We used small powder charges.
In this a Swedish navy cap lock pistol model 1854 is fired. Note the time from fire to bullet hitting metal.
https://youtu.be/sqgrpZ-2E6Y
We used small powder charges.
In this a Swedish navy cap lock pistol model 1854 is fired. Note the time from fire to bullet hitting metal.
https://youtu.be/sqgrpZ-2E6Y
Here is another oddity which could be related to our period.
The Duck foot gun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDvyLuSeJyk
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Good example of the lead in time needed to hit a target moving across your line of fire Jonas.Originally Posted by TexaS
I have never seen a better example.
Thanks for posting.
My Duck foot may well give the odds a better chance in that situation!
Rob.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
Another sea service gun for your collection shipmates.
Nock volley gun.
Volley gun United Kingdom Royal Navy 1782–1804 United Kingdom Napoleonic Wars 1779 20 inches (510 mm) .46 inches (12 mm) 7 Flintlock, multiple barrel Seven rounds per discharge, reloading rate variable Variable Variable Muzzle-loaded
The Nock gun was a seven-barrelled flintlocksmoothbore firearm used by the Royal Navy during the early stages of the Napoleonic Wars. It is a type of volley gun adapted for ship-to-ship fighting, but was limited in its use because of the powerful recoil and eventually discontinued.
Its bizarre appearance and operation has led to it being portrayed in modern fictional works, notably in The Alamo feature film, and the Richard Sharpe series of novels by Bernard Cornwell.
History and design.
The weapon was invented by Britishengineer James Wilson in 1779, and named after Henry Nock, the London-based armaments manufacturer contracted to build the gun. It was intended to be fired from the rigging of Royal Navy warships onto the deck in the event that the ship was boarded by enemy sailors. Theoretically, the simultaneous discharge of seven barrels would have devastating effect on the tightly packed groups of enemy sailors.
The volley gun consisted of seven barrels welded together, with small vents drilled through from the central barrel to the other six barrels clustered around it. The central barrel screwed onto a hollow spigot which formed the chamber and was connected to the vent.
The gun operated using a standard flintlock mechanism, with the priminggunpowder igniting the central charge via a small vent. When the flash reached the central chamber, all seven charges ignited at once, firing more or less simultaneously.
The first models featured rifled barrels, but this made loading a long and cumbersome process, resulting in all following models being manufactured with smoothbore barrels.
Deployment and use.
During the early stages of the Napoleonic Wars, 500 Nock guns were purchased by the Royal Navy. However, attempts to use the gun during combat quickly revealed design flaws. The recoil caused by all seven barrels firing at once was more powerful than had been thought, and frequently injured or broke the shoulder of whoever was firing the gun, and in any case made the gun very difficult to control. Furthermore, officers were reluctant to issue the guns during battle out of fear that the flying sparks would set fire to the surrounding rigging and sails.
A smaller, lighter version was produced, which shortened the gun's range, but the recoil was still too powerful for sailors to feel comfortable firing it. The few models purchased by the Royal Navy were removed from service in 1804.
Examples are available for viewing in the Hollywood Guns exhibit at the National Firearms Museum, the Royal Armouries Museum, and the Charleston Museum (SC).
Popular culture.
The Nock gun was brought to modern attention in the 1960 film The Alamo in which one is used by actor Richard Widmark, playing Jim Bowie. The gun used in the film is now in the National Firearms Museum. Nock guns can be seen in realistic period films including Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003, and fantasy films like Jonah Hex 2010, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 2012.
In Bernard Cornwell's series of historical novels featuring fictional British soldier Richard Sharpe and, more recently, in the Sharpe TV series, Nock guns are used by the character Patrick Harper (a strong, burly man played by Daragh O'Malley).
A modern version was custom-built in an episode of American Guns.
For more information see this clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7zs5RyD4I8
Last edited by Bligh; 11-14-2019 at 05:11.
The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.
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