Cheap and primitive

[rifleshooter2]

Here are a few hand gonnes I've made.
.62 Cal



.50 Cal


and my son with a 1 inch bore



all three together


andy

[FrankG]

Those are cool. Did you bore the barrels ?

[Ironwood]

I learned something new today.  I did a little reading about hand gonnes just now.  I would sure like to see one in action. 

[mongrel]

This is why "primitive" is so much a matter of context . You look at a matchlock and, in comparison even to a flintlock, it's "primitive". But then compare it to what preceded it -- these hand gonnes -- and suddenly it's the ultimate in high-tech, if you look at it from the perspective of its own time period.

And I do love to go out and try weapons, equipment, and tools with that point of view. I'm still in progress with the matchlock I'm building, and not quite ready to put together one of these "gonnes", but the time will come.

Very nice work, BTW. How are the barrels breeched? Are they simply cast or milled with a solid breech, or is there a threaded plug as on later barrels?

[Mr Woodchuck]

   Did they originate in asia ?  ... thought I read they did ...
mmmm 

[tom-h]

The hand cannon dates back to the late 13th century in Egypt and China, and was used until at least the 1520s in Europe and the Middle East, and until modern times in the Far East. However, where it was invented remains an area of controversy. The Arabs, Chinese and Mongols all have a claim, as do the Europeans to a lesser extent. Textual evidence points to the earliest portable handheld cannon being used at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, when they were used by the Egyptians to repel the Mongols, as described and illustrated in several early 14th century manuscripts.Archaeological evidence of a late 13th century Yuan Dynasty hand cannon excavated from Heilongjiang is backed by textual evidence from a rebellion in the year 1288, when the Christian Prince Nayan revolted against the Mongol ruler of China, Kublai Khan, the latter having his Jurchen commander Li Ting employ "gun-soldiers" or chongzu to suppress them.

The hand cannon was a simple weapon, but effective in sieges and ambushes. It was less effective in open battle and in wet or windy conditions. Despite its crude appearance, the hand cannon could kill even armoured opponents at short ranges - if the gunner could manage to hit them. Experiments indicate an effective range of about 50 metres and a maximum range of about 300 metres, depending on calibre and type of powder used.

Hand cannon ranged in barrel length from 190 to 600 mm and from 12 to 36 mm in calibre. Approximate weights ranged from 1.5 kg to a monstrous 15 kg for some siege models. Barrels were typically short compared to later firearms and made from wrought iron or cast in bronze. For ease of handling, the barrels were often attached to a wooden stock. This was done in two ways: either by resting the barrel in a groove in the stock and securing it with metal bands, or by inserting the stock into a socket formed in the rear part of the barrel. Some gonnes merely had a metal rod formed as an extension to the rear of the barrel as a handle. For firing, the hand cannon could be held in two hands while an assistant applied ignition (such as hot coals or burning tinder) to the touch hole, or propped against something and set off by the gunner himself. Illustrations depict gunners holding the stock in the armpit, or over the shoulder like a modern bazooka to aim their weapon. During sieges, hand cannon were rested on the edges of walls, over the sides of armoured carts, or on forked rests hammered into the ground. Hooks are often found attached to the bottom of the barrel to support the gonne against stationary objects or to reduce the recoil.

Later hand cannons were made with a flash pan attached to the barrel, and a touch hole drilled through the side wall of the gonne instead of the top of the barrel. The flashpan had a leather cover, and later on a hinged metal lid fitted, to keep the priming powder dry until the moment of firing and to prevent premature firing. The invention of corned powder, the slow match, and the flash pan around 1400 led to the widespread adoption of gonnes, as those who used them were now no longer required to mix their powder on the spot, to stay close to a source of fire, or to avoid exposure to bad weather.



The reasons why firearms gradually came to dominate European warfare are clear. The advantages of the hand cannon were: low cost; easy mass production; the ability to be used by fairly poorly trained troops; and a measure of control over their manufacture (and especially the manufacture of ammunition - an important consideration in a medieval Europe wracked by rebellion). Its armor-penetration capability was among the superior points of the firearm: while arrows were somewhat effective against mail armor, they were not nearly as effective as bullets when it came to piercing plate armor. While the hand cannon could not match the accuracy or speed of fire of the longbow, gunners did not require the special training and continuous practice from childhood required of a good bowman. Crossbows had superior power and accuracy compared to early hand cannon, but were expensive to make, slow to reload and almost as poorly affected by wet weather as hand cannon.



"Hand cannon" is also a slang word which can be used to refer to a modern firearm of significant power but small size. Large caliber pistols, shortened or "sawed off" rifles and shotguns may sometimes be referred to as "hand cannons," though the weapon in question need not be unusual or exotic. The term may also simply refer to any hand-held firearm found to be large or powerful, as a hyperbole ter

[mongrel]

I believe there is some question, in regard to the Chinese "hand gonnes" or similar devices, as to whether these discharged actual projectiles or only fire of one sort or another -- along the lines of a modern-day roman candle. Before anyone gets the idea I'm arguing with Tom -- no, because for one I'm simply going from memory here and may very well be wrong, and also it could be that the fire-launching devices I'm talking about go back earlier than the actual firearms he's talking about. Plus, the source of my somewhat hazy memory is my very old copy of "Small Arms Of The World", which contains a number of what time and further research have shown to be factual errors in its historical section.

[Mr Woodchuck]

... hit me in the face with a cannon full of burnin powder ... and
I am going down.
   Wish my brain worked
lol

[rifleshooter2]

Here are a couple of videos of the gonnes firing

.50 Cal using slowmatch on a linstock
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v218/rifleshooter2/?action=view&current=139_3961.flv

a .75 cal firing blanks with a fuse on the 4th
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-0NUo2ObUs

The bores are bored and reamed to size the 1 incher has a sub chamber of .75cal no breech plug just a solid breech but you could make one with a breech plug if you wanted to.

Andy

[fd-ems-emt]

Very Nice !!!!!

[Ironwood]

Man! I got into youtube and wondered around in there for awhile.  Good videos.   

[Da Backwoodsman]

interesting!`

[pathfinder]

All of a sudden my new match lock seem's quite modern,darn it!

[Don]

When slimmed down, it would make quite an interesting walking stick.... :)

[Spitunia]

... hit me in the face with a cannon full of burnin powder ... and
I am going down.
   Wish my brain worked
lol

Oh wow,wonder who was the first guy to mix in gravel...the original street sweeper.