Homemade "weapons" of Soviet boys. Do-it-yourself antique cannon For work you will need

06.03.2020

What is a holiday without festive fireworks. It would be great if an artillery volley sounds on the birthday of your mother or grandmother. And there is also the New Year, Defender of the Fatherland Day, March 8 and other holidays, or you can just play pirates. So a salute gun in the house is necessary.

I propose to make an old ship's cannon. Cannons are loaded with ordinary firecrackers. Therefore, the main condition of our work is that the inner diameter of the gun barrel should be slightly larger than the diameter of the cracker. I do not give the dimensions of the gun - it depends on your desire and capabilities.

For work you will need:

gun barrel mold
unwanted newspapers (or wallpaper)
PVA glue
stationery knife
putty
skin
wooden blocks or plywood
dye
cellophane film
packaging corrugated cardboard
crackers

The device of a real ship's gun

How to make a papier mache cannon

1 . Looking for the right base. You can take a pipe from a vacuum cleaner or a wooden handle from a shovel. And best of all - a cone-shaped leg from a coffee table.

2 . In order for our trunk to be well removed from the mold at the end of the work, we wrap the mold with cellophane film.

3 . On the form, mark the length of the gun and add another 2 centimeters on both sides.

We begin to glue the form with paper. You can take unnecessary newspapers, and if there is wallpaper, it will be even better. We cut the paper into strips 4–5 cm wide and begin to glue our shape. For work, we use liquid PVA glue or any wallpaper glue. We try to glue evenly, without folds. Let dry after 5-6 coats. And so we glue it to a thickness of 1 cm. For a greater resemblance to a real cannon, we will try to give our barrel a conical shape.

4 . When the barrel reaches the desired thickness, let it dry completely. To achieve a smoother surface, use wood putty. After letting the putty dry, we remove the errors of our work with a sandpaper.

5 . Using thin strips of paper, we form belts and rims. And skin again. After cutting off the excess paper, carefully remove the barrel from the mold.

6 . An important element of the barrel are the trunnions - they hold the barrel on the carriage and must be "strong". They can be made from wood and glued into holes cut in the trunk.

7 . Our trunk is almost ready. It remains only to paint it. You can paint with any paint. I painted it with spray paint from a can. Such paint lays down more evenly and dries faster, though it has a pungent smell, so it’s better to do it outside.

8 . It's time to think about the combat capabilities of our weapons, or rather, about ways to load it.

As a projectile, we will use firecrackers. As you know, they shoot when you hold the firecracker with one hand and pull the string with the other. We will pull with our right hand, and the barrel should replace our left hand. To do this, you need to come up with a locking device, or shutter.

If you decide to load the cannon through the barrel, as they were loaded in the old days, then you need to make sure that the projectile does not pull out along with the rope. To do this, in the back of the trunk, inside in a circle, glue a shoulder (a small ledge) that will not allow the cracker to jump out when we pull the rope.

9 . If you want to load the gun from the rear, "breech" part of the barrel, then you need to put the bolt. This method reduces the loading time of the cannon and makes it much easier. But for this you need to show inventive abilities.

In my cannon, the shutter is made according to the principle of a hook, which is attached to the end of the barrel with a screw at one end, and is thrown onto the ledge on the opposite side with the other. As long as it works properly.

And another very important tip. So that mom does not scold and does not force to clean the room after a salute salvo, you can modernize the cracker: carefully remove the safety paper and carefully pour the contents of the cracker (confetti) into the wastebasket. The effect of the shot will be preserved (even a smoky cloud will be), and there will be less debris or not at all.

10 . Now about the gun carriage.

The carriage can be glued together from wooden blocks - it will be more believable and reliable, for this we need a saw. But this is a tricky business. Let's look for something to replace the tree.

Let's take corrugated cardboard packaging. Better if you get a two-layer. In accordance with the dimensions of the trunk, we mark approximately the sheets of cardboard and glue them together. It is advisable to select cardboard so that the direction of the corrugations does not coincide: this will increase the strength of our carriage. When the workpiece reaches a thickness of 4-5 cm, we make the final cutting of the carriage parts and glue it. Do not worry about the strength of the carriage - craftsmen make furniture from such blanks.

For beauty, we glue it with paper with a wooden texture.

11 . And finally, we collect the gun. We connect the barrel with the gun carriage. We lay it on the trunnions in the grooves and fix it (you can use an overlay made of thick cardboard, or you can just paste it).

We charge and BA-BACH!!!

The children of the generation of the 90s did not have new-fangled toys and computer games, but they had a wild fantasy that allowed them to come up with incredible ways of entertainment. The pets had something with which to shoot or set fire to. Although these entertainments were considered favorite among children during perestroika, many of them could be harmful to health and even lead to death.

slingshots

Who remembers homemade slingshots? They were of two types - classic and keyed. The classic ones were cut from a thick hazel branch with a fork, a wide gray tourniquet was bought at a pharmacy, a piece of leather was taken out (you could secretly cut it out of your travel bag at home and dump it on your sister) and everything was fastened with copper wire or blue electrical tape.

Such a slingshot was loaded with smooth pebbles, which were often brought into the yards along with sand or unripe berries, such as mountain ash, plum or cherry, which grew in abundance behind the house. The power of a shot with a stone was sometimes enough to smash a champagne bottle to smithereens from 3 meters. Such a slingshot was valued due to the fact that not everyone had the skills and means to create it. It could be exchanged for other valuables such as inserts from Turbo, CinCin and Final90.

Walking and having nothing to do, it was possible to make a simpler slingshot - a keyed one. To do this, it was necessary to find a thick aluminum wire in a braid in a landfill and find a flagellum. As a rule, there were no problems with the latter - it was easily extracted from the elastic of underpants. The newer the underpants, the better the flagellum. From all this, something like this was going to (pictured on the left). Such a slingshot fired with dowels - pieces of copper or aluminum wire bent into a horseshoe.

Crossbows

A heavier version of the slingshot was the crossbow. A wooden clothespin was attached to the board, and an elastic band was attached to the other end in such a way that a “loop” was obtained, the saddle of which fell just on the clothespin. With the necessary stretch, of course. A “bullet” was placed in the elastic loop, the elastic was stretched and clamped into a clothespin. When the button was pressed, a shot was fired. They shot all the same mountain ash, peas, peppercorns or pellets.

Samopal

The most advanced version was called self-propelled guns. This is closer to a real firearm. A thick-walled metal tube was sealed at one end (flattened and topped up with lead), a hole of 1 mm was drilled near the blind end. The pipe was attached to a wooden bed, usually in the form of a pistol (again, the same chair leg was sometimes used). With the help of a ramrod, "sulfur" from matches, a wad and a sub-caliber homemade bullet made of lead were driven into the tube. The shot was fired when a special shock frame, released by the trigger, hit the head of a carnation inserted into a small hole. The bullet had a very serious lethal force - 15 match heads in a 4mm barrel drove a bullet 5 centimeters into a tree. With a crossbow it was better not to get into the police ...

matchshot

Another lightweight weapon was the matchgun. It was made from wooden clothespins, do you feel the usefulness of this Soviet device? He shot with ordinary or burning matches for 10 meters. For its manufacture, a wooden clothespin was disassembled, a place for a spring was machined with a file (from the same clothespin), a “barrel” was machined, a spring was put on one of the halves, the halves were connected by the reverse sides and rewound with electrical tape. The spring played the role of both the trigger and the pusher at the same time. Sometimes a piece of “chirkash” from a matchbox was fixed on the “barrel”, so that the match would light up by itself at the moment of the shot. More often, they simply swiped a box at it and immediately shot.

Dart

Probably only the lazy did not play the game "darts", we also loved to throw darts in childhood. Yes, but they were not sold or they cost a lot of money. Therefore, almost any boy in our yard could make it himself. The dart, in terms of its flight and stick-in qualities, turned out to be no worse than the factory one. A sheet of paper, 4 matches, a needle, stationery glue and thread. A home-made target from a notebook sheet was hung on the wall carpet and played.

pistons

Who had a revolver that fired such caps? But it was more interesting to scratch the brown spots with something sharp and watch them ignite. Or even more interesting, roll up a strip of piston and hit it with a hammer. Ringing in the ears for 10 minutes was provided!

Who sees the connection?

Pugach from bolts

And here?

I think our generation will easily explain the connection of these objects. They hammered the dowel with a brick into the asphalt, took it out, crushed matches into the hole, inserted the dowel and threw a brick on top ... Boom! and the piece of asphalt was gone... :) Matches cost 1 kopeck per box and were freely bought in the store.

And this is the "rockets"

Slate in the fire

I think you can easily remember what happens to slate in a fire :) That's right, nothing good - it shoots a lot. in pieces.

Lamps and kinescopes

It was a sin not to break a fluorescent lamp thrown into the trash. They broke with a loud bang, if you throw the lamp on the asphalt end. They didn't think about the environment back then.

But this find in the garbage was extremely rare and always brought great joy to the boys. They cast lots to see who would be the first to throw a brick at the top lamp (the beam gun of the kinescope). She was the most vulnerable point of the kinescope. When the lamp broke, the kinescope collapsed inwards due to the internal vacuum with a very dull pop that echoed in the yards. Neighbor boys immediately ran to see this action. But more often we found kinescopes with a broken lamp ...

Siphon cans

Used cartridges for soda machines (siphon) were also sometimes used. They were stuffed with sulfur from matches and closed the hole with a bolt. Then the infernal device was thrown into the fire ... I must say that this thing was the most dangerous invention of the yard boys. Personally, I have never made such a balloon. And I don't recommend it to others.

