In his days, Edmund Pistotnik (1823–1891) was one of the most recognizable inventors in the Habsburg Mon-archy. After initially deciding to embark on a military career in the Seventh Infantry Regiment and being gradually promoted to the rank of captain, he was compelled to retire already in 1860 due to poor health. After that, he devoted his life to designing technological innovations, particularly in the field of arms technology. Pistotnik attained the most visible breakthrough designing the metallic cartridge repeating rifle, patented in 1860, and he also designed a single-shot version of Lorenz muzzle loader as well as an improved variant of the Wänzel action. Despite his great expecta-tions, the Austrian army refused to put any of Pistotnik’s firearm models to use. Due to an unknown turn of events, three of his prototypes have been preserved in the National Museum of Slovenia. Since they have remained completely unknown to the public until recently, the aim of this article is to provide a detailed description and raise awareness of these extraordinary historical rarities.