Yes, Gunblades Are Real, BUT...

The gunblade is an iconic badass weapon in Final Fantasy / Kingdom Hearts and other video games. Oddly enough it did exist in history, although not in such a hilariously oversized form.
Swords are great melee weapons, firearms are excellent ranged weapons... so combining them means the best of both worlds, right? Well, not so fast...
Let's take a look at a few real-life examples and think about the drawbacks of these unique designs, and some ways to make them work reasonably well. By the way, a bayonet on a rifle or musket does not count. ;)
Check out Ian's look at the Elgin cutlass pistol ‪@ForgottenWeapons‬
• Elgin Cutlass Pistol
Also:
Flintlock musket demonstration
• Getting to Know a Brow...
How NOT to Thrust with a Sword (AKA Broken Wrist Position)
• How NOT to Thrust with...
An Accuracy Test with the Aston 1842 Percussion Pistol
• An Accuracy Test with ...
Blade vs. Gun - Can You Cut a Bullet? (1 Million Sub Special)
• Blade vs. Gun - Can Yo...
Can You Cut a Sword in Half with Bullets?
• Can You Cut a Sword in...
** Sources **
Hunting knife with wheellock pistol, 1528-29
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
Combination sword, 1580
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
Pistol falchion, ca 1580
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ca...
Hammer-falchion-pistol combination (CC Rama)
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Elgin cutlass pistol, patented in 1837
americanhistory.si.edu/collec...
Spanish miquelet gunsword, 18th century
andrewledford.tumblr.com/post...
Wheellock dagger with removable tip
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
Pinfire saber, 19th century
www.icollector.com/Original-p...
Katar
antiquepark.eu/storage/751/e4...
Dutch saber
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Flintlock pistol with concealed dagger
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
Article on combination weapons at Myarmoury
myarmoury.com/feature_spot_com...
More ergonomic design by H.R. Grand Knives (Dave Ruana):
www.rhrgrandknives.com/
** Music **
"Water Temple" by El Corleo
opengameart.org/content/water...
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
Outro:
"Highland Storm" by The Slanted Room Records
theslantedroom.github.io/stev...
Used with artist's permission
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Other ways to support the channel by shopping through affiliate links:
Kult of Athena, my favorite online store for reproductions of historical arms and armor, fantasy swords, etc:
www.kultofathena.com/?koa=259
Where to get HEMA gear and practice swords:
www.woodenswords.com/?Click=1799
Want to treat your face fluff? I highly recommend the balms and oils from Beard Sorcery:
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#swords #guns #history

[@Skallagrim]

So what type of firearm / blade combination weapon do you think is coolest and/or most practical? I see gunspears mentioned... so you mean rifles/muskets with bayonet attached? :) Personally I have to say pistol shield. The firearm could be attached in such a way that it's perfectly aligned with the hand and concealed behind the face of the shield at the same time.

[@tarille1043]

Coolness: Pistol sword. Practicality: Rifle Axe. Memes: Handgrenade Flail.

[@justinbell7309]

Gun-axe

[@anzol4523]

@@tarille1043 sub-machine-chaku

[@RokuroCarisu]

I think the most practical blade to attach a gun to (besides the katar, of course), would be a forward-curving one, like a kukri or a falcata. Hand alignment should not be as much of an issue with those.

[@peezieforestem5078]

Coolness factor: Shaped charge explosive hammer/pickaxe that triggers on strike. Used to fight something like golems. Practicality: If we're talking about muzzle-loading and early firearms, then frontal axehead attachments rule. Anything more modern, bayonet attachments for the win.

[@Darca1n]

Gunspears seem like a more realistic method of integrating a melee weapon with a gun, or anything that involves a long straight handle. Actually, that's just bayonets, for the most part.

[@dragonfell5078]

Modern bayonets are technically more gun-knife

[@Photoloss]

Strap a spike to a hand cannon such as this one: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ming_tiller_gun_1505.jpg Or see the Fire Lance for the opposite side: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_lance (these apparently were more like a spear with a firecracker or pipe bomb strapped to the tip, and were replaced with the above hand cannons once actual firearms were invented)

[@brittakriep2938]

There had been boarspears ( Saufeder in german) with pistol barrels. Boarspears ( of course without pistol) . For the reason of a large grow of boar in Germany, the boarspears have a small comeback ( according to a hunter).

