even with the scabbard on. This allows the user to fire the pistol even if the scabbard is still on the sword.

The picture above is a weapon made by T.A. Rauh and Co. of Solingen, Germany. The revolver barrel is located parallel to the right side of the blade. As before, the revolver uses pinfire cartridges. This weapon was granted US Patent #52504 in 1866.

The picture above is a 30 inch long short sword made by E. Lefaucheux Co. of France, to the order of a Peruvian importer. As before, this uses a pinfire cartridge revolver. Incidentally, it was Eugene Lefaucheux's father, Casimir Lefaucheux, who invented the pinfire cartridge. Eugene Lefaucheux inherited his father's business as well as his mechanical talents. With a view to improving the business, he went to study in Liege, Belgium for a period of time. There, he learned the latest practical manufacturing techniques, as well as negotiation tactics with local suppliers. It was also in Liege (which was a hotbed for making cheap, unlicensed firearm copies at that time) where he saw clones of the Colt Pocket 1849 and Navy 1851 revolvers and was impressed enough to make his own revolver versions. His first patent drawing of 1854 looked very similar to a Colt Navy 1851 model externally, but his 1854 model used pinfire cartridges inspired by his father, instead of the old fashioned cap-and-ball muzzle loading mechanism of the Colt model. This meant that his revolvers were much more reliable, easier and faster to load and more immune to weather conditions than the Colt model. In fact, the Lefaucheux 1854 revolver was considered the most advanced handgun of that era. It was only a matter of time before he adapted his revolver mechanisms to be attached to swords.

Pistol swords were not as widely used mainly because of the expense. One more major issue was that the pistol mechanism would cause the sword to unbalance towards the hilt, making it harder to wield the sword. Furthermore, since the pistol was permanently attached to the sword, it became much heavier and therefore harder to point and aim as a pistol. So instead of gaining a 2 for 1 weapon, the user ended up with an off-balanced sword and a heavy pistol! This is why pistol-swords never really gained much popularity throughout the ages.