Gunstock war club

[2] Although well known as an indigenous weapon encountered in several North American First Nations tribes across the northern United States and Canada, details of its early development continue to elude historians.

[4] The tribes who encountered British, French, and colonial soldiers were impressed by their usage of a musket that, once its shot was spent, could easily be reversed, held by the metal barrel, and used as a harrowing bludgeoning weapon in close quarters combat.

[citation needed] A third theory posed by some historians and several American Indian activist groups contends that the gunstock war club is simply a coincidence of design, developed independently years before the arrival of Europeans.

[citation needed] Alongside other indigenous weapons excelling in blunt force trauma injuries—such as the ball-head clubs and stone-head tomahawks—the gunstock has a significant presence in tribal warfare across several American Indian nations.

For example, an excavated Plains Indian carved gunstock club from the late 19th century was found set with three butcher knife blades marked "Lamson and Goodnow Mfg.