Research Press

This article documents a previously unknown and very rare pair of early detonating pistols by Samuel Nock. The pistols are designed to be fired by an early form and variant of the percussion system, known by collectors today as a pellet-lock, which uses a round detonating wafer. Samuel was the nephew of the celebrated London gunmaker Henry Nock. He was apprenticed to his uncle in 1791 and he opened a shop at 180 Fleet Street in 1806. In 1823 Samuel moved his business to the more upmarket and fashionable Regent Circus where he remained until his death in 1852.