From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Orion-brand single shot, breech loaded, 12 gauge flare gun. Its design is highly typical of commercially available flare guns.

A flare gun is a gun that shoots flares. They are a common item in rescue kits.

Flare guns are sometimes called Very pistols (and misspelt as verey pistol), this term was named after Edward Wilson Very (1847–1910), an American naval officer who developed and popularized a single-shot breech-loading snub-nosed pistol that fired flares. Modern varieties are frequently made out of brightly-colored, durable plastic.

The older type of very pistol, typical of the type used in the Second World War, are of one inch bore. Newer models fire smaller 12-gauge flares. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom where possession of fire arms is strictly controlled, the use of very pistols as emergency equipment on boats is less common than, for example, the United States.

Flare guns may be used whenever someone needs to send a distress signal. The flares must be shot directly above, making the signal visible for a longer period of time and revealing the position of whoever is in need of help.

While not intended as a weapon, they have been used as one in emergencies. In 1942, at Pembrey Airfield in Wales, a German pilot mistakenly landed at the field. The duty pilot, Sgt. Jeffreys, did not have a conventional weapon; he grabbed a Very pistol and used that to capture the German pilot, Oberleutnant Arnim Faber.

In his autobiographical "Think like a bird," army pilot Alex Kimball describes shooting at an armed attacker with a Very pistol, following a forced landing during in Aden during the Radfan conflict. The man's clothes caught on fire causing his death.

• History of the Very pistol with many examples
• Pembrey Airfield History