[@Nerdnumberone]

Axe-pistols were pretty interesting.

[@BenHyle]

Boom sticks (that is, a stick with a cartridge at the end rigged to go off at a touch) are a thing that some divers use to protect against sharks.

[@franciscoguinledebarros4429]

Just gonna say already, Halberd Musket Gang

[@whiteraven1992]

"Gunhalberds" exist in Final Fantasy (XIV), too! :D

[@357Dejavu]

I’ll take the 50 cal version halberd please.

[@thirdstrike4u]

Halberd musket gang rise up!

[@claytonthegrubkiller6430]

Custodes are way ahead of you

[@leonaluceid2388]

Me : * greatsword hand cannon gang warching halberd musket gang from the darkness*

[@Nerdnumberone]

I am surprised that axe-pistols weren't mentioned (or other hafted weapons). Those strike me as more practical since you can extend the barrel down the length of the weapon and have a forward hand to support the weapon. You can even put the trigger mechanism halfway down the weapon and have a bit of a stock. I believe Polish cavalry used them at one point.

[@Pokeater]

Axe-pistol was the ultimate lumberjack weapon

[@jameswoodard4304]

It seems like they'd have to be pretty robust to deal with the shock involved with striking with a hafted weapon, and then weight becomes an issue.

[@saikawanderer9166]

I was thinking that the whole video, would love to own one. Plus the modern 22 "hidden" in a knife that popped up awhile ago

[@Entiox]

One of my favorite combination weapons that I've seen was from India, I believe from the Mughal area and period. It was basically a matchlock-halberd with a dagger concealed in the butt that you could pull out for when things got close. It was pretty awesome looking, but did look rather heavy and poorly balanced.

[@uriel7395]

It's actually one of the polish cavalry's signature weapons. They used it for hundreds of years, i think from the 15th century to the 18th but i don't actually remember the numbers off the top of my head.

[@fsmoura]

Yes, this is quite a clever idea, which in practice can pay huge dividends. In my case, I did almost the same: The _gunchaku_ - an integrated almost-hidden pair of high caliber barrels inside my nunchaku sticks, so that when an opponent is approaching, he thinks I brought a nunchaku to the fight, and usually stops to laugh out loud, thus giving me all the time in the world to aim my _gunchaku_ at him . . . ( o.o)

[@TheZeroSbr]

That's actually a brilliant idea on paper.

[@corditesniffer8020]

I’d pay to see it 😂

[@jurtheorc8117]

Didn't Bayonetta have weapons in her first game that were essentially gun barrel nunchucks?

[@darthplagueis13]

@@jurtheorc8117 I mostly recall gun barrel high heels...

[@jurtheorc8117]

@@darthplagueis13 oh hey Mr. Plagueis, how ya doin'? I hadn't heard anything about you since that one tragedy. Not many people are keen on talking about it. Kidding aside, though i've never played Bayonetta, there's some.... there's some crazy stuff in there. Worth checking out if you want to chuck realism out the window.

[@galahad3195]

Not gonna lie, I want to make a rifle that has a halberd for a bayonet.

[@Lazymindflayerwithcofffee]

Ever heard about custodes from warhammer 40000?

[@Alpha.Phenix]

/\ | What Дмитрий said. |

[@torg2126]

Shotgun Bardiche exists, ZNA Productions made it

[@weldonwin]

I have seen Gun-Lances for cavalry

[@Nerobyrne]

So, what I've learned is that the reason gun-blades were a thing is because old pistols were so inaccurate that they were often fired more or less in melee anyway, so they'd be used in combination. (This didn't apply to muskets, which were much longer.) You'd stab the enemy and shoot them. They weren't designed to be either-or, because in that cause you're correct. Just shooting with a pistol would be easier. This is made very obvious by the "Gun-Katar". There's really no way to only use one of the two "combat modes". If you see the other weapons in a similar light, I think they make more sense.

