The Article Home

[ad#ads]

Another Look on Hunting Rifles

Hunting rifles have a significant effect on technology advancement; in fact it’s featured in every part of history.

I always have a passion for hunting rifles though I am not an avid fan for hunting myself. It’s the hunting rifle that fascinates me. No, I’m not a dreadful psycho who revels in chains and instruments of death and torture, it’s not the physics of ballistics but its component of history that I am captivated with. For me hunting rifles are pieces of history, the science of gunpowder that set most of our technology running today.

Hunting rifles have a significant effect on technology advancement; in fact it’s featured in every part of history. I always thought of the event when the 16th century flint& lock musket that rendered armors useless, or even those cheap blunderbuss that are used to board enemy ships. Or the Battles of Lexington and Concord where the outnumbered minutemen with their hunting rifles heroically defended Middlesex County against the British Regulars.

Shot of Time

At first there was hunting. Game hunting evolves eons ago where primitive man learns to get sustenance by using weapons. As the need grew, the technology of hunting grew. Now the early forms of ballistics and trajectory have been learnt by the use of bow and arrow. Such was the success of that invention that it was used for the majority of the human existence*.

*Note: Archery was thought to exist roughly 50,000 due to an excavation of the same date revealing stone arrowheads in Africa. Archery (and all other forms) was a dominant range attack until it was replaced by guns somewhere in the 17th century.

The Advent of Gunpowder

Though certain records show that gunpowder had been in production as early as 1247 in Europe there had been no reference in actual rifle use or its early forms. The siege of Seville did mention but at this time, cannons were now loaded will gunpowder to facilitate longer range. The Chinese did have early accounts on inventing gunpowder though there had been no records yet of guns. Hand guns did appear on Italian knights in 1397 where they fire before engaging. These “hand guns” where literally small cannons. It was clear 1498, after Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas when the rifling technology was really discovered. Muskets and harquebus, flint lock rifles began to render the plate armor useless.

Truly hunting rifles are magnificent pieces. No other single item has much history behind it than a hunting rifle. Take an authentic Winchester for instance and learn about its role in the Indian wars. Or perhaps a browning and its role in the first world war.

Hunting rifles are things from the past but their legacy still runs far into the future. Aside from history, they may or may not be effective on the woods but they do make really gorgeous centerpieces.

[ad#ads]

[ad#ads]

Fishing Yachts

Yachts are built out of necessity. In Nordic costal regions, where the day’s catch is the only means of sustenance, and later on trade, sailing yachts are developed out of this necessity. They are designed to be fast, as squalls, storms and fogs could leave fishermen and seafarers stranded at sea. And because fishing at this time was more of family business, fishing yachts are also designed to be manned by the fewest number of crew possible.

Later on, yachts would see other uses outside fishing. They would become transport vessels that allow fast approach and boarding of enemy ships. The Scandinavian navy during the Viking age became a threat to a number of coastal regions as the yacht variant, the longboat allowed Vikings uncontested rule over the waters of Scandinavia, British Isles and even parts of Iberia. It wasn’t clear if longboats have preceded yachts or yachts preceded long boats but there have been strong resemblances of the two.

Then come fishing yachts as a pleasure vessel. Allowed more space in the hold, yacht variant like the caravel are used for long voyages carrying important persons, affording more speed than massive galleons and barges but also can be lived in pleasantly with a number of accommodations on board.

In spite of seeing several uses, yachts are still being widely used for fishing. And through today, in the 20th century where modern yachts are more popular as cruise or pleasure vessel, fishing yachts still haven’t lost its usefulness in the original purpose.

That is because fishing yachts are still faster than heavy fishing barges, and allows the least number of crew to man. Modern fishing yachts are either commercial or private ownership, fitted with equipment designed to catch specific marketable fish. The most prominent fishing yachts are trawler yachts that haul nets over the sea bottom or on pelagic columns designated to catch specific fish.

Sport fishing yachts do exist, though because the practice seldom involves the capabilities of the yacht, there is no fixed yacht design aside from having a good motor. Sport fishing yachts sometimes have several winches and pulley on the stern to facilitate in grounding heavy game fishes.

The present parlance for fishing yachts would always mean trawler yachts. Trawler yachts, depending on the type of fish it is designed to catch would always include several winches, a sizable fish hold with a cooling unit and a lower water displacement.

For illustration, here are some excellent fishing yachts available for sale over the internet:

Fairways Trawler Yachts 38 at Apollo Duck

http://motoryachts.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=37852

The Fairways Trawler Yachts is a glass fiber semi displacement diesel trawler yachts selling for £130,000. The Fairways Trawler includes complete navigation equipment.

Shrimp Trawler Customizable
www.iboats.com/boats/marine–1/boats–10/power_boats–100/trawler_yachts–1060/57551.html

Currently designed as shrimp trawler, this slightly used trawler can be modified to fit a customer’s preference, whether for fishing, cargo or cruising. This shrimp trawler sells for $495,000 USD.

[ad#ads]