Duck's Foot Pistol

About the Duck's Foot Pistol

The Duck's Foot pistol is a late-18th to mid-19th century flintlock volley pistol named for its splayed cluster of three to four barrels, which fan out like the webbed foot of a duck. A single flintlock lock fires all barrels simultaneously through a shared powder channel, scattering balls across a roughly 60-degree arc. Favored by ship's officers, prison guards and bank messengers, it was designed to face down a mob or mutinous crew at close range with one pull of the trigger.

Ship captains carried duck's foot pistols precisely because they were outnumbered: facing a mutinous crew, a single trigger pull would spray lead across the whole group at once, evening the odds in a way no single-barrel pistol could.

Duck's Foot Pistol specifications

Specifications varied widely between makers; calibers ranged from .36 to .50 and barrel counts from three to five. London makers such as Bunney, Goodwin and John Joyner produced documented examples. Reloading required muzzle-loading each barrel individually, making it strictly a one-volley weapon in a fight.