To make it you will need:
– materials: 1
.
A sheet of polystyrene foam 2.5 - 3 cm thick (other sizes vary, but the standard sheet is approximately 50 * 100 cm, there are also larger ones). I used two pieces of foam from the furniture box, measuring 50*15*2.5 cm. 2
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A mop stick with a length of at least 130 cm (note that the excess plastic parts will most likely need to be removed and the stick will become shorter) or a stick for a curtain rod (they are usually a very beautiful color of noble bronze, but the metal there is quite thick and therefore the product may be too heavy and the risk of its breakage will increase, and this cornice is not cheap). 3
.
A roll of masking tape/tape (preferably two – one 50 mm wide, the second 20-30 mm). At the same time, I recommend using not paper-based tape (usually light yellow), but tape that looks like thin plastic - it stretches easier and is itself much denser. If you have paper masking tape, then it is better to take it with a reserve (two wide rolls and one narrow). 4
.
A roll of double-sided tape. It’s also better to take two – 50 mm and 20 mm wide, because a wide one is very inconvenient to cut lengthwise. 5
.
Stationery pins such as nails - 100 pcs or the same number of wallpaper nails with a length of at least 1 cm. 6
.
A roll of simple wood-look wallpaper, like a “country fence.” You choose the color at your discretion. I had the most common ones - the colors “stalled wood”. If you find a more noble shade, take it. In reality, you will need about two meters, so if you have the rest lying around somewhere, use it. The texture of the wallpaper is preferably the most ordinary - no embossing, etc. 7
.
A roll of food foil (5 meters is enough even taking into account all the unsuccessful experiments) 8
.
A piece of cardboard “metal-like” 20*15 cm. If you don’t have it, you can do without it. Or use a disposable foil plate (it will have to be flattened into a leaf using improvised means - from a liter jar to a rolling pin). 9
.
About 1 meter of thin wire - insulated, but preferably copper, because... Aluminum will most likely break. 10
.
About 20 paper clips. – tool: 1
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Stationery scissors, whatever you like (the glue that sticks to the blades when cutting the tape is very difficult to wash off) 2
.
A breadboard knife (one with a retractable blade, preferably durable) 3
.
Pliers (if not, you can make do) 4
.
Hands from the right place 5
.
Vacuum cleaner (optional) 6
. Large flat blade screwdriver (optional)
Manufacturing stages:
We hope you find it useful, your editors.
If we say that the musket is the progenitor and the main archetype of muzzle-loading weapons, it will sound very plausible. The appearance of the musket on the battlefields of the Middle Ages turned the rules of warfare upside down and sent the most famous warriors of that time - the knights - into oblivion. If we ignore the fact that this was by no means the very first small arms, the shotguns and rifles of our time owe their existence to it alone.
late 17th century musket
Principle of operation
The operating principle of the musket mechanisms is based on the use of a lock-type trigger mechanism, which was the founder of all subsequent methods of igniting a powder charge. Due to its low cost, the matchlock mounted on a musket dominated in Europe until the invention of the first flintlock guns.
wick lock
The ignition of the gunpowder occurred due to the interaction of the trigger coupled with the smoldering wick and, in fact, the gunpowder charge. It is not difficult to imagine that such weapons had a number of significant disadvantages:
- the wick had to be kept smoldering;
- the need for constant access to fire;
- problems of combat in conditions of high humidity;
- problems with camouflage in the dark - the light from the wick gave away the shooter’s position.
A musket is a single-shot weapon. As a result, after each shot it was necessary to charge it again. Thus, having fired a shot, the shooter poured a pre-measured portion of gunpowder into the barrel of the weapon, pressed it with a wad and a cleaning rod, added another bullet (a ball of lead) to this mixture and fixed it with another wad. This kind of manipulation made it possible to fire about one shot per minute.
The musket's aiming system included only a barrel and a front sight - there was no rear sight at that time.
In order to avoid inaccuracies in terminology, it is worth noting that the concept of a musket and a gun takes into account only the length of the barrel of a firearm, while their design and everything else is of a secondary nature. For example, the famous "Winchester 1873", released in conjunction with a specially designed unitary cartridge, had a rifled barrel and was produced as a carbine, shotgun and musket, which had different barrel lengths.
Basic performance characteristics of a musket (
17th century)
The musket of the late 17th century had the following characteristics (performance characteristics):
- caliber – 17-20 mm;
- barrel length – 900-1000 mm;
- total length – 1300-1450 mm;
- weight – 4-6 kg.
There is probably no person who has not at least once heard the word musket, and even more so the word “musketeers” derived from this weapon. By the way, this word has brought historical confusion to humanity. Thanks to the writer Dumas and his musketeers, humanity has taken root in the misconception that France is considered the birthplace of muskets, but these firearms were not invented by the French, although later they had a hand in the musket in terms of its improvement.
How did the first muskets appear?
In the mid-16th century, a firearm called the arquebus arose, which can be considered the ancestor of the classic musket. For some time, arquebuses were considered a formidable weapon, but it soon became clear that the arquebus was an unreliable weapon. The bullets fired from the arquebus, due to their low weight (no more than 20 grams), as well as their modest caliber, were powerless against enemy chain mail and armor, and loading the arquebus was a long process. It was necessary to invent new, more effective firearms.
And such a weapon was invented. History assures us that the first long-barreled gun with a wick-lock, later called a musket, appeared in Spain. History has preserved the name of the gunsmith who invented the musket. This is a certain Mocheto, who lived in the Spanish city of Veletra.
The first musket had a long barrel - up to 150 cm. Thanks to the long barrel, the caliber of the musket also increased. The new gun was able to fire new charges with a larger amount of gunpowder, which allowed the bullet to fly further and at greater speed, resulting in a greater stopping power for the bullet. Such a bullet could no longer be stopped by chain mail and armor.
The first samples of muskets were quite heavy (up to 9 kg), and therefore it was difficult to carry them - the muskets were fired from previously prepared positions. And still, shooting from them was not an easy task: when firing, the musket had a strong recoil, and loading it required time and skill. Soldiers of European armies armed with muskets (primarily Spain, Germany and France - as the most powerful powers of the Middle Ages) represented a formidable force.
What is a musket
The first firearm, the arquebus, appeared in the middle of the 16th century and is, in fact, the predecessor of the musket. At first, arquebuses were considered deadly and powerful, but in reality they turned out to be unreliable weapons. The charges that were used for them were too small in caliber and weight (up to 20 g) to pierce the armor or chain mail of the enemy. And reloading an arquebus took such a long time that the invention of a more effective weapon was only a matter of time.
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the musket in the history of firearms. Its own history remains unknown (there are several versions), but the closest information to reality suggests that the first gun with a long barrel and a wick lock was invented in Spain. Presumably its creator was a certain Mokcheto, who lived in the city of Veletra.
A musket shot could easily pierce a wooden partition
The barrel length of the first musket, according to ancient records, was about one and a half meters. Compared to arquebuses, the caliber also increased - to 22 mm, and the weight of the charge for muskets was about 50 g. More gunpowder was used during the shooting process, and therefore the bullet had greater acceleration and flew over a greater distance. This means that its destructive power increased significantly - the charge easily penetrated plate armor and other armor that was common in infantry troops in the 16th century.
At first, muskets could only be fired from pre-prepared positions, since the weight of the gun reached 9 kg, and it was very inconvenient to carry them. Loading a musket required skill and dexterity, and strong recoil made the shooting process much more difficult. Despite all the negative features of muskets, European soldiers (this weapon was common among the armies of Spain, France and Germany) after being armed with muskets became a formidable force.
The functioning of a musket-gun is associated with the operation of the trigger mechanism. It was the appearance of the castle that served as the impetus for the development of all methods of igniting gunpowder in firearms. Matchlock muskets remained in service with European armies for a very long time, despite the simplicity of the design and the fact that this method of firing the gun was far from ideal.
How to load a musket
Each of us has probably seen in films exactly how muskets were loaded. It was a long, complicated and tedious procedure:
- They loaded the musket through the muzzle;
- Gunpowder was poured into the barrel in the amount necessary for the shot (according to the shooter). However, in order not to make a mistake in the dose of gunpowder during the battle, the powder doses were measured in advance and packaged in special bags called chargers. These same charges were attached to the shooter’s belt during shooting;
- First, coarse powder was poured into the barrel;
- Then finer gunpowder, which ignited more quickly;
- The shooter pushed the bullet into the table with the help of a ramrod;
- The charge was pressed against a constantly smoldering wick;
- The ignited gunpowder threw a bullet out of the barrel.
It was believed that if the entire charging procedure takes no more than two minutes, then this is wonderful. In this case, it became possible to fire a salvo first, which often guaranteed victory in the battle.
DIY souvenir musket
DIY gifts What to give to a person who is interested in weapons?Unfortunately, in Russia it is impossible to come and buy a pistol as a gift; you cannot even buy a smoothbore gun and give it as a gift.
Of course, you can always buy a mock-up of a PM pistol as a gift, but mock-ups are not that. The layout must be valid!
However, working models are not for sale, and in Russia there is a criminal offense for making firearms with your own hands.
You can get around these contradictions by making a souvenir scale copy.
Watch the video below, it shows how to make your own fire musket in 1:20 scale.
No expert will accept such a homemade firearm as a weapon. Especially if you use candle stearin or a piece of eraser as a bullet.
Moreover, a large amount of gunpowder or sulfur from matches will simply tear the barrel instead of firing.
However, nevertheless, the souvenir musket is quite capable of hitting paper targets at a distance of a meter. Which is quite a spear, since real muskets were also fired no further than 20 meters; it is simply impossible to reach a greater distance.
To make a homemade firearm musket in a souvenir version, you will need a thin-walled copper or brass tube, a piece of wood, a small gas burner (can be replaced with a turbo lighter or a soldering iron) and copper foil 0.5 mm thick.
You can tear off the foil from the old board of the electronics you are going to throw away.
A screwdriver is also desirable, but you can do without it. But a knife will be needed to make a homemade musket.
To begin with, the musket barrel is made - the end of the tube is heated to red and cooled in air, this releases the metal and it becomes very pliable for mechanical processing - flaring the end of the barrel.
In muskets, such a bell served to pour in gunpowder and increase the spread of shells; in those days, 3-5 stones were usually poured into the barrel on top of the wad, which covered the gunpowder.
The excess part of the tube is cut off, the pilot hole is drilled using a thin drill, and the end farthest from the socket is sealed tightly. To improve soldering, it is better to use soldering acid, then the tin will stick well to the tube and the foil plug.
The stock is then cut out and smoothed out using a knife and files. It would be a good idea to sand the stock with fine sandpaper and coat it with varnish. If you use walnut wood, you don’t have to paint the butt using markers.
The barrel is glued with superglue, and a piece of foil is placed on the edge of the barrel as a decorative clamp.
All that remains is to install the decorative trigger and safety guard. Both parts can be bent from a paper clip.
A pair or two of match heads are poured into the barrel, pressed (not too tightly) with a paper wad, and then a candle wax bullet is inserted.
A thread soaked in saltpeter is used as an igniter. If you don’t have saltpeter, you can use ready-made impregnated thread from small firecrackers.
Follow safety precautions and do not point the musket anywhere other than at the target!
Happy shooting! 
All by yourself and with your own hands
Features of fighting with muskets
A warrior armed with a musket was called a musketeer. A bullet fired from a musket could win a battle, which, in general, was what happened. When firing from muskets in one gulp, it was possible to lay down a whole line of the enemy at a distance of up to 200 meters. The weight of musket bullets could be 60 grams. Armored knights were knocked out of their saddles with musket bullets.
Still, firing a musket was not an easy task. It took a long time to load the musket. The recoil when firing was such that it could knock the shooter off his feet. To protect themselves, the shooters wore special helmets and also tied a special pad to their shoulder. Due to the difficulty of shooting, there were two people with the musket: one loaded the weapon, the other fired, and the loader supported him so that the shooter did not fall.
In order to make it possible to fire muskets faster, the armies of many countries came up with various tricks. One of these tricks that history has preserved was the following. The musketeers lined up in a square consisting of several ranks. While the first rank was firing, the rest were loading their muskets. Having fired, the first line gave way to another, with loaded guns, and that one to the third, fourth, and so on. Thus, musket fire could be carried out constantly.
In the 16th century, during a battle, musket shooting was the decisive condition for victory. Often the side that was the first to fire a volley at the enemy won. If the first salvo did not give a decisive result, then there was no time to fire the musket again - everything was decided in close combat.
Double-barreled musket: the history of its appearance
In order to get out of the situation, it was necessary to somehow increase the rate of fire of the musket. However, rapid firing of muskets with a matchlock was impossible. The matchlock musket, due to its design, simply could not fire quickly. It was necessary to invent some new musket that could be fired faster.
The double-barreled musket was invented. The advantage of a double-barreled musket over a single-barreled one was obvious: instead of one shot, it could fire two, that is, shoot twice as fast. It was a kind of weapons revolution, but for unknown reasons the double-barreled musket could not take root in the infantry units of European powers. By the way, it is the double-barreled musket that is the progenitor of our hunting rifle - continuity through the centuries.
Pirate musket - the prototype of a modern pistol
But the double-barreled musket, like the single-barreled one, aroused interest among pirates of the 16th century. In subsequent centuries, until the 19th century, when muskets were replaced by more advanced weapons, and the pirates themselves for the most part sank into historical oblivion, pirate enthusiasm for this did not diminish at all. It was the pirates who, first of all, had a hand in improving muskets and contributing to the appearance of the first pistols.
Unlike the army, the “knights of fortune” were the first to fully appreciate what firearms are, and what advantage they give to those who own them and know how to handle them. Heavy musket bullets could easily disable a merchant ship, making it easy prey for filibusters. In addition, in hand-to-hand combat, a pirate armed with a musket was a very formidable combat unit.
