Wooden Guns
- Thread starter othyrsyde
- Start date
I'm skeptical (as in I think the gun would explode) and think that it may be possible, but it would be a pretty crappy gun (and it would eventually explode and kill the user). Wood isn't a great substance to control explosions in.
I don't see why not, but the thing would be far more trouble than it was worth. On the plus side you should be able to get a uniform bore, but you'd need to use a very small charge and have a pretty thick breach to contain the explosion of the powder. In my opinion you'd be far better off with a simple wooden crossbow with a notch and peg trigger.
Well its suppose to be in the Pacific Northwest of the US and British Colombia. Where wood resources are far easier to get to than metal.
PS: This isn't some kind of half ass attempt at making an indigenous wank either. It's more of a temporary situation due to the technology being introduced to the region, but gets isolated and has to improvise.
PS: This isn't some kind of half ass attempt at making an indigenous wank either. It's more of a temporary situation due to the technology being introduced to the region, but gets isolated and has to improvise.
Would you need a lot of powder if you wanted to send, say, a nail a relatively short distance out the barrel? I imagine that if it's in the Northwest close-quarters shooting will be more common and using nails or other point iron bits might be easier. Basing that idea off the Maya use of palanquetas, though their fired those through normal muskets. They also had signal bombs, which I'd imagine were just leather bags with gunpower meant to make a loud noise as a signal, so scouts could let their army know about the presence of the enemy and their location.
Thanks for the ideas. Yeah I figured most of the fighting would be done with typical means of archery and melee, with some of these wooden guns and artillery.
Wooden cannons are possible because they can be big without inhibiting their use. The relative weakness of their barrels' material can therefore be overcome by increased thickness as needed. Try to do the same thing with personal weapons and I think you'll just end up with weapons too heavy to use. I suppose wooden grenades would be a possibility; they're supposed to blow up.
Which is why I said you'd have to use a very small powder charge and have a large bulge at the breach end of your matchlock. As I said they'd have little practical use, and likely be more for show than actual weapons. A bow or primative crossbow would easily out perform this device. As has been said if you've got the powder a better use for it would be in grenades.
It may be more practical with some kind of reinforcement. I've heard about cannon being reinforced with wire wrapped around the barrel so they could be fired with oversized powder charges, and I'd expect variations of the concept to work on hand weapons as well. Maybe metal wire around a wooden barrel (for ease of machining, or in a frontier or embargo situation where wire can be imported more easily than manufactured metal gun barrels), or even with a non-metal reinforced wrapping (cotton or hemp cord if it's strong enough, or silk if it's not).
Wooden guns are doable and very likely have historically been made (if we can trust the description of a gun called madfa in our sources), but they are limited in size and power. Not much of an issue if all you want is something that goes bang and throws stuff, but a very serious problem when going for larger than man-killing calibers, or anything at longer ranges. Not to mention the issue of wear, since wood burn away every time the gun is fired.
Composite materials may be more interesting. I could imagine a metal barrel lining inside a hollow wooden tube wrapped around with shrunk rawhide or leather, or glued-on strips of bamboo. Or just glue-soaked rope. That could give you range and accuracy, up to a point.
Composite materials may be more interesting. I could imagine a metal barrel lining inside a hollow wooden tube wrapped around with shrunk rawhide or leather, or glued-on strips of bamboo. Or just glue-soaked rope. That could give you range and accuracy, up to a point.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions
. Y'all given me some great ideas to work with.
It could start out with very crude hand cannons and shotguns, eventually developing into more useful weapons as composite materials experimented with. Still, it will only be a small portion of the armament of the tribes, relying more on wooden cannons (which could be improved just as well by composites) and grenades.
Overall it will lead to some interesting social and cultural changes to explore.
. Y'all given me some great ideas to work with.It could start out with very crude hand cannons and shotguns, eventually developing into more useful weapons as composite materials experimented with. Still, it will only be a small portion of the armament of the tribes, relying more on wooden cannons (which could be improved just as well by composites) and grenades.
Overall it will lead to some interesting social and cultural changes to explore.
Is it just me or did the Iron Age not begin a long time ago and the Bronze Age much longer ago?
For cannon you can use bulk to compensate for strength but a personal weapon needs to be no more than that of a large arquebus that needs a support stick so say 10kg. For the personal weapon you are going to choose iron or bronze. Iron would be lighter but less reliable so I would be looking at bronze initially until you can produce a decent wrought iron.
Once someone has dicovered gun powder then some parts of the world have plenty of saltpetre and the rest can follow. If it is pre metal ages then the rocket and the grenade are the routes to go down. If you can combine the two you have artillery. If you combine saltpetre with pitch then you have an incendiary round that cannot be put out.
So, rather than wooden guns, in the absence of metal technology, I see military technology using multi rocket launchers for use against infantry and cavalry with hand thrown grenades close in. For siege use then larger rockets with either incendiary or grenade warheads.
For cannon you can use bulk to compensate for strength but a personal weapon needs to be no more than that of a large arquebus that needs a support stick so say 10kg. For the personal weapon you are going to choose iron or bronze. Iron would be lighter but less reliable so I would be looking at bronze initially until you can produce a decent wrought iron.
Once someone has dicovered gun powder then some parts of the world have plenty of saltpetre and the rest can follow. If it is pre metal ages then the rocket and the grenade are the routes to go down. If you can combine the two you have artillery. If you combine saltpetre with pitch then you have an incendiary round that cannot be put out.
So, rather than wooden guns, in the absence of metal technology, I see military technology using multi rocket launchers for use against infantry and cavalry with hand thrown grenades close in. For siege use then larger rockets with either incendiary or grenade warheads.
I shoulda been more specific in the OP. It's suppose to be amongst the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest in the 18th century, with gunpowder technologies introduced to the region, but then becomes isolated from the rest of the world after the POD.
Those are nice suggestions though, thanks.