A hand cannon (also called a gonne or handgonne) (Arabic: midfa; Chinese: 手銃; Russian: пищаль) is an early form of firearm. It is possibly the oldest type of portable firearm, as well as the simplest type of early firearm, as most examples require direct manual external ignition through a touch hole without any form of firing mechanism. It may also be considered a forerunner of the handgun. The hand cannon was widely used in Europe and throughout Asia until at least the 1520s, when it was supplanted by matchlock firearms.
In modern society, the term "hand cannon" is also used colloquially to refer to a pistol or revolver chambered for a powerful cartridge such as the .454 Casull or .500 S&W Magnum.
Read more about Hand Cannon: Origins, Design and Features, Impact
Famous quotes containing the words hand and/or cannon:
“All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 25:32,33.
“Examples are cited by soldiers, of men who have seen the cannon pointed, and the fire given to it, and who have stepped aside from he path of the ball. The terrors of the storm are chiefly confined to the parlour and the cabin.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)