Jack Sparrow's third pistol

"Now, Will, when a pirate's marooned, he's given a pistol with a single shot. One shot. Well, that won't do much good hunting, nor to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starvin' belly and thirst, that pistol starts to look real friendly. But Jack, he escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it, though, save for one man. His mutinous First Mate."

- Joshamee Gibbs to William Turner

Jack Sparrow's pistol was a flintlock pistol owned by Captain Jack Sparrow. The weapon was constructed of a wooden frame with a metal barrel, firing mechanism, and trigger. It, unlike the flintlock owned by Hector Barbossa, Jacks Pistol was a smaller, .50 caliber English Pistol. It was also very finely crafted.

Design
"No additional shot nor powder..."

- James Norrington

The weapon was loaded with a single shot. To load the weapon, a small amount of powder would be poured into the flash pan, which is covered by a piece of steel attached to a hinged spring known as the frizzen. Powder, followed by the lead ball, are forced down the barrel. A piece of flint was held by a screw in the hammer. To fire the weapon, the hammer would be pulled back to the fully cocked positions, and the trigger pulled. The hammer could also be pulled to the "Half cocked" position which acted as the safety. The flint, would strike the steel frizzen which created a spark while simultaneously knocking it back giving the spark access to hit the powder.Then the small fire travels through a small hole into the barrel. The flame ignites the powder in the weapon creating a small explosion inside the barrel which pushes the lead ball out of the weapon. It then must be reloaded to fire again.

History
"Ten years you carry that pistol, and now you waste your shot." "He didn't waste it."

- Hector Barbossa and Will Turner

When Jack was marooned on Black Sam's Spit following a mutiny aboard the Black Pearl, he was given the pistol with a single round. It was expected that Jack would commit suicide with it to end his suffering from thirst and starvation. However, he was able to escape the island, and kept the weapon and its single shot with the intention of using it on his mutinous first mate, Hector Barbosa.When he encountered Barbossa again, Jack shot and killed Barbossa on Isla de Muerta, finally using the last shot. Jack often used his pistol to shoot Jack the monkey when he became annoying. Jack's Pistol can also be seen used to knock a crew member from his rope and shooting the chest from Davy Jones' grasp.

Behind the scenes
Jack Sparrow's pistol was the only real pistol in the movies and was portrayed by two real weapons,still functioning flintlock pistols which were purchased from an antique store in their original boxed set. They were fabricated in 1765 by a gun maker named Perry London who's name appeared on the barrel tops and on the side plates with the hammer. These originals were replicated in a number of different way's for use in the movies with the actual working pistols only ever being needed in scene's where they were fired.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * The Accidental Pirate!
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides