History Component - Cannon Designs and Economic Impacts- pre 1800s

The Hand Cannon

Firearms are accepted now to have originated from china, although they aren’t sure exactly when. Some say they have existed as early as 1100s. But it is known for sure that they appeared in the early 1300s across Europe and were spread as far as Japan in the 1500s. One of the earliest portable firearms was a very simple hand cannon. It had a barrel and a handle that came in many shapes and sizes, and was made often out of metal but also wood and bamboo. It required manual external ignition, where someone would hold it with their hands while another applied the ignition. Common projectiles were pebbles found on the ground, arrows, or balls of stone or iron. It was not as accurate or fast as other popular weapons, but it had superior armor-penetration capability and could be employed by relatively poorly trained troops. It was also inexpensive and easy to mass produce. Despite these qualities, the hand cannon slowly it became obsolete. Its inaccuracy, because of poor quality of powder and poor construction, led to lack of battlefield presence. It was reported to have been used in the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 by the Mamluks who at the time, were fighting against the Mongols.Forging methods required control over its manufacturing, and although inventions like corned powder and serpentine led to more effectiveness and increased adoption for the hand cannon, a new development of the first matchlock firearms were overall more effective. Hand cannons slowly became less and less popular, especially in the 1500s, but were used in some places until the 20^th century (hand cannon).

 

          

  

The Falconet Cannon

Falconet cannon was a light cannon created in the late 15^th century. It looked like a big matchlock musket with two moving wheels. During the middle ages, guns had engravings of animals depending on their size. The falconet cannon was named because it would shoot a similar size and weight to a falcon. It had a barrel size of about 4 feet long, a caliber of 2 inches, and it weighed about 176 pounds. It was used to fight in battles such as the Thirty Years war and the English Civil War, where many falconets were used to protest the houses of nobility, because they weighed and cost less than other weapons at the time. They were also used in the American Revolutionary War to defend light vessels on both sides (Falconet).