To make it more convenient to shoot from a musket and carry it with them, the pirates thought about improving it. The French sea robbers were the most successful in this. They were the first to think of making the musket barrel shorter, reducing its size and caliber, and equipping the weapon with a handle resembling a pistol grip. The result was an easy-to-handle musket, which became the forerunner of modern pistols and revolvers.
The pirates nicknamed certain versions of the shortened musket blunderbusses. They differed from ordinary muskets in their shortened appearance, as well as the expansion at the end of the barrel. Blunderbuss could fire shotguns and hit several enemies at once. In addition, blunderbusses had a very loud sound when fired, which had a frightening psychological effect on the enemy. By the way, not only pirates, but also civilian ships of that time were equipped with muskets and blunderbuss to suppress mutinies on ships.
Further improvement of the musket
Meanwhile, the authorities of the leading European powers were not asleep. Their gunsmiths also began to think about improving the musket. Several European powers have achieved impressive results in this matter.
The Dutch were the first to succeed. Their craftsmen designed lighter muskets. Troops armed with such muskets were more mobile, and the muskets themselves became easier to fire. In addition, the Dutch improved the musket barrel by producing musket barrels from soft steel. As a result, musket barrels no longer exploded when fired.
German craftsmen also made a significant contribution to the improvement of the musket. They improved the firing mechanism of the musket. Instead of the matchlock method of shooting, the flint method appeared. The flintlock gun, which replaced the matchlock, was a revolution in the development of weapons in medieval Europe. The lever in the wick mechanism was replaced by a trigger, which, when pressed, released the spring with the flint, the flint hit the arm, resulting in a spark being struck and igniting the gunpowder, which, in turn, ejected the bullet from the barrel. It was much easier to shoot from a flintlock than from a matchlock.
The French were not far behind. First, they changed the butt of the musket: it became longer and flatter. Secondly, they were the first to equip muskets with bayonets, as a result of which muskets could be used as edged weapons. Thirdly, they installed a battery lock on the gun. Thus, the French musket turned into the most advanced firearm at that time. As a result, the flintlock gun replaced the matchlock. In fact, it was Napoleon’s army that was armed with French flint muskets, as well as the Russian army that opposed it.
The main parts of the musket remained unchanged until the very end of its existence. Some individual parts were modified at different times, but the principle of operation itself did not change. This applies to such parts as the butt, stock, working mechanism.
The first Russian regular weapon: how Peter I added an army of fire
The era of Peter's achievements, among many other important innovations, gave Russia a new army, which quickly became one of the strongest in Europe. Such a result was impossible without the use of new combat tactics for Russian troops, which also required new weapons. Since the main branch of the military at that time remained the infantry, it was primarily the infantry that needed new types of weapons - light, long-range and rapid-fire. This is how the Russian army received Peter’s fusees - smooth-bore guns, which became the main weapon of the Russian army for more than a century.
Musket as part of history and culture
By and large, it was with the musket that the development and improvement of small arms throughout the world began. On the one hand, the musket gave rise to shotguns, rifles, carbines, machine guns and machine guns, and on the other hand, short-barreled weapons like pistols and revolvers. That is why these ancient weapons exhibits are part of history.
On the other hand, muskets are a cultural and collectible value. Having an antique weapon can be the pride of a true amateur collector. In addition, some examples are decorated with precious metals and stones, which further increases their cultural significance.
The matchlock was invented around 1430 and made gun handling much easier. The main differences in the design of the new weapon were as follows: a predecessor of the modern trigger appeared - a serpentine lever located on the stock of the gun, with the help of serpentine the wick was activated, which freed the shooter's hand. The seed hole was moved to the side so that the fuse no longer covered the target. On later models of matchlock guns, serpentine was equipped with a latch and a spring holding it, a powder shelf for priming appeared, which later became closed, there was also a version of matchlock guns, in the design of which the trigger was replaced by a trigger button. The main disadvantage of matchlock guns was their relatively low resistance to moisture and wind, a gust of which could blow away the primer; moreover, the shooter had to constantly have access to an open fire, and in addition, the smoldering carbon deposits left after the shot in the barrel bore threatened to instantly ignite the loaded gunpowder. Thus, loading a matchlock gun from a powder flask with a large amount of gunpowder became quite dangerous, and therefore, in order to protect shooters from serious burns, cartridge belts were introduced, equipped with containers containing a smaller amount of black powder than before - exactly as much as was necessary to fire a shot.
