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Post by al on Mar 14, 2007 21:34:47 GMT 1
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Post by al on Mar 14, 2007 21:38:34 GMT 1
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Post by steveofrat on Mar 14, 2007 22:14:33 GMT 1
I do like the double barreled breech loading rifle, it'd probably use half the powder issue per barrel and clear the arena though.
I'm sure i've seen a bayonet attachment grenade launcher at Leeds (it may have been some Scottish museum though) and thought 'I wish someone made one with a dummy grenade included'.
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Post by al on Mar 14, 2007 23:07:59 GMT 1
Yeah there were a few multi weapon grenade launchers and variations on the idea.
Its basically an overgrown blunderbuss after all.
I think its a shame they were never used more widely.
What diameter grenade did these take then..? i've never been able to get past a display cabinet
to be able to measure the muzzle of one.
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Post by tod on Mar 15, 2007 11:49:45 GMT 1
Steve, you are NOT having one, it's bad enough standing next to Gary and his blunderbuss  We could always make a mock up. I've got a horrible fake bess in bits we could cut down. |
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Post by al on Mar 15, 2007 19:26:09 GMT 1
Steve & Tod cover your eyes so you see no evil.
Have been chating to a guy in America who cast a few barrels for these things and made up some
different type grenade launchers.
Loverly man from South Carolina with some rather extreme views the rest of the world, but i
got the info i needed from him & changed my mailing address quick.
He's made one that will fire a tennis ball 600 yards.........!!!!!!!!!
Now, just as an experiment into barrel casting this seriously interests me and what surprised
me was that you don't need a fantastic heat but rather a constant to easily melt your brass
in a crucible that retains the heat for you.
Obvious you might think, but this does make you start to think about casting in a new light.
So if you see bellows coming out the back of the car, then look the other way for the rest of
the night.
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Post by al on Mar 15, 2007 21:51:47 GMT 1
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Post by steve stanley on Mar 17, 2007 5:50:35 GMT 1
But what are the possibilities for a pump-action one with thermal imager & laser pointer &...must go & take my tablets...seriously,according to Peterson's "Arms & Armor in colonial America" they're designed for 2-man use....1 to load & light the fuse & 1(kneeling,with the butt on the ground) to fire....
Steve
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Post by al on Mar 17, 2007 12:43:35 GMT 1
Thats interesting Steve, that means they've not moved on much in firing technique from early seige warfare, I suppose if a method worked well you still used it.....  |
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Post by al on Mar 17, 2007 12:47:55 GMT 1
Thats interesting Steve, that means they've not moved on much in firing technique from early seige warfare, well come to think of it, Chinese rocket launching crews of the early empire. I suppose if a method worked well you still used it..... |
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Post by steve stanley on Mar 17, 2007 20:23:07 GMT 1
Same cup-style used up to WWII........only the grenades changed!
(mind you....big gap from 1730's 'til they were re-discovered in WWI)
Steve
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Post by al on Mar 18, 2007 12:30:31 GMT 1
So what size were the grenades then..?? was it a standard size thing for English & French weapons or was there a vast difference .... |
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Post by steve stanley on Mar 18, 2007 21:19:25 GMT 1
Far as I'm aware,pretty much the same(tennis ball-ish)....the pottery ones in Leicester museum are just over 4" diameter & I'd guess the cast ones were similiar.....incidentally,of the dischargers held by the Royal Armouries,the earliest is 1689 & the latest 1747.......
Steve
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Post by al on Mar 18, 2007 21:43:41 GMT 1
A 4" diameter lump of cast packed with blackpowder is a fair lump to get to move out of a barrel,
that must have been quite an impressive thing to witness, let alone try to actually fire....!!!!
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Post by tod on Mar 22, 2007 17:55:55 GMT 1
I deal with foundries every day with my job..............I wonder.....
The reason for two men, one very stupid holding gun, second man slightly brighter, lighting the fuse and running away.
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