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Ming hand cannon
手铳 (shǒuchòng)
Description
A bronze tube mounted on a wooden pole and fired by hand with a slow match through a touch-hole. Dated examples from the Yongle era are among the oldest surviving portable firearms.
Historical use
- Ming campaigns against the Mongols
Technical data
- Year
- 1409
- Service
- 1409–1500
- Country
- China
- Maker
- Arsenales imperiales Ming
- Type
- Hand cannon
- Mechanism
- Hand-ignited
- Calibre
- ≈ 15 mm (bola de plomo o hierro)
- Weight
- 2.2 kg
- Length
- 440 mm
Source: Wikidata Q1430251