Lewis Barbar was appointed Gentleman Armourer to George I in 1717 and continued in the post under George II; from 1718 he was also responsible for the private armoury at Kensington Palace. Although Barbar experimented with different forms of breech-loading guns, he was not known for his work with repeating arms. Here however he ventured into creating a four-barrelled carbine, the side-by-side barrels being released by pressing in the trigger guard so that they may be rotated. George II is known to have shown an interest in experimental guns – he also owned a unique air-gun, possibly made for him after the Battle of Dettingen by Johan Gottfried Kolbe. The disadvantage of Barbar’s four-barrelled carbine was the lack of a ramrod; although the stock is hollow to allow for storage of accessories, the cavity is not long enough to contain a ramrod, and there is no space on the rotating barrels to place one. The carbine is also heavy, weighing more than 8lb (3.9kg). It is possible that the barrels of the gun were shortened in order to reduce the weight. A similar gun, in the Musée des Armes, Liège, has barrels of 78 cm long and weighs over 10lb (4.5kg).

Text adapted from The First Georgians; Art and Monarchy 1714 - 1760, London, 2014.