Firearms have come a long way ever since humans have figured out how to create and use gunpowder. They have come a long way in reliability, as early firearms were not very dependable. In fact, an early firearm could easily misfire and explode on the person using it.
Early Firearms
During the early days of firearms, large cannons were favored as they were far more reliable. Cannons could knock down castle walls or sink enemy ships. However, they could not be carried around by a single person.
People soon began to realize what potential a portable cannon could have. Thus, the need for “hand cannons” came about.
Hand Cannons
The first hand cannons, also known as handgonnes, were used by the Chinese during the 13th century. Eventually, these handgonnes made their way to Europe.
Handgonnes are the oldest form of small firearms and the simplest form of mechanical metal barrel firearms. Because of this, there were many drawbacks.
A hand cannon was composed of a metal, or wood, tube with a hole at one end (the muzzle) and a hole at the other (the touch-hole). The person shooting it would need to manually ignite gunpowder through the touch-hole.
Handgonnes had no sights and were extremely inaccurate. They were also very heavy, and sometimes required two people to operate. Oftentimes, the person igniting the gunpowder could not also steady the handgonne, therefore another person would need to aim.
People were also not very eager to use handgonnes. The process involved touching a heat source to gunpowder from an open hole, which is very dangerous. Misfires were common, and almost always led to injuries, and sometimes death.
The Matchlock Musket
Handgonnes would dominate small firearms for about two hundred years, until a new weapon was introduced: the matchlock musket.
Arriving in the Ottoman Empire during the early 15th century, the new matchlock mechanism showed many improvements. For one, it allowed small firearms to become far more reliable.
No longer did the user need to touch gunpowder with fire manually. With a matchlock, a burning match cord was lowered into the touch-hole when a lever was pulled. These levers were later replaced with triggers. A soldier could finally steady and shoot the firearm at the same time, no longer needing an additional person to operate it.
Other inventions made the matchlock musket more practical, such as a stock for resting the gun on one’s shoulder, and the fork rest. Yet it was the matchlock mechanism that made shooting a firearm much safer and allowed single soldiers to use them.
With matchlocks, shooting a firearm was no longer about luck, but about skill and training.
Conclusion
Now that firearms were more reliable, melee units were slowly replaced with firearm units. Matchlock muskets proved that medieval knights in full armor stood no chance against a line of men equipped with firearms. The age of knights had passed, and the age of firearms was just beginning.
