single-shot artillery pistol

byron ed

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The U.S.-issue Artillery flash pistol for the purpose of igniting the touch hole -- i.e. firing the cannon:

matchlock artillery pistol.jpg


Mexican War vintage drill, no idea if any were brought out and used again in the Civil War (as a back-up firing mechanism sans fuses or caps?). They certainly would have worked.

(source "U.S. Single Shot Military Pistols 1776-1945" 1971 C.W. Sawyer)
 

Wehrkraftzersetzer

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4 me it looks very slow and not as if it would ad security to the process of firing a canon
 

byron ed

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4 me it looks very slow and not as if it would ad security to the process of firing a canon
This is kind of an artillerist's thing to obsess over, and none of those types have yet drifted over here from the "other" site as yet, so thanks for the response. Here's the kind of obsessing, the hair-splitting artillerists would engage in:

Security was not a goal in firing a 18th or 19th century cannon, since all players had the same technology; no military secret to divulge.

If by security you meant reliability you're right, it's no more reliable to make a spark with this flintlock than with a friction primer tube (yanked by lanyard) or a cap lock (hit by a hammer released by lanyard) or a linstock (rope ember on a stick) -- all alternate mechanisms used to fire cannons of this vintage.

One advantage this flash pistol shared with a linstock was that it required no additional materials to make repeated firings with the same device. A primer tube needs replacing with a new primer tube for every shot; a cap lock needs a new cap fitted for every shot. One very slight advantage this flash pistol has over a linstock is that it didn't have to be lit at the beginning of battle. This device was ready to use immediately as grabbed. This is why I suggested it would have made a good back-up ignition device even by the time of the Civil War. As long as the flint remained intact it would last for months or years as first issued, and the flint is easily replaced anyway.

At a reenactment using this device would make for quite a stir, guaranteed.
 
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