This:
is, in fact, a literal handcannon.
Fred was the first to guess correctly. TomcatTCH also got it right. Old Radar Tech was the first to use the "correct" term (handgonne), but Ambulance Driver just nailed it:
Like someone took the Snubby From Hell back a few hundred years.Bingo. Someone give that man a kewpie doll.
Spear, my *other* favorite gunsmith, was kind enough to work this up for me to show off his gunsmithing prowess and, I suspect, to give me something to play with that I've never tried before. I have fired a black powder firearm exactly once before - JD brought a smokepole to one of the Northeast Bloggershoots a few years back that he let me touch off. This is about as primitive as a firearm can get - start with a measured charge of powder, then a patch to keep things in place, add a lead ball (.50", of course; although I think even the Bradys would admit that shooting down an airplane with a 4" barrel blackpowder cannon would be a stretch...), tamp down, stick a fuse in, and light her off.
I can't *wait* to shoot this, Spear. Thank you.
That is all.
