Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a pistol, usu. in pl.

1764		Tatler 1 172: ‘Here,’ said he, [...] ‘take back your snapper, and look you prick the touchhole, or your barking-iron will never bite for you.’.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Barking irons. Pistols, from their explosion resembling the bow-wow or barking of a dog. (Irish).
1789		G. Parker Life’s Painter 173: Pistols, barking-hours [sic].
1797		M. Robinson Walsingham IV 278: So you see, my dainty, I have nothing to do but to marry a golden dolly, or give my creditors the go-by, with a brace of barking irons.
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant.
1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.
1825		J.K. Paulding John Bull in America 56: Seeing the barking iron [he] shrunk back and pretended to have mistaken the room.
1826		Australian (Sydney) 26 Apr. 3/2: [S]o, waiting [...] to but little purpose, the disappointed gentleman was even fain to discharge the contents of his ‘barking-irons’ on empty air.
1834		Sydney Gaz. 9 Oct. 2/6: If they do, they may feel the keen edge of his well-tried sword, or get an un-looked-for leaden breakfast from the mouth of his barking iron.
1836		T. Hook Gilbert Gurney 201: Mr. Stafford [...] obtained the restoration of O’Brady’s ‘barking irons’.
1842		Egan ‘The Bould Yeoman’ in Farmer Musa Pedestris (1896) 137: The High-pad quickly cut the farmer’s towel in twain – / Pulled out his barking-iron to send daylight through his brain.
1859		Worcester Jrnl 8 Jan. 3/4: I gave P.C. Stone directions to search the house [...] and there Stone found upon a shelf, a barking-iron.
1866		Mt Alexander Mail (Vic) 10 Mar. 3/2: The ‘barking-irons’ being, properly loaded, Mr Brown, said they would kill at 50 yards’ distance .
1868		J.D. McCabe Secrets of the Great City 358: The Detectives’ Manual gives a glossary of this language, from which we take the following specimens [...] Barking irons. – Pistols.
1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1870		Bloomfield Times (PA) 7 June 2/5: ‘Leave off handling your barking iron,’ he said.
1874		Adelaide Obs. 29 Aug. 14/5: ‘Got the barking-irons all right?’ ‘All right. And the prads. And the swags. And everything’.
1882		Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 1: Barking iron or Barker - A pistol.
1884		Austin Wkly Statesman (TX) 31 July 8/3: Officer Richardson ‘reaped in’ J.C. Davis [...] for having a barking iron on his person.
1891		Swindon Advertiser 17 Oct. 3/2: I told him that if he did not shut up I would put a bullet through him, and he soon shut it when I showed him the ‘barking iron’.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 6: Barking Irons, firearms.
1909		Eve. News (Sydney) 3 Feb. 11/4: Bradfield kept the ‘bloodthirsty’ rebels at bay with his ‘barking irons’ .
1916		Hopetoun Courier (Vic) 4 Feb. 2/4: The duck season opens on Tuesday February 15, and the local sports are seeing that their ‘barking irons’ are in perfect order.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks 5/1: Barking iron, pistol carried by a foot-pad or hold-up man.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1997		Share Slanguage.