By pistols I essentially mean sidearms as opposed to longarms here, I know by the 1800 they're about and I know in 1500 they're not, but when did they become fairly common?

Thanks

Quote from: BalbinusBy pistols I essentially mean sidearms as opposed to longarms here, I know by the 1800 they're about and I know in 1500 they're not, but when did they become fairly common?

Thanks

The invention of the wheellock, giving a fairly safe and reasonably sure method of firing.

-clash

Well, you've got wheel-lock weaponry fairly common in the early 1500s (enough that the Holy Roman Empire banned them in 1518).  I'd be hard-pressed to imagine a matchlock pistol (although I'm sure someone made one ... just hard-pressed to imagine it becoming too popular).  I'd guesstimate that's about the time when it was getting really widespread ... though apparently hand-guns were in use in the military (at least in Morocco) as early as 1437.

Go Wikipedia!

Quote from: BalbinusBy pistols I essentially mean sidearms as opposed to longarms here, I know by the 1800 they're about and I know in 1500 they're not, but when did they become fairly common?

Thanks

I suspect that it was the invention of the wheel lock firing mechanism (some time around 1500) that made pistols practical.  One of the first gun control laws are passed by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1517 to deal with wheel-locks and small concealable wheel lock pistols were common enough by the late 1500s to be involved in several high profile assassinations like that of William the Silent in 1584.

More info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheellock

Hope that helps!


TGA


Edit:  Beaten to the punch, dammit!  

Wikipedia says

Quote from: WikipediaThe invention of the wheellock is sometimes credited to the German Johann Kiefuss of Nuremberg in 1517. However, this is impossible as Kiefuss lived about 100 years later, and there are many references to wheellocks existing before 1517. There is a vocal group of scholars that believe Leonardo da Vinci was the inventor. Drawings made by da Vinci of a wheellock mechanism date (depending on the authority) from either the mid-1490s or the first decade of the 1500s. However, a drawing from a book of German inventions (dated 1505) and a reference to the purchase of a wheellock in Austria in 1507 may indicate the inventor was an unknown German mechanic instead. We know for certain that in 1517, and 1518, the first gun control laws banning the wheellock were proclaimed by the Emperor Maximilian I, first in Austria and then throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Several Italian states followed suit in the 1520s and 1530s - another argument used by the pro-German camp.

This matches my recollection, and as flyingmice says, the invention of the wheellock marks the arrival of pistols in the sense we mean today. However, wheellocks were expensive, so wheellock pistols were the province of the wealthy. The flintlock's arrival during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) period made pistols practical for anyone with a bit of cash.

Quote from: BalbinusBy pistols I essentially mean sidearms as opposed to longarms here, I know by the 1800 they're about and I know in 1500 they're not, but when did they become fairly common?

It depends on what you mean by fairly common.  

For what it's worth, it seems like somewhere in the early-to-mid 1700s duelling shifted from typically using swords to typically using pistols.  However, they were fairly common before then -- since the early 1600s.

Quote from: jhkimIt depends on what you mean by fairly common.  

For what it's worth, it seems like somewhere in the early-to-mid 1700s duelling shifted from typically using swords to typically using pistols.  However, they were fairly common before then -- since the early 1600s.

Common enough that someone using one wouldn't be of itself particularly noteworthy, it might indicate they had a bit of cash but it's not the period equivalent of cybertech or something.

I mean, handcannons exist in the 14th century, but if you used one folk would remember it as rather unusual.  By 1850 to go to the other extreme, a man in a fight using a pistol might be notable for the fight otherwise ("he killed that chap") but not for the weapon so much.

Quote from: RupertWikipedia says

This matches my recollection, and as flyingmice says, the invention of the wheellock marks the arrival of pistols in the sense we mean today. However, wheellocks were expensive, so wheellock pistols were the province of the wealthy. The flintlock's arrival during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) period made pistols practical for anyone with a bit of cash.

Yep! Wheellocks made pistols practical, flintlocks made them cheap. They were rather intricate mechanisms, and needed a lot of maintenance, but they would fire when a flintlock wouldn't because of dampness, and if you could afford them they were lovely things. I researched all this for Book of Jalan.

-clash

I would think it would depend on what you define as general use. Sure flintlock pistols (besides dueling) were used by officers, mounted troops, and those that could afford such things. But But I wouldnt really consider that general use. Now in victorian times. With the inventio oc self contained caratridges and modern manufacturing techniques. The price came down significatly. Allowing the common man to have a pistol. I think with that you a greater sense of "general use". From then to the 20's, and 30's. People were'nt so namby pamby about concealed carry of a firearm. Giving rise to cheap, small caliber pistols "Pocket pistols". Guns such as the Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket, and the Webley Britsih Bulldog pocket revolver.
Just my thoughts on the subject.

Quote from: TonyLBI'd be hard-pressed to imagine a matchlock pistol (although I'm sure someone made one ... just hard-pressed to imagine it becoming too popular).  

  I'm only aware of the Japanese using matchlock pistols. And even then they banned guns in the early/mid 1600's? So they didn't last very long.

Balbinus, while the time of the development of technology like the wheelock is important, I think the location has more bearing on the availability of firearms.

Take the Cowboy Era of America. Most guns were found west of the Mississippi River because that area was the frontier and considered dangerous enough to justify widespread gun ownership. Guns were not nearly as common in the east because they were considered not only unnecessary but also ungentlemanly. So societal norms of your setting should apply as well as technology.

(Also I just gotta add this in, the Cowboy Era lasted only about 20 years even though its one of the most widely used time periods for American fiction.)