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:
“so cold and so
easy to catch, dreamily
moves his delicate feet
and long tail. I hold
my hand open for him to go.
Each minute the last minute.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“We may say that feelings have two kinds of intensity. One is the intensity of the feeling itself, by which loud sounds are distinguished from faint ones, luminous colors from dark ones, highly chromatic colors from almost neutral tints, etc. The other is the intensity of consciousness that lays hold of the feeling, which makes the ticking of a watch actually heard infinitely more vivid than a cannon shot remembered to have been heard a few minutes ago.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)