Just what is a Handgonne answered.

[Teleoceras]

A private message alerted me to those who might not know just what a Handgonne (some call them Hand Cannon) really is. Basically, a Handgonne is a firearm from the 14th\15th Century that required the shooter to place a piece of burning slowmatch in the touch hole by hand since there is no lock mechanism.

For good pictures and information, the Handgonnes and Matchlocks page at http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~dispater/handgonnes.htm is one of the best sources of information on the evolution of these weapons. This page includes the early Matchlocks as well. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Another nice site is the[url] Handgonnes.com[/url] site at http://216.110.181.227/index.htm. Once there, just click on the Wierd Lenny's Place section to see many diagrams of various Handgonnes. A direct link is at http://216.110.181.227/id75.htm.

Hope this is helpful!

 

Tele,
inquiring minds and all that. Is the term 'gonne' Old English? Could that be the origin or root of the word 'gun'?
Curisoity also drives me to ask .......What the heck do you do with a handgonne?
What I mean is, do you shoot them for the sake of doing it? For the historical aspect? Because you want to? (Best reason of all.)
Can you aim the thing? Can you hit anything smaller than an old Buick with one?
Can you hunt with one.
What bore size are they?
I can see it now, "special weapons handgonne only hunts".
You know what happens every stinking time I get interested in something like this?
I end up BUYING one! ::

 

[Teleoceras]

Maxiball:

Tele,
inquiring minds and all that. Is the term 'gonne' Old English? Could that be the origin or root of the word 'gun'?
Curisoity also drives me to ask .......What the heck do you do with a handgonne?
What I mean is, do you shoot them for the sake of doing it? For the historical aspect? Because you want to? (Best reason of all.)
Can you aim the thing? Can you hit anything smaller than an old Buick with one?
Can you hunt with one.
What bore size are they?
I can see it now, "special weapons handgonne only hunts".
You know what happens every stinking time I get interested in something like this?
I end up BUYING one! ::

Yes, the term gonne is from gun. Since many of the first guns were cannons, the term Handgonne means a hand portable firearm. You could call them a Handgun, but then that leads to much confusion with the modern usage of the term. So Handgonne or Hand Cannon are used instead.

As for why I shoot them.....Well the first time I was intrigued when I noticed that such weapons were for sale. I had been shooting black powder for many years and was actually shopping around to buy at Matchlock at the time (1999). I ended up getting the last Irish Musket Lock #2 Handgonne (.75) that Sykes Sutlery had as well as my .75 Matchlock. After I had a taste of shooting one, I had to get more! Irish had folded though, but that company's engineer created[url] Handgonnes.com[/url]. I bought 4 more Handgonnes from that company since with one more on order. Basically, I love the sense of history with them and they are just plain fun to shoot! Cleaning is easy too since the short barrel and no lock makes it 15 minutes cleaning tops.

Yes, you can aim with a Handgonne. I have hit a paper target out to 50 yards using the over-the-shoulder style. I usually shoot at 25 yards though to bring in the grouping. As for taking one out in the field.....think pistol charge when it comes to a short barrel Handgonne. The max charge for the .75 is 50 grs. FFFg. for any kind of knockdown power, it has to be strictly short range.

I've seen bores in .36, .50, .56, .75, and 1.00 (4 bore). There is a one pounder as well, but that one is so heavy that you need a carriage for it. For pictures of that monster go to http://216.110.181.227/id45.htm.

I own one .50, one .56, and three .75's. My Hussite gun is a .75, but because the stock design is so heavy, I use her only with a bench rest. The original Hussite guns were designed to be fired from wagons.

Hope this has been helpful! ::

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

I read in a book (I forget which one) that the term 'gun' came from the word 'engine'. Supposedly, a 'war engyn' (or 'engyne') meant any device (usually something big and powerful) used as a weapon on the battlefield, most often meaning a catapult or something like that. Then a new sort of 'engyn' was being experimented with that used burning powder, and this sort of 'engyn' was eventually shortened to 'gun' (or gunne, gonne, gone, or any number of other spellings). I don't think any of these things can be proven one way or the other, because of a lack of record keeping at the time and no standardization of terminology for several hundred years.

On a side note, it's also been theorized by some historians that the first gun was not a cannon, but a small handheld gun. That would seem logical because, since the powder's explosive qualities were obvious, it would make sense that they would try to develop a gun on a small scale first, before making something huge that uses a large quantity of that evil black powder that might explode and kill everyone in the area. But this is only speculation.

One thing's for sure: Those early experimenters had guts! (And I'll bet they didn't get worker's comp for their injuries, either!)

 

Tele:
Thanks for the wealth of knowledge. This is interesting stuff, keep the info flowing!

 

[musketman]

14th. century handgonne...

The man in blue is using a handgonne, which is really a cannon on a stick. The stick later evolved into the stock used today.

 

[Teleoceras]

Musketman:

That top drawing is the over-the-shoulder stance that I mentioned in a previous post. If you want the best accuracy, I found that that stance is the one to use.

 

[Teleoceras]

Squirrelsaurus Rex:

On a side note, it's also been theorized by some historians that the first gun was not a cannon, but a small handheld gun. That would seem logical because, since the powder's explosive qualities were obvious, it would make sense that they would try to develop a gun on a small scale first, before making something huge that uses a large quantity of that evil black powder that might explode and kill everyone in the area. But this is only speculation.

I do know that the English and likely others used convicts to shoot the early Handgonnes. If they survived, then they were free. If they blew up (which was very possible).....well, who cares about the death of a convict? :shocking:

Before the invention of corned powder, the early powder was called serpentine powder. The ignition rates were very unpredictable with the earlier powder.

 

Serpentine being a dry mixture of the various components ground into powder.
Daryl