Square barrelled rifle

aardvarkrh · January 10, 2010, 08:03 PM

Haven't actually seen this, but a friend told me her uncle has a very old Chinese flintlock with a square barrel/bore. Anybody know about this?

Thx aard

armoredman · January 10, 2010, 08:22 PM

Does the bore rotate, to give a spin, or is it one long straight square? Centuries ago crossbow qarrels were made with round heads for use against Christians, and a square one for use agains Muslims during the Crusades, IIRC, wonder if that has anything to do with it, which would mean it is either a copy made much later, or a musket that has a HECK of a history to it.
My $.02, worth what you paid for it.

Hardcase · January 11, 2010, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by armoredman

Centuries ago crossbow qarrels were made with round heads for use against Crhistians, and a square one for use agains Muslims during the Crusades...

Hey, you can't just say something like that and stop! Keep typing!

armoredman · January 11, 2010, 11:44 AM

That's about all I remember from that, sorry.

wogpotter · January 11, 2010, 12:19 PM

Goes further than that.
There were volley guns (multiple barreled BP guns where the barrels all fired together, kind of an early machine gun attempt) where the racks of barrels & ammuntion was the same, round for christian & square for Muslim targets.

I don't remember the brand model & so on but it looked like a cannon carridge with a row (or two) of barrels all laid side by side & the whole setup was breech loaded on a seperate trailer & the loaded barrels dropped into the waiting carridge/breech for firing.

**Mike Irwin** · January 11, 2010, 01:28 PM

I've never heard that about crossbow bolts, but the Puckle Gun, an early manual revolving "machine gun," did have round and square barrels and chambers - round for Christians and square for Turks (a common name for Muslims).

Hardcase · January 11, 2010, 02:22 PM

"Round for Christians, square for Turks."

That was the clue that the Googles needed. Square bullets, I guess like square arrows, make a god-awful mess of your insides when they hit at high velocity. Kinda gruesome, but I guess the deal was that the round bullet makes a clean wound (as clean as a large caliber projectile would, anyway), but the square one tumbles around and just rips the crap out of whatever it hits, resulting in agonizing pain and, I suppose, a horrendous death.

Such were the times.

January 10, 2010, 08:03 PM	#1
aardvarkrh Junior Member Join Date: May 19, 2008 Location: Between Bay Area & the Goldcountry Posts: 8	Square barrelled rifle Haven't actually seen this, but a friend told me her uncle has a very old Chinese flintlock with a square barrel/bore. Anybody know about this? Thx aard

January 10, 2010, 08:22 PM	#2
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,299	Does the bore rotate, to give a spin, or is it one long straight square? Centuries ago crossbow qarrels were made with round heads for use against Christians, and a square one for use agains Muslims during the Crusades, IIRC, wonder if that has anything to do with it, which would mean it is either a copy made much later, or a musket that has a HECK of a history to it. My $.02, worth what you paid for it. Last edited by armoredman; January 11, 2010 at 11:43 AM.

January 11, 2010, 01:28 PM	#6
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,390	I've never heard that about crossbow bolts, but the Puckle Gun, an early manual revolving "machine gun," did have round and square barrels and chambers - round for Christians and square for Turks (a common name for Muslims). __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

January 11, 2010, 02:22 PM	#7
Hardcase Senior Member Join Date: April 14, 2009 Location: Sunny Southern Idaho Posts: 1,909	"Round for Christians, square for Turks." That was the clue that the Googles needed. Square bullets, I guess like square arrows, make a god-awful mess of your insides when they hit at high velocity. Kinda gruesome, but I guess the deal was that the round bullet makes a clean wound (as clean as a large caliber projectile would, anyway), but the square one tumbles around and just rips the crap out of whatever it hits, resulting in agonizing pain and, I suppose, a horrendous death. Such were the times. __________________ Well we don't rent pigs and I figure it's better to say it right out front because a man that does like to rent pigs is... he's hard to stop - Gus McCrae

January 11, 2010, 11:44 AM	#4
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,299	That's about all I remember from that, sorry.

January 11, 2010, 12:19 PM	#5
wogpotter Senior Member Join Date: September 27, 2004 Posts: 4,811	Goes further than that. There were volley guns (multiple barreled BP guns where the barrels all fired together, kind of an early machine gun attempt) where the racks of barrels & ammuntion was the same, round for christian & square for Muslim targets. I don't remember the brand model & so on but it looked like a cannon carridge with a row (or two) of barrels all laid side by side & the whole setup was breech loaded on a seperate trailer & the loaded barrels dropped into the waiting carridge/breech for firing.