[@TriaMaxwell]

Listen, at the point where I'm being STABBED, I don't care how small the bullets are, still gonna suck for me.

[@adrenjones9301]

Wait, i thought that was always the point of such weapons. Like the Ballistic Fist from Fallout New Vegas, a melee Weapon that would shoot anytime you Punch.

[@Nerobyrne]

@@adrenjones9301 yeah pretty much. It just seemed that Skal was looking at it from an either/or point, so I thought I should add this to make it clear that this wasn't (usually) the intention.

[@LIVEvil789]

Yeah, I think that would be the best way to use them, too. Squall's gunblade mechanic in-game has you shooting point-blank as you slash as well. I find it weird he never really explores that idea.

[@charliericker274]

I mean I don't think they ever were a thing per se these were all novelty items there's just no practicality cost-effectiveness at work here to make it worth Mass producing.

[@abstrusepaladin]

18:47 I think the effect of a hidden dagger works best when it isn't in another, more threatening weapon. "You thought I only brought a gun, but be afraid, I ALSO have a KNIFE!"

[@iapetusmccool]

"Knives make less noise than guns, so we're more likely to use them, so they're more likely to do what we say so that we don't have to use them. Guns for show, knives for a pro". - _Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels._

[@taylor_green_9]

It's a single shot gun, though. Your enemy is like "ha! You missed your shot, now I'll get close and kill you!", and then you stab them by surprise

[@neonnwave1]

There are even gun-axes. Another interesting combination weapon is a scythe sword (Sensenschwert). I'm not talking about the Burial Blade from Bloodborne. There is an actual scythe sword, literally a scythe blade attached to a sword handle... that's it. There's only one surviving scythe sword in the entire world and it's currently kept in the Historical Museum of Dresden, Germany.

[@dragonfell5078]

You'd think it'd be more common, seems simple to make

[@taylor_green_9]

A scythe sword sounds like just a falx or romphaia

[@silasstryder]

@@taylor_green_9 Pretty much is except it has a curve along the entire blade instead of a hook curve at the end. Good for really deep draw cuts, but the hook curve of the falx or romphaia is useful for disarming opponents and also provides deeper draw cuts than a normal sword

[@LawkzBro]

There is one specific situation where I find these to be actually quite appropriate! If you only have one working arm/hand! Maybe you don't want all that training with the sword to go to waste, but sacrificing the benefits of a firearm also doesn't seem like the best idea, done! Also I wanted to point out, some later thrusting swords can have very angled grips, to the point where calling them pistol grips isn't an exaggeration.

[@basteala525]

That would actually be a really cool character design--a one armed blademaster with a trick up his sleeve. Could be a cool rogue type.

[@KingShibe]

The Pirate hero on For Honor. Fights with a sword in one hand, uses a flintlock in the other

[@ctrlaltdebug]

How do you reload though, especially with muzzle loader?

[@melanoc3tusii205]

@@ctrlaltdebug You don't. You have one shot. Same as with any old barrel-loading pistol. Sure, you can reload it if you get a bunch of time out of direct combat afterwards, but you don't count on that.

[@kuru-yami9416]

@@basteala525 Guts

[@ZtotheMills]

Whenever I think of gunblades, my mind goes to Cervantes from Soul Calibur. Who has always been a refreshing take on the 'dual wielding' character type. Not only are his weapons always differently shaped and sized from one another, but the gun itself has a much more practical shape.

[@thedoctorBeriadan]

I do think aiming with these is a bit overrated. I personally would use it for very close range and just use the point to intuit aim

[@MaaZeus]

Yeah I would guess these could be handy for a Noble who is expecting to be jumped. With only one draw you have both a sword and a gun out and considering these are close quarters weapons you can instantly take one muggers out of the game with single shot. Human are good pointing things and within few meters it is almost impossible to miss even with a hip shot, especially against a standing still target who is waiting for an opening to attack and is not expecting a gun in a sword.

[@TheZinmo]

Most of these are from a time when pistols and revolvers had very bad sights if any. They were not meant for distance shooting.

