Comments: "Grave Torpedoes."
This is even "better" than the anti-poacher guns used in 16th and 17th Century England (and possibly on the Continent). In these, a large wheel-lock or early flintlock blunderbuss (matchlocks, for reasons which will become obvious, were unsuited to the task) was loaded, mounted on a 360 degree swivel, cocked, and left to do its job. The gun was rigged so that if someone, i.e., a poacher, tripped on one of the wires strung from the mount, the gun would pivot and fire along that wire. Since a blunderbuss was often loaded with lovely little items like nails, chopped lead, and broken glass, and the range point-blank, the wound thus received could be downright gruesome, but likely not immediately fatal. That would come later from shock or infection.
Posted by waltj at August 9, 2012 12:23 PM
Somewhere in there is a joke about Chicago voting....anyone?
Posted by Greg at August 9, 2012 6:33 PM