Hand Gonne

[Claude Mathis]

The earliest 'hand gonne' was developed in the fifteenth century, but was not a great influence in battle. It was a small cannon with a touch-hole for ignition. It was unsteady, required that the user prop it on a stand, brace it with one hand against his chest and use his other hand to touch a lighted match to the touch-hole, and had an effective range of only about thirty to fourty yards. It surely must have taken iron nerves to use one of these against a charging knight, nearly within his lance's reach, when the powder might not even ignite.

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

Most scholars these days believe that handgonnes (or hand cannons) were in use earlier than previously thought. The earliest recorded use of the term "handgonne" that we know of at this point is the manifest of a ship in Edward III's fleet, dated 1338, in which a handgonne is listed among other weapons on board. The earliest surviving example of a handgonne is the "Loshult" gun in Sweden (just under 12" long), which has been dated at between 1350-1400.

 

[Zonie]

Most people think the spelling of the word gonne' was just a poor attempt to spell gun however when taken in the context as described by Claude you can see that if the powder did not ignite or he didn't hit the charging knight with the projectile it was indeed the shooter who was the gone-ie! ::

 

There's an online outfit in the States or Canada that sells "KIT'S" for that piece - might be The Rifle Shoppe?- I know I saw it listed somewhere - there were other kits as well. Anyone know it?
Daryl

 

[musketman]

There's an online outfit in the States or Canada that sells "KIT'S" for that piece - might be The Rifle Shoppe?- I know I saw it listed somewhere.

It is The Rifle Shoppe, here is their link to the Hand Gonne parts page, there are two different styles to choose from...

They're kind of like a kit, you can buy the parts sepperatly and go from there...

http://www.therifleshoppe.com/hand_gonnes.htm

 

Thanks for the clarification - I can't see buying the parts when about everyone aleady has them in the form of an old barrel and axe handle. A quick turn on the old lathe to get the style desired or leave it as is, ball mill a pan, drill the touch-hole, and well, with a few hours of tinkering - done. A linstock (slow-match-holder) would be easier on your skin than using a bick or paper/stick match.
Daryl

 

[musketman]

Of course, why make one when you could make two, that way you could send me one to test do an extensive 30 year test... :winking:

 

Hey - why not make a 2 or 4 barrel hand gonne, eh? The two bottom barrels could have pans WOW!- lots of levers for firing, eh?
; Actually, the side by side is beginning to sound better and better. HA!- it sure would make an interesting hunting firearm, wouldn't it? As long as it was over 26" long, and meant to be fired using both hands, it would be legal, even here. An old pair of shotgun barrels could easily be breeched up for use.
Daryl

 

[musketman]

Hey - why not make a 2 or 4 barrel hand gonne, eh?

I wonder if that was the basis behind the Billinghurst-Requa batteries of the Civil War?

They could be Hand Gonneish if you think about it, a barrel or two :winking: mounted on wood and fired through a vent...

They mounted 25 rifled barrels side by side, when loaded and primed, the gun was set off by use of a lanyard, firing the barrels in sequence with a rippling sound...

Over 50 were produced.

 

[Thornezilla]

This type of gun was in use as early as the English Civil War, and most likely much earlier.

The ones that I'm familiar with usually have no more than 9 barrels, more often 5 or so, and usually fire from a common pan (a metal trough laid across all the touch-holes). Some folks try separate pans, but the things have a tendency to jump-fire or chain fire anyway...

And the size of the barrels can increase so that the gun gradually 'creeps' into the multi-barrel artillery class. Some German Landsknechts groups have one that is 4 small cannon barrels in a row, each barrel in an individual box mounted on a small carriage.

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

Some German Landsknechts groups have one that is 4 small cannon barrels in a row, each barrel in an individual box mounted on a small carriage.

That sounds like fun! Do you know of any Landsknecht websites where we can see pictures of these guns?

 

[Thornezilla]

don't know of any multi-barrel guns images online, but here are some links to the groups I know about -

http://www.st-mike.org/groups/german/

http://www.st-max.org/

At the latter site, go to the "Todesengel Portraits" link and view the Fair Oaks 2003 pics to see my unit and St. Max's working together to do a pike & musket drill. The pike protects the unit from cav charges whilst the shot peppers the horsey-boys (sadly, imaginary in this case) until they trot away to pester another unit.

By the way, the short matchlocks used by the Germans have a snapping lock mechanism activated by a button on the side, not a trigger or sear bar. These are made by Dale Shinn of Sacramento, CA.

 

[Teleoceras]

There's an online outfit in the States or Canada that sells "KIT'S" for that piece - might be The Rifle Shoppe?- I know I saw it listed somewhere.

It is The Rifle Shoppe, here is their link to the Hand Gonne parts page, there are two different styles to choose from...

They're kind of like a kit, you can buy the parts sepperatly and go from there...

http://www.therifleshoppe.com/hand_gonnes.htm

I would like to add that there is another source known as Handgonnes Design Inc. Fred "Graywolf" Miller currently is reorganising the company so his web page is currently under reconstruction. Most of the Handgonnes that I own (and are shown at my website) are from him. From a recent E-Mail, I was told that some pieces are still in stock. You can contact him via [email protected] if interested.

Production is supposed to restart by Fall 2004 at the latest. Currently I have a long barrelled Handgonne on order from[url] Handgonnes.com[/url].

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

http://www.st-max.org/

That link isn't working. Maybe a typo?

 

[musketman]

It's working now...

It may have been something at their end, not ours...

http://www.st-max.org/

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

That still doesn't work for me. I keep getting "Error: can't find website". But on a hunch I tried this and got something:

http://www.st-mike.org/

"st-max" doesnt work, but "st-mike" does. Is that the website you were referring to, "St. Michael's" main page?

 

[musketman]

I'm doing St. Maximilian Landsknecht Re-enactment Guild...

http://www.st-max.org/

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

I'm still getting the same error message with that one. With "st-mike", it pulled up St. Michaels' home page, but with "st-max", I keep getting "Error: Can't find website".