DIY antique cannon. Ancient guns - technological equipment? The largest Tsar Cannons in the world

This topic comes up regularly. The inquisitive minds of alternative researchers cannot ignore thin-walled tools with unnecessary elements that are mediocre from the point of view of not only calculations, but also common sense. I suggest watching the next two videos on this topic and once again familiarizing yourself with the version of the purpose of these “guns”.

Below is a small list of examples of supposedly ancient cannons, many of which were never fired, or were fired once (which led to their destruction).

Bombard of Styria (Pumhart von Steyr). It was made at the beginning of the 15th century. The cannon is made of metal strips held together with hoops, like a barrel. Caliber 820, weight 8 tons, length 259 cm, fired 700 kilogram cannonballs at 600 meters with a charge of 15 kg. gunpowder and an elevation of 10 degrees. Kept in the War Museum in Vienna.
The walls are very thin, the core is prohibitively heavy. Has anyone done any calculations - could such a bombardier fire cannonballs of such mass? Moreover, not just once or twice.

Mad Greta (Dulle Griet). Named after the Countess of Flanders Margaret the Cruel. Like the previous one, it is made of strips. Made by masters of the city of Ghent, caliber 660 mm, weight 16.4 tons, length 345 cm. In 1452 it was used during the siege of the city of Odenarde, and was captured by the besieged as a trophy. It returned to Ghent in 1578, where it is still kept in the open air.
This specimen even has a history, a legend. The iron strip walls are also thin for this caliber.

Dardannel Cannon. Cast in 1464 by Mater Munir Ali. Caliber 650 mm, weight 18.6 tons, length 518 cm. The surviving cannon is a copy of one cast somewhat earlier (in 1453) by the Hungarian master Urban. The cannon, cast by Urban, fired only a few shots at the besieged Constantinople before cracking. However, this was enough to destroy the wall. The surviving copy was kept secret for a long time until it was used against the British fleet in the Dardanelles operation in 1807. In 1866, Sultan Abdulaziz presented the cannon to Queen Victoria and it is now kept at Fort Nelson in England.

Why do we need something like a “gear” on the barrel and a collapsible “gun” design on a threaded connection? Why halve it? And what equipment to disassemble? In the field?

Fat Meg (Mons Meg). Like similar European cannons of the time, it was made from metal strips by master Jehan Combières for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. In 1449 it was presented to King James II of Scotland and is kept in Edingburgh Castle. In 1489 it was used during the siege of Dumberton Castle. Caliber 520 mm, weight 6.6 tons, length 406 cm. The range of a projectile weighing 175 kg with a charge of 47.6 kg of gunpowder and an elevation of 45 degrees is 1290 meters.
So thin-barreled for this caliber.

There is no need to introduce the most famous cannon in our country. Of all those presented below, it is the largest-caliber (1586, caliber 890 mm, weight 36.3 tons, length 534 cm). In the entire history, only 2 guns of a larger caliber were manufactured - the American “Little David” (914 mm, 1945) and the English “Mallet Mortar” (in honor of the creator Robert Mallet, 910 mm, 1857). Maybe not everyone knows, but in the Artillery Museum there are 2 more cannons made by Chokhov and 2 more in Stockholm (captured during the defeat of Peter I near Narva).

I am not saying that these are not artillery guns. Yes, some of them fired. But I do not rule out that these are finds, or later products based on found specimens, which began to be used as cannons during the seizure and redistribution of territories.
In the videos above there is a version of what these thin-walled “cannons” with stone cores could be used for. I also voiced this version in the article

We look at the furnaces for burning and grinding rocks for the production of lime, cement and at one of the ancient cannons

Here and there we see protrusions around the circumference of the “barrel” for support on the roller during rotation.

Why not a gun? After the cataclysm, if descendants find something like this, they will most likely begin to use it as a weapon, and not as equipment.

In modern ovens, the inside is lined with refractory bricks. Perhaps it was also used in the supposed “mortars” and “bombers”.

The technological process now looks like this.

Given the volume of stone construction in the ancient world, and even in the brick European civilization, there should have been a lot of kilns for burning and grinding lime. Perhaps in these “cannons” they only crushed the rock, placing stone cores there, and burned the charge in the “towers”:

Diagram of a modern stove

But perhaps the very principle of grinding rock in ancient “cannons” is also an adaptation of finds to the needs of that time, perhaps in parallel with the military. But initially their design is something more complex even for us.