Magnesium

knives

In my opinion, every boy in childhood had a folding knife, which was a source of pride. With the help of it they played "zemelka", "tanchiki". Each game had a variety of rules. For example, "land": they drew a circle, divided it equally by the number of participants. Each one stood in his own place. Then, while standing, they stuck a knife into the enemy’s area and cut off a piece from his land. "In advance" (did not stick) - the move passed to another. And according to one rule, it was necessary to stand on your own land all the time as long as you could. According to others, it was possible to stand outside, but in the event of a catastrophic decrease in your area, the enemy offered you to stand for 3 seconds on it. If you can't resist, you're out. You could even stand on tiptoe with one leg - the main thing is to hold out for 3 seconds.

Carbide

Who remembers magic stones with a specific smell that bubble in water? Carbide is a joy for those who find it, for the whole day! When combined with water, it reacted and released the wonderful gas acetylene. It is remarkable that it burns well. In what form did not use carbide. And they just threw it into a puddle, setting it on fire. And they warmed their hands, squeezing the carbide in their palm, immersed in a puddle. And they put it in bottles of water, plugging it with a cork ...

But the most effective use of carbide was hand cannon. They took an empty bottle from under a deodorant or "Dichlorvos", cut off its neck, made a hole at the bottom, put carbide inside, spat on it abundantly, plugged all the holes, shook it for a minute, opened it and brought a burning match to a small hole ... volley! !! :)

smokehouse

The real truth is that only our generation knows what the connection is between a children's tumbler or a tennis ball....

But we know what will happen if pieces of this special, magical plastic are wrapped in foil or newspaper, set on fire and extinguished ... How many nerves the uncles spent in garages when such a miracle flew to them from the roof ...

Lead

How much in this word, merged for the heart of a child ... And merged in the truest sense of the word. Remember scouring garages, scouring junk yards for old batteries?

They split them and mined pure lead. The dried electrolyte was beaten out and the soft metal was crushed into a tin can or into a bowl.They made a fire and waited for the liquid metal to sparkle in the jar.

And then do whatever your heart desires!

This topic comes up regularly. The inquisitive minds of alternative researchers cannot pass by mediocre, not only from the point of view of calculations, but also from the point of view of common sense, thin-walled tools with unnecessary elements. I suggest watching the next two videos on this topic and once again familiarize yourself with the version of the purpose of these "guns".

Below is a small list of examples of supposedly ancient cannons, many of which have never fired, or fired once (which led to their destruction).

Bombard of Styria (Pumhart von Steyr). It was made at the beginning of the 15th century. The cannon is made of metal strips fastened with hoops like a barrel. Caliber 820, weight 8 tons, length 259 cm, fired 700 kilogram cores at 600 meters with a charge of 15 kg. gunpowder and an elevation of 10 degrees. Stored in the military museum in Vienna.
The walls are very thin, the core is unreasonably heavy. Has anyone made calculations - could such a bombardier shoot nuclei of such a mass? And not just once or twice.

Mad Greta (Dulle Griet). Named after the Countess of Flanders Margaret the Cruel. Like the previous one, it is made of stripes. Manufactured by the masters of the city of Ghent, caliber 660 mm., weight 16.4 tons, length 345 cm. In 1452 it was used during the siege of the city of Odenarde, and was captured by the besieged as a trophy. It came back to Ghent in 1578, where it is still kept in the open air.
This instance even has a history, a legend. The walls of iron strips are also thin for this caliber.

Dardannel Cannon. Cast in 1464 by mater Munir Ali. Caliber 650 mm., Weight 18.6 tons, length 518 cm. The surviving cannon is a copy cast somewhat earlier (in 1453) by the Hungarian master Urban. The cannon, cast by Urban, fired only a few shots at the besieged Constantinople, after which it cracked. This, however, was enough to destroy the wall. The surviving copy was kept secret for a long time, until in 1807 it was used against the British fleet in the Dardannel operation. In 1866, Sultan Abdulaziz presented the cannon to Queen Victoria and it is now kept at Fort Nelson in England.

Why do we need a kind of “gear” on the barrel and a collapsible design of the “gun” on a threaded connection? Why half it? And what equipment to disassemble? In the field?

Fat Meg (Mons Meg). Like similar European cannons of that time, made of metal strips by Jehan Combière for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. In 1449 it was presented to King James II of Scotland and kept in Edingburgh Castle. In 1489 it was used during the siege of Dumberton Castle. Caliber 520 mm., Weight 6.6 tons, length 406 cm. Range with a projectile weighing 175 kg with a charge of 47.6 kg of gunpowder and an elevation of 45 degrees 1290 meters.
So thin-barreled for this caliber.

There is no need to introduce the most famous cannon in our country. Of all those presented below, it is the largest-caliber (1586, caliber 890 mm., Weight 36.3 tons, length 534 cm.). In the entire history, only 2 larger-caliber guns were made - the American "Little David" (914 mm. 1945) and the English "Mortar Mallet" (in honor of the creator Robert Mallet, 910 mm, 1857). Maybe not everyone knows, but in the Artillery Museum there are 2 more cannons made by Chokhov and 2 more in Stockholm (captured during the defeat of Peter 1 near Narva).

I do not claim that these are not artillery pieces. Yes, some of them shot. But I do not rule out that these are finds, or later items based on found specimens, which began to be used as guns during the seizure, redistribution of territories.
In the videos above, a version was voiced for what these thin-walled "guns" with stone cores could use. I voiced this version in the article

We look at the kilns for firing and grinding rocks in the production of lime, cement and at one of the old cannons

Here and there we see protrusions around the circumference of the "trunk" to support the roller during rotation.

Why not a gun? After the cataclysm, if the descendants find this, they will most likely begin to use it as a weapon, and not as equipment.

In modern furnaces, they are laid inside with refractory bricks. It is possible that it was also used in supposedly "mortars" and "bombers".

The process now looks like this.

With the volume of stone construction of the ancient world, and the brick European civilization, there should be a lot of kilns for firing and grinding lime. Perhaps, in these "guns" they only crushed the rock, placing stone cores there, and burned the charge in the "towers":

Scheme of a modern furnace

But perhaps the very principle of grinding the rock in the ancient "cannons" is also an adaptation of the finds to the needs of that time, perhaps in parallel with the military. And initially their design is something more complicated even for us.

