Experimental rifled muzzle-loading gun 1880

[MKlein]

This was kept secret for a long time. They still don't admit to it!

 

 

 

[KABAR2]

 
I think history either repeated itself or...... they confused an earlier story with this gun.... my books are all packed at the moment so I can't reference it...... But sometime in the 1840's or 50's a swivel mounted mule gun was "demonstrated" in front of the local Indian Chiefs..... as the story goes they used fuse to light it off, the fuse hissed which the mule didn't like and it proceeded to buck in a circular motion with the cannon rocking up and down causing officers and enlisted personnel to scramble in various directions mean while the Chiefs stood stoically watching this amazing big medicine of the white man...... the gun fired harmlessly into the ground and the army decided it didn't need "mule guns" the Chiefs went on their way....... probably shaking their heads wondering what their country was coming to.........
 

[seacoastartillery]

     Interesting story, Skidmark, you really have to wonder if the military authorities who though this whole concept up were aware of the old military maxim which goes something like this:  military intelligence is to intelligence as military music is to music.  It reminds me greatly of the civil war story of of the Confederates' double barreled cannon of Athens, Georgia.  Upon firing the two cannon balls connected by a stout chain, one went into a field and killed a mule and the other one with most of the chain still attached went off toward town and took down  half of a house's chimney. 

Tracy

[The Jeff]

You know you're addicted to the hobby if you start thinking about making a scale saddle and rifle for the cat. 

[Double D]

You know you're addicted to the hobby if you start thinking about making a scale saddle and rifle for the cat. 

ROFLMAO

[dominick]

You know you're addicted to the hobby if you start thinking about making a scale saddle and rifle for the cat. 

I can just picture someone into micro bb cannons making a saddle for their pet hamster. 

[Double D]

You know you're addicted to the hobby if you start thinking about making a scale saddle and rifle for the cat. 

I can just picture someone into micro bb cannons making a saddle for their pet hamster. 

I just checked your website....

[KABAR2]

You know you're addicted to the hobby if you start thinking about making a scale saddle and rifle for the cat. 

I knew that wouldn't end well..........

[Zulu]

That's too funny Kabar!
Zulu

[KABAR2]

Yeah.... I just couldn't resist......

[The Jeff]

I'm married?! The things you can learn on the internet!

[KABAR2]

I'm married?! The things you can learn on the internet!

And I bet you didn't know you had a cat named Rocket either......

[Cannoneer]

Simply speculating here, but I’d think that aligning the axis of the bore with the axis of the mules rear plumbing when firing (the cannon that is), would work wonders in preventing the poor creature from being knocked over sideways. In fact, the burst of energy pushing the beast of burden forward would only cause it to trot a short distance. In limited instances this form of recoil control might even be superior to the hydraulic systems developed at a later date; that is of course, if the mule could be trained to take the same number of steps backward as it took forward.