A Precision Machining Valentines Message

Hmmm, is the bore that shape all the way down I wonder or is it just a decorative end?
If they could keep that shape all the way down with a rifle twist, now that would be something!
I think I'll stick to cupids bow and arrow...wonder where the whole cupid thing originates? I expect Mr Google can tell us.
Mrs Cat always makes a big sponge cake full of cream and strawberries on Valentines day... yum
Del

The end of the ramrod tells me its the length of the bore.

I did not call it a rifle since i've no evidence of rifling.

I have a bunch of crossbow and bolt photos and the like from that trip and our local museum that I need to get to you. You can use them for your study or for your blog. I'll PM you for a snail mail address so I can send a CD.

Enjoy the cake!

Milo

Ah, I wondered if the ramrod end was the end you hold, rather than the end which goes down the bore. Maybe I got the wrong end of the stick
Del

Oi! Off to the naughty step! Baaaaaaad kitty!

I too thought the ramrod end was the outer end and decorated thus to match the barrel and be pleasing to the eye.

Is there any evidence / testamony that the piece was ever fired, or was it purely a decorative piece?

Thanks for sharing Milo.

The adding of the rifling was very sad. Every time he shot the gun he got a broken heart.

That must have been quite a broaching job. Bullet molds? Forget it!

Did the museum display the projectiles for this piece?

No bullets for that one, nor for this one.

Milo

Awesome! So tell us about it!

Milo

In the early development of firearms there were many myths about projectiles. The shapes and the materials of the projectiles were thought to have some mystical part of a guns accuracy or lethality, this because ballistic science was not very well understood.

During this developmental period it was thought that shooting an infidel with a triangular shaped bullet would doom the victim to Hell while round balls would not. Note the more-or-less triangle shape integrated into the square slug. Further, the Church thought that balls cast of silver and then blessed by the Church would make them 'Godly Balls', thus more accurate than those common demonic lead projectiles. This, I believe, is the root of the superstition about silver bullets.

I'm not really sure what a plain cube bullet was supposed to do but I'm sure there were some crazy ideas about them. I suspect that any of these types of projectiles would leave a hole in a man that was not likely to heal very well.

I have never seen a heart shaped slug. I think you are correct; the gun was never intended to shoot, it was a probably a presentation piece demonstrating the skills of the craftsmen that the gift giver had available to him.

Interestingly a square shaped point is much better than round when it comes to armour penetrating arrows.
The corners of the square each cut a nice line radiating out from the impact of the sharp point. Four triangles of streel then curl back as the arrow head pushes through.
Whereas a round point bulges the steel, makes a small hole and wedges fast into the hole.
Del

I had better come clean.

I thought about it overnight, and I have done something I try to avoid: placed an image here at CR4 that may be probably is copyrighted.

I found the image (can't find it again) and recognized it as being from a book named Steinschloss-Jägerbüchsen: Kunstwerke der Büchsenmacher aus dem 18. Jahrhundert. [This is a wonderful book for those interested in these weapons] The place I found the image didn't credit as such, but I am certain I saw it in that book. I don't know for sure, but the copyright is probably still enforceable.

I'm reporting this, and ask a mod do whatever the right thing to do would be. Oops, it happen to all of us.

Should someone have a burning desire to view the image again, PM me and I may be able to assist you.

The most endangered species

The honest man....

Fair use if attributed.

Milo

I wonder if it would blow heart-shaped smoke rings?

Are you sure it's a longarm and not a smoking pipe?

Has Cupid graduated from archery to firearms?

In Germany it seems...

Milo