The famous Tsar Cannon, which is now located in the Kremlin of Moscow. This cannon, weighing 40 tons, was created during the time of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich by Russian cannon master Andrei Chokhov in 1586. Which is what is written on top of the vent. The caliber of the Tsar Cannon is 20 inches, and the barrel length is 5 meters.

It is believed that the first cannons appeared in Russia in the 14th century, and chronicles about the participation of artillery in the Battle of Kulikovo are cited as an example. In the 16th century, many different fortress cannons were placed on the walls and towers. They differed both in the composition of the metal from which they were made, and among them there were cast iron, iron, copper cannons, and even wooden ones, although at that time they were already falling out of use and were used mainly in the field due to their mobility. And also the guns differed in size, where the smallest were something like a musket or squeak, and the largest were like the Tsar Cannon, which had gigantic dimensions and were located on the ground, since the towers would not have withstood such things. And it must be said that there were, presumably, a lot of similar guns. Near the Arsenal building in the Kremlin you can still see some of the ancient Russian cannons that have come down to us.

Heroes of the Trojan War on ancient cannons

The Trojan cannons, which depict the heroes of the Trojan War, namely the kings of supposedly ancient Troy, deserve special attention. Their history is very interesting. Here, for example, is one of them, also made by Chokhov under the name “Troilus”. Troilus was the name of the son of the ancient Trojan king Priam. On the bronze barrel of the cannon is written “By the grace of God and by the command of the Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ioannovich of All Russia, this arquebus “TROIL” was made in the summer of 7098. Made by Andrey Chokhov.”

In the center of the turret trunk there is a turret of the Trojan king with a banner and a sword. Troil weighs seven tons with a barrel length of 4.5 meters and a caliber of almost 10 inches. And there are several such cannons with ancient Trojan heroes in Moscow. There is another “Troilus”, but it is copper and cast in 1685 by cannon maker Yakov Dubina. Already, naturally, by order and God's grace by Tsars Peter and Ivan Alekseevich. On the barrel of the gun there are also images of kings sitting on a throne. Weighing 6.5 tons, it has a barrel length of 3.5 meters and a caliber of 7.5 inches.

But not all surviving weapons depict Trojan heroes. For example, on the famous Tsar Cannon, a galloping horseman is depicted on the barrel; it is implied that this is Fyodor Ioannovich, that is, a tsar, but only a Russian one, and not a Trojan and ancient one.

Don't you think that based on traditional Romanov history this is somehow strange? Some guns cast at the same time depict Russians, while others depict Trojan kings. After all, the distance between them, according to Skaleger, is three thousand years.

In St. Petersburg there is an Achilles bombard, cast in the 16th century. And again the gun seems to be Russian, but the name is antique. Of course, this can be explained by a passion for everything Trojan, a certain fashion of that time, although history does not tell us anything about this. But here’s the catch: Gnedich translated Homer’s Iliad into Russian only in the 20s of the 19th century; in Europe itself, the Iliad was not known throughout the Middle Ages. The question is, what kind of fashion could there be when translation did not even exist.

And these are only three Trojan ones, although they can also be called Tsar - cannons, since they depict kings, how many of them were cast is not known. But the history of the Trojan turrets is okay, but what about the Turkish ones, that is, those that, according to traditional history, depict non-Christians - the eternal enemies of the Russians and all Christians. For example, the “New Persian” mortar depicts a man in a turban, presumably from the name of the Persian gun. On the breech of the gun it is signed, just like on the second Troilus, that by sovereigns and great princes, etc., etc.... It was cast in the city of Moscow in 7194, that is, in 1686. It’s called “New Persian”, by the way, judging by the name, since it’s a new Persian, it means there was an old one. It turns out that the cannon has some kind of history and before there was some other cannon simply “Persian”, after which this one was named.

In general, it is extremely difficult to explain all this from the point of view of traditional history. The Russians and the Ottomans were probably not such enemies; they were probably even allies. And in Istanbul it was not the enemy who ruled, but the friend and ally of the Russian Tsar, the Ottoman Sultan. That’s why there are images on ancient cannons, since Russian and Ataman troops fought side by side, and not with each other. And these troops were two parts of the once united Mongolian, that is, the Great Empire. And even during the time of the first Romanovs, they still remembered and knew about this, and therefore continued to make cannons with common ancient images. As for the Trojan kings, they are not the kings of a certain legendary Troy, who supposedly lived several thousand years before, but of the real medieval Troy, the capital of the empire, also known as Istanbul-Constantinople. And not the Persians, the current Persians are meant by the name guns, but our Russian Cossacks. Since it is known for certain that the Cossacks wore a turban. Yes, and Persia is only a slightly modified word Prussia, that is, In Russian, without vowels the words are the same.

