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A wheellock pistol or puffer, Augsburg, c. 1580. A wheellock, wheel-lock, or wheel lock is a friction-wheel mechanism which creates a spark that causes a firearm to fire. It was the next major development in firearms technology after the matchlock, and the first self-igniting firearm. Its name is from its rotating steel wheel to provide ignition.
The pistol was made by gunsmith Peter Peck of Munich for Emperor Charles V, a noted firearms enthusiast. [3] [4] The .46 caliber double-barreled pistol fires via the use of two wheellock mechanisms, one for each barrel; these were commonly used in custom-made firearms of the day, as while wheellocks were more expensive they were considered more reliable than early flintlock mechanisms or ...
Two pistols using the Kalthoff system are held at the National Museum of Denmark, but it can not be confirmed that these are the pistols mentioned. [1] In Germany, wheellock repeaters were made by an individual referred to as the 'Master of Gottorp' (who was likely a gunsmith named Heinrich Habrecht). [14]
The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a 16th-century combination weapon in its armaments collection. The weapon is an 89 3/4 inch boar spear with two wheellock pistol barrels fused to both flat sides of the spear's head; the intent of this design was to provide the wielder with the extra stopping power of two .41 caliber musket balls that could be fired at targets out of the reach of the spear.
Boar Spear with Double Barrel Wheellock Pistol (Metropolitan Museum of Art) D. Double-Barreled Wheellock Pistol Made for Emperor Charles V; F.
However, flintlocks were still much cheaper than wheellocks; in 1631 the Royal Armoury's purchase records show the going rate as 3 pounds (60 shillings) for a pair of wheellock pistols versus 2 pounds (40 shillings) for a pair of flintlock pistols. [3] The Dutch Snaphance originated in the Netherlands in 1650.
The wheellock mechanism was utilized as an alternative to the matchlock as early as 1505, [34] but was more expensive to produce at three times the cost of a matchlock and prone to breakdown, thus limiting it primarily to specialist firearms and pistols. [35]
The earliest kind of pistoleer was the mounted German Reiter, who came to prominence in Europe after the Battle of St. Quentin in 1557. These soldiers were equipped with a number of single-shot, muzzle-loader wheel-lock or Snaphance horse pistols, amongst the most advanced weapons of the era.