 Hand gonnes from the Historisches Museum, Bern
 Hand gonne being fired from a stand, "Belli Fortis", manuscript, by Konrad Kyeser, 1400 The gonne, hand gonne or hand cannon, as it was called, was the first handheld, portable firearm. http://homepages. ...
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Image File history File links Lgehumble_1400. ...
Image File history File links Lgehumble_1400. ...
An assortment of modern handheld firearms using fixed ammunition, including military assault rifles, a sporting shotgun (fourth from bottom), and a tactical shotgun (third from bottom). ...
The gonne was invented around 1300 (or perhaps earlier) and was used until at least the 1520s in Europe, and until modern times in the Far East. However, where it was invented remains an area of intense controversy. The Chinese, Mongols, and Arabs all have a claim - as do the Europeans. A 16th-century legend about a 14th-century German or Greek monk called Berthold Schwarz (Black Berthold, Bertholdus Niger) having invented the gun has long been proved to be completely fictitious. Events February 22 - Jubilee of Pope Boniface VIII. March 10 - Wardrobe accounts of King Edward I of Englanddo (aka Edward Longshanks) include a reference to a game called creag being played at the town of Newenden in Kent. ...
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World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ...
The far east as a cultural block includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and South Asia. ...
Mongols (Mongolian: Монгол Mongol) are an ethnic group that originated in what is now Mongolia, Russia, and China or more specifically on the Central Asian plateau north of the Gobi desert and south of Siberia. ...
The Arabs (Arabic: عرب) are a heterogeneous ethnic group who are predominantly speakers of the Arabic language, mainly found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ...
World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of Earth; the term continent here referring to a cultural and political distinction, rather than a physiographic one, thus leading to various perspectives about Europes precise borders. ...
A monk is a person who practices asceticism, the conditioning of mind and body in favor of the spirit. ...
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It was a primitive weapon, but effective in sieges and ambushes. It was less effective in open battle and in wet or windy conditions. Despite its crude appearance, the gonne could kill an armoured or unarmoured opponent at short ranges - if the gunner could manage to hit them. Experiments indicate an effective range of about 50 metres and a maximum range of about 300 metres, depending on calibre and type of powder used.
Gonnes ranged in barrel length from 190 to 600 mm and from 12 to 36 mm in calibre. Approximate weights ranged from 1.5 kg to a monstrous 15 kg for some siege models. Barrels were typically short compared to later firearms and made from wrought iron or cast in bronze. For ease of handling, the barrels were attached to a wooden stock. This was done in two ways: either by resting the barrel in a groove in the stock and securing it with metal bands; or by inserting the stock into a socket formed in the rear part of the barrel. Some gonnes merely had a metal rod formed as an extension to the rear of the barrel as a handle. For firing, the gonne could be held in two hands while an assistant applied an igniter (such as hot coals or burning tinder) to the touch hole, or propped against something and set off by the gunner himself. Illustrations depict gunners holding the stock in the armpit, or over the shoulder like a modern bazooka to aim their weapon. During sieges, gonnes were rested on the edges of walls, over the sides of armoured carts, or on forked rests hammered into the ground. For this reason hooks are often found attached to the bottom of the barrel. A siege is a military blockade and assault of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. ...
A firearm is a kinetic energy weapon that fires either a single or multiple projectiles propelled at high velocity by the gases produced by action of the rapid confined burning of a propellant. ...
A wrought iron railing in Troy, New York. ...
Assorted ancient bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ...
It has been suggested that shareholder be merged into this article or section. ...
A touch hole is a small hole, through which the propellent charge of a cannon or muzzleloading gun is ignited. ...
The bazooka weapon was one of the initial anti-tank weapons based on the High Explosive Anti-tank (HEAT) shell to enter service, used by the United States Armed Forces in World War II and the Korean War. ...
Later gonnes were made with a flash pan attached to the barrel, and a touch hole drilled through the side wall instead of the top of the barrel. The flashpan had a sliding lid fitted, to keep the priming powder dry until the moment of firing. The invention of corned powder, the slow match, and the flash pan around 1400 led to the widespread adoption of gonnes, as those who used them were now no longer required to mix their powder on the spot, stay close to a source of fire, or stay out of the weather. Flash pan or Priming pan is a small receptacle for priming powder, found next to the touch hole on muzzleloading guns. ...
A touch hole is a small hole, through which the propellent charge of a cannon or muzzleloading gun is ignited. ...
The slow match is another term for the slow-burning fuse used by early gunpowder armies to light matchlock muskets. ...
Flash pan or Priming pan is a small receptacle for priming powder, found next to the touch hole on muzzleloading guns. ...
The reasons why firearms gradually came to dominate European warfare are not clear. The advantages of the gonne were low cost, easy mass production, the ability to be used by fairly poorly trained troops, and a measure of control over their manufacture (and especially the manufacture of ammunition - an important consideration in a medieval Europe wracked by rebellion). While the gonne could not match the accuracy or speed of fire of the longbow, gunners did not require the special diet and continuous practice from childhood required of a good bowman. Crossbows had superior power and accuracy compared to early gonnes, but were expensive to make, slow to reload and almost as badly affected by wet weather as gonnes. For other uses of War, see War (disambiguation). ...
A modern reconstruction of a longbow. ...
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that fires projectiles. ...
In fiction
"Gonne" is also the name of the firearm in the Discworld novel Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. Believed to be the only black powder weapon in existence on the Discworld, the gonne more resembles a modern rifle than the weapon described above, as it has a magazine of 6 shots which can be fired in rapid succession. The impression is given that it is semi-automatic. Diskworld, spelled with a k, was a disk magazine for the Apple Macintosh, later renamed Softdisk for Mac. ...
Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ...
See also The Matchlock was the first firearm to have a trigger mechanism for firing. ...
Wheellock, Wheel-Lock or Wheel lock, is a mechanism for firing a firearm. ...
Snaplock refers to a mechanism for igniting a firearms propellant usually in a muzzleloading gun. ...
Snaphance or Snaphaunce refers to a mechanism for igniting a firearms propellant usually in a muzzleloading gun. ...
Miquelet (miguelet) is a modern term applied to a distinctive form of flint-against-steel ignition mechanism (lock) prevalent in the Mediterrean lands in the late 16th to early 19th centuries. ...
Two flintlock pistols Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. ...
External links - Handgonnes and Matchlocks
- Ulrich Bretschler's Blackpowder Page
- Maitre Jehan de Montsiler - the first recorded hand gunner
- Handgonnes Design
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