The largest Tsar Cannons in the world

According to the history of guns, the presence of such gigantic guns in the hands of the Russians speaks of their leading role in matters of artillery, as well as the exceptional position of the Russian army at that time. No one in Europe at that time had such artillery. And the Tsar Cannon, which has survived to this day, was at that time one of the largest cannons in the world, but not the only one. And, in particular, that they had never fired from it and it seemed impossible to shoot.

In terms of its type of shooting, the Tsar Cannon is a mortar, and from the 16th century it is the only example that has come down to us, but already in the 17th-18th centuries analogues to it existed and were used very successfully. In general, many bombards were made in Moscow before Chokhov, the author of the Tsar Cannon known today. In 1488, Pavel Debosis, also a gunsmith, cast a mortar, which was also called the Tsar Cannon. In 1554, a mortar was cast from cast iron, which weighed 1.2 tons and had a caliber of 650 mm, and the next year another one of approximately the same characteristics.

This is evidenced by the stories and sketches of foreign ambassadors and travelers. As well as diagrams of the Kremlin itself from the 16th century, which shows the location of the cannons at all the Kremlin gates. But these guns did not survive to us. So there were enough various mortars and howitzers in the Russian army of that time. And by the way, the Tsar Cannon was supposed to fire not cannonballs, but buckshot. And those cannonballs that stand next to it today are just props, hollow inside. The Tsar Cannon itself has another name, “Russian Shotgun,” since it was made for firing buckshot. And although it did not participate in hostilities, it was still cast as a military weapon, and not a prop at the whim of the king to satisfy his vanity. It looks strange to spend so much effort and metal on creating just a toy; cast iron was not so free then. It was already in the history of Soviet times that monuments to all and sundry began to be cast from cast iron, and then they were still satisfied by naming bombards in honor of someone and having their images on the barrels.

Andrei Chokhov himself cast many guns. And these guns distinguished themselves in the history of many campaigns of the then kings. And all his guns were distinguished by their enormous size, excellent finishing and generally excellent quality of work. So in 1588, Chokhov, the author of the Tsar Cannon, cast a hundred-barreled gun from copper, a kind of multi-barreled gun, in which each barrel had a caliber of 50 mm. This hundred-gun cannon was considered a miracle of cannon art at that time. And in its own way it is superior to the Tsar Cannon. The size of ancient cannons in Moscow can also be judged by their cannonballs, which were found in old fortress ditches a century ago. Their sizes were colossal, up to 70 cm in diameter.

So, the Tsar Cannon, which stands today in the Kremlin, although a huge one, is a mortar. But there were other large-sized combat mortars with which the Russian army was armed in the 16th century. From the report of Juan of Persia (so nicknamed must be understood because of his stay in Russia, and not in Iran - Persia) to King Philip III, it follows that there are such huge cannons on Red Square that two people enter and clean it. The Austrian secretary Georg Tektander also writes about these guns in his history, in particular, about two huge guns that could easily accommodate a person. Samuil Maskevich (a Pole, so nicknamed, presumably, also because of his stay in Moscow) says that in Kitai-Gorod there is a hundred-barreled arquebus, which is loaded with a hundred cannonballs the size of a goose egg. She stood on the bridge at the Frolov Gate, looking towards Zamoskvorechye. And on Red Square he saw a cannon in which three people were playing cards.

Near the Kremlin there were two cannons, which can rightfully be called the Tsar Cannons. One Kashpirova, made in 1554 by Chokhov’s teacher Kashpir Ganusov. Its weight was 20 tons and its length was 5 meters. The second Peacock, which was cast in 1555 by Stepan Petrov, weighed 16 tons. The muzzles of both of these cannons pointed towards Zamoskvorechye. As you understand, in the event of an attack on the Kremlin, the enemies would be in trouble; given their colossal size, they could cover huge areas with grapeshot, and although this has not happened in history, the possibility itself is already terrifying.

In Nuremberg, at the German National Museum you can see an exhibition of ancient cannons. The largest of them has a thin internal metal trunk, which is located inside a thick log, which, in turn, is covered from the outside with iron hoops for strength. This lightweight gun production technology allows you to quickly maneuver and transport the gun while on the move. Such light, and as they are also called, wooden cannons, according to history, were previously used in service in the Russian army; they were called pishchal.