The appearance of the first muskets
A musket is a long-barreled gun with a matchlock. This first mass-produced infantry firearm appeared earlier than anyone else among the Spaniards. According to one version, muskets in this form originally appeared around 1521, and already in the Battle of Pavia in 1525 they were used quite widely. The main reason for its appearance was that by the 16th century, even in the infantry, plate armor had become widespread, which did not always make its way out of the lighter culverins and arquebuses (in Rus' - “arquebuses”). The armor itself also became stronger, so that arquebus bullets weighing 18-22 grams, fired from relatively short barrels, were ineffective when fired at an armored target.
Matchlock musket and everything needed to load and fire it
Thanks to the production of granular gunpowder, it became possible to make long barrels. In addition, granular powder burned more densely and evenly. The caliber of the musket was 18-25 mm, the weight of the bullet was 50-55 grams, the barrel length was about 65 calibers, the muzzle velocity was 400-500 m/s. The musket had a long barrel (up to 150 cm) and a short butt with a cutout for the thumb in cervix The total length of the weapon reached 180 cm, so a stand was placed under the barrel - a buffet table. The weight of the Musket reached 7-9 kg. Due to the high recoil, the butt of the musket was not pressed to the shoulder, but was kept suspended, only by leaning the cheek against it for aiming. The recoil of the musket was such that only a physically strong, well-built person could withstand it, while the musketeers still tried to use various devices to soften the blow to the shoulder - for example, they wore special stuffed pads on it.
Loading was carried out from the muzzle of the barrel from a charger, which was a wooden case with a dose of gunpowder measured for one shot. These charges were suspended from the shooter's shoulder belt. In addition, there was a small powder flask - natruska, from which fine gunpowder was poured onto the seed shelf. The bullet was taken from a leather pouch and loaded through the barrel using a ramrod. The charge was ignited by a smoldering wick, which was pressed by the trigger against the shelf with gunpowder. Initially, the trigger was in the form of a long lever under the butt, but from the beginning of the 17th century. it took on the appearance of a short trigger. Recharging took an average of about two minutes. True, already at the beginning of the 17th century there were virtuoso shooters who managed to make several unaimed shots per minute. In battle, such high-speed shooting was ineffective, and even dangerous due to the abundance and complexity of loading techniques for a musket: for example, sometimes the shooter in a hurry forgot to remove the ramrod from the barrel, as a result of which it flew towards enemy battle formations, and the unlucky musketeer was left without ammunition. In the worst case, when loading a musket carelessly (an excessively large charge of gunpowder, a loose bullet seating on the gunpowder, loading with two bullets or two powder charges, and so on), ruptures of the barrel were not uncommon, leading to injury to the shooter himself and those around him. In practice, the musketeers fired much less often than the rate of fire of their weapons allowed, in accordance with the situation on the battlefield and without wasting ammunition, since with such a rate of fire there was usually no chance of a second shot at the same target.
Musket matchlock
The low rate of fire of these weapons forced the musketeers to line up in rectangular squares up to 10-12 rows deep. Each row, having fired a volley, went back, the next rows moved forward, and the rear ones reloaded at that time. The firing range reached 150-250 m. But even at this distance, hitting individual targets, especially moving ones, from a primitive smooth-bore musket, devoid of sighting devices, was impossible, which is why the musketeers fired in volleys, ensuring a high density of fire.
Improvement of matchlock muskets
Meanwhile, in the 17th century, the gradual withering away of armor, as well as a general change in the nature of combat operations (increased mobility, widespread use of artillery) and the principles of recruiting troops (a gradual transition to mass conscript armies) led to the fact that the size, weight and power of the musket over time began to be felt as clearly redundant.
In the 17th century muskets lightened to 5 kg with a rifle stock appeared, which were pressed to the shoulder when fired. In the 16th century, a musketeer relied on an assistant to carry a bipod and ammunition; in the 17th century, with some lightening of the infantry musket and a reduction in the caliber and length of the barrel, the need for assistants disappeared, and then the use of bipods was abolished. In Russia, muskets appeared at the beginning of the 17th century with the creation of “regiments of a foreign system” - the first regular army, formed on the model of European musketeer and reitar (cavalry) regiments and until Peter I existed in parallel with the Streltsy army, armed with arquebuses. The muskets in service with the Russian army had a caliber of 18-20 mm and weighed about 7 kg. At the end of the 17th century, for use in hand-to-hand combat (still remaining the decisive type of combat between infantry and cavalry), the musket was given a baguette - a cleaver with a wide blade and a handle inserted into the barrel. The attached baguette could act like a bayonet (the name “baginet” or “bayonet” remained behind bayonets in various languages), but it did not allow firing and was inserted into the barrel immediately before the shooters entered hand-to-hand combat, which noticeably increased the time between the last salvo and the ability to act with a musket as a bladed weapon. Therefore, in the musketeer regiments, some of the soldiers (pikemen) were armed with long-pole weapons and engaged in hand-to-hand combat while the riflemen (musketeers) were adjacent to the baguettes. In addition, with a heavy musket it was inconvenient to deliver long piercing attacks necessary in a battle with a mounted enemy, and when attacking cavalry, pikemen provided the shooters with protection from saber attacks and the ability to shoot point-blank at the cavalry. In the second half of the 17th century. This type of weapon throughout Europe was gradually replaced by military guns (fusees) with a flintlock.
