Pistol

Lore & Background

The pistol originates in the 16th century, when early handguns were produced in Europe. The English word was introduced from the Middle French pistolet. The etymology of the French word pistolet is disputed. It may be from a Czech word for early hand cannons, píšťala ('whistle' or 'pipe'), used in the Hussite Wars during the 1420s. Alternatively the word originated from Italian pistolese, after Pistoia, a city renowned for Renaissance-era gunsmithing, where hand-held guns were first produced in the 1540s. However, the use of the word as a designation of a gun is not documented before 1605 in Italy, long after it was used in French and German.

Reader's Guide

The most common type of pistol used in the contemporary era is the semi-automatic pistol. The older single-shot and lever-action pistols are now rarely seen and used primarily for nostalgic hunting and historical reenactment. Fully-automatic machine pistols are uncommon in civilian usage because of their generally poor recoil-controllability and strict laws and regulations governing their manufacture and sale.

Did You Know?

• The character Pistol appears in three plays by William Shakespeare, the earliest having been written between 1596 and 1599.
• The first machine pistol was produced by Austria-Hungary in 1916, as the Steyr Repetierpistole M1912/P16.
• The official designation of the Webley Mk VI revolver was 'Pistol, Revolver, Webley, No. 1 Mk VI'.