[@psychedashell]

Pretty sure he means stick the blade in then pull the trigger making it very impossible to miss.

[@thedoctorBeriadan]

@@psychedashell definitely a viable option and good for psychological impact, but I did also mean to just intuit where the bullet would go based on the point of the blade since it wouldn't be a 40yd shot tool anyway

[@ScottKenny1978]

That's still much more dependent on ergonomics than you'd think. Comparing a 1911 to a Glock, my natural point with the 1911 is basically straight where my fist/index finger points. But the Glock points very much above my index finger. The rear sight of the Glock is lined up with the back of the ejection port(!) for me. And that's with fully designed pistols...

[@gp5operator751]

One of my favorite gun-blades in media is Mack's shotgun axe in Agents of SHIELD.

[@TheSonOfTheDragon]

The only time I saw a gun blade that actually seemed feasible was the sword used by the villain in The King's Man.

[@ArgentumFox]

I think that the sabers he shows from 11:45 to 14:35 are actually cavalry weapons. Using them from horseback meant that the awkwardness of the extra weight wasn't that severe and it allow you to have both sword and pistol in your only free hand.

[@Alpha.Phenix]

I remember Assassins Creed 4 Black Flag having gunblades, realistic ones even. Can't recall anymore if there was a shoot button, but I do know it had unique finishers. Just pull the trigger while your sword is already inside the target; extra punch to your trust and 100% hit chance without aiming.

[@corditesniffer8020]

Hard to miss with your blade already lodged quite firmly in the target 😂

[@Devin_Stromgren]

Nope, it was just the finishers. I was so pissed when I got them and found out I couldn't actually shoot them.

[@corditesniffer8020]

@@Devin_Stromgren I like how they took Assassin’s creed 3 and just took the boat missions and made it a stand alone game Man I kinda wanna play black flag again now...loved cresting the waves looting boats and upgrading my ship/crew

[@Devin_Stromgren]

@@corditesniffer8020 I actually preferred AC Rouge.

[@ChristophBrinkmann]

@@Devin_Stromgren Ah yes, Assassin's Creed Rouge - the Assassin's Creed game where you collect makeup and put it on your targets.

[@Dingus_Khaan]

The gun-katar would be excellent as a shotgun weapon.

[@fadhli179]

maybe not that good for your wrist tho

[@graywolfdracon]

Not really. With that short of a barrel, the spread of the shot would probably hit the blade and ricochet from there, maybe hitting the user. Also as the other commentor already said, the wrist strain would be painfully. Perhaps even breaking your wrist.

[@MaaZeus]

@@graywolfdracon Probably not. The barrel is so short that all power the gunpowder has is dissipated into thin air almost instantly. I would guess this applies to kickback too.

[@graywolfdracon]

@@MaaZeus I've fired shotgun shells out of a short barrel pistol before. There is actually a huge recoil and the short barrel causes a wide and unpredictable spread to the pellets. And that was with a small gauge shell. Yes the range was drastically decreased, but sill effective enough to be deadly at close range.

[@MaaZeus]

@@graywolfdracon Good to know. 👍

[@user-eq8ww1gr6v]

I could see that Saber at about 6:00 (especially with ergonomic improvements you mentioned)could be actually be useful for a a pirate with a buckler or axe in the off hand. Prep it before boarding action, then fire as boarding at mele range creating possible stopping/injury or at least chaos and a chance to create an immediate opening as you commence combat

[@marcogenovesi8570]

10:36 Fallout 3 and FalloutNV have similar weapons where the punch is augmented by either a gas piston that fires when you connect or by a gun using shotgun ammunition or by something else in the "wacky science" energy weapon category. They are mostly meant for allowing "unarmed fighter" builds to be viable against mid and high tier enemies as they are operated with "unarmed fight" skill or something

[@dragonfell5078]

Two Step Goodbye is one of my favorites Also the unarmed skills really made Unarmed unique and I wish they added more

[@jurtheorc8117]

Reminds me of a specific Hyperion enemy type from Borderlands 2. I think they were called Engineers and one could be seen trying to fight Zer0 in the intro cutscene. The piston fist (Fiston?) was on nice display there, even though the fella died quickly.

