Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

GUN

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 718 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

GUN , a See also:

general See also:term for a weapon, tubular in See also:form, from which a projectile is discharged by means of an explosive. When applied to See also:artillery the word is confined to those pieces of See also:ordnance which have a See also:direct as opposed to a high-See also:angle See also:fire, in which See also:case the terms " See also:howitzer " and " See also:mortar " are used (see ORDNANCE and See also:MACHINE-GUN). " Gun " as applied to firearms which are carried in the See also:hand and fired from the See also:shoulder, the old " hand gun," is now chiefly used of the sporting shot-gun, with which this See also:article mainly deals; in military usage this type of weapon, whether See also:rifle, See also:carbine, &c., is known collectively as " small arms " (see RIFLE and See also:PISTOL). The origin of the word, which in See also:Mid. Eng. is gonne or gunne, is obscure, but it has been suggested by See also:Professor W. W. See also:Skeat that it conceals a See also:female name, Gunnilde or Gunhilda. The names; e.g. See also:Mons Meg at See also:Edinburgh See also:Castle and faule Grete (heavy Peg), known to readers of See also:Carlyle's See also:Frederick the See also:Great, will be See also:familiar parallel-isms. " Gunne " would be a shortened " pet name " of Gunnhilde. The New See also:English See also:Dictionary finds support for the See also:suggestion in the fact that in Old See also:Norwegian gunne and hilde both mean " See also:war," and quotes an See also:inventory of war material at See also:Windsor Castle in 1330-1331, where is mentioned " una magna balista de See also:cornu quae vocatur Domina Gunilda." Another suggestion for the origin of the word is that the word representsa shortened form, gonne, of a supposed See also:French mangonne, a mangonel, but the French word is mangonneau. Firearms are said to have been first used in See also:European warfare in the 14th See also:century.

The hand gun (see fig. 1) came into See also:

practical use in 1446 and was of very See also:rude construction. It consisted of a See also:simple See also:iron or See also:brass See also:tube with a See also:touch-hole at the See also:top fixed in a straight stock of See also:wood, the end of which passed under the a right armpit when the " gonne " was about to be fired. A similar weapon (see fig. 2) was FIG. 1.—Hand Gun. also used by the See also:horse-soldier, with a See also:ring at the end of the stock, by which it was suspended by a See also:cord See also:round the See also:neck; a forked See also:rest, fitted by a ring to the saddlebow, served to steady the gun. This rest, when not in use, hung down in front of the right See also:leg. A match was made of See also:cotton or See also:hemp spun slack, and boiled in a strong See also:solution of See also:saltpetre or in the lees of See also:wine. The touch-hole was first placed on the top of the See also:barrel, but afterwards at the See also:side, with a small See also:pan underneath to hold the priming, and guarded by a See also:cover moving on a See also:pivot. An improvement in firearms took See also:place in the first See also:year of the reign of See also:Henry VII., or at the See also:close of See also:Edward IV., by fixing a See also:cock (Fr. See also:serpentine) on the hand gun to hold the match, which was brought down to the priming by a trigger, whence the term matchlock. This weapon is still in use among the See also:Chinese, See also:Tatars, Sikhs, Persians and See also:Turks.

An improvement in the stock was also made during this See also:

period by forming it with a wide See also:butt end to be placed against the right See also:breast. Subsequently the stock was See also:bent, a See also:German invention, and the See also:arm was called a hackbutt or hagbut, and the smaller variety a demihague. The See also:arquebus and hackbutt were about a yard in length, including barrel and stock, and the demihague was about See also:half the See also:size and See also:weight, the forerunner of the pistol. The arquebus was the See also:standard See also:infantry firearm in See also:Europe from the See also:battle of See also:Pavia to the introduction of the heavier and more powerful See also:musket. It did not as a See also:rule require a rest, as did the musket. The See also:wheel-See also:lock, an improvement on the match-lock, was in- vented in See also:Nuremberg in 1517; was first used at the See also:siege of See also:Parma in 1521; was brought to See also:England in 1530, and continued in partial use there until the See also:time of See also:Charles II. This wheel-lock consisted of a fluted or grooved See also:steel wheel which protruded into the priming pan, and was connected with a strong See also:spring. The cock, also regulated by a spring, was fitted with a piece of iron See also:pyrites. In See also:order to See also:discharge the gun the with Hand Gun. From General See also:Hardy de Perini's See also:Turenne e! See also:Conde 1626-1675. lock was See also:wound up by a See also:key, the cock was let down on the priming pan, the pyrites resting on the wheel; on the trigger being pressed the wheel was released and rapidly revolved, emitting See also:sparks, which ignited the See also:powder in the pan.

The complicated and expensive nature of this lock, with its liability to injury, no doubt prevented its general See also:

adoption. About 1540 the Spaniards constructed a larger and heavier firearm (matchlock), carrying a See also:ball of to to the See also:pound, called a musket. This weapon was introduced into England before the See also:middle of the 16th century, and soon came into general use throughout Europe. The snaphance was invented about this period in See also:Germany, and from its See also:comparative cheapness was From General Hardy de Perini's Turenne el Conde, 1626-1679.

End of Article: GUN

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
GUMUS 		[next]
GUNA

Site © 2006 - Net Industries