NRA National Firearms Museum: Gallery 2 Tour

http://www.nramuseum.org The Old Guns in a New World gallery tells the story of the integral role guns played in early American exploration, settlement and survival from the discovery of gunpowder and the first hand cannon to development of the wheel-lock hunting rifle.
http://www.nranews.com/#/nationalfirearmsmuseum/VideoModule/Gallery%202%20Old...

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Firearm
• Firearms
• Museum
• Museums
• Gun
• Guns
• National
• NRA
• Rifle
• Association
• Collectors
• Featured
• Old
• New
• World
• Doug
• Wicklund
• Colonial
• Mayflower
• John
• Alden
• Ball
• Butt
• Dag
• Pistol
• Italian
• Folding
• Snaphaunce

[IsMackinac]

If I had the Mayflower wheellock, I'd hunt with it.

[Jeansschwimmer]

In addition to my postine from last year, another means of making the stock less "slippery" was the fishtail butt. The silhouette of a pistol would just be flared.

In the early 17th century those pommels ( balls) at the butts became pear-shaped or were made oval and smaller.

Then those attached pommels disappeared. The flared butts got iron bands around them, then a sheet steel cap which was to become the massive wrought iron or cast yellow metal cap that allowed hitting someone really hard

[Jeansschwimmer]

Sorry to tell you, but the big ball at the ends of wheellockpistols would have made a very poor club. It would have broken of as it is only fixed to the stock by a wooden dovel.

The origin of those inlaid balls is the end of sword hilts and daggers of the time. When horsemen wore iron gloves the ball made pulling the pistol out of its holster easier.

Cast brass or wrought iron caps on the stocks did not appear till the 1640. They allowed smashing the gun on ones skull.