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'Scattergun' loads in medieval handgonnes?

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Despite Rudyard's comment above in post #35 saying they "don't load easier on a traveling coach", I think the idea behind the flared muzzle is to speed up loading the gun.
The flared muzzle also adds to the intimidation factor of the gun. Looking down the large flared muzzle pointed at you would be much more frightening than looking at the end of a smaller, straight bore gun.
 
One reason, Ezeikel, is that it would be worrisome for a criminal to look down that great big muzzle.
(Sometimes engraved round about, " Happy is he that escapes me"!)

I Can see also, that riding a bouncy coach and attempting to load would be easier with the funnel-muzzle.
I believe coach-men fired the old 'busses fairly regularly at one time, as the Post Office brought out a law, (Think it was the post office) forbidding the coachmen from firing at game and fowl from the coach. Before then, the they likely loaded a lot more often than if merely protecting the mail-coach.

Zonie,

You beat me to the draw!
Great minds think alike, ....and so do ours!
 
I think all the reasons hold up well and probably no one can and will have a definitve answer which is a shame because finding these things out is half the facination of this game!
 
Toot,
In England, Nailers were an off-shoot from regular blacksmithing.
Nailers were often women.

...Women you may not want to argue with, after they'd swung a hammer for a few years!
WOW!!are those the women that you have to pull wrists with and beat them be fore you can kiss them??
 
Toot,
In England, Nailers were an off-shoot from regular blacksmithing.
Nailers were often women.

...Women you may not want to argue with, after they'd swung a hammer for a few years!
on this side of the pond we black smiths didn't know that snippet of trade history?
 
Hand cut file makers could be women an old freind Earnest Nuttbrown long gone used to make special hand cut files in the' Globe Works' Sheffield he had his mothers hammer its shaft was worn so much you would think it was moulded from plastic but it was years __Generations of use .He was my first paying customer he bought a single flint shotgun and they fired him over the Clay pideon grounds at Owler Bar from it . But not before he had years of use from it . Rudyard
thank you for posting this reply.
 
I would think nails were far too valuable to shoot
they were so valuable that a black smith was on the first voige of the MAYFLOWER to make them to build with. and pioneers when forced to move would burn down there cabins to retrieve the nails when it cooled down.
 
Toot,
Somewhere I have a first -hand account of these lady Nailers;
It was a very hot job, working over the forge, and they sometimes worked stripped to the waist.

They never shoed horses, as they were nailers.
 
Toot,
Somewhere I have a first -hand account of these lady Nailers;
It was a very hot job, working over the forge, and they sometimes worked stripped to the waist.

They never shoed horses, as they were nailers.
Stripped to the waist - standing in front of a forge cutting hot iron, OUCH - no thank you! They must have been one tough lot....
 
All this very good stuff leaves a question. If blunderbusses were not made for all the above listed reasons can any one suggest a more plausable reason for a flared muzzle?
Ease of loading.
And maybe to make the enemy you was shooting towards think you had a larger caliber than you actually had?

Another point in the "Nope, they didn't shoot nails, glass, rocks ..." argument
Early blunderbuss (and cannon) had brass or bronze barrels. Much softer and more prone to damage and failure than a steel barrel.
The nails, glass, and possibly rocks are harder than the brass or bronze. It would be possible to destroy the barrel (gouging it out) in just one or two shots, causing catastrophic failure by the third or fourth shot.
Of these the glass is harder than a steel barrel. (You can use ceramics/glass to sharpen any metal knife. Using any metal knife on a ceramic/glass plate will quickly dull it - even if it has one of the modern "super steel" blades.)
Depending on the heat treat, the nails might be harder than a steel barrel, too.
Shooting other than a lead ball (or lead bird shot with the proper over-powder and over shot wads) out of a steel barrel would be just as bad an idea as shooting those things from a brass or bronze barrel.
 
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The cases I've read about where someone fired strange things out of their muzzleloaders happened when they were defending themselves and they had run out of conventional ammunition.
In cases like that, I don't think they gave a darn about the possible damage shooting rocks and other things would cause to the gun. All they cared about was surviving.
(No, I don't recall what the name of the books were where I read about them doing this but, I have read it. Maybe it was just the authors way of making his story interesting but faced with a similar situation, I would be the first to grab a handful of pea gravel and blast it into anyone who was trying to attack me.)
 
There have been some very interesting replies here, but it seems a lot of folks have been focusing on the potential of "scattergun loads" in handgonnes when it comes to shooting birds. Has no one considered the possibility of a shotgun-type load for combat during the medieval period? Assuming you were shooting at lightly or unarmoured targets who were trying to close in for a melee, couldn't this have been a way of negating the general inaccuracy of these weapons when firing single projectiles? Is there no historical mention of this sort of thing being tried by medieval handgonners at any point?
 
It dont matter what size hole it is to me my friend - if its pointing at me Im not sticking around to see what happens next! Good morning Rudyard , hope all is well?
 
Alls well Ezekiel Thank you .
I note looking over the posts Zonie questions my view re ease of loading of flareing muzzles . Well If you use a modern cut wad it invariably falls in sideways and if you try to ram paper it very soon wedges into the cone so is Not easy to load .Try it and see as I have . Perhaps oakam or tow might be better suited . I hav'nt tried that. And the any old scrap & pebbles idea is probably only partly good for the first shot. But I cant say as I've never ventured to try it . Regards Rudyard
 
Dear Ezekial
Well Phycologie might fit looking into a 2" muzzle just might put you off getting closer ?. Cheers Rudyard

It dont matter what size hole it is to me my friend - if its pointing at me Im not sticking around to see what happens next! Good morning Rudyard , hope all is well?

You guys aren't medieval soldiers though. Folks back then were used to getting in close to do their dirty work ;)
 
Yes I can confirm neither of us are medieval soldiers, nor much used to going into close quarter battles wielding hand gonnes .So cant really confirm that gravel & old nails are not distained projectiles . Rudyard
 
Both Rudyard and I are old enough to be classed as medieval but I cant imagine people thought any more of risking their necks unecessarily than we do and your gun was a rare and wondrous tool back then so putting stones ( nails were very expensive ) down it would be out of the question?
 
Yes I can confirm neither of us are medieval soldiers, nor much used to going into close quarter battles wielding hand gonnes .So cant really confirm that gravel & old nails are not distained projectiles . Rudyard

Both Rudyard and I are old enough to be classed as medieval but I cant imagine people thought any more of risking their necks unecessarily than we do and your gun was a rare and wondrous tool back then so putting stones ( nails were very expensive ) down it would be out of the question?

I didn't say anything about stones or nails, that was someone else who brought it up. I'm talking about a medieval equivalent to buckshot or other purpose-made shotgun type loads.
 
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