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TheRedMax
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« on: September 23, 2009, 02:18:08 pm » |
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Was browsing the interweb looking up stuff on grenades when I found these pictures of "Grenade Rifles" and "Hand Mortars" which wouldn't look out of place in the hands of a steampunk villain!  (Larger image here )    and also, while we're at it - this crazy thing needs to be here somewhere...  |
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"The trouble with these international affairs is they attract foreigners." (Member #77 and fiercely proud of it!)
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markf
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« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2009, 02:31:48 pm » |
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Great find, and welcome back Red. markf
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Darkhound
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« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2009, 02:34:16 pm » |
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Crazy is le mot juste for that last piece! Those dividers are wholly inadequate to prevent flashover from one priming pan to the next, especially with barrels that short, and I seriously doubt any of the crew would survive a full-circle chainfire! Maybe they stood inside, between the spokes?
It's quite amazing to me how many people think genade guns are a modern invention.
Darkhound
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"Stupidity is a curse with which even the Gods struggle in vain. Ignorance we can fix."
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clockwork creation
Immortal
 United Kingdom
Rapscallion Smile
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« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2009, 02:46:11 pm » |
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those are brilliant
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I am a freak in control not a control freak
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Mr. Hatchett
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« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2009, 03:24:24 pm » |
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Those remind me of why I came here in the first place. How much of modern technology is going to survive four hundred years of storage, even carefully preserved? If any of it does, none of it will look that good, because too many hands made it for any one person to take enough pride in his craft to add flourish and gesture to the work. Even the relatively basic ones make modern weaponry (and, for that matter, all but the finest of modern tools) look ungainly and spartan by comparison.
Incidentally, Von Pifka did a pretty impressive looking reproduction of the one pictured with the skull under it (with a few embellishments, of course) out of an interesting assortment of junk. I can't remember exactly when he posted pictures of it, but I'm thinking midsummer?
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When Friday comes, we'll all call rats fish.
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Dr. makebot
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« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2009, 08:16:00 pm » |
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magnificant pieces of wepons technology.
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yes I am a mad scientist, now live with it. |
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Vancouver Air Privateer
Rogue Ætherlord
 United States
Privateering off HMAS Landeythan
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« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2009, 08:19:04 pm » |
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Crazy is le mot juste for that last piece! Those dividers are wholly inadequate to prevent flashover from one priming pan to the next, especially with barrels that short, and I seriously doubt any of the crew would survive a full-circle chainfire! Maybe they stood inside, between the spokes?
It's quite amazing to me how many people think genade guns are a modern invention.
Darkhound
From what I can guess, I think it's intended to be reloaded as it's turned - I would assume only the barrels pointing at the enemy would be fired. |
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"Blessed be Science and her handmaiden Steam;
They make Utopia only half a dream."
"So he pulls an alternating-current taser on me and tells me that only the Official Serbian Church of Tesla can save my polyphase intrinsic electric field, known to non-engineers as 'the soul.' "
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Oddfellow
Officer
United States
Never quite as he seems
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« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2009, 09:12:57 pm » |
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Those remind me of why I came here in the first place. How much of modern technology is going to survive four hundred years of storage, even carefully preserved? If any of it does, none of it will look that good, because too many hands made it for any one person to take enough pride in his craft to add flourish and gesture to the work. Even the relatively basic ones make modern weaponry (and, for that matter, all but the finest of modern tools) look ungainly and spartan by comparison.
Actually, given the same level of attention to its preservation most any quality-made object now will last about that long without an issue, with some exceptions such as data storage and the like. The same probably won't be said for regular use, owing to how things were generally accidentally or deliberately over-engineered either for lack of precision or lack of perfect knowledge of the application (The Brooklyn Bridge for example has much, much more steel in its construction than is necessary for a bridge of its size and type, but the engineers overdid it on purpose so that in the event that their calculations were off the bridge would still likely be safe), but that's a separate issue. Also, remember that anything that wasn't up to par in terms of its durability broke before it had a chance to get old. What we're left with is but a limited snapshot of the most resilient remnants, which have in turn received the best care. All that said, those are some awfully pretty guns, though the styling is perhaps a bit out of date for a Steampunk setting. |
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darkeyes
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« Reply #8 on: September 24, 2009, 01:53:18 am » |
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Wow, those were excellent. Do want!
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Lucius Voltaic
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« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2009, 04:43:23 am » |
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All that said, those are some awfully pretty guns, though the styling is perhaps a bit out of date for a Steampunk setting.
Yes, because steampunk is completely historically accurate.  |
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"The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations."
--General Baron Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, clearly talking about me.
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Lt.Mycroft
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« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2009, 07:18:14 pm » |
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First hand experience with one of them.  this one is a matchlock hand mortar. and here is is in "action" only a powder shot, but we have launched a racket ball or two from it.  |
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Captain Lyerly
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« Reply #11 on: September 26, 2009, 02:42:02 am » |
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What kind of fuse did you use on the grenades? How big a charge?  Okay - that was snarky, but just because I am envious. Nice!!! Cheers Chas. |
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Captain Sir Charles A. Lyerly, O.B.T.