Today it is difficult to reconstruct the real history of the Tsar cannons in Russia before the 17th century. It’s the same with the history of the pre-Petrine Russian fleet, as they want to convince us that before it there was no fleet in Rus'. The Troubles of the early 17th century and the rise to power of the Romanovs turned a lot of things upside down. Most of the cannons and bells were melted down, or even simply buried, and maybe they still lie somewhere now. But still there were so many guns that, despite all the vicissitudes of history, something has reached us that allows us to judge the power and invincible strength of the Russian army of the 15th-16th centuries.

In search of “something to see in such cold weather,” we decided to go to the Military History Museum of Artillery. We were prompted to this idea by the fact that the Yandex poster almost always contains announcements of temporary exhibitions in this museum, and we already went to an exhibition about samurai once. “I’ve never been to the museum itself, but it seems to me that there should be a lot of interesting artifacts there,” I suggested - and I was not mistaken. I really liked the museum. There is a huge variety of historical objects and paintings there. All items have signs, many with detailed explanations and information. You walk in and are immersed in history. Yes, sad as it may be, history largely consists of guns, so what can we do...

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02/19/2011: Upon entering, this arquebus immediately caught my attention. Here I show with my hands that the diameter of the wheel is approximately equal to my height. Inset in the upper right corner - a unicorn and an inscription with the name of the cannon on the turret (end part).
Pishchal went back to the Livonian campaign in 1577. It was cast by master Andrei Chokhov. By the way, from the school history course, which I painfully tried to learn before entering college, I immediately remembered that Chokhov was the one who cast the Tsar Cannon in the Kremlin, and it never fired. And only now, after reading the add. materials on the museum’s website, I learned that Chokhov occupies a special place in Russian history: he was a talented master who worked at the Russian Cannon Yard for 60 (!) years (and lived for 84 years in total, and this was in the 16th-17th centuries!), cast many excellent guns and trained many good students.
Photo by Andrey Katrovsky
Siege arquebus "Inrog". Cast in 1577 by Andrei Chokhov, caliber 216 mm, length 516 cm, weight 7434.6 kg, fake gun carriage (made in 1850-1851)

02/19/2011: It was a great discovery for me that gun barrels were not only of round cross-section.
This small howitzer is one of the earliest examples. It fired buckshot or crushed stone and belonged to the fortress artillery
Photo by Andrey Katrovsky
Howitzer (stone thrower). Cast in the 16th century. Caliber 182x188 cm, length 75 cm, weight 174 kg.

02/19/2011: Hall of the history of artillery until the mid-19th century. in terms of decorativeness it can compete with the Hermitage. There was no mass production in the XV-XVII, the manufacture of barrels took months, and therefore each gun is a work of handicraft, many even had their own names. I would also like to note that the products cast several centuries ago are kept in excellent condition. No patina, mold or greenery, which are so common on old bronze and cast iron items.
This bronze fire-breathing wolf defended Tobolsk.
Photo by Andrey Katrovsky
The barrel of the 1-kryvnia arquebus “Wolf”. Cast from bronze in 1684 by master Yakov Dubina. Caliber 55 mm, length 213 cm, weight 221 kg

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02/19/2011: If I’m not confusing anything, this is the “Impostor’s Mortar” - it was cast in the year when False Dmitry I entered the capital. In the second half of the 17th century. This gun was in service with Kyiv, then was transferred to the Moscow Arsenal and preserved (not converted into new guns) by personal decree of Peter I.
30-pound siege mortar. The barrel was cast from bronze in 1605 by master Andrei Chokhov and littsie Pronya Fedorov. Caliber 534 mm, length 131 cm, weight 1261 kg.

02/19/2011: Here are the hatchets: each blade is longer than Andrey! Some examples of formidable weapons are decorated with flowers and lion kittens.
Berdysh of the Streltsy regiments of the Russian army of the 17th century.

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02/19/2011: Such multi-barreled guns became widespread in the 2nd half of the 16th century. They were also called “magpies” or “organs”. All 105 barrels were operated by a single flintlock.
Made at the end of the 17th century. Iron pistol barrels. Caliber 18 mm, length 32 cm.

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02/19/2011: Foreign masters also loved their creations. This cannon was cast in Amsterdam by order of the Russian government by master Claudius Fremy. On its trunk there are inscriptions: “From the strong are born the strong” and “Fremy made me in Amsterdam in 1695.”
By the way, why is she looking at the sky? A little about the meanings of the gun names:
Mortar- short-barreled guns for mounted shooting, i.e. the projectile is launched from a throwing angle of 20° or steeper.
Howitzer- also for mounted shooting, but these are long-barreled guns.
Pishchal- medium- and long-barreled weapons for flat shooting. Why is the name of the gun so similar to the word “squeak”? Because the shape of the trunk is similar to a musical instrument - a pipe, and in Old Slavonic dialects it was called onomatopoeic - something like a “tweeter”.
The barrel is 1/2 pound mortar. Cast from bronze. Caliber 142 mm, length 46 cm, weight 108 kg.

