Had a good time at the range today shooting my matchlock and handgonne with club members.
Matchlock and handgonne fun at the range
- Thread starter TC
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Sounds like a very good day to me!
A fun day for sure. The matchlock has a pretty fair recoil - what is the caliber and load? I like them both.
No wonder they had some recoil. Well done, sir.
The fishtail style butt plate on the matchlock has a large surface area the really spreads that recoil out making it more comfortable than it looks to fire. The hand gonne is heavy at about 10 lbs. when fired over the shoulder it just slides back a few inches. Very comfortable to shoot. I have tried a olive oil soaked 1/2 fiber wad above the ball on each gun and i got to say that after 15 shots the bores continued to load as easy as the first shot. I have also found that the higher powder loads yielded the best accuracy.
Wad-C as shown is one of the thick fiber wads, which you buy by the caliber or bore size needed. You just split it in two to use 1/2 the wad.
MZL places like TOW sell them. If you only need a few, I can send you some to try, depending on what caliber you may need. Link = Cards & wads for muzzle loading rifles & revolvers - Track of the Wolf
MZL places like TOW sell them. If you only need a few, I can send you some to try, depending on what caliber you may need. Link = Cards & wads for muzzle loading rifles & revolvers - Track of the Wolf
I recently had to replace a dishwasher. Well i realized that i had a armored breast plate that i needed to proof. Unscientific but fun nonetheless. Range 15 yards. Hand gonne charge .715 ball over 100 grains of 2f with a fibre wad above the ball. Hit upper left side dent only. Then 150 grains of 2f hit lowest large hole completely through. matchlock-110 grains of 2f .760 ball with wad atop. Several hits near center. Complete pass through. Unmentionable hits upper right.
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The ottoman thread has some really good information on their guns. They were the elite (until they became too self indulgent) foot troops of the Ottoman Empire, so represented the main existential threat for Europe during the late medieval and early modern period. Conveniently, this more or less lines up perfectly with the time frame for this forum, with it starting around the fall of Constantinople in 1453 (handgonnes were used) and ending with the second siege of Vienna in1683 (the Hapsburgs were still primarily armed with matchlocks). The battle of Mohacs in 1526 and the first siege of Vienna in 1529 were early major battles where both sides were heavily armed with matchlock arquebuses.
A disclaimer: I have done a fair amount of reading on the European side of these conflicts and their guns, but very little from the Ottoman perspective. Users like Barud, Cyten, Rudyard, and Rickystl are far more knowledgeable.
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