The truth behind the myth of the 'duelling' pistol, with firearm and weapon expert Jonathan Ferguson 

I think people tend to think of marketing as a modern thing, but I can totally see 'duelling pistol' being the 18th century version of 'tactical' or 'military grade'

Dueling pistols or not, they're all beautiful weapons and good that they're being preserved by people who care.

Having explored the Code Duelo as applied in the United States, I always wondered if “dueling pistols” was actually a bastardization of “duo” or “dual” pistols. The simple fact was, in most cases, honor was satisfied by merely showing up, not fighting. The Second’s main purpose was to prevent the duel, usually by negotiating an equitable solution to the slight.

I love how this dignified properly British historical firearms expert is always willing and ready to admit when something is done just because it's cool or awesome

Even for the well off gentleman, a pair of pistols explicitly for dueling is a bit excessive. I'm sure most "dueling" pistols were owned in pairs for traditional self defence on the highways or in town. Pairs allow follow up shots and look badass. The dueling function is likely an afterthought to some degree. Besides, if you can afford a nice pair of pistols, why would you have an inferior set for daily use and a fine set set at home?

My grandfather owned some lovely antique flintlock pistols, but in the 2000s he sadly had them deactivated thinking he needed a license to own them (which apparently you NOW do need, but didn’t at the time). However, he and I fired them a few times before he did that. It was the first time I had ever fired a gun, and wow! The blast of fire and smoke was incredible! I even managed to wing our target a couple of times 😂. I will never forget that day, it’s one of my favourite memories of him. Great video as always by the way!

Random historical trivia: the logic behind "a gun firing is very dramatic, a blade might cause multiple wounds" extends further. In 17th century Poland, which had a lot of minor (often to the point of "in name only") nobles, there were some sermons against carrying blunt weapons - these were not used for duelling of course, but in a case of a brawl, they were even worse than blades, because they could do serious damage without visibly drawing blood. One example of such a weapon was an obuch - basically a walking stick topped with a hammer - an elegant accessory to an older noble's attire, but equivalent to a golf club in the hands of someone bad tempered.

These videos inspired me to take my trip to the UK 1.5 weeks back. Visited the London and Leeds locations and they were both absolutely wonderful.

I always thought that the idea behind these pairs of pistols being for dueling is that you would need a matching pair of guns for duel to ensure that no one is handicapped by inferior weapon. But sure, it does make sense than in the era of relatively unreliable single-shot pistols, you would like to have at least two of them in any other application like self-defense or target shooting...

Having two pistols for “casual” target shooting makes the match faster. While you’re shooting your servant can be reloading for the next shot.

Really interesting, thanks very much Jonathan and team. Whether duelling or shooting for other purposes, I've found that some grip shapes are much better than others for bringing the sights into view as soon as the pistol (or revolver) is raised to the line of sight. For me, it was a friend's Webley No. 5 (like PR.3340) that worked best (indeed amazing well) for this. Arguably a fine example of more modern 'duelling' pistol would be something like VII.12114, the Walther GSP in .32 S&W wadcutter, as optimised for the 'duelling' stage of the UIT centerfire course that we used to shoot in the 1980s.

This was a really fascinating video! Not only did we get some great information about the beautiful pieces you showed off, but it was great to also have a lesson on the etiquette, rules and history of dueling!

Respect to Jonathan Ferguson for being straight up and honest

The Duke of Wellington forbade dueling in his officer corps because he didn’t want to lose key men. Then in 1829 he got called out by George Finch Hatton, 9th Earl of Wnchelsea. He had to do it, but both men agreed to deliberately miss. This got out and the duel was mocked in the press as the “Grand Pigeon Match.” I’m thinking that there were a lot of quiet agreements to mutually have bad aim.

Superbly informative video. Thanks, Jonathon. I've learnt a lot not only about the pistols but it also got me re-evaluating what I thought I knew abour duelling.

0:57 I could easily see that disagreement regarding what is a Duelling Pistol ending in a duel.

A brace of pistols, surely?

I've only ever seen pistols of that period described as a "cased pair".

If the inscription on the sword is "toto, toto" it can only really mean "All of Everything" although a more modern and in context translation may be "Give it (everything) your all" or "to the hilt."

Fascinating that dueling pistols were not supposed to have sights for accurate shot placement, and that pistols were considered more humane than thrusting swords. Thanks for showing these beautiful pistols.