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02/19/2011: At the beginning of the 18th century, hand mortars already appeared - weapons for throwing hand grenades over long distances. It was impossible to use them like a regular gun (with the butt resting on the shoulder) due to the high recoil, so the mortar had to be rested on the ground or on the saddle.
From left to right: 1. Grenadier hand mortar (caliber 66 mm/length 795 mm/weight 4.5 kg). 2. Dragoon hand mortar (72 mm/843 mm/4.4 kg). 3. Manual bombardment mortar (43 mm/568 mm/3.8 kg).

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02/19/2011: The brackets, which are located in pairs on each gun, were always designed in the form of some kind of animal. In the Russian tradition, these were usually fish. Apparently, this is why under Peter these staples began to be called “dolphins.”
3-pounder (76 mm) ceremonial cannon Made in 1709 by Tula gunsmiths in honor of the Poltava victory. The barrel is steel, the ornament is inlaid with silver. Barrel length 198 cm, weight 381.6 kg.

02/19/2011: Edged weapons were also decorated with love. From left to right:
1. Cuirassier broadsword, belonged to Peter III.
2. Dragoon broadsword, in service since 1756.
3. Horse guards broadsword.
4. Horse Guards officers' broadsword, in service since 1742.

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02/19/2011: In addition to conventional weapons, the museum also has experimental samples that did not “go into production.” For example, in this installation, the mortars are mounted on a wooden drum that rotates around a horizontal axis. The battery fired in salvoes of 5 shells. The commission that conducted tests in 1756 recognized that it was possible to shoot from it, but did not accept it for service.
Made in 1756. Caliber 58 mm. The length of the trunks is 50 cm.

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02/19/2011: This battery rotated around a vertical axis and fired volleys of 5-6 mortars. The elevation angle was also regulated by a special mechanism. The battery has not received mass distribution. However, this example shows signs of having been in battle.
Caliber 76 mm, length of each mortar 23 cm, circle diameter 185 cm.

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02/19/2011: This gun was developed by a group of artillery officers under the leadership of P.I. Shuvalov (he generally made many useful changes in artillery). The main design feature of the howitzer is the conical charging chamber. " Thanks to it, the projectile was better centered in the barrel bore, the gap between the walls of the barrel bore and the projectile in the initial period of the shot was minimal, which significantly increased the range and accuracy of fire (almost twice as much as with conventional guns of the same caliber)" In addition, all this made it possible to shorten the barrel, which means the weapon became light and mobile.
Howitzers were adopted by Russian artillery in 1757 and were called unicorn, since it was this animal that was depicted by dolphins (these, I remind you, are the staples on the barrel) and vingrad (in the photo - lower right inset) of the new guns. It is not known exactly where the unicorns came from on the brackets instead of ordinary fish, but by the way, quite by accident, a unicorn was depicted on the count’s coat of arms of P.I. Shuvalov.
The design of the unicorns was so successful that they were in service with Russian artillery for about a hundred years. They became the world's first universal guns - they combined the properties of cannons and howitzers and fired all types of ammunition. In addition to Russia, unicorns were also used in Austrian artillery, which was considered in the 2nd half of the 18th century. one of the best in the world.
The barrel is bronze, cast in 1757. Caliber 122 mm, length 122 cm, weight 262 kg, firing range 2340 m.

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02/19/2011: To be honest, with all the richness of the design, I still didn’t expect to see angels with wings on the murder weapon. The explanation, apparently, is as follows: this cannon (along with several other guns) was presented in 1743 by Tula gunsmiths as a gift to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Well, of course, a gift gun for a woman should be with flowers and baby dolls, but what else? Tula masters knew their business. :)
3/4 pounder (43 mm) ceremonial gun. The barrel is iron rifled. Length 125 cm, weight 85.5 kg.

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02/19/2011: This is also a gift cannon, it came with the previous one. Here they decided to please the lady with smiling, cool men. ;)
11/2 pounder (57 mm) ceremonial gun. The barrel is iron rifled. Length 174 cm, weight 144 kg.

