Elizabethan matchlock v 2mm mild steel breastpalte.

[TFoley]

Evenin', All - just watched a programme on BBC tv where a replica of an Elizabethan matchlock musket/gonne was fired at a piece of 2mm thick mild steel plate - replicating the maximum thickness of the average Spanish body armour of the period around 1580-1600.

To the intense amazement of the historian in charge of the investigation, but NOT to the gentleman expert in the Royal Armouries in Leeds, UK, the ball, of about 75" diameter, not only 'thawanged' straight through the steel, but did it at a speed approaching 1000fps.

Sadly they did not give details of the load, just in case any of you matchlock musket/gonne-shooting guys have to defend yourselves against any breastplate-wearing Spaniards, but it's good to know that it would have done to job.

The same load was then fired through 18" of ballistic gel, clothed to replicate the sort of things the average Jose would have been wearing at the time of the Spanish Armada - the amount of crud actually taken on the wound channel by the ball bore telling witness to the dangers of septicaemia from dirty wounds...

Same deal with a block of rigid ballistic 'soap' as the expert called it - the permanent wound channel was VERY interestingly humungous.

tac

 

[mckutzy]

um.... .75" u mean?

 

[wulf]

Just so long as the liberal gonne grabbers don't
see matchlocks as having the ability to assassinate crooked politicians..because that is
the reason behind all their new laws...brace your
selves.......

 

[TFoley]

um.... .75" u mean?

Ahah!!!!

THAT made ya read it!!!

Of course I meant .75"....... :v

tac

 

To the intense amazement of the historian in charge of the investigation, but NOT to the gentleman expert in the Royal Armouries in Leeds, UK, the ball, of about 75" diameter, not only 'thawanged' straight through the steel, but did it at a speed approaching 1000fps.

Oh, I can't resist to show off

This is a short movie showing a car door being used as a target. The gonne firing is Zeus, a 4 bore gonne that was made by Handgonne Designs. Th e ball used was .990, a hair under one inch.

Car Door Target

Me shooting Zeus at car door

If you hit the f11 button on your keyboard, you will get a somewhat fuzzy fullscreen picture. Escape or f11 will return you to normal viewing.

Watch closely and you will notice the smoke trailing the ball. And then see it passing through the door.

 

[robinghewitt]

I watched that, not hugely impressed. Only real info was that Elizabeth standardised the calibre of he guns :hmm:

They x-rayed the musket and then came up with a caliver. Bit odd the encrusted lump didn't look much like a caliver :hmm:

Test firing the cannon was fun, but no real surpises, when you get past 25 calibres the actual design doesn't exactly count for much :hmm:

Most of the progran seemed to be about the health and safety issues raising them :yakyak:

"Better dead than duffers. If not duffers, won't drown" :thumbsup:

 

[TFoley]

Most of the progran seemed to be about the health and safety issues raising them :yakyak:

"Better dead than duffers. If not duffers, won't drown" :thumbsup:

I have to admit that after watching Mr Mensun Bound for less than ten minutes I would have given anything to have tied him to one of his guns and thrown him back overboard. He reminded me strongly of the awful son-in-law of the tv show 'As time goes by', with his constant 'Hey, guys'....'

Not sure what your comment about 'above 25 calibres' actually signifies - explain please, for us simple souls.

And yes, I know what 'calibre' actually means from my time with the Royal Artillery.

I was also quite amazed that they cast the gun horizontally - all historical documents and actual remains of gun foundries show that, like bells, whose casting technology they were based on, bronze or iron guns were cast vertically in gun-casting pits.

Vertical casting allows the such slag as still remains to flow vertically and be skimmed off easily at the cascable - horizontal casting the way they did it more or less ensures that there is a layer of less then homogeneous metallic structure all along the entire length of the gun..
although that may be what they meant when they noted that 'some impurities had been left in for historical purposes' - so much for your health and safety issues,eh?

tac

 

[robinghewitt]

Not sure what your comment about 'above 25 calibres' actually signifies - explain please, for us simple souls.

Hi Tac

He didn't need to make an Elizabethan cannon to find out, he just needed to Google it :rotf:

Here's the link Click here :thumbsup:

best

Robin