sterloop, noun

/ˈstɛrlʊəp/
Origin:
DutchShow more Dutch, ster star + loop barrel; see quotation 1957.
A smooth-bore flintlock musket made by Scholefield of Birmingham, in use from about 1820; rare, the barrel of this gun, which was decorated with a star. Also attributive. Cf. roer sense a.
1957 G. Tylden in Africana Notes & News Vol.12 No.6, 204The sterloop, very popular in the O.F.S..so called from a twelve pointed star about 2 inches across stamped on top of the barrel about a foot from the muzzle.
1957 G. Tylden in Africana Notes & News Vol.12 No.6, 217Sterloop, the muzzleloading flint and percussion guns by Scholefield, later Scholefield, Goodman & Sons of Birmingham, from 1820 onwards.
1969 F.G. Butler When Boys Were Men 180Sterloper or Sterloop: literally ‘star-barrel’. A muzzle-loading gun made during the first quarter of the 19th century. It had a calibre of .75", known as musket bore. A star stamp on the barrel gave this gun its name. The maker was Joshua Scholefield of Birmingham.
1971 L.G. Green Taste of S.-Easter 56Frederik Botha was celebrated for his sterloop rifles, a favourite flint and percussion muzzle-loader used by the Voortrekkers.
1972 Daily Dispatch 22 July 4By the middle of the 19th century the greatest damage to the game herds of the plains was being done by the famous sterloop — a smooth-bore flintlock of about 1842 manufactured in Birmingham with the much prized star mark on the barrel.
1973 J. Meintjes Voortrekkers 107The Voortrekker gun was generally called a Sanna, a popular type being the Sterloop, so called after a twelve-pointed star about a foot from the muzzle.
1990 Caption, 1820 Settlers’ Memorial Museum, GrahamstownA typical ‘bobbejaanbout sterloop’ smooth-bore with a 45" barrel...‘Sterloop’ referred to the star engraved around the front or back sight of these weapons.
1991 Best of S. Afr. Short Stories (Reader’s Digest Assoc.) 12The average Boer frontiersman would not own a weapon without a sterloop (star barrel) and the tradition was passed down to his sons and grandsons.
A smooth-bore flintlock musket made by Scholefield of Birmingham, in use from about 1820; rare, the barrel of this gun, which was decorated with a star. Also attributive.
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rare or nonce
sterkte, nounn.sterretjie, nounn.
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