Stamped with a rosette

Dated: 1612

  Fig. 34 (lowest).

Artillery tables show that gunners typically matched gun and ammunition by the weight of the appropriate shot. Rather than directly weighing with a balance, a quick method of determining the weight of a ball was to measure its diameter with calipers and then to set this dimension against a specially constructed scale of weights. Scales giving the weight of shot of different materials are a particular feature of German artillery instruments. This is the plainest version, in which the scales are engraved on a rod of square cross section. Shot made of either stone (STEIN), iron (EISEN) or lead (BLEY) can be measured, while the fourth side carries a foot rule (SCHVCH).

Length: 306 mm

Inventory no. 53,100