Early 18th Century Hand Mortar

[Glenn Osborne]

I have a reproduction early 18th century hand mortar (grenade launcher) made from TRS parts with a Ben Coogle barrel. The hardware on this piece is pre long land pattern and would be dated about 1715 or so. The lock is marked W Pedderson.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting. I know this is not what they are for but pointing one of those at bad guys could change their minds in a hurry.

 

[Glenn Osborne]

Often thought about painting some old tennis balls black and maybe putting a firecracker inside and using it with appropriate safety at a re-enactment. TRS says they will fire tennis balls 200+ yards. Always thought that would be cool and certainly different!

 

[Grenadier1758]

My reenacting unit has had experience with the TRS grenade launcher. We have successfully used tennis balls filled with an 80 grain charge of black powder and flour with a short fuse. The tennis ball grenade is launched with an 80 to 100 grain charge of powder. The "grenade" is loaded with the fuse up as the fuse will be lit by the flash of the launching charge. The butt of the launcher is placed on the ground as directed by artillery procedures of the time. (Experience based on one of the unit who just had to fire the launcher from his shoulder bears the wisdom of firing with the butt held on the ground.) Even a tennis ball with flour and a black powder is much heavier than a ball produces enough recoil to cause severe bruising to the shoulder.

If you want to demonstrate your grenade launcher at a reenactment, be aware that the launching of a projectile is usually prohibited. Similar grenades used at a tactical reenactment caused great consternation among the safety officers.

We also have the grenade launcher that is mounted on the muzzle of a Bess. That too is fired with the butt on the ground.

 

[Many Klatch]

The Hessians used those during the Siege of Charleston. Shooting it was a two man job. One man aimed and shot the weapon. The other lit the fuse. There was a rope tied to the gun. If the fuse was lit and the gun misfired, they tossed the weapon out of the trench and waited for the explosion. After the boom they hauled on the rope and brought the gun back into the trench.