Pistol

"Now Will, when a pirate's marooned, he's given a pistol with a single shot. One shot. Well, that won't do much good hunting, nor to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starvin' belly and thirst, that pistol starts to look real friendly. But Jack, he escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it, though, save for one man. His mutinous first mate."
"Barbossa."

―Joshamee Gibbs and Will Turner^[src]

A pistol was a single-shot gun that in an era of flintlock and musket weaponry where the pistol was loaded with a lead ball and fired by sparks from flint struck against steel. Flintlock pistols were used as self-defense weapons and as a military arm. Their effective range was short, and they were frequently used as an adjunct to a sword or cutlass. Pistols were usually smoothbore although some rifled pistols were produced. Some double-barreled pistols were also produced, allowing the weapon to hold two shots at a time. Arguably the most elegant of the pistol designs was the Queen Anne pistol, which was made in all sizes.

History[]

"Pistols and cutlasses, men! Koehler, Twigg to the powder magazine. And the rest of you, bring me that medallion!"

―Hector Barbossa to his crew^[src]

Throughout the Golden Age of Piracy, individuals that were either pirates or officers of the British or Spanish Royal Navy have been known to use a pistol. The Pirate's Code dictated that when a pirate was marooned, he was to be given a pistol with a single shot.

Barbossashoots — Captain Barbossa firing his pistol.

Captain Jack Sparrow owned a flintlock pistol while operating as a pirate in the Caribbean. He was left with one shot by his mutinous first mate, Hector Barbossa, when the crew of the Black Pearl marooned Jack on a desert island. Jack escaped, however, and kept his pistol, still with its single shot, to ultimately use on Barbossa himself. Jack killed Barbossa during a showdown at Isla de Muerta nine years on, and continued to use the flintlock in his later adventures.^[1]

Subtypes[]

Double-barreled pistol[]

JamesNorringtonDoubleBarrelFlintlock — James Norrington holding a double-barreled pistol.

Double-barreled pistols were flintlock pistols that have two barrels in a single pistol. This was used by Admiral James Norrington shortly before his death. These work the same as a normal flintlock pistol except it takes more time to reload and it fires double projectiles at once.

Pocket pistol[]

ThingYouWantMost22 — Cutler Beckett holding a pocket pistol.

Pocket pistols were the smallest type of flintlock pistol, and as the name suggests, they were designed to be easily concealed within a waistcoat pocket. An aspect common among these pistols is that the doghead was centered internally on the pistol, in a fashion known as a "box lock". They were often favored by the gentry, particularly Lord Cutler Beckett.^[2]

Duck foot pistol[]

AWELizBeforeParleyPromo — Pintel with a duck foot pistol.

Duck foot pistols were a peculiar type of flintlock volley weapon, with several barrels that were arranged in a fan-shaped pattern, which would fire simultaneously in a spread in the hope that the shots would hit multiple targets. Pintel carried a duck foot pistol shortly before the battle of Calypso's maelstrom.^[2]

Queen Anne pistol[]

Queen Anne pistols were a type of flintlock pistol distinguished by the fact that the lockplate was forged in one piece with the breech and the trigger plate. They were usually a breech-loading design known as a turn-off pistol. Possibly first made in England and certainly achieving relatively little popularity elsewhere, they came in fashion in England during the reign of Anne of Great Britain, hence the name. The most notable was the single pistol owned by Jack Sparrow who later gave it to Angelica.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

Pistols first appeared in Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.^[4]^[5]^[6] They were first identified later.^{[citation needed]}
Davy Jones wields a pistol when he meets Tia Dalma/Calypso aboard the Black Pearl in the Special Edition of the junior novelization as well as the comic book for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.^[7]^[8] However, Jones is not armed with a pistol in the final cut of the film.^[2]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

External links[]

Pistol on Wikipedia

Notes and references[]

[TCotBP-1] Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

[AWE-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

[OST-3] Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

[4] Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Sound Track of the Fabulous Adventure

[5] Disneyland: From the Pirates of the Caribbean to the World of Tomorrow

[6] Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies

[7] Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (junior novelization)

[8] Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (comic)

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Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki