propstrike
03-10-2006, 08:06 PM
Interesting story in a rifle reference book I have long since read the spine off of. It's a little dim to me now, but goes like this: Back in the 14 or 1500's when gunpowder really was piss and vinegar, and firearms were the vestige of the royalty, rich, and prestigious, there lived Prince Rupert. He carried a pair of ornate, possibly German-made matchlock pistols. On a dare from his cousin King Louis XIV, He aimed and fired at the weathervane on a church steeple and hit it dead on, twirling it around. When the king made mention it was a fluke, the Prince performed the same feat with the other pistol. This same Prince Rupert was in Paris several years later, when he was attacked from two directions by three men. The intended victim spun on his heels, drawing the pistols as he did so and shot two of them dead. The third man fled for his life. This is the kind of work that would have earned a grat deal of respect in the American West!