The Queen Anne Pistol,First introduced in the early 18th century, the Queen Anne pistol became a ver

The Queen Anne Pistol,First introduced in the early 18th century, the Queen Anne pistol became a very popular flintlock pistol design exclusively popular in England up to the early 19th century.  They were named after Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch of Britain who ruled from 1702 to 1714.Unlike typical holster pistols, the Queen Anne pistol had a lock plate that was forged in one piece with the trigger plate and breech.  Queen Anne pistols were also unique in that many were breechloading pistols, with the barrel unscrewing to allow for loading.  This permitted the user to load a ball that was the same caliber or slightly larger than the bore.  Traditionally the bore was tapered to achieve higher pressures, higher muzzle velocities, and thus greater accuracy.  They were never rifled, however, despite their breechloading mechanism. The Queen Anne pistol was rarely used as a military weapon, mostly because the process of unscrewing the barrel took more time than simply ramming a paper cartridge down a regular holster pistol.  Rather they were more popular as civilian weapons, especially since they were easy to carry concealed.  Heavily decorated models became especially popular among the upper classes. -- source link

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