Hand Cannon

[jbone]

All:

My father just bought a hand cannon for $40 - the antique dealer thought it was a flag holder!!! Anyway, I was wanting to know if anybody had any information on it....we believe it was used around 1300-1400. It is small - probably no more than 8 inches long by 4 inches wide. The bore is massive, and it is pretty hefty. It does not look as if it went on the end of a stick nor does it look like it is hand held either. It looks as if the user set it on the ground and let 'er rip.

Will try to get a picture to post.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.



JBone

 

[robinghewitt]

It is possible, these things may be as rare as rocking horse droppings but they are out there. Try this page and see if anything looks familiar

http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~dispater/handgonnes.htm

 

A photo would be quite nice and helpful in identifying this piece. It could be that you have a signal flare mortar. the photo will tell.

Just :m2c:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I'm no resource on hand-cannon, but if it doesn't have a means of holding or attaching it to a stock, it probably isn't a hand cannon to begin with.

Here's another cannon resource page:

http://www.cannon-mania.com/

Just from the dimensions you give 8" x 4", I would guess it is a "Thunder Mug". Used to test powder. Boom vs. Fizzle. Sometimes with a standard weight to judge power. These were always fired straight up . . . and with a long fuse. :shocking: Note the chunk missing from the muzzle of the one on the right.

What diameter is the bore in your critter?

 

[Henry]

Are those also used for signaling and plain
enjoyment , like fireworks ?

Henry

 

[Wes/Tex]

Looks like a couple of those could second out as flagons between battles. Little powder fowling should put just the right twang in the ale!

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

Note the chunk missing from the muzzle of the one on the right.

Are you sure that's a broken piece missing? It looks the same on the other side of the muzzle, although I can't think of a purpose two notches would serve...

 

[gordy]

Do You think the term "Thunder Mugg" used as the slang discription for chamber pots ,may have come from this??? :hmm:Both have handles and can make a lot of "noise" in use. :shocking: :: :redthumb:

 

I can just envision how that name came to be. A large meal of legumes (beans) the night before, a cold morning, a warm fire in the hearth, a long b-rrap, a flash in the pot and a singed bottom. Wadda you think? :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:


Just :m2c:

 

[Teleoceras]

Stumpkiller:

Many of the Thunder Mugs were the breech portion of the earliest cannon. Many early cannon were actually breech loaders. There were several breech sections to a particular cannon. While one was inserted and wedged tight in the cannon, the other sections were being reloaded with powder, ball, and hay (primitive wad).

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

Many of the Thunder Mugs were the breech portion of the earliest cannon.

You're right, I forgot about that. I can't believe I didn't put two and two together... :shake:

 

[RussB]

Many of the Thunder Mugs were the breech portion of the earliest cannon.

You're right, I forgot about that. I can't believe I didn't put two and two together... :shake:

Jeeez...The things I learn on this forum! No wonder I have a hard time sortin it all out.
Thunder Mug...Chamber Pot...Cannon[url] Breech...Droppings[/url] from a Rocking Horse, of course they are all synonymous, fit together like hand & glove.....right? :what:

All of you have suffered a misspent youth to ever have learned this kind of "stuff". :huh:


In all honesty, I am truly amazed at the collective knowledge of this forum! It just don't get much better for good reading. Without this thread I wouldn't have recognized a "hand cannon" if I met one on the street, now I will most certainly be looking for one.....Life is good!

Russ

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

Without this thread I wouldn't have recognized a "hand cannon" if I met one on the street...

The pictures above aren't hand cannons or 'gonnes', but probably either the breech sections of cannons or some sort of powder testing device, as mentioned earlier (or maybe a really big beer mug :: ). To see some handgonnes (sometimes called hand cannons), check out Greywolf's site, he makes lots of 'em:

http://www.handgonnes.com/

 

[RussB]

"To see some handgonnes (sometimes called hand cannons), check out Greywolf's site, he makes lots of 'em".....