I'm of the mind that the pace's they stepped off were in part determined by the ability of the pistols envolved range. Each took any where from 10 to 20 steps in opposit directions, turned aimed and then when each was ready, fired. As you state it wasn't performed to kill one another, thus the distance as well as the aiming was done using to twart one being only injured which on occasion may have lead to their death, but wasn't the intent. When it was as it was originally, by gentlemen.

Back to back starts are part of the French duelling codes.

Re rifling the first half of the barrel. Lord Cardigan of charge of the Light Brigade, was, accused in court of having used a Manton with half rifling not visible from the muzzle in a duel. As I recall it was proven, but he denied any guilt saying they were not his pistols. See “The Homicidal Earl”.

Dueling pistols: pistols used used in duels. I remember French small sword dueling where the object was ‘first blood’, and the last duel in France, in 1967, used these rules. I also recall more than one English duel, including Royal Navy officers, who both fired their pistols into the air or the ground. I think that may have been cases of were insults were inferred by others, and both duelist were showing contempt for the supposed ‘insult’ In one case I read, the duel was conducted with ‘sticks of meat’ (salami?).

Man that shirt! Back to the 80's :) Love it.

The one-on-one duel replaced the "murderous affray", whereby persons of rank in dispute with another would simply hire a gang of thugs from the lower classes to physically waylay and attack their opponent to settle the score, and it was getting out of hand so a one-on-one dual, with the intention of proving one's bravery and honour and not engaging the lower classes in the affairs of the middle and upper classes. During the English Commonwealth it was decreed anyone who killed during a duel would be charged with murder. As explained pistol duelling was actually more "humane" than sword duel and certainly the murderous affray in settling disagreements.

The other point about the shift from dueling with swords to dueling with pistols is that it was seen as more egalitarian (which gets at why sights were seen as poor form). It takes years to learn the sword, as well as consistent practice to keep those skills up, and if I've put in those years while you were learning to build bridges or play the violin or something else useful, you won't stand a chance against me. So sword-to-sword, you have no recourse if I insult you... and paradoxically, if you give me the lie, *my* recourse is limited as well. Sure, I can force you to apologize, or stab you until you do. But the mark of upper-class courage at the time was to endure danger rather than simply to kill. Since I was never in much real danger, I haven't done anything to prove my courage, and hence my honor is somewhat notional. Since pistols, under dueling conditions, could quite easily be deadly in unskilled hands, a duel with pistols was open to all. No matter how good I am, it's still very possible for a total novice to kill me if we 'go out.' (He might get the shot off first and get a lucky hit, we might both hit each other, or I might miss or delope and he might hit me.) So now an expert CAN prove his courage, because he is at much greater risk than a skilled swordsman would be. And a novice can call out a better shot without being laughed at or setting himself up for certain defeat.

One of my very favourite YT (or indeed anywhere) presenters. Great friendly style, great knowledge. I'll watch on any topic he wants to discuss. Excellent.

Would the Swamped Barrel also work to balance the Gun in the hand to make it easier to shoot ?

It was very enlightening, thanks for clearing up this issue.

“The purpose of the duel was not to kill.” Quick someone tell Aaron Burr…….oh too late.

If I may make a slight criticism of the video, it's the lack of close up when the butt plate, trigger guard, lock plate and locks are having the decorative features pointed out.

Legitimate question and/or video idea. Please explain the organization system for the firearms in the background.

Hi Mr. Jonathan! Thank you for all your work. These vids are always reliably entertaining and informative and just a joy to watch. Stay safe!

That almost looks like the flintlock pistol that the Elder Predator gives Harrigan Danny Glover's character from the 2nd Predator movie towards the end

The standard for "dueling pistols" really boils down to them being standardized. When they replaced the "small thin thrusting swords" like the Rapier, the guns didn't have sights and were smoothbore, which necessitated short fire distances ("paces"). By the time Dueling was effectively outlawed, pistols were rifled with basic sights, and firing distance was maxed in yards, not feet. It should be noted that the impotence of identical swords or pistols was that theoretically, it meant Even Odds to both challengers. It did little to address natural skill vs ineptitude.

