POTD: Not Heckler and Koch! – The Needle Fire A. Knoch
Sam.S 05.10.23
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a really cool and unique prototype needle fire pistol. This is a German A. Knoch Needle Fire Pistol. Very little is known about this pistol in particular but it is interesting since it uses needle fire. Needle Fire is one of those early breechloading cartridge styles that everyone thought would take off. It was even adopted in rifle form with the Dryse rifles. It worked with a literal needle acting as a firing pin. When the needle was released it would plunge deep into the paper-cased needle fire cartridge. Deep inside would be a sensitive priming compound that would set off the charge and fire the gun. These were a short note in cartridge history for several reasons but one major one was that the needles were present in a small explosion so they had a habit of breaking or wearing out.
“The pistol has dovetailed blade and notch sights, “A. KNOCK IN MUNCHEN” on top, “K. B. PRIVILEGIRT./1850” on the right side of the breechblock, a cocking lever to the right of the trigger, a trigger guard that acts as the lever for opening the breech, and a gilt brass grip cap. “Privilegiert” means privileged in German and is likely used to indicate the design is patented. An August Knocke from Munich is recorded in “Der Neue Stockel” as patenting a breech loader in 1844 that was tested by the Bavarian government in 1845-46. The design appears to be a needlefire system prototype.”
Lot 3260: A. Knoch Breech Loading Pistol – Interesting German 1850 Dated Prototype Rising Breech Pistol. (n.d.-q). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved May 9, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/76/3260/a-knoch-breech-loading-pistol.
