# Puckle Gun Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2026, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461 "2026-09-29T05:38:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/1 "2026-09-29T05:38:22Z")
Has anyone ever made an updated version of the Puckle Gun, a pistol that fired both round and square bullets? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/2 "2026-09-29T06:38:30Z")
For those of you who have never heard of this: > **[Puckle gun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puckle_gun)** > > The Puckle gun (also known as the defence gun) was a primitive crew-served, manually operated flintlock revolver patented in 1718 by James Puckle (1667–1724), a British inventor, lawyer and writer. It was one of the earliest weapons to be referred to as a "machine gun", being called such in a 1722 shipping manifest, though its operation does not match the modern use of the term. It was never used during any combat operation or war. Production was highly limited and may have been as fe The Puckle... > **[The Puckle Gun: Repeating Firepower in 1718](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPC7KiYDshw%2F)** > > Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.forgottenweapons.comhttp://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeaponsThe Puckle Gun is probably best known as that thing that... ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/3 "2026-09-29T06:50:46Z")
Square bullets as an alternative seems to be merely something mentioned in the patent rather than something actually built. So quite possibly it’s a stretch to say that even this gun fired round and square bullets. ---
**Author:** ![Chelonaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Chelonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/4 "2026-09-29T07:46:54Z")
Ian “Gun Jesus” mentions the square bullets towards the end of the video. The patent describes a separate cylinder, that could be swapped in when you wanted to fire square bullets, but Mccullom opines that one would also need to swap in a separate barrel, which was also my first thought. From wikipedia about the rationale for the square bullets “Puckle demonstrated two configurations of the basic design: the first, intended for use against Christian enemies, fired conventional round bullets, while the second, intended for use against the [Muslim Turks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire "Ottoman Empire"), fired unconventional square bullets. The square bullets were considered to be more painful and would cause greater severe wounding. They would, according to the patent, “convince the Turks of the benefits of [Christian civilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_civilization "Christian civilization")”. The weapon was also reported as able to fire [shot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_(pellet) "Shot (pellet)"), with each discharge containing sixteen musket balls.[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puckle_gun#cite_note-Ffoulkes_&_Cottesloe-9)” If square bullets were really more effective, wouldn’t you want to use them against all kinds of enemies. Also IIRC a lot of the turkish pirates were christian mercenaries. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/5 "2026-09-29T08:17:45Z")
You can get [“wadcutter” bullets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadcutter) in some revolver calibers. Essentially a cylinder with a flat base like many bullets, but also a flat nose. Because most revolvers headspace on the rim (i.e. the cartridge has a fixed index on the back of the case), bullet length and shape variations aren’t so much an issue. So not square, but certainly not aerodynamic. The purpose is to make nice even holes in paper for better inspection at the range. The hillbilly alternative is to handload your bullets backwards. Also semi-wadcutters, which are more designed for defense. If you’re asking about the actual Puckle gun, not that I’m aware of. There are other firearms that also have swapable modifications to make them suitable for one type of ammo or another. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/6 "2026-09-29T08:25:54Z")
> [@Chelonaut](#): > > If square bullets were really more effective, wouldn’t you want to use them against all kinds of enemies. Also IIRC a lot of the turkish pirates were christian mercenaries. Conversion to Islam was generally a good career move for corsairs, however strongly they adhered to it, but probably didn’t adhere to Christianity much before either. In other words, they would’ve mostly converted for expedient reasons. But yes, a lot of prominent ones were Europeans who turned to piracy, or privateerism under nominal Ottoman control. They heyday of the (sometimes Christian origin) corsair was about 50 years before Puckle. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/7 "2026-09-29T11:11:21Z")
> [@Chelonaut](#): > > The square bullets were considered to be more painful and would cause greater severe wounding. They would, according to the patent, “convince the Turks of the benefits of [Christian civilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_civilization "Christian civilization")”. “Damn! That bullet hurt! That makes me want to discard all my religious training and become a Christian!” “Me, too!” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/8 "2026-09-29T12:37:24Z")
As to wadcutters … Yeah, I wonder if “square bullets” are really a clumsy reference to cylindrical bullets. Circular cross-section to fit the barrel and flat (IOW “squared off”) faces to (supposedly) do more damage than a spherical ball would’ve. “Square” might even have been a known term of art at the time for what we now call wadcutter. Separately to the above … The wiki also reports the gun could be loaded to fire shot. The 1.25" bore could sure hold a bunch of smaller pellets still large enough to do serious damage to a human. There’s no reason those could not be smaller cubes, rather than smaller spheres. Net of course of the much greater difficulty (then or now) of manufacturing large numbers of small cubes to tight tolerances. As wildly as cast round shot would fly & disperse, a charge filled with little not-really-cubes of 1/8 to 1/4" size would go every which way but straight. Bottom line: My own WAG is that the “square bullets” was advertising puffery, gratuitous racism, or terminology we don’t currently recognize. Everything about a square cross-section barrel or square cross section bullets is orders of magnitude more difficult than circular. Still and all, thanks to the OP for an interesting topic. I’d not heard of that particular gunsmithing dead end. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/9 "2026-09-29T12:52:28Z")
> [@Chelonaut](#): > > Ian “Gun Jesus” mentions the square bullets towards the end of the video. Okay, I see that because you can’t fire a square bullet through a round barrel period, end of story. I don’t understand the purpose, though, and I can’t see any aerodynamic advantage. In fact, I very much see the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/10 "2026-09-29T13:06:42Z")
