Hello! I hope you are having a fantastic Friday!
Anyone that knows me knows that I love guns. The bigger the
better. The bigger the gun the better I shoot as well. Here’s one I shot during
Recoil Therapy last summer.
I saw an amazing cannon ball used on Pirates of the Caribbean and wanted to know if it was in fact a real weapon. So I did a little research. I found out it was indeed a real weapon fired from cannons. Nothing unusual about a weapon that works, no matter how cool it is.
It was the story about a variation of the weapon that caught my eye.
It is rumored in around 1862 a dentist named John Gililand invented a double barreled cannon and had it cast in Georgia. It was designed to shoot two cannonballs connected by a chain like the one I saw in Pirates of the Caribbean. But with it being a double barreled it was supposed to shoot simultaneously…in theory at least.
He set out to test it’s accuracy. The invention was a dismal failure.
The first firing plowed up some ground, tore up someone’s cornfield, and cut down some saplings before the chain broke sending the balls in different directions. All this due to small imperfections in the casting and uneven firing temperatures in the barrels.
The second firing the chain cut through a thicket of pine.
Thankfully that was what it was aimed at but it is not said what happened to the
cannonballs that were supposed to go with the chain.
On the third firing the chain broke immediately and one half
ripped through a nearby cabin destroying the chimney. The other half spun through
a nearby field striking and killing a cow.
But like a father who will not admit fault in his offspring,
Gilleland considered the test-firings a success and set out to sell his
invention to the Confederate Army. After promoting it to several leaders, he
couldn’t find anyone interested and it ended up being used as a signal gun to
alert that the Northerners were approaching.
Even in that it failed being used
once in a false alarm and then disappearing.
It was found about 10 years later under a pile of rocks and
now resides in front of the City Hall in Athens.
There is much to be said about tenacity.
If you think this one is fun, you should see some of the
ideas they cooked up during WWI and WWII.
So what is the most amusing or fun weapon inventions or
stories you know of?
(Even if it’s Uncle Clay shooting a 12 gauge shot gun
without being properly braced and tripping over the chairs in the shooting
range….well you get the idea.) Share with me. I love fun gun stories.
What a great post! I LOVE this! Guns are awesome.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun Friday post! I don't have any amusing gun stories that I can think of. I do love my guns and target practice though!
ReplyDeleteHow interesting. Poor old Gilleland should have perfected his gun before trying to sell it.
ReplyDeleteNew Year's Day 1995, we took my husband's new 270 rifle out to practice shoot and set the scope. Somehow I forgot about the recoil. I now have a crescent moon on my forehead.
ReplyDeleteOver the years my husband and I have shot up our fair share of ammo. But I will never forget the first time he took me for target practice right after we married.(nearly 38 years ago) Of course, I trusted him completely so when I asked him if the gun would kick, he said NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Boy, was I shocked when I thought I had knocked my shoulder off by the kick of the gun. From that moment on, I have always given him a mean look when we are about to have target practice and he tells me it won't hurt!
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