The irritable Malatesta was in fact puzzled why he was wasting time on such foolishness when he’d asked for fifty man-slayers. Just when would these be ready?
Jared kept the harsh discovery of the problem of the thickness of the iron to himself and told the concerned Alonzo that he’d been told to step up production of a smaller kind. The capo gave him a curious look and Jared suspected that he’d come to the same conclusion but was saying nothing.
However the man-slayers would bring in revenue and pay back Rosamunde. He would get on with the project.
But it was not a matter simply of making dozens of his original gunne. It was far too heavy and awkward. If this was to be a military weapon, it had to be rugged and transportable.
The wooden block would have to go. But how could he manage the kick without it? And at the same time protect the gunner from the gout of flame from the fire-passage? He’d noticed that the fiery breath of the powder quickly heated the iron to uncomfortable levels.
Eventually Jared came up with an answer: to secure the iron to a projecting tiller of wood that butted into the ground. The weight would then be taken by a yoke rest. The gunner was relieved of the weight and removed from the fire-passage but that brought the problem of how to bring the taper to the powder. Was a candle the right way to go?
A good blacksmithing solution suggested itself: iron wire, heated red in a brazier; long, and with a crook in the end to safely lower on to the powder.
And regrettably, a ‘pea’ no bigger than a grape.
With testing, he would soon be in a position to bring out the first real weapons.