Soldier of Fortune and Gentleman Adventurer
wire: captain_lyerly, at wire office "Yahoo dot Qom"
"You'd think he'd learn."
"Heh! De best minions neffer do!"
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Oddfellow
Officer
United States
Never quite as he seems
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« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2009, 02:57:30 am » |
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All that said, those are some awfully pretty guns, though the styling is perhaps a bit out of date for a Steampunk setting.
Yes, because steampunk is completely historically accurate. Oh yes. Astoundingly exacting in its portrayal of historical times. Barring a few blatant lies creative revisions, that is. On a more serious note, aesthetic sense in industrial design DID change considerably between the centuries in question. I'm not saying you'd have to go very far, just that you'd have to go somewhere with it. |
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darkeyes
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« Reply #13 on: September 26, 2009, 04:12:13 am » |
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First hand experience with one of them. this one is a matchlock hand mortar. and here is is in "action" only a powder shot, but we have launched a racket ball or two from it. I’d like to see that small mortar fired that’s in the lower right of your second pic |
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Lt.Mycroft
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« Reply #14 on: September 27, 2009, 03:59:06 am » |
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What kind of fuse did you use on the grenades? How big a charge? Okay - that was snarky, but just because I am envious. Nice!!! Cheers Chas. Cannon fuse of course. No really that what we use. As for the charge it is real small, the racket ball grenades are for the taticals that we have. Take one racket ball and cut a hole in it to fit in a plastic 35mm film canister. Punch a small hole in the lid of the canister to pass the cannon fuse through and into a small pouch of tinfoil with some blackpowder. Prime the launcher, light the grenade drop the grenade into the launcher, place the match in the sepertine and pull the trigger. (Yes that is the way to load this weapon, well the way to load it in the 1630s ) |
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Johnny Payphone
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« Reply #15 on: September 27, 2009, 04:42:06 am » |
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Note that he is firing this weapon from the hip, not from the shoulder.
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TheRedMax
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« Reply #16 on: September 28, 2009, 06:39:56 pm » |
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Considering the size of the shot fired (guessing quite large from the bore of the barrel) I can't image it would have travelled very far? And if it did, it would have required a fair old wallop of push, resulting in a broken shoulder or hip!
Anyone know?
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Lt.Mycroft
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« Reply #17 on: September 29, 2009, 04:53:20 am » |
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Well racket balls do quite well, I say in the 50 yards range or so.
A grenade from the time, that I will have to some more leg work.
This type of weapon was mostly used in siege warfare, by the besieging army, build you tranches close and have at them.
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tophatdan
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« Reply #18 on: September 29, 2009, 03:32:07 pm » |
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ah handguns.... gotta love em, as a man all things firearm, i cant not love giant bore hand cannons, and that thing on wheels, just whoa man...
in any case, its cool to catch this stuff here, I'm wondering if anyone has any info on the various things fired by them, i know a lot of modern shooters have gone to 'pop can' shells, which are just cans full of mortar and offer no real ballistic advantage, some folks still go with lead round ball, but when your throwing that much lead, well lets just say there are a lot of .50 balls in one 3 inch...
in any case, what sorts of shells would you be using with those things...?
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you gotta love livin babe, cause dyin is a pain in the ass -----
frank sinatra
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Darkhound
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« Reply #19 on: October 04, 2009, 09:02:05 pm » |
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Typically, these would lob a hollow cast iron sphere packed with black powder about 25 to 75 yards. Propellant charges would be fairly small and trajectories high, which would let you put a bomb over a gate or into a trench from a covered position. The cover would be important, as you would be well in range of a good marksman with a musket. The fuse would usually be a wooden plug, drilled through and packed with powder, and loaded facing the muzzle of the gun. On firing, the flash would reliably light the fuse, which would burn for 1.5 to 2 seconds.
Grenade guns and hand grenades fell out of favor as the great age of fortress warfare gave way to maneuver warfare in the eighteenth century, and were then revived by World War I, which was largely fought as a siege on a continental scale.
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Otto Von Pifka
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« Reply #20 on: October 05, 2009, 08:12:48 am » |
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I went slightly more modern with a cap system. non functioning but made from many real parts.   |
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akumabito
Immortal
 Netherlands
Mundus Patria Nostra!
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« Reply #21 on: October 05, 2009, 11:21:19 am » |
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Looks fantastic in an evil sort of way! |
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Mr Addams
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« Reply #22 on: October 05, 2009, 01:36:03 pm » |
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The Hand mortar in this picture. Used to belong to "Gentleman Of Fortune" until he sold it recently. For more information about these weapons, it is worth Checking out HIS WEBSITE, -HERE-Or if you would like to make your own, you can buy the parts HERE |
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Silas P. Morgan
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« Reply #23 on: October 06, 2009, 07:56:28 am » |
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The Hand mortar in this picture. Yeah... I was about to type the same thing.... |
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tophatdan
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« Reply #24 on: October 22, 2009, 07:03:47 pm » |
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mmmm make your own hand mortar....
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