This very cannon was featured and test fired on an episode of History Channel's Pawn Stars, Season 20, during Episode 4 "Blast from the Past". This first aired May 14, 2022, and you can watch a clip from the episode below, where it is test fired:

Original Item: Only One Available. Recovered during our 2005 Trip to Nepal, this is a lovely Asian Early 17th Century Iron Matchlock Cannon, often referred to as a Hand Cannon because of the rear spike extension. This small Cannon has 1 3/8" bore and is just under 38" in overall length with a 26" barrel, and weighs a very manageable 29lbs. It was partially buried for many years, and is still encrusted with rust, dirt, and who knows what else. It has that unmistakable "ground dug" patina that we all love. We were able to clean it up to the point that the flash pan and touch hole are clear, which is definitely rarity for an iron cannon.

Unfortunately, due to the condition we cannot really confirm anything beyond that it is Asian in nature, as we do not want to clean off the centuries of patina. It is also likely that no identifying marks remain anyway, so we leave any research to the future owner. A lovely example, ready to add to your collection and display!

A hand cannon (also called a gonne) is a very early form of firearm. It is possibly the oldest type of portable firearm, as well as the simplest type of early firearm, as most examples, like this one, require direct manual external ignition through a touchhole without any form of firing mechanism. The hand cannon was widely used until at least the 1520s in Europe and Asia, where matchlock firearms mostly supplanted it. Early engravings of the Battle of Crecy between the English and the French in 1346 show foot soldiers holding the very first firearms ever adopted and this hand cannon is a very similar form.

The hand cannon was a simple weapon, effectively consisting of a barrel with some sort of handle, though it came in many different shapes and sizes. Although surviving examples are all completely constructed of metal, evidence suggests that many were attached to some kind of stock, usually wooden. Other examples, like this one, show a simple metal extension, or spike, which extends from the barrel acting as the handle or base.

For firing, the hand cannon could be held in two hands while an assistant applied the means of ignition. These could range from smoldering wood or coal, red-hot iron rods, to slow-burning matches (glowing taper). Alternately, the hand cannon could be placed on a rest and held by one hand while the gunner applied the means of ignition himself. Projectiles used in these weapons were varied, with many utilizing a variety of different ammunition. Some fired pebbles found on the ground, while others fired more sophisticated ammunition such as shaped balls of stone or iron or arrows. Later hand cannons, such as this one, were made with a flash pan attached to the barrel, and a touchhole drilled through the sidewall of the gun instead of the top of the barrel. The flash pan would have had a leather cover to keep the priming powder dry until the moment of firing and to prevent premature firing.

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