This old flintlock measures in at nearly 20 inches. There are no maker's marks visible, although there is some embossed ornamentation on the barrel itself. The tip of the ramrod is bone or ivory, the butt cap and ramrod furniture appear to be silver, and the trigger guard is brass. The caliber is about 0.75 (these big calibers crop up on old muzzleloading weapons for reasons that are probably obvious - more on which in a later post).
My love for old flintlocks probably stems from my interest in pirates - I was obsessed with them back before ol' Johnny Depp was running around on Jump Street, so I cast something of a disapproving eye at all these young pirate posers we see running around these days.In any case, this piece is not a pirate pistol, and likely never would have been. It's much too long, see?
On sailing ships or in shady seaside ports, long-barreled pistols would have been something of an encumbrance, even if accuracy is improved by the longer sight radius। More than likely, this is what was known as a horse pistol, where the constraints of concealment and discretion are not so important. Plus, the longer barrel would tend to steady the shot on a bouncing horse, as the expense of rapid movement (you trap and skeet folks know about this barrel length effect).
Anyhow, this gem is most likely from the Caucuses region - there is some Arabesque influence on the butt cap, but I think the wood carving on the stock show definite European influences.
If anyone has any thoughts on the origins of this one, I'd love to hear from you.
Oh, and in a couple of posts, we'll get to some pirate stuff. Honest.
On sailing ships or in shady seaside ports, long-barreled pistols would have been something of an encumbrance, even if accuracy is improved by the longer sight radius। More than likely, this is what was known as a horse pistol, where the constraints of concealment and discretion are not so important. Plus, the longer barrel would tend to steady the shot on a bouncing horse, as the expense of rapid movement (you trap and skeet folks know about this barrel length effect).
Anyhow, this gem is most likely from the Caucuses region - there is some Arabesque influence on the butt cap, but I think the wood carving on the stock show definite European influences.
If anyone has any thoughts on the origins of this one, I'd love to hear from you.
Oh, and in a couple of posts, we'll get to some pirate stuff. Honest.
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