Originally, Albert Bacon Pratt of Lyndon, Vermont, patented the helmet and pistol. Nothing out of the ordinary, if not for one thing - they were designed to be used together. The patent for the helmet was US 1.183492 A, and the patent for the pistol was US 1.323609 A. The book "Firearms of Curios" had a publication about the combined patents: Albert Bacon Pratt's helmet with a lance on the top of the head and a pistol barrel above the visor.
Today on the Internet you can find the original patent drawings of a pistol and a helmet. It is also interesting that Pratt also patented several other items, most of which today are awkward and impractical, but the folding stock for Pratt rifles proposed a concept still used in the M16 / AR15.
Drawing from a patent for a helmet.
But the armored pistol helmet is without a doubt Albert's most interesting design. Like an ordinary helmet, this one also protected from the sun and rain due to the good overhangs of the fields. Chin strap made of stacked armored scales (similar to those often seen on 19th century metal cavalry helmets). A special cover for the barrel of the pistol (the pistol itself was inside the helmet) had a folding sight located in front of the shooter's eyes.
This is how this miracle device probably should have looked.
The special pistol in the hat was probably automatic, with a side-mounted magazine. The pistol can be quickly loaded by pressing the rod directly under the barrel: it was easily accessible by the shooter's finger. Stores could be replaced by removing the hat, opening the top, and inserting a new one. The caliber of the cartridges is not indicated in the patent, but probably standard:.32 automatic or possibly 9 mm Kurtz.
Drawings of the pistol and pneumatic trigger.
On the left side of the chin strap is the trigger for the pistol. It is a pneumatic tube with pneumatic trigger for shooting. To activate the descent, it was necessary to blow into the tube. This made it possible to shoot without hands (this is an essential point in the text of the patent). Turning the head, aiming at the target, breathing out sharply, shooting! The automatic pistol was reloading and ready for battle again …
Promotional video:
It is unknown if this model was ever tested. It seems that the recoil could severely damage the arrow (up to a fracture of the cervical vertebrae).
There were already two helmets.
The top of the helmet can be removed by pressing the spring clips that release the section. And, a curiosity - not a curiosity, it was attached to be used as a saucepan, according to the description of the patent. A convenient spike can be stuck into the ground to hold the pan over the fire, and the barrel cover appeared in the form of a handle (the weapon mechanism itself remained in the lower half of the helmet and in theory it was possible to shoot back from the enemy while preparing a stew for yourself:)).
Incredibly, of course, this idea was not an isolated manifestation of "military thought". Three decades have passed and in 1949, also in the USA, Albert Bernard De Salardi proposed the design of a helmet-mounted submachine gun! But more about that next time.