Good! I went there and I read quite a bit.
I think my reference initally was more toward the verbiage than the actual equipment.
What / how are these "handgonnes" used in today's world of black powder shooters? Are they actualy shot...as in "at targets". or, are they just for the noise, smell, and smoke? Are they sometimes found at the vooos?
As I said before, I wouldn't know one if I met it on the street. A while back you fellers were having such a discussion and although I glanced through your material, I couldn't tell from a hill of beans what you were talking about....now I "think" I'm getting the picture of handgonnes. Thanks for your time. :master:

Russ

 

[RussB]

Several months ago some of you fellers here were discussing this same subject and one even mentioned a double, or tripple barreled handgonne that got my attention.
Following that, I did a little reading / research on my own and had, in my mind, what I thought a handgonne may well look like.

But that breech cup / thundermug thingy could have easily been applied to any handgonne....at least that's my thinking. Is it practical to think that such a handgonne existed where a "reloader" could just tap the handgonner on the shoulder, provide the "touch", and get a fire in the hole!

This one above would not be the type where that could be applied, but if the shoulder fired one was used....why not?

Russ

 

[Itegorm]

"What / how are these "handgonnes" used in today's world of black powder shooters?"

As for me they are shot and shot quite a bit. I have a couple of gonnes that are lots of fun to shoot. One in .56 caliber (from[url] Handgonnes.com[/url]) and another .56 that I turned as well as a .62 with a bit longer barrel. I wil be taking one out for some deer hunting this week (after tons of practice to make sure I can hit what I point at). I'll let you guys know how I do. I have done some small game hunting with them previously and had a bit of luck. Somehow I don't thing hunting (at least not for animals) was the original purpose of the gonne but it seems to work.

Nick Barber in unseasonably warm MI

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

Is it practical to think that such a handgonne existed where a "reloader" could just tap the handgonner on the shoulder, provide the "touch", and get a fire in the hole?
Russ

Yup. There were many occasions when one soldier held the gonne with both hands (whether firing from the hip, chest, or on the shoulder) while another applied the match/hot wire to the touch hole. It was supposed to help with aim, especially when firing a larger caliber gonne. Don't know if it did any good, though. ::

Russ, maybe we should get together some weekend and try
it on those "might-be-legal-if-you-can-find-'em" squirrels. :winking:

 

[RussB]

"Russ, maybe we should get together some weekend and try
it on those "might-be-legal-if-you-can-find-'em" squirrels."

Hey, You got it TOYOTA!

It's obivous you have been talking to our local Fish & Game folks! Goes kinda like this...

Can I hunt squirrels in Washington state? Yep !
What squirrels can I hunt? The ones that ain't protected .
Where do I find the ones that "ain't protected"? Usualy in a tree. What do the ones look like that are protected? Pretty much like any other squirrel.
How do I tell them apart? Well, one is the Western Red squirrel.
How can I tell a "Western Red" from any other squirrel? Well, I guess, the "Western Red" is a small red squirrel.
By now you are boiling inside and your voice gets a bit louder.....You yell, Dad burn it! they are all pretty much "little red squirrels".
And he seez, Yep, reckon so. But there are a few squirrels, that people hunt, down where the old Thompson place used to be.

Thompson place? who? what? where? and it ain't there no more???

I know, I've been there, done that, and got the T-shirt.
Welcome to Washington state my friend. :crackup:

In all seriousness, Yes! We will do that! Let's get through these holidays and get together.

Russ

 

[yar999]

Hi all, the pictures that you posted could also be hail-guns, used untill the last centuary to "seed" thunder clouds with iodine to protect crops from hailstones.
I have seen one used near Rosenheim (Bavaria) only a few years ago, hell what a bang, and what do you know,- no hail on that night! :thumbsup:

 

>near Rosenheim (Bavaria)

Ray, thats my area! They also have the hail pilots here that fly into the storm clouds for seeding when there is hail danger. I do not know about the statistics, but as they kept it up many years it seems they believe in it. It is a large project with a munich university in it.

Note: We are a quite hail-endangered region, look at my car and you see what I mean :cry:.