Boarding ax with a flintlock pistol
A separate type of combined weapons can be called navy boarding weapons.
Such weapons were used during boarding battles during the seizure of enemy ships, as well as for armament of naval infantry detachments, which landed from ships in order to capture certain land areas. Boarding weapons were part of the standard weapons of ships of most European countries.
One interesting example of a combined weapon is a boarding ax with a flintlock pistol.
Boarding ax-pistol with a flintlock
The product combines a firearm - a long-barreled flint pistol and cold weapons - an assault boarding ax. The barrel of the gun, flintlock and trigger mechanism are installed in the handle of the ax.
Steel ax, mounted on the handle consists of upper and lower combat units. The lower part of the ax has a triangular shape and expands to the bottom. It ends with a slightly curved blade. The upper part has a distinctive “beak-like” faceted tip. The combat parts of the ax can be used not only as a cold weapon, but also as assault weapons for breaking open the doors and bulkheads of the enemy’s vessel with the aim of penetrating the closed compartments of the vessel. On the surface of the right side of the axes of the ax is marked in the form of a ship's anchor.
On the right side, a flat metal plate is inserted into the ax of the ax, which acts as a wedge for fixing the ax on the pole. The same plate, due to the fact that it has a small bend, is used as a belt hook, which allows you to wear an ax in the belt. Just below the waist hook are screws for fastening the lock in the handle.
Barrel flint pistol cylindrical, smooth-bore. A breech screw with a shank is screwed into the barrel from the breech block. Fastening the trunk in the handle of the ax is carried out by a screw, screwed into the hole of the tail of the breech screw and transverse studs in front of the barrel.
Silicon battery lock is installed on the left side of the ax handle. Locks of similar form and design were used on French cavalry pistols of the 1763 — 1766 model. The lock trigger has a flat shape and is equipped with a ring connecting the lower sponge and the base of the trigger. A metal plate is installed at the bottom of the ax handle to reinforce the handle design. The plate is attached to the handle with two screws. The plate also performs the function of the trigger mask. Through the hole of the plate runs a straight trigger.
A brass shroud with a threaded hole and a through channel is installed in the shank of the handle. A steel ramrod is inserted into the back of the ax handle through this clip. The ramrod head is rounded, has a transverse hole. At the base of the head there is a thread that allows the ramrod to be screwed and securely fixed in the ax handle in the stowed position.
A boarding ax with a flintlock pistol, judging by the design of the lock, is probably made in France around 1770 - 1780. The total length of the weapon 667 mm, the width of the blade ax 130 mm. The barrel has a length of 278 mm, bore caliber 14 mm.
The naval boarding combined weapon was made in a very small quantity. Up to our time only single specimens survived. Many museums cannot boast of the presence of similar rare and original weapons in their collections. At weapon auctions, this weapon is also very rarely found, so it is difficult to even name the estimated cost of this boarding ax with a flintlock pistol.
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