Dane gun

Last updated
Dane gun
TypeFlintlock Musket
Specifications
Action Flintlock

The Dane gun was originally a type of long-barreled flintlock musket imported into West Africa by Dano-Norwegian traders prior to the mid-19th century. The term is now used chiefly by Europeans living along the west African coast to generally describe any indigenously made firearm of this type. [1] [2]

Local names for these firearms vary from language to language, but are generally something that "seem[s] to mean or imply a 'native gun'". [1] They are produced in large numbers by local blacksmiths, and are used mostly for hunting game, replacing traditional weapons such as the bow and spear. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

Danish language North Germanic language

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in Denmark, Greenland and in the region of Southern Schleswig in northern Germany, where it has minority language status. Also, minor Danish-speaking communities are found in Norway, Sweden, Spain, the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina. Due to immigration and language shift in urban areas, about 15–20% of the population of Greenland speak Danish as their first language.

Firearm Gun for an individual

A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries.

Gun laws and policies regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification and use of small arms by civilians.

Scandinavia A subregion of Northern Europe

Scandinavia is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties. The term Scandinavia in local usage covers the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The majority national languages of these three belong to the Scandinavian dialect continuum, and are mutually intelligible North Germanic languages.

Wends Historical term for Slavs

Wends is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it was used. In the modern day, communities identifying as Wendish exist in Lusatia, Texas, and Australia.

Danish West Indies Former Danish colony in the Caribbean

The Danish West Indies or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands was a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with 32 square miles (83 km2); Saint John with 19 square miles (49 km2); Saint Croix with 84 square miles (220 km2), and Water Island with 491.5 acres (1.989 km2). The islands have belonged to the United States since they were purchased in 1917.

Danelaw Historical name given to part of England ruled by the Danes

The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. Danelaw contrasts with West Saxon law and Mercian law. The term is first recorded in the early 11th century as Dena lage. Modern historians have extended the term to a geographical designation. The areas that constituted the Danelaw lie in northern and eastern England, long occupied by Danes and other Norsemen.

Bolt action Type of firearm mechanism

Bolt action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by directly manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon.

Norsemen Historical ethnolinguistic group of people originating in Scandinavia

The Norsemen were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the predecessor of the modern Germanic languages of Scandinavia. During the late 8th century, Norsemen embarked on a large-scale expansion in all directions, giving rise to the Viking Age. In English-language scholarship since the 19th century, Norse seafaring traders, settlers and warriors have commonly been referred to as Vikings. The identity of Norsemen derived into their modern descendants, the Danes, Icelanders, Faroe Islanders, Norwegians, and Swedes, who are now generally referred to as 'Scandinavians' rather than Norsemen.

Snaphance

A snaphance or snaphaunce is a type of lock for firing a gun or is a gun using that mechanism. The name is Dutch in origin but the mechanism cannot be attributed to the Netherlands with certainty. It is the mechanical progression of the wheellock firing mechanism, and along with the miquelet lock and doglock are predecessors of the flintlock mechanism. It fires from a flint struck against a striker plate above a steel pan to ignite the priming powder which fires the gun. Examples of this firearm can be found through Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Gunboat War

The Gunboat War was the naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the conventional Royal Navy. In Scandinavia it is seen as the later stage of the English Wars, whose commencement is accounted as the First Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.

Danish Gold Coast Danish colony in Africa from 1658 to 1850

The Danish Gold Coast comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast, which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was colonized by the Dano-Norwegian fleet, first under indirect rule by the Danish West India Company, later as a crown colony of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway.

Pistol Type of handgun where the firing chamber is integral to the barrel

A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in ca. 1570 — when early handguns were produced in Europe and is derived from the Middle French pistolet, meaning a small gun or knife. In colloquial usage, the word "pistol" is often used to describe any types of handgun, inclusive of revolvers and the pocket-sized derringers.

Law enforcement in Greenland, an autonomous country of the Kingdom of Denmark, is provided by Kalaallit Nunaanni Politiit an independent police district of Naalagaaffimmi Politiit, within the State Police of Denmark. Since 2006, Greenland has constituted one of the 12 police districts of the Rigspolitiet, headed by the chief constable known as the 'Politiit Pisortaat' based in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.

Kalthoff repeater Type of

The Kalthoff repeater was a type of repeating firearm that was designed by members of the Kalthoff family around 1630, and became the first repeating firearm to be brought into military service. At least nineteen gunsmiths are known to have made weapons following the Kalthoff design. Some early Kalthoff guns were wheellocks, but the rest were flintlocks. The capacity varied between 5 and 30 rounds, depending on the style of the magazines. A single forward and back movement of the trigger guard, which could be done in 1–2 seconds, readied the weapon for firing. The caliber of Kalthoff guns generally varied between 0.4 and 0.8 inches, though .3 caliber examples also exist.

Recoil operation is an operating mechanism used to implement locked-breech, autoloading firearms. Recoil operated firearms use the energy of recoil to cycle the action.

North Germanic peoples

North Germanic peoples, commonly called Scandinavians, Nordic peoples and in a medieval context Norsemen, are a Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Nordic countries. They are identified by their cultural similarities, common ancestry and common use of the Proto-Norse language from around 200 AD, a language that around 800 AD became the Old Norse language, which in turn later became the North Germanic languages of today.

Silencer (firearm) Device which reduces sound intensity or muzzle flash on a firearm

A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor or sound moderator, is a muzzle device that reduces the acoustic intensity of the muzzle report and the recoil, when a gun is discharged, by modulating the speed and pressure of the propellant gas from the muzzle and hence suppressing the muzzle blast. Like other muzzle devices, a silencer can be a detachable accessory mounted separately onto the muzzle, or an integral part of the barrel.

Cowboy action shooting

Cowboy action shooting is a competitive shooting sport that originated in Southern California in the early 1980s, at the Raahauge Shooting Range in Norco, California. Cowboy action shooting is now practiced in many places with several sanctioning organizations including the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), Western Action Shootists Association (WASA), and National Congress of Old West Shooters (NCOWS), Single Action Shooting Australia (SASA), Western 3-Gun as well as others in the U.S. and other countries.

Bedil (term)

Bedil is a term from Nusantara area of Maritime Southeast Asia which refers to various type of firearms and gunpowder weapon, from small matchlock pistol to large siege guns. The term bedil comes from wedil and wediluppu in Tamil language. In its original form, these words refer to gunpowder blast and saltpeter, respectively. But after being absorbed into bedil in Malay language, and in a number of other cultures in the archipelago, that Tamil vocabulary is used to refer to all types of weapons that use gunpowder. In Javanese and Balinese the term bedil and bedhil is known, in Sundanese the term is bedil, in Batak it is known as bodil, in Makasarese, badili, in Buginese, balili, in Dayak language, badil, in Tagalog, baril, in Bisayan, bádil, in Bikol languages, badil, and Malay people call it badel or bedil.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Joey Lee Dillard (1 January 1975). Perspectives on Black English. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 209–210. ISBN   978-90-279-7811-0.; Christopherson, "Some Special West African English Words", 210.
  2. Dane Gun: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary