Hi Alexander,
By blade backsight I meant that it is thin as a blade; this, as far as I know, is a common expression in English.
By now I have read the captions to the illustrations and learned that 'our' barrel in discussion was not found on, but near the Grandson battlefield site. So it is not sure that it actually saw service in that battle. This fact accounts for my suspicion that it was altered during its longer working life: the blade backsight, im my eperience, is a modernization of ca. 1500, as well as the pan and possibly the barrel loops. In the 1470's, the touchhole was still situated near the top of the barrel, and pans were unknown. All there was to the touchhole was a more or less deep molding, the earliest predecessor of a pan. Integral pans on wrought iron barrels did not show up before ca. the 1490's.
That considered, I am sure that barrel cannot have ended its working life on Grandson battlefield.
Best,
Michael
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