The small sword you referred to was known as the court sword and the hand guard as the coquiel (spelling may be wrong).They were point only weapons..........................................

interesting take. Honestly it was the case that typically sold it as a 'dueling' set, or otherwise so ornate that I couldn't imagine actually carrying them on a daily basis. That said, a pair of nice guns in a case does have a certain appeal even in modern times (The "Hitman" series of games does this with the main character's silenced 1911's, they show up in a case at least once if I recall, as they do in the movie adaptation.). Using multiple guns (3+) was pretty common well into the western-expansion period in the US. Firearms and ammunition where not always reliable in those days, and grabbing a second gun or even third gun is far quicker than clearing a jam or trying to empty and reload a peacemaker.

A pair of pistols may not especially have been intended for duelling as such. More for personal protection to give two shots. A fine maker could ensure the pair were absolutely identical on every respect, including the bore. I am not sure about bore size, but for protection why not use multiple shot? So long as you put your assailant on their arse. I thought that a formal duel was more about facing death nobly & the shedding of blood to satisfy honour.

I've always wanted a cased set of "dueling pistols," probably due to my Southern (USA) heritage and our tendency to fight duels up until well after they were quite illegal. BUT, now I guess I'll be looking for a cased set of Gentleman's pistols. ;) Really, this was a most excellent video with great information. Thank you.

It was said that the reason that the duel that killed the American Naval Hero Stephan Decatur was because the seconds didn't try to convince the deulists to reconcile, and instead of the traditional 10 paces, the seconds previously negitiated the duel to take place at 8 paces, which greatly added to the chance of fatality. There were rumors circulating after the duel that the two seconds who were also Naval officers wanted both duelists to be either killed or wounded.

Fascinating to have my fiction based ideas about duelling revised though for some time now I have had one or two doubts about the idea of a cased pair being for duelling I mean, if I was expected to fight a duel I would definitely want to be holding a familiar pistol - not some geezer's state of the art thoroughbred with a superlight set trigger that would have me firing into the air as soon as the shakes set in! I thought it interesting that all the pistols you show here have ramrods mounted. Most of the modern reproduction target / duelling pistols currently favoured for competition do not. This seems perfectly rational - there is no need for an attached ramrod if the pistol will always be loaded from a bench. On the strength of that observation, I'm not sure that I would have identified any of the guns shown here as duelling pistols, despite the very high quality and being in pairs. Thats just my current idea - I'd love to know if you think it has any merit. Also, a detailed exposition of that trick gold pan liner would be of some interest... Any chance?

Why buy one when you can buy two for twice the price?

Beautifully made pieces!

many duels ended in both participants simply firing their pistols into the air and dispersing

great video once again, love how Jonathon makes the links between fashions and styles of the time, and the pistols

I wonder how many more arguments where handled boxing at the clubs than with pistols.

Surely one reason why duels would be fought with a pair of pistols, would be to give each duellist an identical weapon. They presumably came in pairs at first because there was a holster each side of the horse,

I suspect the 'dueling pistol' was a matched set acquired by the challenged second that is unfamiliar to both parties.

John Atkinson's book on the British Duelling Pistol is a MUST-read if you have any interest in the subject. There were four distinct generations of them, if you include the later cartridge guns used on the continent. The UK rather dropped out of the making of duellers at around the time when percussion ignition came into general use. I'll add that the four British duellers in my own collection (Wogdon & Barton, Durs Egg, Sanders, and Clarke) all have front and rear sights. They are quite accurate if you can hold them - but a flintlock is a post-graduate education in shooting technique.

Quite interesting. Thank you!

My favourite scene was in Highlander, when Connor had a duel while drunk. Confusion reigned upon the opposition.

Is the article available online? I’d be very interested in reading it.

Please talk about swords in the same/similar format. Please also do more stuff from your collection - armour, cannons etc.

Just how common were duels? What % of “gentlemen” agreed to duel, what % actually fired on each other (ie, weren’t reconciled by the 2nds), % hit, % died?

I need to drop into the museum next time I'm in Leeds

The Alexander Hamilton duel and the pistols used are well known in the states. My question is; what are your thoughts about the "set Triggers" on those pistols?

I think it would have been nice to have had a set of "true" duelling pistols to compare, with all of the technical attributes required. But a great video ... thanks

The pistols are very cool, but I admit that I kept looking at the case and hoping you would get into that. I have a woodworking background, so I was very curious what kind of accommodations the case maker would have made. Was this case for display or would it have needed to be brought into the field? What kind of affordances for transport? Locking? Humidity? Cool stuff!

24:25 I believe Toto is an iffy band from the late 70's, and 80's.

Those are mechanical lead projectors.

Jonah Barrington wrote about dulling with considerable detail in his Sketches.