Maybe you used a Puckel gun to fire at Pukel men > **[Púkel-men](https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/P%C3%BAkel-men)** > > Púkel-men is how the Rohirrim called the images on the road to Dunharrow, but it was also used as a general equivalent to Drúedain. > **[The Encyclopedia of Arda - Púkel-men](https://www.encyclopedia-of-arda.com/p/pukelmen.php)** > > Ancient watchers of the Dunharrow road > **[Drúedain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr%C3%BAedain)** > > The Drúedain are a fictional race of Men, living in the Drúadan Forest, in the Middle-earth legendarium created by J. R. R. Tolkien. They were counted among the Edain who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age, and were friendly to the Elves. In The Lord of the Rings, they assist the Riders of Rohan to avoid ambush on the way to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. The Drúedain are based on the mythological woodwoses, the wild men of the woods of Britain and Europe; the Riders of Rohan in... ---
**Author:** ![Chelonaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Chelonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/11 "2026-09-29T13:26:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Yeah, I wonder if “square bullets” are really a clumsy reference to cylindrical bullets. Circular cross-section to fit the barrel and flat (IOW “squared off”) faces to (supposedly) do more damage than a spherical ball would’ve. > > “Square” might even have been a known term of art at the time for what we now call wadcutter. No, this diagram from the patent for the Puckel gun show both a normal revolver cylinder and a cylinder with square holes for square bullets. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Puckle_gun_advertisement.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Puckle_gun_advertisement.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/12 "2026-09-29T13:27:55Z")
Sadly, all sorts of world leaders still seem to follow this line of reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/13 "2026-09-29T14:40:14Z")
> [@Chelonaut](#): > > No, this diagram from the patent for the Puckel gun show both a normal revolver cylinder and a cylinder with square holes for square bullets. D’oh! I totally missed that. Thanks for the correction. I looked at that diagram in the article in the small size it was displayed inline. Call it 2" square on my screen. The holes looked round within the tolerances of a hand-drawn diagram from that era. But you’re surely right that viewed full-screen those are absolutely positively square cross section chambers. I still think the square idea is fanciful / aspirational. But you’re right he had the chutzpah to patent his fanciful / aspirational idea. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/14 "2026-09-29T15:00:09Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Okay, I see that because you can’t fire a square bullet through a round barrel period, end of story. Of course you can, for the same reason you can inscribe a square within a circle. A cubic or rectangular-prism shot would be undersized relative to the circular bore, but that was always the case with smoothbore weapons. Thorough wadding (or, in modern terms, a well-fitted sabot) would make sure propellent gas doesn’t get around the ill-fitting shot. With _this_ design, as depicted, it wouldn’t work that well. The choice to use a shaped breech chamber means you can’t really wad to the full diameter of the bore, so the square shot would be badly underpowered and waste a lot of powder on a spectacular muzzle blast. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/15 "2026-09-29T15:05:23Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Of course you can, for the same reason you can inscribe a square within a circle. I see, but I’ll pass. A square bullet in a round chamber would mean that just the 4 corners would be in contact with the barrel. Much of the force of the exploding powder would be lost because of the open space on all sides of the bullet. Also, instead of the bullet being round and tapered, it would have a blunt square face. One wonders what kind of aerodynamic effects would come into play. Maybe: round bullet, fast ball. Square bullet, knuckleball? LOL ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/16 "2026-09-29T15:09:28Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Much of the force of the exploding powder would be lost because of the open space on all sides of the bullet. Did you not read, or did you not understand, everything I said about [wadding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadding)? Every smoothbore shot in this era was undersized and would leak propellant gas unless wadded to fit the bore. You’d have to use a lot of sturdy wadding (perhaps including a metal plate) to seal the bore behind a square cross section, but it would work well enough. Except in this design, because the breech cylinder for square shot has explicitly square cross-section chambers, so there’s no way to wad to the full circular diameter. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/17 "2026-09-29T15:13:53Z")
Agree about the difficulties of firing a wadded square-section bullet from a round barrel. Can technically be done, but only at the expense of so much trouble and inefficiency that it would almost certainly be considered impossible practically and hence a different solution would be chosen. Was it Puckle’s idea to have a matching square-section barrel that could be installed to match the square-chambered revolving cylinders? From the scant evidence available at wiki we can’t rule that in or out, and I’m not digging deeper for this topic. Or perhaps the gun was to be manufactured in two distinct configs: square barrels and cylinders for those worried about Moslem Hordes, and round section barrels and cylinders for those worried merely about Christian Hordes. And what, pray tell, does the good Mr Puckle find the ideal shape barrel & bullet for blasting at Infidels, Primitive Tribesmen of all shades, and the ever-scary but inscrutable Orientals? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/18 "2026-09-29T15:14:53Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > And what, pray tell, does the good Mr Puckle find the ideal shape barrel & bullet for blasting at Infidels, Primitive Tribesmen of all shades, and the ever-scary but inscrutable Orientals? At the Deli. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/19 "2026-09-29T15:18:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Was it Puckle’s idea to have a matching square-section barrel that could be installed to match the square-chambered revolving cylinders? If he thought that, he didn’t communicate it in what is supposed to be the comprehensive expression of his ideas: his patent drawings. The “square bullet” idea is so poorly thought out that I have a hard time believing it was intended as a primary feature. It feels like a last-minute throw-in and engineered exactly that thoroughly. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461/20 "2026-09-29T15:28:57Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > And what, pray tell, does the good Mr Puckle find the ideal shape barrel & bullet for blasting at Infidels, Primitive Tribesmen of all shades, and the ever-scary but inscrutable Orientals? Why, triangle bullets, of course. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puckle-gun-question/1033461.md?page=2)