page_title: Queen Anne pistol
section_title: Muff pistols, boot pistols and overcoat pistols
hierarchical_section_title: Queen Anne pistol / Muff pistols, boot pistols and overcoat pistols
caption_attribution_description: un pistolet fin du 18è siècle
context_page_description: Queen Anne pistols are a type of flintlock pistol distinguished by the lockplate being forged in one piece with the breech and the trigger plate. They are usually a breech-loading design known as a turn-off pistol. Possibly first made in England, they came in fashion in England during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, hence the name. Though made in all sizes up to carbine, they were usually made in the size range known as coat pocket pistols or coat pistols, easy to conceal on one's person. A small version, known as a Toby or muff pistol, was able to be concealed in a smaller pocket or a ladies' hand warmer muff.
  Other types of pistol are often referred to as "Queen Anne", but to hopefully improve consistency in nomenclature the term is used here only to refer the "integral breech" lock.
context_section_description: During the 18th century, wealthy travellers concealed small single shot boxlock flintlock pistols in the pocket of an overcoat or waistcoat as protection from highwaymen. For the wealthiest clients, English and French gunsmiths produced a garniture comprising a fowling piece or hunting rifle, two large dueling pistols or horse pistols, and two small boxlock pistols with identical engraving on the barrel, lockplate and buttstock. These included large calibre Manstopper pistols designed for use at point-blank range, and breachloading Overcoat pistols with a turn-off barrel and sometimes a folding trigger. Such weapons designed specifically for women, generally in a small caliber such as .31 due to the lower recoil, were called "muff pistols", due to their compact size enabling them to be carried in a muff. 
  The boot pistol, a small caliber cap and ball version of the boxlock muff pistol produced from 1800 until the 1850s by various companies including Manhattan Firearms, sometimes featured an under-hammer for a faster draw. These became popular among Union army officers during the American Civil War, as a backup gun which was typically used to deter surgeons from amputating the officer's limb in the event of injury. This type of pistol is the ancestor of the caplock derringer used by gamblers in the Old West. The small pistols were frequently used by women, because they were easily concealable in a purse or as a stocking gun.
caption: Boot pistol of the mid Victorian era.
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