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{{Short description|Type of firearm}}(File:Wallbüchsen 2015-07-26.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|German wall guns (below) and muskets (above).)The wall gun or wall piece was a type of smoothbore firearm used in the 16th through 18th centuries by defending forces to break the advance of enemy troops. Essentially, it was a scaled-up version of the army's standard infantry musket, operating under the same principles, but with a bore of up to one-inch (25.4 mm) calibre. These weapons filled a gap in firepower between the musket and the lightest artillery pieces, such as the swivel gun. This sort of weapon may also be found described as a rampart gun, hackbut or amusette, a name originally given to early medieval hand cannon.WEB,weblink Handgonnes and Arquebuses (3/31/09), 2009-03-31, 2015-01-19,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150119155125weblink">weblink dead,

Use

File:Jingal instructions 1598.jpg|thumb|Long matchlock firearm requiring a rest, 16th century, Ming dynastyMing dynastyWall pieces were so named because they were designed to be used along the walls of fortifications.Flintlock Wall Gun They were equipped with a yoke at the point of balance, which tapered into a pivot, which could be inserted into several sockets along the walls, which would absorb the recoil of the piece and also provide a stable gun platform. (In this respect they were much like a scaled-down version of the swivel gun.) Many were fitted with a barrel hook to absorb shock. Some of these weapons had multiple barrels which enabled volleys to be fired much faster than a normal single-shot wall gun. Wall pieces could also be mounted on very light carriages for service in the field, usually in support of the larger guns. They were also used on small naval vessels.De Witt Bailey, Ph.D., Small Arms of the British Forces in America 1664-1815, Woonsocket, RI, USA, 2009, pp 205-08A wall gun's barrel could be over {{convert|4.5|ft|cm}} in length with a bore of at least {{convert|1|in|cm}}. This made them more accurate than the standard flintlock or matchlock musket. George Washington acquired several wall guns during the American War of Independence; tests showed that they were capable of hitting a sheet of common writing paper at {{convert|600|yard|m}} — but since this is comparable performance to a modern full-bore target rifle these results may be queried. Wall guns were part of the standard equipment of some artillery pieces at that time.WEB,weblink "Work Begins," The Cannon Project by Colonial Williamsburg. Accessed September 15, 2009, September 16, 2009, March 5, 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090305233827weblink">weblink dead, During the Napoleonic Wars many of these guns were cut down and turned into blunderbusses. They fired lead shot and were used by naval boarding parties, and by coachmen as protection from highwaymen. A surviving example is preserved in New Zealand.Te Papa's CollectionA breech-loading wall gun was issued to the French army in 1819 for the defense of towns. Improved caplock versions were introduced in 1831 and 1842,H Colburn, United Service Magazine (1852) p.419 as were muzzleloading versions. Bolt action wall guns firing metallic cartridges were used in India and China in the late 19th century.WEB,weblink Chinese "Jingal" wall gun, McCollum, Ian, February 29, 2012, Forgotten Weapons, September 9, 2012,

Naval use

When {{HMS|Espoir|1797|6}} captured the Genoese privateer Liguria on 7 August 1798, Espoir{{'}}s captain, Commander Loftus Otway Bland, catalogued Liguria{{'}}s armaments as: 12 long 18-pounders, four long 12-pounders, 10 long 6-pounders, 12 long wall-pieces, and four swivel guns. While wall-pieces were stocked similar to a musket, though would often have a forged yoke to help support the gun, and in some cases were rifled. Mentions of wall guns are rare in such enumerations; what is more common are mentions of the "swivel guns".

Asian wall guns

(File:放九頭鳥銃圖.jpg|thumb|Chinese firing a gingal.)In the Far East, a jingal, gingal or gingall ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|ɪ|n|ɡ|ɔː|l}}), from Hindi janjal, was a type of large matchlock gun, usually a light piece mounted on a swivel.EB1911, Gingall, 12, 27, It fired iron bullets {{Convert|1.25|in|cm|2}} in diameter and was classified as a form of wall gun either by design or use.United service journal 11 It sometimes took the form of a heavy musket fired from a rest, and usually required a crew of two men. The weapon was used by the Chinese in the 19th century, such as by the Taiping armies, imperial forces during the Opium Wars, and Chinese rebels in Hong Kong during the Six Day War of 1899.Six day warWall guns were used in India as early as the 17th centuryWEB,weblink Indian Wall Gun, 2009-03-31, 2016-03-03,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160303194931weblink">weblink dead, and there is a Burmese source from the late 15th century mentioning the use of "cannon and muskets" by the defenders of the besieged town of Prome.Ricketts, Howard (1962) Firearms. (London), p.5. There are examples of later wall guns fitted with bipods.Stone, George Cameron and Donald J. LaRocca (1999) A glossary of the construction, decoration, and use of arms and armor in all countries and in all times: together with some closely related subjects. (Dover) p.265. This weapon figures in Kipling's poem "The Grave of the Hundred Head".

Gallery

File:Istanbul.Topkapi071.jpg|Turkish wall guns, jezails, carbines and muskets.File:Pszczyna Defensive Gun in Armory Aug 2016.jpg|Polish wall gun from the 18th century.File:RodT Historiengewoelbe - Wallbüchsen 6712.jpg|17th century flintlock wall gun from Germany.File:Ming matchlocks.jpg|Chinese wall gun (centre) with bipod.File:Königstein fortress 063.JPG|Experimental needle fire wall gun.File:Twee walgeweren (gingallen) Gingal of sprinkhaan, NG-NM-520.jpg| Heavily decorated 16th century wall gun from the Kingdom of Kandy

See also

• Zamburak
• Java arquebus
• Jiaozhi arquebus
• Istinggar
• Punt gun
• Volley gun
• Organ gun
• Recoilless rifle
• Anti-tank rifle
• Anti-materiel rifle

References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, Perrett, Bryan, Gunboat!, 2000, Cassel & Co, 0-304-35670-0, 39,

External links

{{Early firearms}}