How many of you have had to shoot with a real flintlock pistol or matchlock squeaker?
I guess there are few such lucky ones. However, finds of fairly well-preserved samples of ancient firearms are not uncommon, and naturally, the lucky ones, those who have found such weapons, have a desire to shoot once, try again. Therefore, I want to warn about some of the features when shooting from firearms of all times and peoples, talking about possible troubles.
I cannot show graphically samples of weapons. Take some illustrated guide to ancient weapons and refer to it while reading this work.
The first firearms appeared around the 14th century, but here even scientists have a lot of inconsistencies and it probably makes no sense to say that one weapon belongs to this century, or even to that. The weapon could survive several generations of its owners, remaining for several centuries quite combat-ready and, most importantly, in demand. Again, completely outdated models, after some time, suddenly again turned out to be beneficial in use. Therefore, we will not reckon with time.
The main stages in the development of firearms are approximately the following chain:
- firearms with wick ignition of a powder charge.
- with ignition from a spark of silicon locks.
-weapons with primer ignition.
- weapons with a unitary cartridge:
a) with wick ignition.
b) with capsule ignition.
c) with diesel ignition.
d) with ignition by an electric spark ...
-weapons with mechanical reloading.
- A weapon that uses the energy of a shot to reload.
Again, the weapon can be muzzle-loading, this is when the charge is inserted through the muzzle of the weapon and breech-loading. This is when the charge is inserted from the side of the shooter.
Now mix all the above differences in any order and come up with something unusually new and fantastic. I want to disappoint you, there are already such weapons, and if you look, you will surely find such weapons (in reference books). And surprisingly, it may turn out to be quite a classic, well-known weapon.
Let's start with wick samples. Classical samples are arranged relatively the same (pos.1). A barrel muffled from the treasury (breech) and an ignition device.
What is a treasury (breech) for a weapon? Once upon a time, threading on (steel) bolts and nuts was an extremely difficult task and was only done at state (state) factories. Rural blacksmiths could forge the barrel and even make bullet rifling in the barrel, but for threading, to plug one side of the barrel with a bolt, the barrel was carried to a state-owned enterprise and there they took and bought a breech bolt already threaded (pos. 2). On subsequent, more advanced weapon barrels, breech (silencing) bolts were no longer needed, but the name, parts of the barrel, remained the same.
The ignition device looked something like this. A hole was drilled in the breech of the barrel through which the fire was transmitted to the charge of gunpowder. In the simplest samples, for example, on guns (pos. 3), the hole was on top and part of the hole above the barrel was specially expanded, reamed, and a shallow seed hole was made. So that a little seed powder can be poured into the hole of the hole. On handguns, the seed hole was drilled from the side so as not to interfere with aiming. And the gunpowder was not poured into the seed hole, but on the seed shelf (pos. 4). This container with a recess is located next to the seed hole. And the priming shelf is made either integral with the barrel or as a separate part pressed against the priming hole of the barrel. The side shelves on the advanced trunks were equipped with folding caps, which were opened before the shot, turned to the side. By the way, Black "gunpowder could be made at that time and was made in any color: blue, red. yellow, white ...
The wick was brought to the gunpowder on the priming shelf either manually or with the help of special locks, where the shot could be fired by pressing an additional ignition lock lever. In this lock, the burning wick was attached to a special clamp, and when the trigger was pressed, the burning wick came into contact with the gunpowder on the shelf.
By the way, guns with similar locks are still used by hunters in Asia and Africa in remote areas. Even today, there is an obvious benefit to using such an ancient weapon. Especially when no one is in a hurry with a shot and preparation for a shot. Again, no primers and shells are needed. You can also save on bullet lead by firing the same bullet multiple times. Yakuts in the old days shot squirrels so that the bullet would get stuck in the tree trunk (behind the squirrel). Gunpowder was specially placed in the charge at a minimum. After the shot, they climbed a tree and dug out the lead.
Now imagine that you are shooting a squirrel from such a wick fusee. A squirrel sits high on a tree, you aim carefully, and gunpowder pours from an open shelf in your face, flying past a burning fuse ...
Or we shoot down the slope at a mountain goat, gunpowder from the shelf is pouring in the other direction and the shot can again break ...
But it's good to shoot on the battlefield. Imagine that you are in beautiful clothes, a musketeer's uniform and a wide-brimmed hat (this is so that a possible rain does not soak the gunpowder on the shelf) aiming at the enemy from your musket in an open field. There will certainly be a shot, gunpowder does not spill out of the shelf. It would be nice to shoot before the enemy.
And where did the Musketeers get the light for their wicks? To increase the defensive capability of the shooters, every tenth (musketeer) constantly wore a lit fuse and, if necessary, all the rest lit up from them.
Flintlock weapons have the same problem. Gunpowder from the shelf also spills out when shooting up or down. But you no longer have to toil with the extraction of a spark for a wick. A blow of flint on a steel flint and flint gave rise to a sheaf of sparks, sparks and set fire to gunpowder on a shelf.
There were two types of silicon locks: wheel locks and impact locks. In wheel locks, the flint wheel, rotating around its axis and making several turns, cut sparks from a flint pressed against it onto a shelf with gunpowder. The device is reliable enough to ignite gunpowder, but too complicated and expensive for those times. Percussion locks ignited gunpowder every other time, but were much simpler. Again, if the shot did not work the first time, you can try to shoot again. In the days of matchlocks and flintlocks, they relied more on a bayonet than on a fool's bullet.
In silicon locks, the shelf opened automatically before firing, but the weapon had to be kept with the locks up and preferably with the barrel in a horizontal position.
