 |
Cannon Range |
| Cannon | Point Blank | Maximum Range* | Source |
| 24 pdr | 1200 ft | 7200 ft | William Eldred, The Gunner's Glasse, 1646 |
| 24 pdr | 850 ft | 4000 ft | Robert Ward, Animadversions of Warre, 1639 |
| 20# culverin | 625 ft | 9500 ft | Eugenio Gentilini, Instructions for Artillery, 1598 |
| 24 pdr | 875 ft. | 13500 ft | Marc' Antonio Bellone, Instructions for Gunners, 1584 |
| musket | 150 ft | 750 ft** |
Recall bastions on forts in the Low Countries were constructed so that the apex of each was within 250 yards of its immediate mates - to put each within musket range of the other so defenders on one bastion could shoot anyone assaulting the adjacent bastion. Any farther apart and muskets would have been ineffective. Several authors state their own concept of the maximum range of a musket, some of which are as far as 1000 feet or over 300 meters. But how many hits were made at such a long range? Today, one can read the warning label on a box of .22 caliber short rounds that states the maximum range is a mile. If the barrel were angled at 45o, perhaps the .22 bullet would travel a mile but don't count on hitting whatever one hoped to hit. |
Point blank at this time meant that the barrel's muzzle did not have to be elevated.
*A lateral deviation of a 24-pdr round cannonball was as much as 90 feet in a
flight of 3,600 feet, according to J.G. Benton, Course of Instruction in
Ordnance and Gunnery, 1862.
** At 300 feet, there can be a lateral deviation of as much as 14 inches,
according to Benjamin Robins, New Principle of Gunnery, 1761