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GUN , a generalSee also: term for a weapon, tubular in See also: form, from which a projectile is discharged by means of an explosive
.
When applied to artillery the word is confined to those pieces of ordnance which have a See also: direct as opposed to a high-angle fire, in which See also: case the terms " howitzer " and " See also: mortar " are used (see ORDNANCE and MACHINE-GUN)
.
" Gun " as applied to firearms which are carried in the See also: hand and fired from the shoulder, the old " hand gun," is now chiefly used of the sporting shot-gun, with which this article mainly deals; in military usage this type of weapon, whether See also: rifle, carbine, &c., is known collectively as " small arms " (see RIFLE and See also: PISTOL)
.
The origin of the word, which in See also: Mid
.
Eng. is gonne or gunne, is obscure, but it has been suggested by Professor W
.
W
.
See also: Skeat that it conceals a See also: female name, Gunnilde or Gunhilda
.
The names; e.g
.
See also: Mons Meg at See also: Edinburgh See also: Castle and faule Grete (heavy Peg), known to readers of Carlyle's See also: Frederick the See also: Great, will be See also: familiar parallel-isms
.
" Gunne " would be a shortened " pet name " of Gunnhilde
.
The New See also: English See also: Dictionary finds support for the See also: suggestion in the fact that in Old See also: Norwegian gunne and hilde both mean " war," and quotes an inventory of war material at Windsor Castle in 1330-1331, where is mentioned " una magna balista de See also: cornu quae vocatur Domina Gunilda." Another suggestion for the origin of the word is that the word representsa shortened form, gonne, of a supposed French mangonne, a mangonel, but the French word is mangonneau
.
Firearms are said to have been first used in See also: European warfare in the 14th century
.
The hand gun (see fig . 1) came into See also: practical use in 1446
and was of very See also: rude construction
.
It consisted of a See also: simple iron or See also: brass See also: tube with a touch-hole at the top fixed in a straight stock of See also: wood, the end of
which passed under the a
right armpit when the
" gonne " was about to be fired
.
A similar
weapon (see fig
.
2) was FIG
.
1.—Hand Gun
.
also used by the See also: horse-soldier, with a ring at the end of the stock, by which it was suspended by a cord round the neck; a forked rest, fitted by a ring to the saddlebow, served to steady the gun
.
This rest, when not in use, hung down in front of the right See also: leg
.
A match was made of See also: cotton or See also: hemp spun slack, and boiled in a strong solution of saltpetre or in the lees of See also: wine
.
The touch-hole was first placed on the top of the barrel, but afterwards at the See also: side, with a small See also: pan underneath to hold the priming, and guarded by a cover moving on a See also: pivot
.
An improvement in firearms took place in the first See also: year of the reign of See also: Henry VII., or at the close of
See also: Edward IV., by fixing a See also: cock (Fr. See also: serpentine) on the hand gun to hold the match, which was brought down to the priming by a trigger, whence the term matchlock
.
This weapon is still in use among the
See also: Chinese, Tatars, Sikhs, Persians and See also: Turks
.
An improvement in the stock was also made during this See also: period by forming it with a wide See also: butt end to be placed against the right breast
.
Subsequently the stock was bent, a See also: German invention, and the arm was called a hackbutt or hagbut, and the smaller variety a demihague
.
The arquebus and hackbutt were about a yard in length, including barrel and stock, and the demihague was about See also: half the
See also: size and See also: weight, the forerunner of the pistol
.
The arquebus was the See also: standard See also: infantry firearm in See also: Europe from the See also: battle of See also: Pavia to the introduction of the heavier and more powerful musket
.
It did not as a See also: rule require a rest, as did the musket
.
The See also: wheel-See also: lock, an improvement on the match-lock, was in-
vented in See also: Nuremberg in 1517; was first used at the siege of See also: Parma in 1521; was brought to See also: England in 1530, and continued in partial use there until the See also: time of See also: Charles II
.
This wheel-lock consisted of a fluted or grooved
See also: steel wheel which protruded into the priming pan, and was connected with a strong spring
.
The cock, also regulated by a spring, was fitted with a piece of iron See also: pyrites
.
In See also: order to discharge the gun the
with Hand Gun
.
From General See also: Hardy de Perini's See also: Turenne e
!
Conde 1626-1675
.
lock was wound up by a See also: key, the cock was let down on the priming pan, the pyrites resting on the wheel; on the trigger being pressed the wheel was released and rapidly revolved, emitting
See also: sparks, which ignited the powder in the pan
.
The complicated and expensive nature of this lock, with its liability to injury, no doubt prevented its general adoption . About 1540 the Spaniards constructed a larger and heavier firearm (matchlock), carrying aSee also: ball of to to the See also: pound, called a musket
.
This weapon was introduced into England before the See also: middle of the 16th century, and soon came into general use throughout Europe
.
The snaphance was invented about this period in See also: Germany, and from its See also: comparative cheapness was
From General Hardy de Perini's Turenne el Conde, 1626-1679
.
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