Flea market find is medieval hand cannon

[tomcam]

Every other week these articles remind me that I’m going to the wrong goddamn flea markets

[expertentipp]

Yeah all I'm getting is depleted assortment of cutlery, plates, and flowerpots from German and Dutch house clearances... or "flea market" is a codeword?

[mulmen]

Please share those articles. I want to feel the same way.

[notpeter]

Archive link:

https://web.archive.org/web/20230630025508/http://www.thehis...

[boomboomsubban]

$2,500 is less than I would have guessed it'd be worth? Then again I'm not sure who the market would be, it's kind of an awkward item that I'm not sure how much it'd appeal to most gun buffs or medieval fans.

[Cthulhu_]

I'm no anitques expert, but I can imagine it's not worth much because it's just the barrel and it doesn't have any paperwork to go with it - where it came from, who owned it, who made it, where it was used, etc.

With artifacts like this, the story that goes with it makes up a lot of the value.

[rhplus]

Those gun buffs or medieval fans with lots of money to spend are in the US. This auction was in the UK. Smaller market, fewer big spenders, and a much larger supply of antiques.

[hackernewds]

$2500 for a found artifact is less uniquely for an HN audience.

[petesergeant]

> sold at auction last Thursday for more than $2,500

I need to keep my eyes on auctions apparently, as I’d gladly have paid a bit more for that

[hackernewds]

curious why it's personally valuable for you

[ezekiel68]

Yeah, it'll break your arm. But that guy is DEAD.

[expertentipp]

It'll hurt me to hurt you, also my horse needs to take a dump. Again, what this battle was all about?

[DeathArrow]

Now a lot of people might buy useless junk in the hope it's worth $2500. :P

[Cthulhu_]

This happens a lot, lol. I'm confident that TV shows - including antiques shows, but also the pawn broker and the whole storage unit auctions - are a marketing means to get people to go to these things to up the value.

Storage units won't have anything valuable in them; it doesn't make sense for the owning company to not open it up themselves and pick out the most valuables. It does make sense to have a group of idiots who've seen carefully directed TV shows pay money for the rest of the crap and empty it out for them.

[mizzao]

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[xwdv]

A shame because this link was a beautiful article.

[hackernewds]

try the archive link

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36530352

[distances]

Would this still be covered by UK firearms laws?

[defrost]

Sure;

    All antique firearms which are, sold, transferred, purchased or possessed as `curiosities` or `ornaments` are exempt (under section 58(2)) from the licensing and restrictions of use provisions in the Firearms Act 1968. 

Anyone in possession of an antique firearm must be able to demonstrate that it is an antique fiream.

Prohibited person are not allowed to possess an antique firearm (essentially people with suspended sentences | within five years of completion of a sufficiently severe prison sentence | a person who has served a term of imprisonment of over three years can never possess a firearm, including an air weapon or antique firearm or ammunition) unless they apply for and are granted an exemption.

[boomboomsubban]

Muzzle loaded pistols are legal to own in the UK, so if this is still considered a firearm there would still be no restrictions on it. I believe the gunpowder necessary to even attempt to fire it is heavily regulated though.

[kwhitefoot]

Of course it is covered. Or did you mean prohibited, illegal to own or some such?

[Am4TIfIsER0ppos]

Knives, tasers, pepper spray are all illegal so you can be damn sure a robust container for a gunpowder explosion will be too. You are required by law to let the criminal harm you.

[Aardwolf]

> It is a triple-ring cast cannon with a flared muzzle.

What are the rings for actually? Decoration?

[akiselev]

Those are trunnions: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trunnion

What they’re doing on a hand cannon beats me. They’re probably either decorative, meant for transport, or the blacksmiths making them just got used to making rings on cannons and kept doing it when scaled down.