A hand cannon (also called a gonne or handgonne) (Arabic: midfa; Chinese: 手銃; Russian: пищаль) is an early form of firearm. It is possibly the oldest type of portable firearm, as well as the simplest type of early firearm, as most examples require direct manual external ignition through a touch hole without any form of firing mechanism. It may also be considered a forerunner of the handgun.[1] The hand cannon was widely used in Europe and throughout Asia until at least the 1520s, when it was supplanted by matchlock firearms.
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The general consensus is that hand cannons originated in China, and were spread from there to the rest of the world.[2] The earliest known evidence of a hand cannon is an artistic depiction of a firearm-wielding figure that was found in twelfth-century Sichuan.[2] The earliest reliable evidence of hand cannons in Europe comes from the 14th century,[2][1] during which time both Europeans and Arabs appear to have begun using them.[2] In Asia, the Koreans acquired knowledge of the hand cannon from China in the 14th century.[2] Japan did not acquire firearms until the 1500's, when the Portuguese introduced Arquebuses.[2]
The hand cannon was a simple weapon, effectively consisting of a barrel with some sort of handle, though it came in many different shapes and sizes. Although surviving examples are all completely constructed of metal, evidence suggests that many were attached to some kind of stock, usually wooden. Other examples show a simple metal extension from the barrel acting as the handle. In fact, not all hand cannons used metal at all in their construction, as some Chinese illustrations demonstrate bamboo tubes being used instead.
For firing, the hand cannon could be held in two hands while a helper applied the means of ignition. These could range from smoldering wood or coal, red-hot iron rods, to slow-burning matches. Alternatively, the hand cannon could be placed on a rest and held by one hand while the gunner applied the means of ignition himself. Projectiles used in these weapons were varied, with many utilizing a variety of different ammunition. Some fired pebbles found on the ground, while others fired more sophisticated ammunition such as shaped balls of stone or iron, or arrows.
Later hand cannons were made with a flash pan attached to the barrel, and a touch hole drilled through the side wall of the gun instead of the top of the barrel. The flash pan had a leather cover, and later on a hinged metal lid fitted, to keep the priming powder dry until the moment of firing and to prevent premature firing. These features were carried on over to subsequent firearms.
Due to the poor quality of powder that was often used in these weapons and their crude construction, they were not effective missile weapons, as early examples often lacked sufficient power to punch through light armour. All were inaccurate, due to the awkward handling as well as the aforementioned poor quality of the weapons. While the noise and flash may have had some psychological effect on the enemy, many early hand cannons were utilized in a minor capacity and so lacked battlefield presence.
The invention of corned powder, the slow match, and the serpentine around the mid-15th century led to much more effective firearms and eventually to increased adoption. It also prompted the development of the first matchlock firearms, which could be more effectively aimed and fired than hand cannon. Gradually, hand cannon became obsolete, although it found use in some locales up until the 20th century.
Firearms, of which the hand cannon was an early example, gradually came to dominate European warfare, and the reasons are clear. The hand cannon was inexpensive and easy to mass produce. At the same time, the forging methods required meant that centralized governments had a measure of control over their manufacture (and especially the manufacture of ammunition—an important consideration in a medieval Europe wracked by rebellion). They had superior armor-penetration capability; the longbow was effective against mail armor and plate, thanks to the bodkin point, and the crossbow very effective against heavy armor, but the hand cannon could pierce heavy plate as well as act as a terror weapon to troops and horses that had never seen the weapon before. Furthermore, much like the crossbow, the weapon could be effectively used by non professional soldiers.
The other hand-operated ranged weapons of the time had their own drawbacks. Crossbows had superior accuracy and similar power as compared to early hand cannons. However, they were expensive to make, slow to reload and their performance was almost as severely affected by wet weather as that of hand cannons. While the hand cannon could not match the accuracy nor speed of fire of the longbow, gunners did not require the special training and continuous practice from childhood required of a good bowman. Yew, the primary stave making material for the European longbow, became scarcer as the medieval period progressed. Firearms only supplanted longbows in England after almost all European yew supplies had been exhausted.
Despite the hand cannon's serious drawbacks, especially early in its development, it grew and evolved to become the ubiquitous ranged weapon of later European wars.