Swivel Guns (TL4-TL5)

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Would having the core be made of iron work?*

Hum... I would not use that for casting an iron gun, simply because the boundary between core and gun will become complex. For bronze it should be OK.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Hum... I would not use that for casting an iron gun, simply because the boundary between core and gun will become complex. For bronze it should be OK.

How strong does the material in the core have to be? What about stone (from Wall of Stone spells)?

Maybe the ideal way for making many barrels would be a magical device that could extend a field of force to cast around and then disappear it when it was no longer needed.

Sounds like something a Force Mage would be good at making.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

OK, but you can use more of the low-powered stuff. Inverse proportion of REF would be a place to start for the charge ratios.

Good point. Real-world black powder imposes a ca 1500 fps ceiling on velocity and the lower-quality smokepowder probably does the same, while the REF 0.8 stuff can launch round balls at an initial velocity of something like 3000+ fps.

Originally Posted by johndallman

Probably a little more than half, because of the bleed, but if you're developing enough pressure that the bleed is getting serious as the gun distorts, you ought to be using less powder.

Ok, so assuming 25% or so more powder is needed for the same effect* would be a close-enough WAG?

*Which would be limited to a fairly low pressure load.

Originally Posted by johndallman

Pretty similar, in that size. You need to take out the wedges, lift out the chamber - and it's pretty hot - drop in the other one, and re-wedge. And you drive those wedges hard, because if they come lose, you get injured. You need someone else to reload the other chamber.

Ah, fair enough.

I was considering that giff* might sometimes use swivel-guns without swivels as hand-held guns. I wanted a weapon that was quicker to reload than blunderbusses and heavy muskets, at the cost of some power compared to a muzzleloader of the same caliber.

*Hippo-like men who often work as mercenaries on spelljamming ships.

Originally Posted by johndallman

Mostly less weight. With so much demand for steel for other purposes, probably not worth it.

While bronze is heavier than iron or steel, I understand that bronze guns are lighter than iron/steel guns of the same poundage.

Does not not apply below one-pounders?

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Icelander

This is for bronze or steel barrels?

Its for all barrels until they figured out something better, which was sometime in the 18th or 19th century in Europe and I don't know when in the rest of the world. I just know enough to start my search in the library and find the books that I need to read: I don't have time to find them and read them for someone else, and since research has become my day job ...

That book on the Armada by Colin Martin and Geoffrey Parker has a beautiful picture of a gun whose core had shifted during the casting. I imagine that her master gunner cursed a lot and wondered why the ship's master had not had him inspect it before he signed that strange new printed form, but at least it looked impressive ...