this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2024
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Forgotten Weapons

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This is a community dedicated to discussion around historical arms, mechanically unique arms, and Ian McCollum's Forgotten Weapons content. Posts requesting an identification of a particular gun (or other arm) are welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/@ForgottenWeapons

https://www.forgottenweapons.com/

Rules:

1) Treat Others in a Civil Manner. This is not the place to deride others for their race, sexuality, or etc. Personal insults of other members are not welcome here. Neither are calls for violence.

2) No Contemporary Politics Historical politics that influenced designs or adoption of designs are excluded from this rule. Acknowledgement of existing laws to explain designs is also permissable, so long as comments aren't in made to advocate or oppose a policy. Let's not make this a place where we battle over which color ties our politicians should have, or the issues of today.

3) No Advertising This rule doesn't apply to posting historical advertisements or showing more contemporary ads as a means of displaying information on an appropriate topic. The aim of this rule is to combat spam/irrelevant advertising campaigns.

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These are suggestions not rules.

-Provide a duration for videos. eg. [12:34]

-Provide a year to either indicate when a specific design was produced, patented, or released. If you have an older design being used in a recent conflict provide the year the picture was taken. Dates should be included to help contextualize, not necessarily give exact periods.

-Post a full URL, on mobile devices it can be hard to tell what you're clicking on if you only see "(Link)".

-Posts do not have to be just firearms. Blades, bows, etc. are also welcome.

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[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 28 points 4 months ago

16th Century "Mall Ninja shit"

[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 16 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Don't forget to unload before chopping trees... That would suck.

[–] Infynis@midwest.social 8 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I don't think it's for trees

[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Trees, heads ¯\('-')/¯ Won't make much difference with a lead ball burried in your face

[–] onion@feddit.de 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

How are you pointing the axe head at yourself while chopping?

[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Pretty sure the head is the stock and the handle is the barrel.

/edit: based on the other picture, perhaps not. Either way seems like a pretty poor design really.

[–] RootBeerGuy@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 4 months ago

I am Groot?

[–] gibmiser@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I think id really prefer the pointy side and the boom side be the same side...

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 16 points 4 months ago (2 children)

It is. The barrel is quite short.

[–] gibmiser@lemmy.world 11 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Oh, got it. Assumed the whole length was a barrel.

Shit, with the barrel that short I think the hatchet is the better bet

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago

According to some cursory searching and Wikipedia referencing (so take the credibility at your own peril), axe guns were primarily thought of as axes, and the firearm part was secondary.

The Swedish navy issued axe gun has a more practical profile than the ornate gun in the OP, if that gives an idea how such an idea might be practical.

[–] ElectroLisa@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 months ago

Bullpup shotaxe

[–] Emotet@slrpnk.net -1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Pretty sure it isn't. Apart from not being a very logical placement:

  • The hammer points downwards and has to be pulled back to cock it
  • The Axe head is shaped in a way as to provide a shoulder stock
  • If the end of the barrel was on the upper end instead of the lower end, it would be practically useless
[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Perhaps we are talking past each other. I have marked the barrel and direction of shot.

[–] mvpts@feddit.de 2 points 4 months ago

Looks like the barrel is on the same side.

[–] mysticpickle@lemmy.ca 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Probably made by someone like this:

[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

I like swords!

[–] ASeriesOfPoorChoices@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago

* heavy breathing in dwarvish *

[–] RandomStickman@kbin.run 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I'm no axeologist but I feel like the axe head can't withstand much whacking before bending and would block the barrel. Thankfully it's probably just a wall hanger.

[–] Anyolduser@lemmynsfw.com 9 points 4 months ago

Amateur axeologist here.

This isn't your "I'm going to chop down a tree" tool. The head of this thing was either for messing fools up, or for busting brush, not heavy use.

Given that, the structural weakness is worth it in this case. Pushing the axe head a little farther out lengthens the "handle" (gun) and provides more leverage. That leverage comes in handy when hacking through both bushes and fools.

[–] muzzle@lemm.ee 7 points 4 months ago

Straight outta some final fantasy.

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I saw a ton of these in Prague castle. Gun-axes, gun-swords, gun-knives. Also a child sized suit of armor.

[–] BleatingZombie@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

I'm imagining children jousting in tiny suits of armor on goats

[–] therealjcdenton@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 months ago
[–] JustCopyingOthers@lemmy.ml 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It looks a bit fancy but it was common for muskets to be used as clubs when they'd been fired and there was no time to reload. I guess bayonets are the modern variant of this idea.

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I'm no expert on this corner of history, so take this for what it's worth, but military issued axe guns, and guns with bayonets existed at the overlapping times.

If I recall correctly, bayonets were an outgrowth of pike and shot warfare, where eventually the duties of the pike were taken over by the bayonet in infantry use in open field warfare.

Axe guns were used by cavalry, which makes sense as a short and swingable weapon; axe guns were issued to naval troops as boarding weapons, which makes sensible for the close quarter combat compared to a bayonet on a musket.

[–] Yokozuna@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago