Firing the Cannon

Although the group does not specialise in gunpowder weapons, we do make use of them both in battle re-enactment and within scripted display. All the gunpowder weapons used by the group are copies either of  specific guns, or general types of guns which survive in museum collections today. As such they are all capable of being fired and are registered with the police as real guns.

All our guns are fired with ‘black powder’ however this is a modern term, only coined when lighter coloured modern nitro powders were developed.

The St. Dysmas Cannon

Medieval Cannon varied hugely in size, from barely bigger than a large handgun to huge bombards weighing several tons. Cannons were first used at the start of the 14thC, about 700 years ago, and gradually developed into modern artillery. For reasons of practicality and safety, we run cannon at the smaller end of the size range. Our cannon has a barrel three feet long and 2” in bore with a 4Oz charge, which is small enough to fire safely at most outdoor venues, whilst still being very loud! It is based on a Burgundian anti-personnel cannon from the second half of the 15thC. The cannon needs a crew of at least two or more commonly three to load and fire it, one of whom must be the ‘gun captain’ and have a shotgun licence and explosive certificate.

The Tannenburg Gun

Early medieval ‘Pole gun’

The pole gun is the earliest type of handgun. Basically it is a very small cannon on a stick or pole. These guns came into use in the early 14^th century and were still around in the late 15thC. They are loaded with powder and a wad from the muzzle end, and a small amount of powder is placed into a ‘touch hole’ on the rear of the barrel. To fire the gun, a flame or glowing match is placed into the touchhole, driving sparks into the rear of the barrel to ignite the main change and fire the ‘bullet’ out of the end. It can be fired by one person, but ideally by two, one to hold and aim, the other to light the gun.

 This particular gun is a copy of ‘the tannenberg gun’ a surviving piece  in a museum in Nuremburg, which dates from pre-1399.

Iron ‘Tillered’ Pole gun

This type of gun is typical of many surviving from the period 1420 to around 1480. It’s a sturdy iron barrel made by a blacksmith, on an iron pole or tiller. It also has a hook on the bottom of the barrel, which could be used to hook the barrel over the top of a wall or shield, or as a close-quarters weapon. The hooks on the bottom of guns of this type may be responsible for the late medieval term ‘arquebus’  or ‘Haakbuss’ meaning a handgun (lit. Hooked tube).

This gun can be fired by a single person if it is hooked over a wall, or more easily by two people, a gunner and a calinator  due to it’s weight.

The earliest surviving image of a Matchlock, 1411

The earlier weapons all rely on putting a lighted match into the touch-hole by hand. The matchlock gun represented a real advance. It held the lighted match on a pivoted trigger lever (known as a serpentine). This allowed the gunner to look at his target where aiming. This style of gun was the highest technology of the medieval era, not widespread until after 1450, and continuing until perhaps 1550, when it grew in length and became the familiar musket of the English civil wars in the 1700’s

A 1720's Flintlock Musket by Derbyshire Arms

A Reproduction 1720′s musket by Derbyshire Arms.

After the medieval era other methods of firing guns started to develop, although the matchlock continued to be used in parallel for at least another 150 years or so.

By the late 1600’s, Flintlock muskets like the one shown above were the main weapon of the English soldier. They use a flint mounted on a sprung arm, which flies forward when the trigger is pulled, striking sparks from the hardened steel frizzen which fall into the pan over the touch-hole, firing the gun.

Jenny Fires a blunderbuss

Flintlock weapons were made in all shapes and sizes, including pistols and blunderbusses, members of the group own and use various types.

In 2011 this training was updated and repeated by Paul ‘Fox’ Turner, a former member of the group.  The notes from this training session are available to download below. However we urge anyone wanting to get involved in blackpowder gunning to join a group and learn under the supervision of an experienced gunner, as well as doing thier own research, particularly on safety and legal aspects.

EMA Blackpowder training notes 2011