post awesome blackpowder guns (muskets, rifled-muskets, cannons, pistols)
the 1841 12-pounder howitzer was one of the most widely-used artillery weapons during the civil war, especially on the side of the Confederacyhaving its prowess tested in the previous war with Mexico, it proved itself to be weapon more-than-capable of warfaremany were produced in the Confederacy, but due to shortage of sufficient materials, were Confederate-produced howitzers often prone to cracking or even breaking outrightstill, it remained versatile and was still used a short time after the Civil Warone munition wagon for a battery of 12-pounder howitzers would have about 20 balls of roundshot, about 16 rounds of shrapnel shot or shellshot and 4 rounds of canister
Nice thread. I have nothing to offer the topic but I hope it blows all the other sewage off of this forsaken board
>>65236512thanks Anon,I'm a big blackpowder fan, but it's hard finding fellow 18th-19th century weapon enthusiasts on here
My personal favorite : The mitrailleuse>A mitrailleuse (from French mitraille, "grapeshot") is a type of volley gun with barrels of rifle calibre that can fire either all rounds at once or in rapid succession. The earliest true mitrailleuse was theorized and proposed in 1851 by Belgian Army captain Fafschamps, ten years before the advent of the Gatling gun.>It was followed by the Belgian Montigny mitrailleuse in 1863. Then the French 25 barrel "Canon à Balles", better known as the Reffye mitrailleuse, was adopted in great secrecy in 1866. It became the first rapid-firing weapon deployed as standard equipment by any army in a major conflict when it was used during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO3haWrRtrY&t=32s
>Mitrailleuses were used in many of the major engagements of the Franco-Prussian War, but their small numbers and their battlefield use as artillery greatly restricted their effectiveness.>In a few instances where the Reffye mitrailleuses were put to good use, they showed that they could have a significant impact. Captain Barbe's mitrailleuse battery at the Battle of Gravelotte devastated massed Prussian infantry when they had quickly found the range on their targets, contributing to the exceptionally high Prussian death toll in that battle.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wApeDr6-Bdo
Another forgotten early machine gun : The Agar gun>The Agar gun (or Ager) was an early rapid fire machine gun developed during the US Civil War. The weapon was nicknamed the Coffee Mill Gun, and was also called the Union Repeating Gun.>The Agar machine gun fired .58 caliber cartridges. Standard paper cartridges were loaded into re-usable metal tubes. A separate percussion cap was fitted to a nipple at the rear of this tube, effectively creating a centerfire cartridge, and the loaded tubes were placed into a funnel shaped hopper, which gave the weapon its "coffee mill" appearance.>The weapon was fired using a hand crank, located at the rear of the gun. The crank would feed rounds into the weapon from the hopper, and would fire them one by one. A wedge shaped block would rise up and lock the round in place, a cam operated hammer would then strike the percussion cap, firing the round.>The empty metal tubes would subsequently be collected in a pan located under the weapon. The metal tubes would then be reloaded and placed back in the hopper. This made quite a bit of work for the gun crews, since the tubes had to be reloaded quickly enough to keep up with the machine gun's relatively high rate of fire.
>>65236566checked, likewise I hope to learn from /k/ topics like these. I have a few reference books on older artillery/arms, civil war etc. Also naval weapons would be nice
>In 1861, the Agar machine gun was demonstrated to President Abraham Lincoln, who was very impressed by the weapon. Lincoln wrote "I saw this gun myself, and witnessed some experiments with it, and I really think it is worth the attention of the Government." Ten of the weapons were purchased immediately. The Union eventually ordered fifty-four additional guns.>Throughout the war, these weapons were used, though not extensively. In January 1862 the 28th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry were said to have used the Agar Guns in a skirmish by Harpers Ferry. In another skirmish at Middleburg, Virginia, on March 29, 1862, a captain by the name of Bartlett recalled Union soldiers firing an Agar Gun at attacking Confederate cavalry at a distance of 800 yards, inflicting many casualties and causing the Rebels to flee. The "Coffee Mill" gun was also used somewhat by the Union during McClellan's Peninsula campaign in 1862.>The Union Army was not the only one to have used the "Coffee Mill" guns. In September 1862, Confederates obtained seventeen of the machine guns when they captured Harpers Ferry, and used them sparingly in 1864.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcsviX3clZU
>The guns were condemned by the Ordnance Department for using too much ammunition to ever be practical. The single barrel design proved prone to overheating, and the weapon was also prone to jamming. The special steel tubes used to hold the cartridges were heavy and expensive, and tended to get lost. Later cartridges used brass, but this was not widely available during the time that the Agar machine gun was used.>The gun's range was also criticized. It had a range of about 800 yards, which was roughly the same as the range of the rifle-muskets used by infantry. A longer range weapon would have been preferred.>Because of the way it was used in battle, the Agar machine gun, like most machine guns of the period, was never able to show its potential.
>>65236606I have to look into this gun more, thanks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nItrgh142UE
>>65236402Took the Hawken out today.Not as impressive as a fieldpiece, but it still makes a nice cloud.
short video of me shooting my Hawken Rifle at night. I'll try and upload a version with sound later.
>>65237262that blackfowder muzzle flash is awesome
>>65238667It's a lot more sparks than it is flash
anyone else have a traditions gun? i got a pennsylvania rifle a few years ago and while it shoots great ive had a couple problems with it, specifically the ramrod catch no longer functions somehow (i seriously dont know what happened, its like it got slightly jostled one too many times, or it cant handle the strain of just shooting the gun), and also the sear for the lock seemed to be installed incorrectly so that the hammer would not stay cockedluckily this was an easy enough fix but i didnt expect to have shit like that happen with a $900 rifle with like 3 moving partscurious if anyone else has had similar issues
>>65241813Never had one but I've rarely heard excessive good things about anything Traditions makes, even the higher-end stuff.
>>65237262>percussionDizgusting
>>65236402There needs to be more retarded YouTube testing of BP artillery.There's that guy the Canoneer, he promised to shoot the Paul Harrell meat target but he never did.
>>65244791http://www.buckstix.com/howitzer.htm
artilleryman no.1's duty was to clean the barrel of any leftover discharge, using the bucket of water placed in front of the gun to moisturize the sponge at one end of his rodduring the barrel cleanup, artilleryman no.3 would use a piece of leather to block the priming orifice on the other end of the gun, preventing air from potentially lighting up and giving fire to any of the leftover dischargeafter the barrel has been cleaned up, gunner no.2 would insert the projectile, given to him by artilleryman no.5 - which was given to him by artilleryman no.6, who oversaw artilleryman no.7 set the time fuse on the shellafter the round has been inserted, gunner no.1 would push the projectile down the barrel using the other end of his ramrodafter this, the crew leader (either a corporal or sergeant) identified as 'G' in picrel would aim the gun, calculating the exact measurements deciding in a succesful hit, after this, artilleryman no.3 would firly screw the barrel of the gun on the angle based on the NCOs measurementgunner no.3 would then use a corkscrew-shaped nail to puncture the sac of gunpowder attached to the artillery shell, gunner no.4 would insert the primer into the punctured hole, while artilleryman no.3 held onto the primer, so as to prevent a potential misfireafter the order to fire was given, gunner no.4 would pull the string attached to the primer, firing the gungunner no.3 and NCO G would then readjust the cannon, and the process would repeata highly skilled artillery crew could fire 4-5 rounds per minute
>>65236606I imagine the entire crew armed with expensive (but still cheaper) small arms would be able to put out the same amount of fire more reliably
