Re: I was thinking primitive gun - Edit 1
Before modification by Crackbrained Asha'man at 29/11/2009 03:44:55 AM
I was just thinking he would make the connection between the dragons and infantry weapons and might come up with something like a blunderbuss or musket. He's already going to be mining a lot, so how about some musket shot too.
Even a primitive gun might require more complicated parts though. And in terms of load time, unless he used pre-made paper powder cartridges like the British were using in India circa the Sepoy Rebellion, I could see it taking longer to powder, pack, load, and fire each time than his already pretty good rate with the crossbow cranks.
Incidentally, the handgun form of a blunderbuss (early shotgun) was apparently sometimes referred to as a dragon.
Even a primitive gun might require more complicated parts though. And in terms of load time, unless he used pre-made paper powder cartridges like the British were using in India circa the Sepoy Rebellion, I could see it taking longer to powder, pack, load, and fire each time than his already pretty good rate with the crossbow cranks.
Incidentally, the handgun form of a blunderbuss (early shotgun) was apparently sometimes referred to as a dragon.
I think your point about it taking longer pretty much sums up why I don't think we'll see a gun in the series. It took hundreds of years of guns being around before powder cartridges were invented, and even longer before bullets with shell casings were invented. And really muskets and guns with powder cartridges are really alot less leathal than Mats crossbows given their range and reload speed.
Winston Churchill once mentioned that he thought the Long Bow was the most deadly weapon on the battle field until the blot action rifle was invited. Muskets were used more so for prestige and showing off how modern and high-tech your army was. Unlit bullets with rifling were made bows were more accurate and faster.