From what I can gather, the lively discussion concerning recreating this weapon jumped the rails a bit. Usually, when threads jump the rails, I am at fault. Happily, I was not part of this community then so I can appear pure on this issue. While ballistics and levels of safety of of great interest to me, I seems that the basic design that was tested met basic safety parameters. That said, let me identify what I would look for in obtaining a reproduction of this weapon.
1) That it is reasonably historically accurate in apperance. As I recall the original was some sort of cast brass or bronze which while nice in a reproduction is not really necessary. Machined steel is just fine.
Ulrich whoosieface has provided us with an example of what it should look like:
And it's dimensions:
A compromise on the funky powder chamber is quite acceptable to me.
2) That it is reasonably safe to shoot. I can really see no way that this would become a preferred firearm. I suspect that I would shoot it a couple of times for the heck of it but that it would be more on the order of an interesting model of an otherwise unattainable ancient firearm.
3) Price ... I would hope that getting a number of interesting parties together to make a purchase would result in a reasonable cost. I am not sure of what that is just yet but am open.
So; all that said, can we re-animate the discussion of making this cutting edge 14th c. weapon available once again?
