Henry Nock

Henry Nock (1741–1804) was a British inventor and engineer of the Napoleonic period, best known as a gunsmith. Nock produced many innovative weapons including the screwless lock and the seven-barrelled volley gun, although he did not invent the latter despite it commonly being known as the Nock gun. He was a major supplier to the military during the Napoleonic wars. His high quality duelling pistols and double-barrelled shotguns were much sought after and it is largely through Nock that the latter became the weapon of choice for hunters.

As well as supplying the military and civilian markets, Nock made expensive pieces for the aristocracy and royalty and was an appointed gunmaker to the king. Nock's business eventually became Wilkinson Sword, a company which today makes razor blades and other shaving equipment, and, until 2005, made ceremonial officer's swords for the British Army.

Nock produced many innovative weapons. In 1793 he made a double-barrelled pistol with a removable stock for the Royal Horse Artillery. However, this weapon was impractical with the stock removed and was usually used as a carbine. In 1797 Nock put into production a 9-inch pistol (pattern 1796) for heavy dragoons with a calibre matching their carbines. Some of these pistols had a novel lock designed by Nock, originally intended for an abandoned musket design requested by the Duke of Richmond in 1786 while serving as Master-General of the Ordnance. The new lock could be dismantled by removable pins rather than the previous more cumbersome and time-consuming screws. The pattern 1796 had no butt-plate and the ramrod was stored in the holster rather than attached to the barrel. This feature made it unpopular with users and many guns were modified to take a conventional swivel ramrod.

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