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02/19/2011: In the Basurman tradition, dolphins were decorated not with fish or horses, but with griffins in caps. But a few years later, griffins also appeared on Russian cannons.
Trophy from the Seven Years' War: 12-pounder (120 mm) Prussian field gun. Barrel length 270 cm, weight 1672 kg, maximum firing range 2464 m.

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02/19/2011: On January 27, 1807, in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau, a French cannonball hit a loaded gun, forming a large dent, which prevented the firing of a shot and the discharge of the gun. The barrel and charge are still in the barrel.
Photo by Andrey Katrovsky
6-pounder (95 mm) field gun mod. 1795. Bronze barrel, length 152 cm, weight 433 kg.

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02/19/2011: 7-line (17.5 mm) experimental steam gun, developed by engineer-colonel of communications Karelin. The cannon was made in 1826-1829 and fired ball bullets under the pressure of water vapor. Rate of fire - up to 50 rounds per minute.

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02/19/2011: However, during testing, the gun also revealed shortcomings. The system turned out to be too complex, cumbersome, and it didn’t fire well, even though it was fast. They didn't accept it.

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02/19/2011: Shushu-pusyu, nanny-kawaii. Angels with plump butts cling to the cannon, what a beauty! :) These are the French “Notes on Artillery” (author - P.S. de Saint-Rémy), published in 1745.
In the central passage of Hall No. 1 there are several old books on artillery and military affairs on display. Fascinating graphics, it’s a pity that you can’t scroll through it.
There is still a lot of interesting stuff in this room - battle paintings, models of battles, items used for caring for guns and aiming, models of ancient cannon factories... Well, it’s not possible to post everything here. :)

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02/19/2011: And this is a temporary exhibition, it is located between the first and second halls. Models of knights and everything they carried. European knights also loved beautiful weapons and painted armor.
This is horse armor, Germany, 16th century, assembled from three different armor (there are also all sorts of historical details there). On top of it sits a full suit of armor, Western Europe, 16th century. (no details, just armor). On cattle dump kenguryatnik front bumper the front part of the horse armor - apparently, the heavenly tabernacles. And some beeches have been added to them - is this to scare the enemy or what?
Apparently, two-handed swords as long as a man were also intended for the same set.

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02/19/2011: A serf rifle is a hybrid of a cannon and a musket. They fired from it from the fortress walls. The sight is made in the form of a female bust, from which the head was lost, and everything else was carefully preserved. By the way, during the restoration in 2007, it turned out that this gun still had a charge and a core inside.
Fortress gun. Caliber 31 mm, barrel length 163.5 cm, weight 49.7 kg. Revel, late XVI - early XVII centuries.

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02/19/2011: I really like these “flippers” on the knights’ legs. :)
Openwork horse armor (Augsburg, 1550–1560) and full knightly armor of the “Maximilian” style (Germany, 1520–1525)

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02/19/2011: I can’t understand one thing: what could they see through such a small hole?
Photo by Andrey Katrovsky

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02/19/2011: I don’t have a sign from him, I just like it.
Photo by Andrey Katrovsky

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02/19/2011: Shyutk, of course. :) There is no sign again.
Photo by Andrey Katrovsky

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02/19/2011: In fact, this is a shishak (helmet) of the Polish winged hussars. Poland. End of the 17th century – 1730s

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02/19/2011: The sweet dreams of a sniper, depicted on the butt of a carbine, apparently consist in the fact that everyone on the field is running around without armored hats, bulletproof vests and armored trousers - shoot for your own pleasure. :)
Carbine with wheel lock. Caliber - 12.5 mm, barrel length - 48.6 cm. Total length - 74.8 cm. The wheel lock has a key. The stock is covered with ivory inlay depicting mythological scenes, etc. France, 1585.

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02/19/2011: Shameful masks (German: Schandmaske) were used to morally intimidate ordinary people. In order not to overdo it with corporal punishment, which disfigures and cripples the productive forces of the state, moral humiliation was invented. The man was exposed to ridicule, and he suffered demonstrably. There is practically no punishment and no harm to health. This is how they punished betrayal, drunkenness, grumpiness and other minor sins.
The masks came in different shapes and reflected the flagellated disadvantage: the overly curious were given a long nose, the chatty ones were given a long tongue, and the careless students were given donkey ears. In addition to masks, “shameful fur coats” and pillory posts were also used.
Photo by Andrey Katrovsky
Germany, XVI–XVII centuries.