Characteristics: Weapon length: 1400 - 1900 cm; Barrel length: 1000 - 1500 cm; Weapon weight: 5 -10 kg; Caliber: 18 - 25 mm; Firing range: 150 - 250 m; Bullet speed: 400 - 550 m/s.
Muzzle-loading weapons of the past - muskets, squeaks, fuses - did not have high accuracy and rate of fire, but were incredibly deadly, any wound threatened death or injury. Moreover, every major improvement in weapons led to a change in military tactics, and sometimes to a change in the military paradigm.
It is believed that handguns appeared in the 14th century simultaneously with artillery. The first samples were essentially the same cannons and bombards, only reduced so much that they could be fired from hand. They were called that - hand cannons. Structurally, these were bronze or iron pipes with a tightly sealed end and a pilot hole near it. Short trunks were laid on rough stocks, similar to elongated logs. Sometimes, instead of a stock, a long metal pin stuck out from the sealed end of the pipe, by which the weapon was held. The shooter aimed it at the target and ignited the gunpowder with a smoldering wick or a red-hot rod (often two people were involved in this process).
For almost two centuries, handguns did not provide any advantages. Bulky and inconvenient “hand cannons” were inferior in rate of fire to bows and crossbows - a good archer could shoot up to 12 times in a minute. The firearms operator spent several minutes on just one shot. The bullets of the first guns were not superior in penetration to crossbow arrows. In the second season of the documentary series Deadliest Warrior, an experiment is shown: a bullet fired from six meters from a modern replica of a Chinese handgun from the Ming Dynasty ricochets off a musketeer's shell, leaving only a dent on it.
Everything changed in the 15th century thanks to large-caliber muskets that fired bullets weighing 50-60 grams - they were guaranteed to hit a knight in armor. By the way, the term “musket” (like most other names for muzzle-loading weapons) is conditional. This was the name given to both heavy matchlock guns of the 15th-16th centuries and guns with a percussion flintlock of the 17th-19th centuries.
No matter how primitive early firearms were, they revolutionized military affairs: skilled and strong professional warriors soon found themselves powerless before the barrel of a musket. Historians consider the Battle of Pavia in 1525 between the French and Spaniards to be a turning point - it is called the last battle of the Middle Ages. It was then that firearms showed unconditional superiority over knightly cavalry. From that time on, the musket became the main weapon of the infantry, its tactics changed, and special musketeer units were created.
Matchlock guns of the 15th-16th centuries are still slow and cumbersome, but they acquire more or less familiar features; the wick is no longer brought to the ignition hole manually - it is mounted on a snake-like serpentine lever, activated by something like a trigger. The ignition hole is shifted to the side, next to it there is a special seed shelf on which gunpowder is poured.
And muskets and arquebuses are unusually deadly - a hit from a heavy or soft bullet almost always leads to death or severe injury - a soldier wounded in an arm or leg, as a rule, lost a limb.
But even the most advanced matchlock muskets are too inconvenient - the shooter thought more about how to ignite the gunpowder, and not about how to aim more accurately. The wick easily went out in bad weather, matches and lighters had not yet been invented, and it was impossible to quickly light the wick using a flint in case of a sudden alarm. Therefore, for the sentries, the wick was constantly smoldering, hidden in a special wick, wound on the butt of a musket or directly on the musketeer’s hat. It is believed that the guards burned out five to six meters of wick during their night shifts.
The wheel lock, known since the 15th century, slightly improved the situation. In it, a spark for igniting gunpowder on the seed shelf was struck using a rotating wheel with a notch. Before shooting, it was wound up with a key, like a music box, and when the trigger was pressed, it rotated, while at the same time a holder with a fixed piece of pyrite was pressed against it from above. Several engineers claim the authorship of the wheel lock; in particular, drawings of such devices are in the work of Leonardo da Vinci called Codex Atlanticus.