Capsule weapons, before firing, could be held as you like. As long as the capsule does not come off, a shot will be required. But here, too, there are hiccups. The primer sprays its red-hot fragments in all directions. The trigger drummer on a capsule weapon is made in the form of a cup with a slit in front (pos. 7), so that most of the fragments go forward, and a special shield is made behind the primer (usually on the keyboard) (pos. 5 and 6) to protect the eyes of the shooter. Shields are usually not made on pistols (and capsule revolvers), since the shooter holds the weapon far from the eyes. But those who have seen capsule pistols can say that these pistols did not differ much from shortened guns in terms of size and length of the barrels and therefore were often equipped with removable butts. On such pistols, shields to protect the eyes were a must. Pos. 8 and 9 primers for primer weapons: new and used, respectively.
It was on capsule rifles that they began to install optical sights and a new military profession, a sniper, appeared. Especially for snipers, in the middle of the 19th century and in North America, safety goggles began to be made. Which indicates a frequent eye injury when firing from a capsule weapon.
Again, by the way, how long should the barrel on a firearm be for marksmanship and how does a shortened carbine differ from a pistol with an elongated barrel chambered for the same cartridge?
The length of any barrel is measured in calibers (barrel diameters). It is believed that a barrel length of forty calibers long is the most optimal. A larger aspect ratio is basically useless and significantly increases the cost of manufacturing the barrel. So a carbine and a pistol with the same barrel length and chambered for the same cartridge do not differ in their combat properties. All the differences are in certain amenities, for example, in aiming. With the modern development of technology in the manufacture of barrels, mass-produced barrels of any length are not too expensive. And the length of the barrel is dictated for other reasons. Convenience for a bayonet attack, the minimum length allowed by law, and the like, which has practically nothing to do with barrels.
All muzzle-loading weapon systems must have a ramrod. It is clear that the ramrod was often lost, and to exclude such cases, the ramrod, or rather pistols and rifles, were sometimes made with a special device in which the ramrod was attached. A ramrod in such a device could load a weapon, but in order to remove (or lose) a ramrod from such a device, it was necessary to disassemble half of this weapon.
In later designs, starting with capsule revolvers, under the guise of a ramrod, there was often some detail on the weapon that had nothing to do with a ramrod. For example, on capsule revolvers, instead of a ramrod, a lever was attached to press bullets into the drum chambers.
The arrow from modern weapons is not at all interested in what charge of gunpowder and what gunpowder should be loaded into his weapon. And also what should be the lethal element (bullet) and what device to ignite the charge on his weapon. Although, in fact, the glorious representatives of "Cannon Fodder" were never interested in such petty questions. The main thing is to shout louder: “Our mirror carps are the most mirrored in the world!” and this was at all times considered the very first (and last) pinnacle in the professional training of a novice soldier. And you need to know the properties of gunpowder, at least for literacy.
Today, so many varieties of gunpowder have been invented, even simple hunting gunpowder, that it would seem that what problems can arise when loading an old pistol or squeaker. Here, however, there is no need to rush. Otherwise, after the first shot, you can be left without hands, without eyes, and even without a head. In other literature it is written that ancient weapons may not withstand modern gunpowder and they write correctly. Why and what's the difference? Here's more about that.
Gunpowder is smoky and smokeless. In popular terms, smokeless powder is a special, finely ground plastic. What is celluloid everyone knows? This is nitrocellulose powder with the addition of a dye and a flame retardant. Because of this moderator, celluloid cannot be used instead of gunpowder. Almost all other smokeless powders, with appropriate additives, can be used in the national economy as a material for the production of consumer goods such as soap dishes, combs, lipstick cases, as well as varnishes and paints. What is being done.
By this I mean that real smokeless powders, when properly stored, have an indefinite shelf life, are practically indifferent to shocks and are essentially not afraid of water.
Smoke (or black) powder consists of a mechanical mixture of potassium nitrate, coal and sulfur. It can also be stored for centuries, but is afraid of moisture, water dissolves saltpeter and gunpowder, after drying, it deteriorates in quality. Black powder can explode on impact and sparks. In large quantities, black powder can be used as an explosive. In general, black (smoky) powder is more dangerous than smokeless powder in storage.
But smokeless gunpowder came to replace smoky gunpowder for a reason. Gunpowder in the barrel of a gun (rifle, guns) burns in different ways. The smoke powder in the barrel ignites, or rather weakly explodes all at once, and as the projectile leaves the barrel, the initial, maximum pressure drops sharply, which leads to a significant decrease in efficiency in the acceleration of the projectile (bullet). Smokeless powder ignites (or rather weakly explodes) at significant pressure and burns, maintaining maximum pressure while the projectile (bullet) is in the barrel. If, for example, a shot is poured out of an ordinary hunting cartridge loaded with smokeless, then the shot may not work. It will not be possible to create the necessary pressure in the barrel and the gunpowder will not ignite. For this reason alone, it is recommended to equip cartridges with smokeless powder with powerful Zhevelo primers or pour several grains of smoky (black) powder under the Centroboy primer. Then the explosion of the primer will create enough pressure in the sleeve to ignite the smokeless powder.
Naturally, smokeless powders are divided according to the composition, size and shape of grains, which leads to different burning rates and developed maximum pressure. Indeed, gunpowder for pistols (short-barreled weapons) should differ from rifle powders (for long-barreled weapons), at least in terms of burning rate.
By the way, about the burning rate of explosives. Gunpowder burns in the barrel of a weapon at speeds of several meters per second, and explosions begin during combustion from several tens to several thousand meters per second.
Again, modern smoke gunpowder, although it has a composition similar to ancient gunpowder, is made using new technology and is three times stronger than the old one. Antique, smoky gunpowder was used immediately after mixing the components of the powder mixture. Such smoke powder is today called powder pulp and is used only in pyrotechnics for fireworks. Rifle powders are specially granulated, which increases their power.
Now, it is probably clear why weapons with matchlocks and flintlocks cannot be loaded with smokeless powders? The shot may not work. And it is also impossible to repeat the size of the charge with smoky powder according to the old recommendations, since modern gunpowder is much more powerful. Another thing is when loading weapons with primer ignition, it is quite possible to use smokeless powder, but in reasonable quantities.
