FLINTLOCK PISTOL

Southern German or Austrian, ca. 1730, with a pseudo-Turkish barrel, hunting weapon.
Round barrel (L 28.6 cm), Cal. 15 mm, Damascus-steel barrel, opulently decorated, bearing a cartouche with a pseudo-Islamic inscription in gold. Flat lock plate and cock. Cast and forged silver mounts, polished; the sides with engraved decoration. Trigger guard, and grip cap with a large mascaron, two ramrod sleeves. Walnut burlwood stock, wooden ramrod.
L 44.7 cm, 1,089 g.

Very well-preserved, late Baroque flintlock pistol with a high-grade barrel made of forged Damascus steel, of the type made in Vienna. After the victories over the Turks at Vienna, from 1683 to 1717, captured Turkish gun barrels were processed in Belgrade by German and Austrian gunsmiths. Due to a lack of Turkish barrels suitable for installation in pistols, mainly pseudo-Turkish pistol barrels were forged. Rare and in very good condition. Cf. Erwin Schalkhauser: Handfeuerwaffen 1988, pp.124-125, No. 124. Seitz: Feuerwaffen II, 1969, pp. 22-25.