A gem made by Gem

[celtan]

Hi,

Katana lives in England, currently a peaceful country, where the police mostly doesn't even carry firearms. Or has this changed?

I liive in San Juan, PR, a paradisical island which also happens to be the most violent corner of the good ol'USA.

Also, I collect weapons because I like them, they are beautiful. It's incredible how much effort and detail man places in their manufacture. Even today, many of our scientific advances are by-products of weapon's development.

I only shoot three of my guns at the club, and this sporadically, so I don't forget how to aim : ). The rest have never been fired...


BTW, I didn't know about this eprouvette device. I had seen a couple before, but I thought they were curiously complicated flintlock fire starters.

Thanks, learned something new today!

The sprouts you show adjust the amount of grains dispensed by the powder flask. (Pistols were usually loaded with 40-50 grains of FFG BP)
I have a couple english ones. One of them still has the original balls and caps, albeit sans mercury nitrate or BP, which I discarded.


Best

Manolo


See Pics:

Originally Posted by fernando

Hi David,



Gunpowder was tested before being cleared and put to service, or out in the market; in those days its strenght was highly variable and you couldn't risk to use it before checking the different lots. A device called (gun) powder tester or eprouvette, partly resembling a pistol but in fact with a dynamic mechanism, was used to measure its explosive strength.
Having it "homologated" for the distinct purposes, still you had the option to load your charge with a variable power, by adjusting the spout of your powder flask.
Bullets could also be round or pointy, depending on your preference.
BTW, just for curiosity, pointed projectiles were first introduced by Da Vinci.

Fernando