Kalthoff repeater

The Kalthoff system originates with a gun which was crafted in Solingen by an unknown member of the Kalthoff family around 1630.[1] Members of the family later moved to other areas of Europe, including Denmark, France, The Netherlands, England and Russia.[1] The first patent for the Kalthoff system was issued in France by Louis XIII to Guillaume Kalthoff.[1] This patent specified muskets and pistols that were capable of firing up to 10 shots with a single loading.[1] A year later in 1641, Peter Kalthoff obtained a Dutch patent for a rifle which could fire 29 rounds before reloading.[3][1] This patent did not specify the mechanism by which the gun worked, but mentioned that he would be able to perfect the design within a year.[1] Later that year, another Dutch patent was granted to an individual named Hendrick Bartmans.[1] This patent specified a gun with separate magazines for powder and ball, a 30 shot capacity, and a trigger guard that could be rotated to reload the weapon.[1] Bartman made a magazine rifle following his patent in 1642, which likely used the snaplock mechanism.[1] In 1645 Peter Kalthoff made a wheellock magazine rifle. He made another repeating firearm in 1646, which was given to the Danish Prince Frederik.[1]

Later, Kalthoff guns utilizing a different breech system and powder magazine design were made by Jan Flock of Utrecht, and Harman Barne in England.[1]

There were two major variations of the Kalthoff repeater.[1] The first used a rectangular breech block with two or three chambers, a powder magazine in the stock, and had a capacity of up to 30 rounds.[1] One gun of this type also featured a coil spring behind the breech block which served to close the gap between it and barrel.[1] The second variation used a vertical cylindrical breech block, stored powder beneath the lock, and had a capacity of up to 10 shots.[1] These guns had a removable cap over the breech, allowing the breech to be easily cleaned.[1] The ball magazine was situated in a cylindrical cavity in the stock under the barrel.[4] Many Kalthoff guns used a magazine located in the ramrod cavity, and featured a cap designed to look like the end of the ramrod.[1] Powder in the magazine could be reloaded through a hatch on the underside of the powder carrier if the powder magazine was located under the lock.[5][1] On Kalthoff guns with the magazine in the stock, the magazine was refilled through a hole covered by a sliding lid in the butt-plate, or through a hole uncovered by removing a screw on the left side-plate.[6][1] The carrier on most guns contained enough powder (5ccs on one example)[5] for both the main charge and priming the pan.[4] Spring-loaded covers on the carrier and powder magazine ensured that powder could only flow when the carrier aligned with the magazine or powder passage.[3] The mechanism of many Kalthoff guns occupied the space normally reserved for a mainspring.[1] This had to be worked around by placing it in the stock and connecting it to the cock using a rod,[5][1] or by mounting it externally.[1]

With the muzzle facing upwards, laterally rotating the trigger guard approximately 155° to the right and back deposited a ball and load of powder in the breech and cocked the gun (or winded the wheel if the gun was a wheellock).[4][5] A carrier attached to the trigger guard took the powder from the magazine to the breech, so there was no risk of an accidental ignition in the reserve.[4] The trigger guard was either coupled to the cylindrical breech by a cross-pin,[5] or moved the breech using a cogwheel.[3][4] When the lever was rotated forwards fully, the carrier aligned with a hole at the front of the lock plate. The powder could then flow through a tunnel in the lock plate, and into the breech.[5] The powder flowed directly through the breech into a cavity behind it in the case of cylinder breech guns, or into the middle chamber (or the rightmost one on two-hole variants) on rectangular breech guns.[1] In the case of cylindrical breech guns, as the lever was rotated back, a loading arm on the left side of the gun seated a ball in the breech in front of the powder.[5] On sliding breech block Kalthoff guns, a bullet would drop into the leftmost chamber as the gun was pointed upwards, and a plunger would seat the ball in the barrel as the left chamber aligned with the barrel.[3] Cylinder breech guns still held some powder in the breech tap as the lever was rotated back; this powder would flow into the priming pan just as the ball was inserted.[5] On rectangular breech guns, there would be remaining powder in the powder passage that would fall into the rightmost chamber as it shifted back towards the left, which then could flow into the pan.[1] Alternatively, if the breech had only two chambers the powder would flow directly from the passage into the pan.[1]

Two Kalthoff Repeaters viewed from above. The bottom example is missing its barrel and breech cap. Due to this, the ball magazine in the stock is visible. The top of the cylindrical breech is also exposed.

Despite having a remarkably fast fire rate for the time, the Kalthoff could never have become a standard military firearm because of its cost.[2] The mechanism had to be assembled with skill and care, and took far more time to assemble than an ordinary muzzle-loader.[2] Also, all the parts were interdependent; if a gear broke or jammed, the whole gun was unusable and only a specialist gunsmith could repair it.[2] It needed special care; powder fouling, or even powder that was slightly wet, could clog it.[2] Since it was so expensive to buy and maintain, only wealthy individuals and elite soldiers could afford it.[2]

In 1648, after Frederik III succeeded his father, he ordered that the Scanian Guard be equipped with Kalthoff repeaters. This order was fulfilled by Peter and Mathias Kalthoff (and possibly a few other gunsmiths), and the guns were issued in 1657.[3] The Guards received about a hundred guns (some of the surviving guns are numbered via an engraving on the stock, 108 and 110 being the highest)[3], and they are thought to have been used in the Siege of Copenhagen (1658–59) and the Scanian War.[2] By 1696 the guns had been removed from service.[3] The Royal Armoury's inventory of 1775 still listed 133 repeating guns, by this time they were already regarded as antiques.[3]

• Harold L. Peterson The Book of the Gun Paul Hamlyn Publishing Group (1962)