[@sevenproxies4255]

In the film Inglorious Basterds, I remember they used a contraption with a fist mounted gun, that was triggered by a piece being depressed as you punched someone. So the punch was augmented by a point blank gunshot. I think it's inspired by a real life weapon.

[@justinbell7309]

Those are based on the Sedgley Fist Gun, which was an assassination weapon designed by the OSS during WWII

[@TwiggyShei]

@@justinbell7309 was about to comment this

[@Bobbyroberts310]

The Roosterteeth anime RWBY has a character that SORTA has that Gun-Katar thing you talked about. A character named Yang uses these fisticuffs gloves with shotgun shells strapped on her wrists and uses them to make her punches more powerful or to maneuver more better.

[@user-ud8zy2dv1k]

if i had to design a 'gun sword' or other combination of melee and ranged weapon, i would focus on keeping the gun as functional as possible, since if it can't hit what your aiming at you might as well remove it to save weight. if i had to focus on the melee side of things, as in it had to be able to be used as a sword rather than just be able to stab if the enemy got too close, i would use either a revolver or a mauser pistol as a base, since they don't have much in the way of delicate pars in their handles, and basically modify the gun to have a sword blade sticking out the bottom, modifying the handle to be long enough to fit your hand comfortably without touching the trigger and probably a guard connecting the gun part to the base of the blade protecting the fingers. this is basically a sword(any kind would work as far as i know) with a gun built into the pommel. if you need the gun just reverse your grip, and you can still block an attack in reverse grip if you get surprised, plus the recoil would send the blade jerking away from you if you lost control and the guns weight would not make the blade too off balance.

[@leonaluceid2388]

OwO)/ me too i like use revolver but the magazine gun is my 2nd option, but lately i discover breech loader gun maybe looks fun (the late type) to combine it with some blade or axes or maybe daggers

[@plzletmebefrank]

Honestly, the only way a gunblade makes sense to me in a fictional setting... Is if the gunblade somehow changes form depending on what you're using it for, OR if you're using it as some sort of brutal melee weapon with cartridges to smash through some sort of unobtainium armor or something.

[@ScottKenny1978]

Take a look at the Scandahooligan Postal Carriers gun sword. Ian of Forgotten Weapons has a video on it. It's a basic short sword with a pair of 8" caplock pistol barrels, one on each side. The hammers are part of one side of the cross-guard. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jarVdmZ8iLpjZ9k

[@davecrupel2817]

That twin-barrel Qatar (Katar?) Would definitely be, to quote Q, _less of a random killing machine, and more of a personal statement._

[@Ze_Ze_Ze]

As to the gun-katar, it made me think of something very similar. Sarutobi's Gunsticks from Nioh. Gun-tonfa. "Iron tonfa used by Sarutobi Sasuke, who served under Sanada Yukimura. These tonfa, made by a renowned master gunsmith, can be loaded with bullets that are fired from an opening at one end, allowing for close-range strikes as well as ranged attacks. Originating in Ryukyu province, tonfa spread to other regions in Japan due to their use by military strategists and ninja who travelled the land. Sasuke is thought to have learned how to use tonfa while in a ninja village in Togakushi (present-day northern Nagano prefecture). Flexible enough to be used for attack or defence, tonfa proved to be an excellent weapon for ninja, with their mastery of the classical martial arts, and many used them in conjunction with kusarigama."

[@Skallagrim]

Yes, a gun-tonfa would be a lot more ergonomic. Although you couldn't aim with that either, at least not without changing the grip so that the barrel is above your hand.

[@spare1518]

A welrod is basically a gun tonfa

[@wingman4564]

I once saw a flintlock bardesh at the polish army meuseum in warsaw. It looked pretty practical.

[@justinbell7309]

The Polish had a history of making and using axe-type weapons hybridized with firearms.

[@nikmenn2751]

@@justinbell7309 well marrying a rifle or pistol with axe or saber was quite common in renessance times. Though in Western Europe such weapons were usually part of naval warfare than weaponry of field army.

