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Question for DU military historians (Original Post) DemocratSinceBirth Feb 2018 OP
lol, I'm not sure you are joking or not.... beachbum bob Feb 2018 #1
She even said some members of the Continental Army were armed with them. DemocratSinceBirth Feb 2018 #4
bullets were not around for several more decades, until then it was lead balls and beachbum bob Feb 2018 #6
The Puckle "machine gun" 1719 oneshooter Feb 2018 #12
never really used or produced besides it was far from being "an automatic" anything beachbum bob Feb 2018 #14
9 shots a minute jberryhill Feb 2018 #19
Rifling wasn't used in American firearms until the 1800s n/t Shrek Feb 2018 #2
Rifeling has been known since the 1500s. oneshooter Feb 2018 #11
The American Longrifle oneshooter Feb 2018 #16
It existed in civilian firearms. NutmegYankee Feb 2018 #21
Fuck no, The Soldiers in Militias would take two shots and run like Hell njhoneybadger Feb 2018 #3
Never heard of it. malthaussen Feb 2018 #5
the puckle gun. which was hardly 'full auto' or possibly even ever used. KG Feb 2018 #7
Here's one atreides1 Feb 2018 #8
Ah, the Girandoni Air Rifle Brigade strikes again jberryhill Feb 2018 #9
never really mass produced or used beachbum bob Feb 2018 #15
Leonardo Da Vinci had one mounted to his helicopter jberryhill Feb 2018 #17
it threw off his GPS though. grantcart Feb 2018 #22
Phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range. nt LexVegas Feb 2018 #10
Not really hack89 Feb 2018 #13
The concept was there, but the tech was not DetroitLegalBeagle Feb 2018 #18
May have been referring to the Girardoni windbusche, which saw service in the Austrian army... Marengo Feb 2018 #20
Not a firearm jberryhill Feb 2018 #23
 

beachbum bob

(10,437 posts)
6. bullets were not around for several more decades, until then it was lead balls and
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:29 AM
Feb 2018

raw gun powder and packing....anything remotely resembling an automatic weapon would be like the gattling gun which didn't happen until almost 100 years after the revolutionary war. Not only is she batshit crazy but as stupid as a rock

 

beachbum bob

(10,437 posts)
14. never really used or produced besides it was far from being "an automatic" anything
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:41 AM
Feb 2018

the gattling gun was mass produced and had limited use

 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
19. 9 shots a minute
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:45 AM
Feb 2018

Yeah, I think this kid - even if he could lug one of those around - wouldn't have gotten very far.

NutmegYankee

(16,199 posts)
21. It existed in civilian firearms.
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 12:51 PM
Feb 2018

The fit between the barrel and lead ball was very tight, making them slow to reload, but they were superior hunting weapons.

Military guns were usually muskets, smoothbore, because they could be reloaded and fired 3 times a minute. Rifles were used in the revolution as “sniper” weapons to pick off British officers.

malthaussen

(17,204 posts)
5. Never heard of it.
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:28 AM
Feb 2018

Hell, *revolvers* didn't exist at that time. She's either lying outright, or talking about some obscure weapon that she is misrepresenting.

Put it this way: Ben Franklin proposed using longbows and arrows for the Continental army because the rate of fire was faster than a rifle or musket. He didn't factor in the point that it takes years of training to make a good longbowman, but any idiot can shoot a musket.

I wish there were some way to make idiots like this show their sources.

-- Mal

 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
9. Ah, the Girandoni Air Rifle Brigade strikes again
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:33 AM
Feb 2018

There were some very unusual and finicky weapons capable of a low rate of repeat fire.

One of them which is often trotted out is the Girandoni air rifle, which was not even a firearm.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girandoni_air_rifle

Its major claim to fame, being nigh unto useless as a military weapon, is that Lewis & Clark had one in order to be able to shoot critters to eat in the event they ran into gunpowder problems.

It launched balls much like a paintgun:

This gravity operated design was such that the rifle had to be pointed upwards in order to drop each ball into the breech block. Unlike its contemporary, muzzle-loading muskets, which required the rifleman to stand up to reload with powder and ball, the shooter could reload a ball from the magazine by holding the rifle vertically while lying on his back and operating the ball delivery mechanism. The rifleman then could roll back into position to fire, allowing the rifleman to keep a "low profile".

...and it worked like a pump BB gun to "reload":

The air reservoir was in the club-shaped butt. With a full air reservoir, the Girandoni air rifle had the capacity to shoot 30 shots at useful pressure. These balls were effective to approximately 125 yd (114 m) on a full air reservoir.

Okay, so, yeah, you got some guy rolling around on the ground who is going to take out a bunch of people in a mass shooting. Not.

Then, they trot out the "puckle gun":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puckle_gun

The rate of fire of this flintlock revolver was 9 shots per minute.

None of these weapons were common household items.


DetroitLegalBeagle

(1,924 posts)
18. The concept was there, but the tech was not
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:44 AM
Feb 2018

There were some crude semi autos and hand cranked gatling type guns in existence. There were also multi-barreled volley guns, but those were mounted and for fortification defense.

 

Marengo

(3,477 posts)
20. May have been referring to the Girardoni windbusche, which saw service in the Austrian army...
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:58 AM
Feb 2018

During the Austro-Turkish War of 1787-1791. Well-liked and regarded as effective by those troops that used it, the design was too advanced for the technology of the era to keep in working order for long. They were surplused out of the Austrian army, and it’s a possibility the Lewis & Clark air rifle may have been one of these.

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