OBJECTIVES:
- To know the different types of firearm
- To know what is the mechanism of an
firearm - To know the role of firearm in ballistics
Brief History of Firearms
The earliest type of handgun was simply a small cannon of wrought iron or bronze, fitted to a frame or stock with metal bands or leather thongs. These weapons were loaded from the muzzle end of the barrel with powder, wad and ball. A small hole at the breech end of the barrel, the touch hole, was provided with a pan into which a priming charge of powder was placed. On igniting this priming charge, either with a hot iron or lighted match, fire flashed through the touch hole and into the main powder charge to discharge the weapon.
These early weapons could have been little more than psychological deterrents being clumsy, slow to fire and difficult to aim. In addition, rain or damp weather had an adverse effect on the priming charge making it impossible to ignite.
Their first reported use is difficult to ascertain with any degree of certainty, but a number of instances are reported in Spain between 1247 and 1311. In the records for the Belgian city of Ghent, there are confirmed sightings of the use of hand cannons in Germany in 1313. One of the earliest illustrations concerning the use of hand cannons appears in the fifteenth century fresco in the Palazzo Publico, Sienna, Italy.
The first recorded use of the hand cannon as a cavalry weapon appeared in 1449 in the manuscripts of Marianus Jacobus. This shows a mounted soldier with such a weapon resting on a fork attached to the pommel of the saddle. It is interesting to note that the use of the saddle pommel to either carry or aim