At the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, the weapons of the world were significantly enriched - hitherto unseen firearms appeared in the arsenals of European armies. True, gunpowder, which was their basis, had already been invented long before that in China, but there its use was limited only to festive fireworks. The Europeans, on the other hand, showed themselves to be more practical people, and soon their battlefields began to resound with artillery cannonade.
New and unseen weapons
The era of firearms began with the manufacture of the first guns. For all their primitiveness and imperfection, they immediately created a significant military advantage. If the destructive power of the guns was insignificant, then the psychological effect of their use was enormous. It is enough to imagine how the opponents must have felt at the sight of a bright flash, accompanied by a terrible roar and puffs of smoke. And the cannonball that whistled through the air and shattered the wall of the fortress to smithereens did not increase optimism.
It took a long time before the design idea of the ancient gunsmiths prompted them to create their smaller version on the basis of bulky and clumsy artillery pieces. Such a design allowedsoldiers to hold weapons in their hands and, while maintaining sufficient mobility, hit the enemy at a considerable distance. This is how the first matchlock gun appeared.
The device of early samples of small arms
In terms of technical design, it in many ways resembled its progenitor - a cannon. By the way, even their names were similar. For example, Western European gunsmiths produced the so-called bombardelles - a smaller version of the bombard, and in Russia handguns used for hand-held shooting were widespread. The first samples of such weapons were a metal pipe about a meter long and up to forty centimeters thick. One of its ends was made deaf, with an ignition hole drilled from above.
This pipe was laid on a wooden bed and attached to it with metal rings. Such a gun was loaded from the muzzle. Crushed gunpowder was poured there, which was compacted with the help of a wad. Then a bullet was pushed into the muzzle. In early samples, its role was played by small stones of the appropriate diameter. After that, the gun was ready for battle. All that remained was to point it at the target and bring a metal rod red-hot on the brazier to the ignition hole.
Technical finds of gunsmiths
Since small arms came into use, they have been steadily improving. For example, a matchlock gun of the 15th century had an ignition hole on the right side, and a special shelf was arranged near it, where seed gunpowder was poured. This design has the advantage of:bringing a wick to the shelf (in this case, a red-hot rod), the shooter did not obscure his target, as it was before. Due to such a simple improvement, it was possible to significantly increase the accuracy of shooting.
The next change that the matchlock underwent was the appearance of a hinged lid that protected the shelf with seed powder from moisture and wind. And the invention of the linen wick, which replaced the red-hot steel rod, can be called the real technical breakthrough. Treated with s altpeter or wine alcohol, it smoldered for a long time and perfectly performed its function, setting fire to the fuse.
Inventing the Trigger
But the old matchlock gun was still uncomfortable. The problem was that, when firing, it was necessary to bring the hand to the shelf with the seed gunpowder, which often caused misses when shooting. However, gunsmiths have solved this problem. They drilled a hole in the wooden stock and passed through it a metal strip in the form of the letter S, movably fixed in the middle.
To its upper end, directed towards the seed shelf, a smoldering wick was attached, and the lower part performed the same function as a modern trigger for small arms. They pressed it with a finger, the upper part fell, the wick ignited the gunpowder, and a shot followed. This design eliminated the need for shooters to constantly stay close to the field brazier.
At the end of the 15th century, the matchlock muzzle-loading gun was equipped with a special device that further increasedshooting efficiency. It was the first match lock, the prototype of future rifle locks. Somewhat later, he was equipped with a protective shield that protected the eyes of the shooter during a flash of ignition powder. This design was typical for the products of the masters of England.
Cutting barrels and improving stocks
In the seventies of the 16th century, the appearance of the first rifled barrels became the most important stage in the improvement of small arms. They were invented by gunsmiths from Nuremberg, and the effectiveness of such an innovation immediately became apparent, since a rifled matchlock gun made it possible to hit targets with higher accuracy.
The stock has also undergone significant changes by this time. Previously, it was straight, and when shooting it had to rest against the chest, which caused extreme inconvenience. French craftsmen gave it a curved shape, which ensured that the recoil energy was directed not only backwards, as it was before, but also upwards. In addition, such a butt could rest against the shoulder. It was this design that became classic and has been preserved in general terms to this day.
The advent of matchlock muskets
By the end of the 16th century, hand-held small arms finally took shape as an independent type, forever departing in their design from the artillery pieces that gave rise to it. During this period, such names as matchlock musket, arquebus, pishchal and so on are widely included in the military lexicon. The design idea of the gunsmiths of those years gave rise to more and more improvements.
For example, goodthe famous musket appeared after the idea was born to put a heavy matchlock gun on a support called a pod. It would seem a simple invention, but it immediately made it possible to increase the accuracy and range of fire, increase the caliber of the barrel and create additional convenience for the fighter. The Museum of Weapons, deployed in the Hermitage expositions, has a rich collection of samples of small arms of that era.
The inconvenience of matchlocks
But with all the attempts at improvement, the musket was not much ahead of the matchlock gun of the 15th century. In both cases, before firing a shot, it was required, resting the butt on the ground, to fill it with a sufficient amount of gunpowder. After that, using a wad and a ramrod, thoroughly compact it and lower the bullet inside. Then pour seed powder on the shelf, close the lid and insert a smoldering wick. Then the lid was opened again and only after that they were already aiming. The experiment showed that the whole process takes at least two minutes, which is extremely long in a combat situation. But even with such imperfections, the weapons of the world, having become firearms, radically changed the way war is waged.
Successes of Russian gunsmiths
It should be noted that the muskets produced in Russia in the 17th century and used in the army along with the Dutch ones were in no way inferior to the latter in terms of their combat qualities, and some samples significantly exceeded them. During this period, the Russian army changed in many respects as a result of thereforms due to historical requirements and the political situation of those years. To protect the state from the incessant attempts of aggression from the western neighbors, it was necessary to modernize the army, and one of its components was the improvement of weapons, including small arms.
German manual for musket shooters
The technique of using muskets of that time is well demonstrated in a special edition published in Germany in 1608, which was a training manual for infantrymen. It is richly illustrated with engravings by the artist Jacob van Hein, depicting the ways of loading guns and combat techniques for handling them. In addition, the drawings allow the modern reader to understand what the shooter looked like in full combat gear.
The engravings clearly show the so-called bandeliers - belts worn over the left shoulder, to which ten to fifteen leather containers were attached, each containing a single charge of gunpowder. In addition, the fighter had a flask with dry crushed seed powder on his belt. Supplemented equipment pouch with wads and bullets. It must be said that such a publication is of great value today, and a rare weapon museum has it in its expositions.