There is one more nuance with the old primer weapons. The use of conventional capsules leads to increased, intercrystalline corrosion (rust) of the barrels. Which ultimately renders the weapon unusable. This is especially true for weapons with Damascus (twisted) steel barrels, and the suitability for firing such weapons cannot be visually determined. It is generally impossible to shoot from a weapon struck by intercrystalline rust, and the type of gunpowder has nothing to do with it. Matchlock and silicon-ignited weapons are more resistant to corrosion and last longer.
Powder charges for any weapon should not exceed the height of the diameter of the charging chamber. In any case, this applies to all kinds of muzzle-loading systems and hunting smooth-bore weapons.
Confusing gunpowder, for example, loading hunting cartridges with gunpowder from a combat, rifle cartridge is often pointless. At normal doses, the shot may not work, and at higher doses it will lead to a rupture of the barrel.
Also, the powder in the charges should not be pressed, it is better if the powder grains have the opportunity to slightly spill over when shaking (the cartridge). This is how cartridges for military weapons are loaded for long periods of storage and for better burning of the powder charge during the shot.
With a lethal element (bullet, shot) they sort it out by weapon. Smoothbore weapons of large calibers, from 10mm and above, can be loaded with both a bullet and shot. Small-caliber muzzle-loading smoothbore and rifled weapons are loaded mainly with a bullet. In any case, the weight of the bullet and the total weight of the shot shell must not exceed the weight of the lead ball according to the caliber of the weapon.
Means of ignition of gunpowder in ancient firearms.
Let's start with wicks for wick locks. You can use ordinary cotton, linen and any other cord that can smolder for a long time without fading. But for the purity of the experiment, it is better to use a replica similar to the ancient original. Therefore, we take a cotton cord and impregnate it with potassium nitrate. We lower and hold for a couple of hours in a concentrated solution, then dry. Such a wick will not fade in any wind. If there is no potassium nitrate, then it can be replaced with ordinary potassium permanganate.
With flints for flint locks it will be more difficult. It is difficult to get pyrite, and this is the most sparkling "kremeshka". Therefore, we will have to limit ourselves to quartzites. These are pebbles with a glassy sheen, translucent, the color varies widely. Particularly beautiful varieties of quartz, transparent, with a pure, saturated color or completely colorless, belong to the category of semi-precious and even precious stones. All quartz can be used as glass cutter stones. But for shooting purposes, muddy, nondescript varieties are also quite suitable. The rounded bare must be split. A sharp chip gives more sparks. Quartz is brittle like glass. Therefore, a fragment of quartz "krem" in the jaws of the trigger is clamped, wrapping the pebble with thick, flexible skin.
A little about the device of silicon locks.
The firing shelf (with gunpowder) is closed with a steel, spring-loaded and cunningly curved flint plate. When a flint strikes a flint, the flint strikes sparks from the flint and at the same time opens a shelf with gunpowder. If the kremeshka is fixed in the trigger incorrectly, then the kremeshka will either not reach the plate and there will be no sparks (and a shot). Or the flint will rest against the flint and the system will jam, the flint will split and a new flint will have to be inserted into the trigger. Complicated? Yes! A shot every other time from a silicon weapon, even for an experienced shooter, was considered a good result. Each soldier or hunter carried a supply of flints far in excess of the stock of charges.
Not everything is simple with capsule weapons either. Modern capsules (for unitary, hunting and combat cartridges) are not suitable for capsule weapons. Although the Centroboy hunting capsules have the same diameter, but not the height. The diameter of the modern "Centroboy" is 6.35 mm, more precisely a quarter of an inch. The height of capsules for capsule weapons was a third of an inch (25.4: 3 = 8.4 ... (mm)). The skirt of such a primer was worn on a fire brand pipe. The lower end of the capsule skirt rested against a special stop, and the explosive composition of the capsule did not reach the upper edge of the brand tube. Thus, spontaneous pricking (and firing) of the primer was excluded. When you hit the primer with a trigger, the cap of the primer was crushed and a shot occurred.
The capsule itself was made from a cross-cut copper billet. When putting the primer on the brand tube, the petals of the primer diverged slightly, but still kept the primer on the brand tube well from falling out. I won’t tell you how to make a replica of the cap of an old primer, who needs it, he will calculate all the tolerances and landings. However, it should be noted that after the manufacture of the cap, the inside of the cap is necessarily covered with nitrocellulose varnish in order to avoid contact of the explosive (or percussion composition) of the primer with the copper of the cap.
The percussion composition of the capsule is taken from the Centroboy capsules using the following technology. The capsule "Centroboy" is soaked for a day in pure, drinking 96 percent alcohol. Vodka won't work. Then a steel ball with a diameter of 20-30 mm is taken and a capsule is placed on this ball with a skirt. With a light blow of a hammer, the skirt is flared and the impact composition, together with the foil covering it, falls out. The impact composition, raw and with foil, is immediately inserted into a new cap and dried for a week. When reloading capsules, wear tight, protective goggles and thick rubber gloves.
By the way! In the USSR, capsule, muzzle-loading hunting rifles were produced by industry until the 30s of the 20th century. Moreover, the Tula triggers were further designed for use as a capsule weapon. On the guns, the strikers turned out and instead of the strikers, brand pipes were screwed in. The triggers also changed. Now it was enough to insert empty cartridge cases without capsules into the barrels (from the treasury) and the breech-loading central rail turned into a muzzle-loading, capsule ramrod. Apparently, this was how they tried to deal with the eternal shortage of shells and other ammunition from Soviet hunters. fishermen and amateurs, however, the production of primers for purely primer weapons was completely stopped.
In some countries, modern replicas (likenesses) of ancient weapons, including primer weapons (and primers for them), are still being produced. Hunting a bear with a matchlock fusee or single-barrel primer is more emotional than hunting with a quick-firing, hunting rifle, another modification of an army machine gun for civilians.

From the author: “In the childhood of a Soviet boy, there were no computer games. Basements, corridors of the native school or abandoned construction sites became the battlefield. They didn’t have the choice of plastic pistols, machine guns and grenades as they do now.”

Each teenager made his own weapons from a variety of improvised materials: clothespins, rubber bands from underwear, bicycle tubes, wire and tree branches. Today we invite you to plunge into our past and remember how everything was then, in an era in which there were no computers.

1. Slingshot

Without a doubt, the slingshot was the most popular type of weapon. I think there was no such Soviet teenager who would not know what a slingshot is. As a rule, the horn was made from any tree, but the acacia slingshot was considered the best.

Walking and having nothing to do, it was possible to make a simpler slingshot - a keyed one. To do this, it was necessary to find a thick aluminum wire in a braid in a landfill and find an elastic band. As a rule, there were no problems with the latter - it was easily extracted from the elastic of underpants. The newer the underpants, the better the elastic. Such a slingshot fired with dowels - pieces of copper or aluminum wire bent into a horseshoe.

2. Crossbow (matchshot)

No less popular type of "weapon" were crossbows.
The simplest was made from an ordinary wooden clothespin.

for more complex ones, in addition to clothespins, a small wooden block and an elastic band were used

3. Spitters

This type of "weapon" of Soviet boys was usually used right behind the school desk.
Spitters were made from metal and plastic tubes

and even ordinary collet pencils. In general, everything that had a cavity inside immediately became a spittle.

4. Smokers.

The most popular smokers were the Soviet roly-poly toy. If a piece of plastic from this toy was wrapped in foil and set on fire, then it was possible to arrange a “sickly” smoke screen. The second no less popular material for smokeboxes were tennis balls and combs.

5. Scarecrows

The design of the most popular scarecrow was as follows:
a brass tube was cut, the end of which was flattened. An ordinary nail was bent, sulfur from matches was put into the tube, and an elastic band was stretched between the flattened end of the tube and the bend of the nail. The cotton turned out great.

The most advanced versions of self-propelled guns were closer to real firearms. A thick-walled metal tube was sealed at one end (flattened and topped up with lead), a hole of 1 mm was drilled near the blind end. The pipe was attached to a wooden bed, usually in the form of a pistol (again, the same chair leg was sometimes used). With the help of a ramrod, "sulfur" from matches, a wad and a sub-caliber homemade bullet made of lead were driven into the tube. The shot was fired when a special shock frame, released by the trigger, hit the head of a carnation inserted into a small hole. The bullet had a very serious lethal force - 15 match heads in a 4mm barrel drove a bullet 5 centimeters into a tree. With a crossbow it was better not to get into the police ...

6. Pistons.

Special privileges were given to pistols that fired caps. Pistons were sold in rolls and were not always used for their intended purpose. often they were simply set on fire to see how they ignited. And in some cases, a strip of caps was rolled up and hit with a hammer. The ringing in my ears continued for 5 minutes.

7. Carbide

8. Magnesium

We mixed magnesium powdered with a file into a powder in a certain proportion with potassium permanganate, which cost a penny in a pharmacy and wrapped it in a tight paper bag, wrapping it with adhesive tape. They made a hole and screwed a match to it, so that the sulfur head was exactly in the hole. They struck a match on the box and threw it sharply aside. The package exploded with a deafening noise and a bright flash.
This is the kind of weapons that Soviet boys had. Of course, today's youth do not understand all this ...
I will add from myself.
In Sevastopol, in the 80s, the explosive packages of their minium with silver (aluminum powder) in a ratio of 1: 1 with the addition of silicon fragments (there are plenty of them on the beach) as an initiator were the most popular.
All this was wrapped tightly with electrical tape and thrown with all the dope into hard surfaces.

The most common explosive compositions of explosives:
When throwing, it was necessary to remember that the stones inside the explosive package scatter with force to the sides during the explosion (like grenade fragments), and could bring significant pain with a strong blow. During the explosion (after the throw), the brightest flash of white light with a bluish tint (blinding), a white cloud of smoke (metal oxides), and a powerful sound pulse were formed. As a source of sound (pop during explosion), a home-made explosive package is significantly superior to most pyrotechnic products manufactured by firms and sold now. Large explosives, due to the much larger mass of the explosive mixture, were much more effective and more dangerous homemade ammunition. With the explosion of such an explosive package, the diameter of the flash could reach a meter, a powerful shock wave was formed, and in general the effect of the explosion was comparable to a combat grenade RGD-5. A common effect for all homemade bombs was also the so-called spot or "print" of dark blue saturated color (sometimes with red edging with an excess of minium) left during the explosion on the surfaces with which the ammunition collided. "Print" is oxides of lead, aluminum, magnesium, etc. in the form of a thin coating on any surface, and is difficult to remove from the surface.