If people know you've got the best duelling pistols they may be less likely to challenge you.

Great video and by the way, I think you were the best Dr Who.

Dual Pistols or duelling pistols ? personally I think they were just matched saddle pistols and or target pistols , whatever they were called they are all beautifully made and I really think they are things of beauty .Thanks Jonathan catch You next episode .

There is a very good book - strangely tilted " The Duel"- covering the history of this particular Act of Honor. Interesingly, the French concept was that the Seconds would also Duel, and were most Discomforted when Doing so against the British, as the British Second tended to have Two Pistols and Declare that they would Shoot anyone who Interferred in the Main Bout. Also, after the Fall of Napoleon and the Invasion of Paris, French Officers would Call Out the Officers of Opposing Nations, usually with Swords, in a method of Payback. Apart from the British... because Rather than Seeking to Humble and Demean their Foe with Swordplay, British Officers were Ignorent of the European View of the Duel and went into it as into Combat: no Swordplay but Brutal Efficiency.

I was under the impression that the challenged party had the right to determine the weapons to be used in a duel. Because of that, to make the encounter fair, once pistols were chosen, the challenged party offered a set of identical pistols from which the challenger would draw one, and the challenged party the other. Then the pistols were loaded either by the seconds, or under their direct observation, to ensure no hanky-panky was introduced to the bores instead of powder and shot. Then the gentlemen could go to their required places and happily blaze away at each other. When Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton, Burr shot to kill after Hamilton had fired his pistol high to miss. In a statement made after the duel, Burr admitted that he had intended to kill Hamilton at all times, and was not going to engage in deloping as Hamilton had done. This killing, by a sitting US Vice President, ended Burr's political career (he had been a candidate for the US Presidency), as he was rightly vilified for it, and began the demise of the Federalist Party because of the distributed shame over the duel. The pistols in this duel were a matched pair of Wogdon and Barton dueling pistols fitted with set and hair triggers. They belonged to Hamilton's brother-in-law. These pistols clearly had sights.

I think it's all down to who owns a particular pair of pistols and one day they decided that they will do for a duel on that day they were challenged.

How often did duelists use dedicated duel pistols and how often did they use guns they had just on hand?

The pistols that Hamilton provided for his duel with Burr were target pistols that had a secret set trigger. Which may explain why he fired prematurely missing Burr who then could take good aim undisturbed.

Second pistol in case of hangfire on the first?

the double Jonathan in the thumbnail made me laugh

Blackbeard, or Edward Treach, is said to have gone into combat with a row of pistols across his body. You can just imagine what it's like to jump between ships with that much weight hanging across your body.

I have a Tatham and Egg saw handled Flint pistol with a gold flash hole which appears to be badly worn, why did they use gold, which is a soft metal , for flash holes?

I love that he speaks 2 sentences and then abruptly goes “What am I goin on about?” Someone should remind him we’re all here to listen to HIM. So Jonathan, do please go on about any of it.

Great video

I believe the inscription 'Toto' was referring to the reign in Africa

Remember, like today, you only want to kick someone's ass immediately after an altercation. Usually, ten minutes later, you've come down and are ready to go for a beer with the guy. That's why in a duel that occurs at least days later, mostly everyone has come down and wants to sweep everything under the rug and move on without bloodshed.

I always thought you had a set of two pistols because, to make it fair, each of the two duelists would use one pistol from the same set.

I love the reasoning and story behind duelling pistols and satisfying honour. There is no rifling, no sights. No deliberate aiming. Without actual bloodthirst and killing. I wish we could have a pair of pistols from the art nouveau period. I wonder why the gentleman of the time rarely used double-barrel pistols. The sword looks like an absurdly capable cutter. I would like to see this sort of renaissance blade with a more developed guard. Maybe thumb covered with flourish motif hilt. This one looks amazing but still kept in the old middle ages geometry.

Thank you. Very cool.

Wonderful video, thank you. Do you have a recommendation for a book on the history of duelling?

Now that’s a brace of barkers!

