The invention of portable fire-arms is awarded to the Italians by Sir Samuel Meyrick, and, in a memoir in the Archæologia of the Society of Antiquarians, he has named the year 1430 as the precise period of their introduction.
We have already stated that cannon, or heavy ordnance, was in use in the English army in 1327, more than a century before that time. It is not improbable, however, that the Italians were the originators of small fire-arms, for they had for many years been celebrated as skilful in the art of making armour—Milanese armour being considered the most valuable, and it is natural that their attention should be directed to the construction of offensive weapons of a different description.
The invention of the portable fire-arm, in its primitive state, was one of extreme simplicity; the gun consisting merely of a tube fixed to a straight stock of wood, about three feet in length, furnished with trunnions, cascable, and touch-hole: the latter was, in the first instance, at the top, like a large cannon, but was afterwards altered to the side where a small pan was placed to hold the priming, and lessen the liability of its being blown away by the wind. This contrivance was the first step to the gun-lock.
Before the adoption of the match-lock by the English, cannon, as I have before shown, had been in use, though they were of a clumsy description.
To the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Dean, we are indebted for the recovery of several brass and iron guns, belonging to the “Mary Rose,”—a vessel of war, wrecked in the reign of Henry VIII. of England, and Francis I. of France, in 1545: “while standing along the coast, during a distant firing from the French fleet, under Admiral Annebout, she was overpowered by the weight of her ordnance, and sunk, together with her commander and crew of 600 men.” One of these iron guns is in an excellent state of preservation, considering it to have been immersed above 300 years. The [cut] on next page will convey, together with the following description, a faint idea of its unwieldy and inefficient construction. It is composed of a tube of iron, whose joint or overlap is as its length; upon this is a succession of iron hoops, composed of iron three inches square, being in fact immense rings; these appear to have been driven on while red hot, and thus, by their contraction, forming a much stronger gun, when combined with the interior tube, than the generality of accounts given of ancient guns would lead us to expect. It will be perceived, that to describe it as “composed of iron bars hooped together,” is not correct. We may also mention, that if parties describing guns of this primitive manufacture will observe accurately, they will find that this is the general method by which they have been fabricated. They all appear to have been loaded by removing a breech part, or chamber, inserting the charge, replacing the chamber, and securing it by wedging it behind; as will be seen on a close inspection. No means of raising or depressing the muzzle appear available; the barrel or gun being sunk in a large block of timber, and secured there by bolts, as a musket barrel is secured in its stock; while a large piece of iron, or wood, was inserted perpendicularly into the deck to prevent the recoil. The advantage of “chambers” was perfectly understood even at this early period; they were apparently slightly conical, with a spherical bottom. It is no mean evidence of ancient skill, and knowledge of gunnery and mechanics combined, to state, that only a few years ago, a gunmaker of some celebrity, constructed a number of rifles and pistols to load at the breech, on the very same principle adopted in this gun 312 years ago. Strange, evidence from “the vasty deep” to show “there is nothing new under the sun.”
During the sixteenth century, fire-arms of every description then in use underwent a variety of alterations and improvements; each change bringing with it a change of name, which would neither be profitable or interesting to enumerate here; our object being to trace out the advances which have been made in the manufacture of fire-arms since their general adoption as weapons of war, or auxiliaries to the sports of the field.
When first introduced into England, the hand-gun, as it was termed, had already received a slight improvement, in having a covering for the pan which contained the priming, and a sight on the breech, to assist in giving greater certainty to the aim; it remained thus until the trigger of the cross-bow suggested a contrivance to convey, with equal certainty and greater rapidity, the burning match to the pan.
The difficulty of using an instrument thus objectionably constructed, was in some degree obviated by the Germans; who, together with the Italians, were no doubt at this early period the principal manufacturers; they effected this, to a certain degree, by giving the stocks a crooked form, so that the breech could, with more ease, be brought to the level of the eye; this was, however, only an alteration of form, without involving any principle or leading feature of mechanical invention. Succeeding the match-lock, in the progress of improvement, came the “pyrites wheel-lock,” an invention then looked upon as exceedingly curious and ingenious; this also is ascribed to the Italians, and one of the first occasions of its being used, is said to have been when Pope Leo X. and the Emperor Charles V. confederated against France. Whether the Italians are fairly entitled to the merit of this invention is, however, a matter of doubt, as it is well known that wheel-locks were for a long period manufactured in Germany.