I came across the set of images of this weird steampunk looking flintlock pistol while doing research for another article. A little additional research revealed that this gun was once consigned to and auctioned at Czerny’s International Auction House. I contacted the auction house and Michael G. Czerny, the director of the auction house, kindly granted us permission of using these images.

As you can see, this is a flintlock pistol with an attached lantern. The pistol has two lock mechanisms – one to fire the pistol itself and another one designed to light the candle inside the lantern. There are also two triggers. So in order to light this tactical one-candela light, all you had to do is to cock the hammer and pull the trigger of lantern’s lock mechanism which then would drop the hammer, ignite the powder in the pan and light the candle.

The lantern itself is made of brass. It has a circular shape, convex lens, and a brass lens cover. The base portion is designed to house a candle. Note also that there is a clip attached to the candle holder portion which I assume could be moved up and down to move the candle and adjust its exposure in the lantern as necessary.

The caliber of the pistol is 14mm. The barrel is marked with “Regnier Inv.” which is the only marking on this pistol. Presumably, Regnier is the name of the gunsmith who made this pistol. The pistol also features a pivoting foot attached to its left side which could be rotated sideways to allow resting the pistol/lantern device on a flat surface.

Apparently, the idea of combining a lantern with a handgun was not executed only in this flintlock pistol. There was at least one other such weapon that we discussed earlier in a separate TFB article.

Images courtesy of Czerny’s International Auction House (www.czernys.com)