A cylindrical scrap of metal that was purchased at a flea market in the United Kingdom for just about $25 is actually a medieval piece of weaponry worth thousands of dollars. The hand cannon, which is ...

Making gunpowder is a bit like cooking, except more explosive. Gunpowder makers in the 14th and 15th centuries used black powder brought to Europe from China, then mixed its three ingredients together ...

Gunpowder—as opposed to modern smokeless powder—isn’t used much these days in current weaponry, although it’s still useful for historical weapons and remains popular for fireworks and other ...

The 620-year-old solid piece of iron is as heavy as it looks. Examining this brutally simple hand cannon, it's hard to imagine that virtually all modern weaponry, and the tactics required to ...

I wonder if they were trying to make shaped charges or just placing omnidirectional explosives in strategic locations (or even artificially creating confinement). Brass was better (and more expensive) ...