Seven barrel Nock type of gun percussion

adrian · 17th February 2024, 09:10 PM

That seven-barrel volley gun is indeed very similar to the Ordnance gun supplied by Nock and appears to have been converted from flint action to the percussion principle via the nipple & drum method. The calibre appears to be the same also, .57 or Pistol Bore. It was most likely for use on a commercial ship.

Goose guns are absolutely a 'thing' and those I have handled have been of smaller calibre. Often the seven bores were drilled out from a single large barrel, rather than a cluster of seven individual barrels, and they will be found with various types of ignition and barrel configuration etc.

corrado26 · 18th February 2024, 08:07 AM

Can someone please explain to me how the jet of fire gets from the piston to the charges in the barrels? This is completely unclear to me

Raf · 18th February 2024, 12:46 PM

The whole construction seems strange and warrants further comment. The means of communicating fire to the outer barrels seems reasonably clear. The centre barrel connects with the percusion ignition and six holes in the hollow breech plug communicate with the touch holes in the outer barrels. Each of the outer barrels appears to have its own breech plug which can be removed with an internal squared key. This explains the strike marks on the face of the barrel group which indicate which plug belongs to which barrel and ensures they are correctly aligned.

What isn't clear is why the barrel group was designed to be removable as this doesn't contribute anything to its functionality. A strike mark on the breech shows how the barrel group is supposed to align but wear on the thread means the barrels no longer align correctly. This suggests to me that it was designed with spare interchangeable barrels mitigating the issue with multiple barrelled weapons which is the time taken to re load. If this was the case then it looks like a somewhat optimistic design maybe in anticipation of a lucrative naval contract.

17th February 2024, 09:10 PM	#1
adrian Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 118	That seven-barrel volley gun is indeed very similar to the Ordnance gun supplied by Nock and appears to have been converted from flint action to the percussion principle via the nipple & drum method. The calibre appears to be the same also, .57 or Pistol Bore. It was most likely for use on a commercial ship. Goose guns are absolutely a 'thing' and those I have handled have been of smaller calibre. Often the seven bores were drilled out from a single large barrel, rather than a cluster of seven individual barrels, and they will be found with various types of ignition and barrel configuration etc.

18th February 2024, 08:07 AM	#2
corrado26 Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Black Forest, Germany Posts: 1,171	Can someone please explain to me how the jet of fire gets from the piston to the charges in the barrels? This is completely unclear to me

18th February 2024, 12:46 PM	#3
Raf Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 238	The whole construction seems strange and warrants further comment. The means of communicating fire to the outer barrels seems reasonably clear. The centre barrel connects with the percusion ignition and six holes in the hollow breech plug communicate with the touch holes in the outer barrels. Each of the outer barrels appears to have its own breech plug which can be removed with an internal squared key. This explains the strike marks on the face of the barrel group which indicate which plug belongs to which barrel and ensures they are correctly aligned. What isn't clear is why the barrel group was designed to be removable as this doesn't contribute anything to its functionality. A strike mark on the breech shows how the barrel group is supposed to align but wear on the thread means the barrels no longer align correctly. This suggests to me that it was designed with spare interchangeable barrels mitigating the issue with multiple barrelled weapons which is the time taken to re load. If this was the case then it looks like a somewhat optimistic design maybe in anticipation of a lucrative naval contract.