Ligatorswe Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 (edited) I was wondering why the sizes of the guns were like they were? 3,6,9 (8),12,18,24,32,36,42,64, 68 The sizes of the Guns seem to have been standardized. And are divisible by 3 (Except the french 8 and the 68 punder pounder) Why? Edited March 6, 2016 by Ligatorswe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destraex Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 French pounds were different to English to complicate things further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ligatorswe Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 (edited) Yes. The weight of pound differed but the caliber reminded the same. Strange enough. Edited March 6, 2016 by Ligatorswe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chakal16 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 French and Spanish "livres" were mainly equal and differed of the british. 36 Pounder, the nominal weight of shot was 36 French livres, (38.8 lb). 24 pounder, the nominal weight of shot was 24 French livres, (25.9 lb). 18 Pounder, the nominal weight of shot was 18 French livres, (19.4 lb). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surcouf Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 For France, the weight of the balls directly from the caliber. In France, it pierces the guns as follows: (French feet, inches, lines) Diameter 6'3 "0l = 36-pdr D 5'5 "4l = 24-pdr D 4'11 "6l = 18-pdr D 4'4 "0l = 12-pdr D 3'9 "6l = 8-pdr D 3'5 "2l = 6-pdr D 3'0 "0l = 4-pdr In mm: D = 169 mm 36-pdr D = 147 mm 24-pdr D = 134 mm 18-pdr D = 117 mm 12-pdr D = 103 mm 8-pdr D = 93 mm 6-pdr D = 81 mm 4-pdr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surcouf Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 The English certainly have different diameters, so different weight balls, but as pdr English is not the same as French, you come anyway has the same name of the caliber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cragger Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Same reason that 0 bore/gauge is the circumference of 1 lb of lead cast in a perfect sphere and 4 bore/guage is one quarter of that circumference and 1/4 a lb. of lead. It just made sense to do such things back then. If you look at the list you made you will realize that each weight is either a double or addition of two of lower mass. This is very easy for people to visualize and quite similar to how one would use a scale back then. A very large part of why the weight of shot was so important back then is the equation Kinetic Energy = Mass X (Velocity)^2. In the era of black powder there was a limit on velocity because black powder has a far lower pressure curve then smokeless powders. So the only other way to increase the energy of the cannon's projectile was to increase the weight of said projectile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surcouf Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Those aren't diameters in pied, pouce and ligne... they are not consistent with the ratio of mm lengths, nor are of the correct magnitude. Can you recheck your source and update? The 36lb should be around (ish) 6.3 pied... and 6.7" (English) but precise values may differ according to what is being reported (bore finished diameter, ball gauge (high) or ball gauge (low) or 'mean of gauges') The source is normally very reliable since it is Boudriot Jean, the French reference on the subject. So I have not checked the data ... So I look, and the values are correct. But I did not quite reproduce the text of J. Boudriot, not in feet, inches, and lines, but inches, lines, and points. So I'm sorry ... Accurate data: D 6" 3l 0p = 169.181 mm = 36-pdr D 5'' 5l 4p = 147.376 mm = 24-pdr D 4''11l 6p = 134.217 mm = 18-pdr D 4'' 4l 0p = 177.299 mm = 12-pdr D 3'' 9l 6p = 102.637 mm = 8-pdr D 3''5l 2p = 92.862 mm = 6-pdr D 3''0l 0p = 81.207 mm = 4-pdr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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