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02/19/2011: We reached the second hall of the main exhibition (from the mid-19th century to 1917). It immediately became clear that all kawaii - flowers, horses, etc. - had disappeared from the guns, and there was pure development of industry and engineering. However, there will certainly be a lot of interesting things here too.
Here, for example, are experimental samples of cannons that fired disc projectiles. The idea was that the projectile in the barrel (in different ways) would spin up and due to this fly 5 times further. However, tests showed that this also caused the projectiles to dissipate more and contain little explosive. Therefore, the guns were not accepted for service.
...And then we were kicked out. :) Because we are so slow and detailed, and the museum is closing. So we were sent to the exit through the remaining exhibition. On the way out, I managed to notice that the last hall was number 8. “Enough for a few more visits,” I thought. :)

What would a holiday be without fireworks? It will be great if an artillery salvo sounds on your mother’s or grandmother’s birthday. And there is also New Year, Defender of the Fatherland Day, March 8 and other holidays, or you can just play pirates. So a fireworks cannon in the house is necessary.

I propose to make an antique ship cannon. The guns are loaded with ordinary firecrackers. Therefore, the main condition of our work is that the internal diameter of the gun barrel should be slightly larger than the diameter of the firecracker. I don’t give the size of the gun - it depends on your desire and capabilities.

To work you will need:

• mold for making a gun barrel
• unnecessary newspapers (or wallpaper)
• PVA glue
• stationery knife
• putty
• skin
• wooden blocks or plywood
• dye
• cellophane film
• packaging corrugated cardboard
• firecrackers

The structure of a real ship's cannon

How to make a papier-mâché cannon

1 . We are looking for a suitable base. You can take a tube from a vacuum cleaner or a wooden handle from a shovel. And the best thing is a cone-shaped leg from a coffee table.

2 . In order for our barrel to be easily removed from the mold at the end of work, we wrap the mold with cellophane film.

3 . On the form, mark the length of the gun and add another 2 centimeters on both sides.

We begin to cover the form with paper. You can take unnecessary newspapers, and if you can find wallpaper, that will be even better. We cut the paper into strips 4–5 cm wide and begin to paste over our form. For work we use liquid PVA glue or any wallpaper glue. We try to glue smoothly, without folds. After 5-6 layers, let the trunk dry. And so we glue it to a thickness of 1 cm. To make it more similar to a real cannon, we will try to give our barrel a cone-shaped shape.

4 . When the trunk reaches the desired thickness, let it dry completely. To achieve a smoother surface, use wood putty. After letting the putty dry, we remove the errors in our work with sandpaper.

5 . Using thin strips of paper, we form belts and rims. And we skin again. After cutting off the excess paper, carefully remove the barrel from the mold.

6 . An important element of the barrel are the trunnions - they hold the barrel on the gun carriage and must be “strong”. They can be made from wood and glued into holes cut in the trunk.

7 . Our trunk is almost ready. All that remains is to paint it. You can paint it with any paint. I painted it with spray paint. This type of paint goes on smoother and dries faster, although it has a strong odor, so it’s better to do it outside.

8 . The time has come to think about the combat capabilities of our gun, or rather, about ways to load it.

We will use firecrackers as a projectile. As you know, they shoot when you hold the firecracker with one hand and pull the string with the other. We will pull with our right hand, and the barrel should replace our left hand. To do this, you need to come up with a locking device, or shutter.

If you decide to load the gun through the barrel, as they were loaded in the old days, then you need to make sure that the projectile does not pull out along with the string. To do this, in the back of the barrel, inside in a circle, we will glue a collar (small protrusion), which will not allow the firecracker to jump out when we pull the string.

9 . If you want to load a gun from the rear, “breech” part of the barrel, then you need to install a bolt. This method reduces the time it takes to load the gun and makes it much easier. But for this you need to show inventive abilities.

In my gun, the bolt is made according to the principle of a hook, which at one end is attached to the end of the barrel with a screw, and at the other end it is attached to a ledge located on the opposite side. So far it's working fine.

And another very important piece of advice. To prevent your mother from scolding you and forcing you to clean the room after a salute, you can modernize the firecracker: carefully remove the safety paper and carefully pour the contents of the firecracker (confetti) into the trash basket. The effect of the shot will remain (there will even be a smoky cloud), and there will be less or no debris at all.

10 . Now about the gun carriage.

The carriage can be glued together from wooden blocks - it will be more believable and reliable, for this we will need a saw. But this is a troublesome matter. Let's look for something to replace the tree with.

Let's take packaging corrugated cardboard. It’s better if you get a two-layer one. In accordance with the dimensions of the trunk, we will approximately mark out sheets of cardboard and glue them together. It is advisable to select cardboard so that the direction of the corrugation does not coincide: this will increase the strength of our carriage. When the workpiece reaches a thickness of 4–5 cm, we make the final cutting of the carriage parts and glue it together. Don’t worry about the strength of the carriage - craftsmen make furniture from such blanks.

For beauty, we cover it with paper with a wooden texture.

11 . And finally, we assemble the cannon. We connect the barrel with the carriage. We place it on the pins in the grooves and secure it (you can use a thick cardboard overlay, or you can just glue it in).

We charge and BANG!!!

Of course, everyone knows how cannons used to be made - they took a round hole and poured metal on the outside of it. But sometimes guns were needed urgently, but there were no suitable holes at hand. Therefore, we had to use what we had.
But seriously, the topic of guns with non-standard bores is large and extensive, but in this post I will only talk about those that I personally encountered.
All except the last one are from the exhibition of the Central Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg.

More details:

1. A stone-throwing howitzer with a square (or rather rectangular) barrel.
Made in the 16th century. Caliber 182x188 cm. It was intended for firing buckshot and crushed stone and belonged to the fortress artillery.
Why the master made it like this is unknown. Perhaps he simply did not have a compass.

2.3-pound experimental gun 1722
Caliber 80x230 mm, weight 492 kg. It was intended for firing 3 cannonballs at once, laid in a row on a board. The idea was not developed, apparently due to low shooting accuracy.

3. Another similar cannon lies in the courtyard of the Artillery Museum. There are no explanatory notes.

4. “Secret” howitzer model 1753 of the P.I. Shuvalov system.
Bronze, caliber 95x207 mm, weight 490 kg, firing range 530 m.
Field gabits with an elliptical bore, the idea of ​​which was proposed by Feldzeichmeister General (chief of artillery) Count Shuvalov, were intended for firing buckshot. Such a barrel improved the dispersion of bullets in the horizontal plane. But such a weapon could not fire cannonballs and bombs, and this made the entire system ineffective.
In total, about 100 “secret” guns of various calibers were manufactured, and all of them were withdrawn from service in 1762, after Shuvalov’s death (do not confuse “secret howitzers” with “Shuvalov unicorns”, which had a regular barrel, but with a conical chamber at the end, due to which the firing range and accuracy increase).

An obvious disadvantage of the old muzzle-loading guns was their low rate of fire. Some craftsmen tried to improve it by making cannons with several barrels in one “body”.
5. Three-channel arquebus by Hans Falk.
A German master in Russian service, Ivan (Hans) Falk, made this cannon with 3 barrel channels in the 1st half of the 17th century. The caliber of each is 2 kopecks (i.e. 66 mm). The length of the gun is 224 cm, weight - 974 kg.
The only Falk cannon preserved in Russia.

6. A double-barreled cannon lying in the courtyard of the Artillery Museum. Perhaps this is the “Bliznyata” cannon, made according to the design of the already mentioned Count Shuvalov in 1756. In practice, the idea did not justify itself and such weapons remained experimental.

In the second half of the 19th century, designers became concerned with the problem of increasing the firing range and accuracy. It was necessary to find a way to stabilize the projectile in flight. The obvious way is to give it a spin. But how? In the end, rifled guns were created, which we use to this day, but on the way to them the design mind lost a lot.
7. Disc guns. The idea of ​​such guns is that when fired, a disc-shaped projectile will be decelerated in the upper part of the barrel and move freely in the lower part. Thus, the disk will begin to rotate around a horizontal axis.
From near to far: Andrianov’s guns, Plestsov’s and Myasoedov’s guns, Maievsky’s gun.

In the gun of Plestsov and Myasoedov (on the left), the disc was twisted due to the fact that there is a gear rack on top of the barrel bore (the outermost tooth is visible).
In Andrianov’s gun, the disk rotated due to slots of different widths at the top and bottom.

And Maievsky’s gun did not bend over time. The curvature of the oval barrel is the way to spin the projectile.

The firing range increased significantly (up to 5 times), but the dispersion was very high. In addition, such weapons were very difficult to manufacture, the disc projectile contained very little explosive, and the penetrating effect could be forgotten. It is not difficult to guess that such weapons remained experimental.

8. And in conclusion - an unusual weapon from the museum in the Berlin Spandau fortress.
There were no explanatory signs. The gun is obviously French, because... on the barrel is written Meudon (Meudon, now a suburb of Paris) and the date - 1867. There is also a monogram with a capital N.