So BBC America is running a show called “The Musketeers”. It’s a new version of “The Three Muskateers”.
It is the expected action, swashbuckling, adventure story.
I have a couple issues, though, with their use of firearms. The first issue is that the weapons shown are being used the way modern pistols are used in dramas. Sure, they limit them to one firing, not multifire weapons, so at least they’re doing that right, but there are still big problems.
Here’s the thing - the heros draw their pistols, pull the trigger, and the gun goes off in an instant. One Musketeer (Porthos) engages in precision target firing, i.e. he shoots melons off the heads of people (but only when he’s drunk).
Now the thing is, guns of that era do not have instant fire. It takes around a second to a second and a half for the powder to burn from the pan into the chamber before it sets off and sends the musket ball. This was a problem all the way till the 19th century, when murcury fulminate percussion caps were invented. So if you drew your pistol and pointed it at the badguy from 10 feet away, the bad guy could rush you and disarm you or at least deflect the pistol before it went bang. But this show misses that crucial detail.
Okay, that’s kinda subtle, I only learned about it this year, so I can see how TV show producers might miss that, or purposely ignore it feeling the audience won’t notice.
That leads me to my second problem: it doesn’t appear the guns are ever cocked. I never see any motion in the hammer area when the guns are fired. They point “loaded” muskets all over the show with the hammers down. :smack:
Hmm, upon reading, they might be wheellocks.
Hmmm. Wheellocks also appear to be cocked internally.
So maybe that explains the lack of cocking the hammers or motion of hammers on firing.