No wonder dueling was optimally banned, if even 1/10 of the dueling pistols were actually used in duels, England would have run out of artistocrats REAL quick. So, they showed up and honor was restored, matters were then resolved civilly with mediating 3rd parties etc, enter all the 16-7-18th century slice of life rich people TV shows. Only in extreme and ultra rare cases, where stakes were too high for one or both parties, did they actually go through with it, and even then, they were largely amateurs with no prior martial experience. I for one, can't imagine someone coming back from the Napoleonic wars (Spain for instance) having barely survived the ordeal by sheer luck and chance, and decide to fight a duel over minor squabbles. Add to that, hitting at 10-20 paces with all that hangover & adrenaline was no easy task. Those with prior experience in martial affairs did everything they could to avoid them (which is why the whole "showing up and then working things out" thing was invented lol).

'Dueling was always illegal' In French territories and states, it was at most a small fine.

The duelists would also be 20 paces apart and not 20 steps. Therefore the antagonists are about 40 yards apart, a difficult prospect for rifled barrelled pistols, let alone smoothbore pistols

How many people actually fought duels? Of those how many times in their lives would they fight one? So how many people bought a pair of really expensive pistols just in case they might fight a duel? People who fought duels with swords used the swords that they wore, so why not with pistols? Use what you’ve got.

6:41 - 7:15 i think theres been some kind of editing mistake here? you start talking about lock time out of nowhere and then conclude the thought with "so, the roller reduces the friction" without any explanation of what "the roller" is or what "friction" you're talking about, or what that has to do with lock time. felt like i was going crazy relistening to that section multiple times trying to understand what youre were talking about Also a few moments like at 16:33 where youre clearly trying to show the close up camera a small feature but the camera angle never changes so we can't see what you're talking about.

I wonder how related duelling pistols are to the later duelling revolvers of wild west? And how while dueling died down in Europe, America kept the tradition and transitioned to revolvers specifically designed to be drawn fast to get the first shot?

Just an uninformed guess as to potentially one reason why non-duelling pistols might also be sold in sets of two: If people see duelling pistols sold in sets of two, they may want a set of two "general purpose" pistols simply because duelling pistols are available as a set of two. Duelling pistols come as a set of two, two is more than one, so why wouldn't I want two general purpose pistols? I know that's maybe a bit unscientific! I'm just thinking in terms of how I might think if I was an 18th century (presumably well-to-do) gent shopping around for a new pistol. If I saw or was aware of pistols of any kind being sold as a set of two, I think my first question when buying a pistol would be "can I get these in a set of two?" regardless of what type of pistol it was I was buying. Presumably, it also benefits the gunsmith to encourage people to buy two pistols rather than one by presenting pistols as a set.

It would seem obvious that you don't really find matched three pistol sets because . . . folks only got two hands! 🤲

Nice sword, I heard the drums echoing tonight..

As usual a great video😊 You highlighted the "myth" about hidden rifling within a flintlock duelling pistol however there are hidden scratched rifling percussion duelling pistols from makers like Probin and Joseph Egg that had come up on auction. Incidentally for your viewers, historically there has been duels between members of parliament (not satisfied within the House), however, it is said that the distance of the central aisle within the House of Commons is set as two sword lengths.

Ah what a disappointment I was hoping to see 2 Jonathans

I would actually prefer the term "Ballard Pistol" as the primary purpose was to grace the Ballard room. Duels were more of a Dixie practice as honor was usually found though frivolous law suits in the North.

How many people who drive sports cars actually do any racing?

Interesting. Those are fantastic pistols. Living Art as it were. Many people who made Living Art saw it as a Transcendent Value to make them. Which meant high quality. In medieval times they would be seen as magicians. Taking materials and transforming them into art. A steel breastplate with gold gilding on the entire plate is one example. I own a 1700-1774 era English steel cut triangular Smallsword.( Which I posted on Facebook in Spadrooners and HEMA Council) It's very light. Weighs about 0.80 lbs or 363 grams. Absolutely swift in the hand. It has a needle like point. Very effective against a pillow. Lol It cannot cut. It can only thrust. It has a half shell guard with a crown on the guard. This half shell guard is for ease of wear. Even though it's made of steel it has decoration on it. The grip is slender with metal bumps on them for traction. Overall length is 38.5"(978mm). The triangular blade helps with stiffness. It looks pretty slim and non threatening,but it's quite strong than it looks. That's how you keep the weight down, but maximum rigidity. You make it a triangular blade. I imagine it might be cheaper to do as you don't use the edges to cut. Might hurt your knuckle if I got that , but it won't open a wound up.

Yes, it is childish. But 16:31 really made giggle.

Do the Wogdons have set triggers?

How did we know they were even used as duelling pistols? Victor Meldrew's 18th century ancestor has entered the chat.