#fire lance

^ A knight with a fire lance. c. 1396. 

The fire lance was a type of flamethrower first used in China in about the 10th century. Their barrels were either made from bamboo or metal. 

One of the stand outs in the J.M. Davis Firearms Museum.

What is a Hand Cannon?

Introduction The hand cannon (Chinese: 手銃), also known as the gonne or handgonne, is the first true firearm and the successor of the fire lance. It is the oldest type of small arms as well as the most mechanically simplistic form of metal barrel firearms. Unlike matchlock firearms it requires direct manual external ignition through a touch hole without any form of firing mechanism. It may also…

Old weapons names and pictures – Part 3

इस्रायलची नेगेव्ह मशीनगन इस्रायलच्या संरक्षण उद्योगाने विकसित केलेल्या शस्त्रांमध्ये नेगेव्ह लाइट मशीनगनचा क्रमांकही वरचा आहे. आधुनिक काळातील प्रगत शस्त्रांमध्ये नगेव्हचा समावेश होतो. इस्रायली वेपन इंडस्ट्रीजने (आयडब्ल्यूआय) १९९०च्या दशकात गलिल रायफलच्या पुढील आवृत्ती विकसित करण्यास सुरुवात केली. त्यातून नेगेव्ह मशीनगन आकारास आली. या बंदुकीची मूळ आवृत्ती नॉर्थ अटलांटिक ट्रिटी ऑर्गनायझेशनच्या…

Old weapons names and pictures – Part 2

Old weapons names and pictures – Part 1 is here       बर्मिंगहॅमचा गन क्वार्टर आणि वेब्ली अ‍ॅण्ड स्कॉट अमेरिकेतील गृहयुद्धाचा फायदा केवळ स्थानिक शस्त्रास्त्र निर्मात्यांनाच होत होता असे नाही. तर अटलांटिक महासागरापार युरोपमधील ब्रिटनसारख्या देशांनीही त्याचा चांगलाच लाभ उठवला होता. ब्रिटनच्या बर्मिगहॅम या शहरातील ‘गन क्वार्टर’ नावाने ओळखला जाणारा भाग बंदूक निर्मात्यांसाठी प्रसिद्ध होता. बर्मिगहॅम…

Earliest known representation of a gun (a fire lance) and a grenade (upper right),Dunhuang, 10th century.[1]

The earliest known illustration of a Huo Qiang or "Fire lance" is from a 10th century A.D. painted silk banner of demons attacking the meditating Buddha, found in Dunhuang. This beautifully well preserved painting shows very clearly a gunpowder tube attached to the end of a long pole being fired by a demon on the top right-hand side of the Buddha. There has been much speculation as to the exact nature of this weapon especially when considering the supernatural nature of the depiction and therefore possibly a similar supernatural weapon in the demon's hands. The exact shape of the weapon was however, seen in later military illustrations and, while it was possible that this early illustration was merely an inspirational representation of an underworld fire-spewing weapon, the resemblance to actual later Song dynasty fire lances was uncannily close.

The most conclusive description of the use of a fire lance in battle was of its use during the tumultuous years of the northern encroachment of the Song dynasty, during the siege of De An in A.D. 1127-1132. Chen Gui, co-author together with Tang Shou, of the military manual Shoucheng lu or "Defense of Towns", was an active participant and therefore a direct eyewitness of the defense of De An. He aided in the defensive efforts by ordering long poles and the gunpowder from their Huo Pao or "fire" catapults (normal traction catapults firing grenade/bombs) to be strapped together to create 20 firelances. These proto-guns were each handled by 2 men and used to defend city walls, either from on top of the walls or thrust through holes in the walls to fire at Jurchen troops outside.

The early Huo Qiangs were single shot close-ranged weapons, which were mere enhancements of the traditional spear of Chinese armies. Triggered at close range to the enemy, the gunpowder tube would fire different concoctions of projectiles, ranging from arrows and buckshot to poisonous fumes and smoke. The obvious this accorded was soon apparent to military Engineers and it was not long before Huo Qiang were soon appearing independent of the spear.

Like Huo Jians (early fire arrows or gunpowder propelled arrows) which arose at approximately the same time, the Huo Qiang filled a very critical gap in Chinese fire power, providing their infantrymen with a tremendous advantage in defensive as well as offensive roles. Formed into batteries and triggered simultaneously, the resulting intense concentration of firepower afforded by a battery of Huo Qiang would have made it an ideal "anti assault ladder weapon" or "gate-stopper", that would increase by several orders of magnitude the level of difficulty for any attacker attempting to assault a fortified position armed with such weapons.