#Puckle gun empire total war trial

Two examples are on display at former Montagu homes: One at Boughton House and another at Beaulieu Palace. There is no evidence that the guns were ever used in battle though. John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, Master-General of the Ordnance (1740-1749), purchased several for an ill-fated expedition in 1722 to capture St Lucia and St Vincent. One newspaper of the period sarcastically observed, following the business venture's failure, that the gun has 'only wounded those who hold shares therein'. As with other designs of the time it was hampered by 'clumsy and undependable flintlock ignition' and other mechanism problems. The Puckle Gun drew few investors and never achieved mass production or sales to the British armed forces.

#Puckle gun empire total war trial

However, 'at a public trial held in 1722, the gun was able to fire 63 shots in seven minutes in the midst of a driving rain storm, an amazing feat for the period.'

Prototypes were shown in 1717 to the English Board of Ordnance, but they were 'not impressed'. They would, according to the patent, convince the Turks of the 'benefits of Christian civilization.' The square bullets, however, were discontinued due to their unpredictable flight pattern.

The square bullets were considered to be more damaging. Puckle demonstrated two versions of the basic design: one, intended for use against Christian enemies, fired conventional round bullets, while the second variant, designed to be used against the Muslim Turks, fired square bullets. One modern author remarked however that 'James Puckle's patent in 1718 contains more rhetorical fervor than technical rigor.' Two versions ДЄccording to the Patent Office of the United Kingdom, 'In the reign of Queen Anne of Great Britain, the law officers of the Crown established as a condition of patent that the inventor must in writing describe the invention and the manner in which it works.' This gun's patent was one of the first to provide such a description. It was thus a manually operated (thus externally powered) machine cannon. It had a pre-loaded cylinder which held 11 charges. The barrel was 3 feet (0.91В m) long with a bore of 1.25 inches (32В mm). It was intended for shipboard use to prevent boarding. PuckleвЂ™s career as a gunsmith ended in failure for him and his investors.It is a tripod-mounted, single-barreled flintlock weapon fitted with a multishot revolving cylinder. The British Royal Navy never bought any, and other users were equally reluctant to part with their money. One odd feature of the design was the two versions offered to potential customers: a round barrel fired conventional bullets for shooting at Christian (but not Protestant) enemies, while a second barrel was offered that fired square bullets (that allegedly did more damage) for use against Turks and similar unwelcome infidels. His gun had promise, though, as it could fire shots around three times faster than a well-trained fusilier. Historically, James PuckleвЂ™s вЂњdefence gunвЂќ was not a huge success, partly because the engineering of 1718 simply wasn't up to the task of producing components with fine tolerances. As long as loaded magazines are available for the piece, a puckle gun can be kept in rapid fire action! All this is achieved mechanically, by the operator revolving a handle at the back of the piece. It achieves this by using pre-loaded breech chambers that are rotated into line with the barrel, fired and then a new chamber is positioned for the next shot. The Puckle gun is a tripod-mounted repeating heavy musket or small cannon, capable of rapid fire.