> From: Dean Wayland <dean@...>
>
>Okay re the story of guns in Japan; firstly I need to put up a blanket
>"IIRC" or "if I recall correctly", as otherwise there would have to be a
>lot of that, since I'm dusting off parts of my memory which are seldom
>trod.
>
>
No problem, I suffer from galloping senility myself.
>Basically, they stated that new evidence for the existence of firearms
>pre 1543, had been recently (at that time) unearthed in Japan, which
>included an account of Oda Nobunaga attending some function or other
>with a small company (50) of gunners in his entourage.
>
>
>I guess it was deployed much like early guns were here, for intimidation
>as much for effect.
>
>
They intimidate me, especially if I used one ;) I've seen reproductions,
very dodgy affairs.
>What got the Japanese so excited by European guns, wasn't the concept of
>the gun itself, they had these, it was that ours were "light" and
>comparatively powerful. The reason for this being that we could make a
>barrel out of iron, which for a given weight, can take much higher
>chamber pressures. So you could use a more potent gun powder mix, which
>in turn meant that a hand gun would make a far more useful military
>weapon.
>
>
This makes sense.
>Now the first European iron guns were not plug sealed, being fitted with
>a removable breach held in place by wedges. I've been around when one of
>things has been used, and believe me reliable it is not!
>
Been there, done that, I know too many recreationists who are also gun nuts.
>The European genius was the ability to permanently seal an iron tube,
>which we did with the creation of the iron "screw" in the 15th century.
>
>
Dates about right so your memory is better than mine! Sadly while the
older technology history books cover the West in detail, they tend to
gloss over the East generally with toss off sentences showing a deep
lack of knowledge. The language barrier along with the instability of
China probably plays a big role in this.
>Now the screw has been known for thousands of years, but all previous
>examples were carved from other softer materials like wood. The early
>iron and later steel screw had to be pains takingly built up around a
>core with a "V" sectioned piece of wire or bar. I know a guy who has
>done it, and it isn't easy at all. But once you know how.... BOOM!
>
>
This sounds confusing to me. Is it not one piece? Or was it cast? I know
at a slightly later date that screws were chiseled out or filed to
shape. Somebody wrote a book on the making the Indian trade gun which I
believe were forged tubes very similar to this.
>Anyway, subject to the vagueries of memory, I hope this was of interest,
>or at the very least entertaining.
>
>
Very informative, thanks!!
Possible sources to dig up:
For 'thunderclap fireball' in eastern warfare, S. Turnbull, 'Chinese
influence on Japanese siege warfare', Royal Armouries Yearbook 3 (1998),
pp. 145-58
Various precursor info:
HANDGUN - around 1128. "The gun did not appear until the twelfth century
A.D. For this three things were needed: a metal barrel, gunpowder with a
high nitrate content, and a projectile that neatly filled the barrel so
that the powder charge could exert its full propellant effect. Until
very recently it was believed that the first Chinese gun ... dated to
A.D. 1290. Continuing exploration of the Buddhist caves of western China
has now revealed a remarkable temple at Ta-tsu in Szechuan Province,
containing evidence that revolutionizes the history of the gun. Among
the many reliefs in the cave are two showing gunpowder weapons. One
depicts a small demon with two horns cradling a handgun while a second
devil holds a grenade. The date of this extraordinary find, according to
the inscriptions in the caves, is A.D. 1128." [James, Peter and Nick
Thorpe. /Ancient Inventions/, 1994.]
Gunpowder is thought to have been invented by Chinese alchemists of the
9th century during their preparation of mixtures of sulfur, charcoal,
and saltpeter for use as an elixir for immortality. A Taoist book warned
that mixing three specific elixir ingredients was too dangerous for
experiment: “some have heated together the saltpeter, sulfur, and carbon
of charcoal with honey; smoke and flames result, so that their hands and
faces have been burnt, and even the whole house burnt down.”
The use of gunpowder for military purposes was first recorded in 919,
and the first detailed description of using a “firing cannon” in warfare
was in connection with a battle fought in 1126 when the Song army used
it against the invading Nuchens. The Chinese invention of gunpowder
never went much beyond its crudest form, and it was abandoned as a
military weapon shortly afterwards. It reached Japan, Islam, and then
Europe in the 13th century, and the Arabs improved gunpowder for
military use. Rockets appear in Arab literature in 1258 as a description
of their use by Mongol invaders’ on February 15 to capture the city of
Baghdad.
Jim Eckman