"Canoe Gun" - Pot stirring warning

[Loyalist Dave]

I, myself, have wondered what the difference was between a canoe gun and a carbine. Generally speaking, a carbine is a lighter, shorter barrel version of a rifle and was typically used by artillery/cavalry..they needing something light and handy as they had other things going on where a full sized rifle was an inconvenience. I have also seen that, while I could find no historical context, a canoe gun is a short barreled version of a smoothbore used for hunting seated from a canoe and either designed or modified for ease of loading and aiming while seated in such conveyance. In the same vein as the breech loading short barreled shotgun, the "coach gun", of the stagecoach era.

While the word carbine has a long historical context, that being a short barreled rifle, canoe gun does not. Also the term "gun" seemed to be used frequently for smoothbores and rifles/carbines for, of course, rifled arms....but the use of gun wasn't always necessarily a category of arm, rather the generic name applied to small arms. It was certainly easy when all you had was one and somebody said "Get the gun". Not much confusion on what to get.

Actually "carbine" first applied to a version of a musket in smaller than standard caliber, then a short time later also meant a smaller musket, perhaps in a smaller caliber...

.

October 27th, 1763 Annapolis MD, inventory of colony arms: In the Council Chamber 200 Muskets with Slings, appear to be in good Order. 30 Trumpets, 70 Broad Swords, 2 Drums, 42 halberts and Pikes, 50 Sword Blades and 16 Daggers 59, Buff Belts, ....., Above the Conference Chamber 85 Black hilted Swords, 42 Bright ditto. 15 Cutlasses. 35 Pistols one New Drum & one Old ditto. 200 New Bayonets with Cartouch Boxes & Bullet Molds. 90 Buff Belts 29 Old Bayonets 86 fire Locks Short Muskets & Carbines 68 old Muskets and Carbines some without Locks and many with Broken Locks. 5 Chests of Matches 30 Blue Cases for Muskets, 10 listed Cases for Carbines, 5 half Pikes 15 pair Drum Sticks 11 New Carbine Slings ..., 77 Kegs Musket Ball 4 Barrel Carbine ditto

LD

 

[chorizo]

Yes, it has evolved, but has historical context which was my point and when I said generally.

I really don't think even the military, which is known for that kind of stuff, was particularly pedantic about it. As most units were widely dispersed and subject to the whims of the Captain (Navy) or the Commanding General, there was wide variation in nomenclature. Reading old journals of Fort Commanders in the 1800's only reinforces my belief that it all depended on the state of the education and the region where the individual came from on what things were called. During the Civil War, there were lots of different names applied to things in the West than there were previously when the "paroled" Southerners manned the forts out west.

I recently read a book where the writer claimed soldiers had a hard time understanding their officers as they were all paroled Southern Gentlemen and the soldiers were Boston Yankees. It may have been a story told in Frank Grouard's book, not about him but about some of the soldiers that he was scouting for.

TV and mobility has homogenized us all.

 

[wganz]

I always thought a canoe-gun was a smoothbore ?

LD

such a stickular for particulars.
why let such minor detail stand in the way of a sale?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

such a stickular for particulars.
why let such minor detail stand in the way of a sale?

WHERE did I indicate not to buy such? So nothing is standing "in the way of a sale".

LD

 

[wganz]

WHERE did I indicate not to buy such? So nothing is standing "in the way of a sale".

LD

like a katt with its furr rubbed the wrong way...
wasn't a comment about you but about how companies label firearms so incorrectly just to catch a trend to sell to the unsuspecting or uninformed. 99.99% of the members here immediately catch that isn't a trade gun. but the public's perception will be 'mother goosed' into believing that is what a short barreled trade gun does look like. Not unlike the public's perception of the T/C Hawkin's rifle is what everyone carried westward.
Again, not about you.

 

[tenngun]

I actually would put an aperture sight on it - and hunt with it. I like hunting guns that use historically correct but rare elements in combinations that suit me. So if your going with a "canoe gun" that seems like a good time for the aperture too.
Also - my eyes dont handle the open sights so well.

Guns no good if you can’t shoot it. Even if not HC