This brass pistol was made by Thomas Murdoch around 1780. Murdoch was a Doune-trained gunsmith who settled in Leith.
The pistol has a lock mechanism that works like the earlier snaphance locks. The flint strikes a spark from the steel above the powder pan. The ignition of the powder in the pan leads to the firing of the main charge in the barrel.
A demand from Highlanders for pistols was met in the 17th and early 18th centuries by the town of Doune. After the Jacobite Rising of 1745, the market for Doune pistols declined and Doune-trained gunsmiths dispersed to other towns.
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