The Thunder Gun - Chinese Fasces?

[torgo]

Xun Lei Chong - Rapid Thunder Gun​

I thought this was an interesting weapon from back in the Ming Dynasty of China. It seems like the axe blade part is an important component to these things - maybe it's for some kind of grounding to the earth or harnessing earth energies. The spear part might be another important component. In my opinion, typical bullets do not make sense for these things when you look at them carefully. The references to "thunder" and "fire" are interesting.

The various components of a rapid thunder bolt gun, a central firing device consisting of a detacheable spear, five gun barrels and a removeable matchlock fire mechanism. The gun rest is actually a double sided hand axe, and the frontal shield could be removed and slung on the hand.

Wikipedia:

The xun lei chong (simplified Chinese: 迅雷铳; traditional Chinese: 迅雷銃; lit. 'Thundering fast firearm') is a revolving-barrel, spear-combined musket.

The five thin gun barrels of the xun lei chong are connected behind a reinforced shield: like the five thunder divine machine, the gunner could rotate the fuse 72 degrees and swiftly light each barrel with his match. These weapons would serve as defensive weapons, and were fired from walls or high positions like hillocks and ridges. They were recorded to be deadly at 120 paces.

The central firing device is a combination of a detachable spear, five tubings, and a firing mechanism, all fitted together with interlocking grooves. The shield could be pulled off from the front and slung on the hand, and the gun's rest is a double-sided hand axe.


The Wenzhou people in the Ming Dynasty who invented the magic weapon:

Xunlei Gun, a five-barreled matchlock gun, is Zhao Shizhen's representative product.

The Thunder Gun is Zhao Shizhen's representative product. This is a 5-barrel matchlock gun, weighing 10 jin in total, with a single barrel more than 2 feet long, shaped like a bird gun barrel. The 5 barrels share a "fire machine", and after loading ammunition, they fire in turn, firing one, rotating 72 degrees, and then firing another. The firing principle is somewhat similar to that of a modern revolver. The gun handle is hollow, with a fireball inside. After the 5 barrels have finished firing in turn, the fireball can be ignited and sprayed with flames to burn the enemy. An iron gun head is placed at the back end, and after the fireball sprays flames, it can be used as a cold weapon to stab the enemy in close combat. There is a shield cover at the front of the gun and a firing rack. It can be said to be ingeniously designed and novel in structure. The superiority of the three-purpose 5-barrel matchlock gun is incomparable to the 5-barrel gun in the early Ming Dynasty.

Also, there is the “Three-Eyed Hand Canon” (Sanyan chong, 三眼銃), a three-barreled stick gun used during the Ming Dynasty.

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Very interesting related article: Story Idea: Firearms and the Journey to the West Universe

Ming Dynasty Gunners

Chinese article with some images used

Lictors and Roman Fasces Weapons: Grand Deception

 

[iskander]

It seems like the axe blade part is an important component to these things - maybe it's for some kind of grounding to the earth or harnessing earth energies

No, these are black power weapons.
What the soldier holds to the "node point" in the top image is a lighted fuse.
Hand cannon - Wikipedia