A very rare and interesting Danish espingol - the forerunner of the machine gun, produced in 1833 at the Crownburg Gun Factory. The c. 132 m. long heavy tube is designed for loose barrels each filled with either 32 or 16 bullets placed one after the other with gunpowder in between. The bullets had a hole in them where the fire could go from one to the next until the barrel was empty firing a shot every other second. They were ignited from the muzzle and were the secret weapon of the Danes from their introduction around 1822 until they were sold as scrap metal in 1876. This tube is of the kind called a “division” espingol and was placed on a light carriage, which could be drawn by a single man. Originally they were meant as close fire support weapons for infantry and when used in this capacity they met with some success. Originally they were the charge of the Danish Rocket Corps and were kept as a great secret, but this was abolished in 1842 and the espingols went to the artillery which considered them a strange type of artillery to be used in batteries. During the first Sleswig war 1848–1850 they were used occasionally as close support weapons with success. Development of the espingols of different types continued until 1864 but after the war of this year with Prussia and Austria they were moth balled. It is extremely rare to find an espingol in any condition and even though this is missing its carriage, tube and back sight it is an interesting piece of 19th century arms development.

The iron is brown. The leather on the butt is somewhat damaged and is missing at the back. The back sight is missing.

Weapons, 17 March 2013

Arms, Armour and Sporting Guns

40,000 DKK