Although the wheel lock was superior to the wick lock in reliability, it was too capricious, complicated (they were made by watchmakers) and expensive, and therefore could not completely replace the serpentine with a smoldering wick. In addition, almost simultaneously with the wheel lock, a much simpler and more advanced percussion flint lock appeared - it is also called percussion, battery, or cross-cut. In it, a trigger with a flint hit a metal plate-chair, striking sparks, and at the same time a shelf with seed gunpowder opened. It flared up and ignited the main charge in the barrel.
Historians believe that the impact lock was invented in the Middle East. In Europe, the Spaniards were the first to use this scheme, and the French brought it to perfection. In 1610, gunsmith Maren Le Bourgeois combined the best features of different models and created the so-called French battery lock, which until almost the middle of the 19th century was the basis of handguns in Europe, the USA, and many countries of the East (not all, in Japan until the last quarter of the 19th century matchlock guns were used for centuries). By the 17th century, the final appearance of the flintlock gun had developed - a total length of about one and a half meters, a barrel of up to 1.2 meters, a caliber of 17-20 millimeters, weight - four to five kilograms. Everything is approximate, because there was no unification in production.
In addition to classic muskets, the military was armed with hand-held mortars for firing grenades and short blunderbusses with thick bell-shaped barrels from which they fired chopped lead, nails or small pebbles.
Perhaps the most famous flintlock weapon is the British land musket of 1722, nicknamed the Brown Bess. The wooden stock of the musket was brown, and the barrel was often covered with the so-called “rusty” varnish. “Dark Bess” was used in Britain itself, in all its colonies and was in service until the middle of the 19th century. This weapon did not have any outstanding characteristics, but gained its fame due to its wide distribution. The singer of British militarism and colonialism, Rudyard Kipling, even dedicated one of his poems to the brown musket - it is called Brown Bess. In the 1785 British Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, the expression “to embrace Dark Bess” means “to serve as a soldier.”
Experts call the French musket of 1777 the best flintlock gun. By that time, the engineer and fortification master Marquis Sebastien Le Prêtre de Vauban had improved the flintlock and invented the bayonet tube, which made it possible to shoot with a fixed bayonet - before that the bayonet was inserted into the barrel. With this gun, French infantrymen went through all the wars of the Revolution and the Empire. A shotgun with a Vauban lock was almost immediately adopted by all European armies. The Russian musket of the 1808 model was essentially a copy of the French gun with a slightly modified caliber.
The impact lock and development of the loading algorithm have significantly increased the rate of fire of muzzle-loading shotguns. Historians claim that 17th-century Prussian infantry fired up to five shots per minute with four reloads, and individual riflemen fired up to seven shots with six reloads.
To speed up loading, gunpowder, wad and bullet were combined in one paper cartridge. The French manual for loading weapons included 12 commands. Briefly, the process looked like this: the soldier put the trigger on the safety cock, opened the cover of the priming shelf, bit into a paper cartridge, poured some of the gunpowder onto the shelf, and then closed it. He poured the remaining gunpowder into the barrel, sent a paper cartridge with a bullet there - the paper served as a wad, nailed the bullet with a ramrod, then cocked the hammer. The gun was ready to fire.
By the way, the paper cartridge played a cruel joke on the British - it is believed that it was this that served as the reason for the sepoy uprising of 1857-1859 in India. In February 1857, the 34th Bengal Regiment of Native Infantry heard a rumor that the casing of the new paper cartridges was impregnated with either cow or pork fat. The need to bite such cartridges offended the religious sentiments of Hindus and Muslims. One of the native soldiers announced that he would not bite the cartridge, and when the regimental lieutenant arrived to investigate the incident, the native shot at him, wounding his horse.
But even the most advanced musket was not accurate - hitting a target one meter square from a hundred meters was a very good result. Targeted salvo fire was carried out at distances of 50-100 meters - it was believed that it was impossible to hit the enemy line further than 200 meters. Most armies allowed soldiers to fire three to five practice rounds to become familiar with the loading process. Everything else is in battle.
But the techniques of volley firing were worked out to perfection - to reduce the time intervals between volleys, a formation of riflemen from several ranks was used. The first rank fired a volley, went back to load guns, the second rank took its place with loaded muskets, after the volley it gave way to the third rank, etc. There were techniques for shooting in three ranks at once: the soldier in the first rank stood half-turned, the next one remained in place, the third took a step to the right.
The first examples of rifled weapons date back to the 15th century - in the arsenal of Turin there is a rifled gun from 1476. Already by the first quarter of the 16th century, high-quality rifled guns were available in various European countries, primarily in Germany. But these were isolated samples, available only to the rich.
Early rifled weapons are sometimes called a "premature invention", in the sense that the level of technological development at the time precluded their widespread use. The first flintlock revolvers are also among the same premature inventions - one of the oldest samples dates back to 1597 (Colt’s first revolver appeared in 1836), and in the Kremlin Armory there is a revolver arquebus from 1625.
