cornered rat
Moderator
Tell me what you think of this technical solution to a hypothetical problem...
Imagine yourself in an early 17c setting. Main arms are light arqubus and heavy, rest-fired musket. You'd like to make the musket more effective by changing the ammunition only. Cost and effort are a secondary concern.
First crazy idea: cast projectiles to look like arrows with fins (three, four?). For a one-inch musket, the "arrow" would be about three inches long, about 1/2" in dimeter. Take a length of bamboo or reeds to a lathe, turn them to fit the bore size. chop them into cylinders long enough to fit the entire length of the projectile, with cut-outs for the fins. Fit the "arrow" up front, pour powder in the scooped-out back of the improvised sabot. Seal the back end with thin cloth. Load normally from the muzzle and fire, hoping that the flashpan charge is enough to burn through the cloth and into the main charge.
Alternative ideas: use moulded clay for sabots. Use shuttle-cock shaped projectile. With sabots, can lathed-turned soapstone be used as a short-range high-velocity projectile? What kind of m.v. can I expect with black powder?
The desired effect would be to speed up operation, improve accuracy an decrease fouling. I am sure my choice of materials would have lots of problems, advice welcome.
------------------
happy Cornered Rat
http://dd-b.net/RKBA RKBA posters
http://dd-b.net/olegv Portrait, nature photos
Aaahhh....what a great life!
[This message has been edited by cornered rat (edited November 27, 1999).]
Imagine yourself in an early 17c setting. Main arms are light arqubus and heavy, rest-fired musket. You'd like to make the musket more effective by changing the ammunition only. Cost and effort are a secondary concern.
First crazy idea: cast projectiles to look like arrows with fins (three, four?). For a one-inch musket, the "arrow" would be about three inches long, about 1/2" in dimeter. Take a length of bamboo or reeds to a lathe, turn them to fit the bore size. chop them into cylinders long enough to fit the entire length of the projectile, with cut-outs for the fins. Fit the "arrow" up front, pour powder in the scooped-out back of the improvised sabot. Seal the back end with thin cloth. Load normally from the muzzle and fire, hoping that the flashpan charge is enough to burn through the cloth and into the main charge.
Alternative ideas: use moulded clay for sabots. Use shuttle-cock shaped projectile. With sabots, can lathed-turned soapstone be used as a short-range high-velocity projectile? What kind of m.v. can I expect with black powder?
The desired effect would be to speed up operation, improve accuracy an decrease fouling. I am sure my choice of materials would have lots of problems, advice welcome.
------------------
happy Cornered Rat
http://dd-b.net/RKBA RKBA posters
http://dd-b.net/olegv Portrait, nature photos
Aaahhh....what a great life!
[This message has been edited by cornered rat (edited November 27, 1999).]