Quote:
Originally Posted by malloyd
These are the big ones. The big problem with stuff leaking out the break in a loose powder breechloader isn't reduced damage, it's the jets of hot gas near your eye - more a problem for rifles you are trying to aim than for pistols I suppose, though burning your hands isn't desirable either. It's pesky enough out the touch hole. There's also the risk of chain firing.
And the problem with not having the barrel perfectly aligned isn't "misfire" it's "bullet hangs on the edge, and instead of the pressure of powder gases being relieved by expanding down the barrel, the gun explodes". Or "misaligned bullet tears off barrel" if you're lucky.
Really good machining makes both of these less of a problem - the parts fit better, so there is less leakage, and you can build a mechanical action that is accurate enough to align the chamber reliably - but good machining is *expensive* until the 19th century. Once the price falls you do start to see stuff like this (the first commercial revolvers were after all loose powder designs), but there's only about a 50 year gap between affordable machine tools and cartridges.
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Sorry for double-post, I was still typing my previous reply before I saw your post.
This is really good information. I don't really understand the technical properties of early firearms that well, so this is exactly the kind of information I thought I was missing.
I was planning on the turnover guns being muzzle-loaders, and the rotating drum style guns being functionally muzzle-loaders as well - but I can see the break being a problem for the drum-guns. Maybe the solution is just that the drum forces the ignition further forward and away for more distance from the eye or hands?
This is all for a fantasy setting by the way, so it doesn't need to conform perfectly to history. As long as it fits together logically I'm happy.
I had been pondering ways to make the drum align more easily. One idea was the openings of the chambers in the drum would have the rim protrude from the drum, which would catch on a sliding bolt as it turns, keeping that chamber better aligned with the barrel. Of course the bolt would have to be released to turn the drum to the next chamber (= extra Ready actions to release and close it) but it would reduce the risk of catastrophic malfunction.
I'm thinking the turnover guns would be the more expensive of the two, since the safety features to align the chamber with the barrel on a drum would slow down the rate of fire.