The accuracy of the first rifled gun made such a strong impression on contemporaries that it provoked a religious dispute. In 1522, a Bavarian priest (according to other sources, a warlock) named Moretius explained the accuracy of rifled weapons by saying that the demons swarming in the air cannot stay on rotating bullets, because there are no devils in the rotating heavens, but there are plenty of them on Earth. Moretius' opponents insisted that the demons just like everything that rotates, and they probably direct the spinning bullet.
An experiment conducted in the German city of Mainz in 1547 put an end to the dispute. First, plain lead bullets were shot 20 times at targets from a distance of 200 yards, then another 20 shots were fired with blessed silver bullets with crosses inscribed on them. Half of the lead bullets hit the target, while the silver ones missed. The answer was obvious. Church authorities banned the “devilish weapons,” and frightened townspeople threw their rifles into the fire.
True, those who could afford rifled weapons continued to use them. But more than three hundred years passed before, by the end of the 17th century, they created a rifled gun suitable for relatively mass armament of infantry. It was only in the second half of the 19th century that rifled muzzle-loading rifles replaced classic muskets from the army.
Birth of the musket
European armies had difficulty switching to a new type of weapon. The main combat load in the infantry units was carried out by archers and crossbowmen. The share of shooters armed with firearms did not exceed 5-10%. In Spain, which in the 15th-16th centuries was a leading world power and the center of European politics, the royal power sought to increase the number of fire regiments. The empire required a more advanced and powerful army and a powerful navy. It was impossible to cope with such a task without the massive use of firearms. The decisive factor in countering the enemy was artillery and musket fire.
It was no coincidence that heavy matchlock guns appeared on the equipment of European armies. The arquebus, which became the predecessor of the musket, was successfully used against infantry. However, during military clashes where heavily armed cavalry, protected by armor, participated, the arquebus became powerless. A more powerful and heavier weapon was required, with greater penetrating power and a greater direct shot range. To do this, it was decided to take the simplest route, to increase the size of the matchlock gun. The caliber increased accordingly. The first matchlock musket weighed 7-9 kg. The caliber of the new weapon was no longer 15-17 mm, like the arquebus, but 22-23 mm. It was possible to shoot from such a weapon only from a semi-stationary position. Unlike arquebuses, which could be used by infantry units on the battlefield, the musket was more designed for firing from a prepared position. This was facilitated not only by the weight of the weapon, but also by the length of the barrel. In some specimens, the trunk length reached 1.5 m.
Spain, France and Germany at that time were the most technically developed countries, therefore it was in these countries that the production of heavy, large-caliber matchlock guns became possible. Gunsmiths now have soft steel at their disposal, which allows them to make long and strong gun barrels.
The presence of a long barrel increased the range of a direct shot by an order of magnitude and increased accuracy. Now fire combat could be carried out over long distances. When fired in salvos, the muskets ensured defeat of the enemy at a distance of 200-300 meters. The destructive power of firearms has also increased. A volley of musketeers could easily stop the rushing lava of armored horsemen. The bullet, weighing 50-60 g, flew out of the barrel at a speed of 500 m/s and could easily pierce metal armor.
The enormous power of the new weapon was accompanied by great recoil force. The first rifle regiments were equipped with metal helmets and had a special pad placed on the shoulder as a shock absorber. Shooting could only be done from a point-blank range, so the first muskets were considered more of a serf weapon. They armed the garrisons of fortresses and military crews of sea vessels. The heavy weight, the presence of a stop and the difficulty in preparing the weapon for a shot required the efforts of two people, so in the first years of the appearance of muskets, the combat crew of a musket consisted of two people.
The availability of skills in handling firearms and the advent of granular grained gunpowder soon made muskets and arquebuses a serious force in military affairs. The shooters learned to wield heavy weapons quite deftly, and shooting became more meaningful and accurate. The only thing in which the musket was inferior to the bow and crossbows was the time allotted for preparing for the next shot.
In the middle of the 16th century, the time between the first and second salvo rarely exceeded 1.5-2 minutes. The advantage on the battlefield was given to the side behind which the first salvo was fired. Often the battles ended, but I would fight after the first massive salvo. The enemy was either swept away by accurate shots, or he managed to go on the attack and mix up the ranks of the musketeers. During the contact battle there was no time left for the second shot.
In order to increase the rate of fire of matchlock guns, multi-barreled weapons began to be manufactured. The double-barreled musket became the result of a tactical necessity, when the ability to immediately strike again became very important. But if such modernization did not take root in the line troops, the sailors were able to appreciate all the advantages of such weapons.
