hand cannons
Primitive portable guns
Hand cannons are large, powerful handguns—typically high-caliber revolvers or semi-automatic pistols known for stopping power and heavy recoil: He pulled out a .44 Magnum, a real hand cannon.
The term is informal, often used admiringly by gun enthusiasts or in video game contexts where such weapons deal massive damage.
Historically, hand cannons were the earliest portable firearms, crude metal tubes mounted on sticks and fired by touching a lit match to a hole.
Flint-sparked firearm mechanism
- matchlockCord-ignited gun mechanism
- arquebusEarly portable firearm
- blunderbussFlare-muzzled scatter weapon
- musketeerSoldier armed with musket
blackpowder · percussion · dueling · sixteenth-century · seventeenth-century · eighteenth-century · historical · collectible
Causing severe damage
- lethalCausing or capable of death
- powerfulHaving great strength
- destructiveCausing severe harm
- ballisticOf hurled objects
heavy · close-range · recoil · thunderous · smoke · discharge · volley · shot
flintlock
Flint-sparked firearm mechanism
- matchlockCord-ignited gun mechanism
- arquebusEarly portable firearm
- blunderbussFlare-muzzled scatter weapon
musketeer · blackpowder · percussion · dueling · sixteenth-century · seventeenth-century · eighteenth-century · historical · collectible · relic
devastating
Causing severe damage
- lethalCausing or capable of death
- powerfulHaving great strength
- destructiveCausing severe harm
ballistic · heavy · close-range · recoil · thunderous · smoke · discharge · volley · shot · wadding
hand cannonsartillery
Large-caliber battlefield weapons
field artillery · siege weapons · bombards · howitzers · mortars
hand cannonsassault rifles
Selective-fire infantry firearms
guided missiles · railguns · automatic weapons · laser weapons
hand, hands, handed, handing, handy, handily, handiness, handful, handfuls