[@JariB.]

I have to say, I was surprised by the staggering amount of swords with an integrated pistol elements in them, present in Het Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam). A good few of them, wheellocks. Others adapted to a percussion cap mechanism. Not just two, three or four ones either. A good dozen or so, in a single gallery room. (Admittedly, personally I am not a fan of them, but I cannot help but appreciate the craftsmanship.)

[@adambielen8996]

Probably because they were show pieces most of them survived to the present day.

[@IcepersonYT]

Warframe has a katar-shotgun called the Redeemer and when I used it it was insanely overpowered because the shooting attacks were just classified as regular weapon attacks because it wasn't a gun, so it had no ammo restrictions, reload animations or stats for bullet drop and accuracy. It just fired in a straight line and did full damage to whatever was in the way and it was glorious.

[@jarrettmcminn4393]

It’s also "silent" since it’s a melee weapon lol That game is so wacky

[@anoninunen]

It would be interesting to practice with a variety of gunblade methods with a HEMA club - see what methods work best: Nambu pistol-sword / Cervantes (soulcalibur) - gun T's with blade sword+daggerpistol - similar to the 'musketeer' and parrying-dagger archetypes gunsword - how well can a toy gun be aimed in different guards? bayonet - how does this fare in mele balistic knife - how bad is this idea? throwing knife - does this count? claymore mine sword - no.

[@arx3516]

That Katar-pistol combo should be an inbuilt weapon for the gauntlets of a sci-fi armors. Imagine Masterchief having energy blades and plasma guns in both gauntlets of his suit.

[@corditesniffer8020]

Ummm yes please? Sign me up for that Omni gunblade anyone?

[@foxmcld584]

So basically Deadshot's gauntlets, with energy blades too. I'm on board.

[@moreparrotsmoredereks2275]

I stopped watching RWBY years ago, but I always loved the weapon design in the show. Lots of cool looking gun/melee weapon hybrids

[@arvianworkshop7118]

RWBY literally started my passion in 3D modeling and now I've made many RWBY styled weapon 😩👌

[@AnotherDuck]

For the memes, I like Ironwoods' pair of guns. That are also a gun.

[@buckarooholiday]

the penultimate one is the most practical: the tip is reloadable! Once you've stabbed your opponent, you can now blast him in the face. THAT is how you end him rightly. If the guy has retreated, he only thinks he's out of reach, since you can still shoot your tip at him. Granted, you'd have to have multiple dagger tips, but that's the part that damages most easily anyway. Having the ability to easily change that part is a feature, not a drawback (especially since you literally cannot draw the point back).

[@arandomcomp2427]

And blow yourself off if you shoot with the tip still attached.

[@alm5992]

@@arandomcomp2427 Urrr... "up".

[@AzraelThanatos]

So, same kind of thing as the ballistic daggers the soviets had created?

[@RinIsArty]

Wheellock rapier is a fun idea tbh. "Engarde fool!" "Very well then, have at ye!" **BANG**

[@Al-gv5uw]

Imagine you have a gun sword and your enemies just can’t fathom the idea of a gun and a sword together. It’s a difficult idea to express but I think it’s hilarious.

[@Ranstone]

BTW Skall, there's nothing cheesy or shameless about referencing your older vids and suggesting people watch them. We know you, and you probably feel self conscious doing that, since you're the king of avoiding self promotion. Nothing wrong with it. keep up the good work!

[@johnfischer707]

While in Venice, Italy I came across a small shop along that one bridge that's just full of stalls and small stores and found this dagger/stiletto (?) That has a small flintlock barrel mounted on the side, along the blade. I bought. It was rather unwieldy due to all the weight being on the blade but still really cool! Don't know if it could actually fire something, and honestly I wouldn't have tried to fire it anyway as it was an antique 😅 I always wanted a larger one, but no luck finding one. Edit: It actually looked a lot like the Spanish piece you showed, only smaller lol

[@Seelenschmiede]

Bet it was a real antique 😉😉

[@johnfischer707]

@@Seelenschmiede idk what you mean to imply, but if you mean that it was make to look older than it is I removed the blade at one point to get a look at the tang that had the smiths signature on it, though I don't recall the name as this was over 10 years ago :/

[@Lunethzero]

I saw that there existed a crutch with a flintlock mechanism made around the 1600s that was actually functional. I think I saw it on pawn stars or something.

[@corditesniffer8020]

An interesting topic AND new merch The man who keeps on giving 😊 Have you ever considered doing a video on fighting techniques/use/history/ fun facts and personal opinions on bayonet fighting? I would love to see you tackle that topic ❤ Cheers my brother

[@GhostFS]

Aiming down the sight: with Katanas there some "pointed" guard (but with two hands) name "Gasumi". "O Gasumi". "Ko Gasumi" e "Te Ura Gasumi" with the first one more like aiming. Also blade alignment helps. Small intermediate distance you need to point the blade ad if that is aligned you know where the bullet will go. Obviously in mid to long distance, it's very difficult, but if the enemy is far away, you can brace the sword in a different way and you have time to change guard if it survive the hit.

[@DatBoiOrly]

one of the major drawbacks with gunblades in general is that guns and swords/knifes aren't made of the same steel so you either end up with a sword/knife that has little to no edge retention OR a gun that grenades itself after a couple shots sadly it wasn't meant to be :(

[@ninjatanuki]

10:42 Stake Driver from Bloodborne will scratch that itch there Skall, tricky to master but its possibly the most satisfying weapon to use in that game, *click*BOOM

[@heatheryllanes6925]

The Norwegian 1846 Postførerverge was super bad ass

[@marton_dobo]

I just want to see a gun sword actually used in combat, maybe it turns out to be the coolest thing ever, who knows?

[@terrorcop101]

9:59 From the designs of gun-swords I've seen, I feel like having that extra trick is kind of the idea. Given the inability to properly aim those things and the added weight, it seems to me that you'd probably save the shot for a moment when you needed it--such as when facing two opponents or someone whose skill may be better than yours--you'd probably wait for them to get close to you, shoot, hope you hit, and already have your sword ready for whatever you require afterwards. Even if you miss, the seconds where the other guy asks himself, "did I just get shot" can and will give you time to take the initiative away from him and use it yourself. That said, the most practical designs I've seen were all either short swords, daggers, or knives, not sabers or longswords, so maybe everyone who made/owned these knew they wouldn't be seeing much action anyway.

[@silasstryder]

Well yes these are often display pieces not unlike display swords people buy nowadays. As far as practical use a revolver dagger on the off hand with a rapier would be quite deadly and the revolver's cylinder would serve as a hilt in itself. It would still function as a dagger just be negligibly heavier feeling since almost all the extra weight is right above the user's grip. Just use the rapier to get the opponent in a sword bind and pop a cap in them while they're stuck or pull the trigger during a stab to inflict an even greater wound

[@terrorcop101]

@@silasstryder Now you're talking. And that's kind of what I was saying about the shorter blades being the only practical designs I've seen.

[@bob_mikhail]

Such a great montage! My head hurt when I tried to understand how you managed to point accurately with your blade at an image that was added later to a video

[@sevenproxies4255]

I wonder if anyone ever made an integrated pistol on a sword with a straight crossguard, and where the barrel runs perpendicular to the crossguard? So basically when you aim the pistol, you hold the sword so that the blade points straight up into the air as opposed to forwards towards the enemy. I think this might be a more comfortable way to fire the pistol. And with the blade up, you might be able to adopt a guard stance while aiming.

[@goodoldaley6375]

Funnily enough, I think Cervantes from Soulcalibur has a Gunblade exactly like you described.

[@foxmcld584]

Pft, I just finished a reply asking the same thing. XD

[@randalthor2859]

I mean, Bayonets are technically gunblades right? Technically correct is the best kind.

[@gibbous_silver]

no, because its detachable

[@randalthor2859]

@@gibbous_silver look up what "technically" means.

[@fsmoura]

*_*technicality intensifies*_*

[@adamdeforest495]

Futurama. Nice.

[@t.r.everstone7]

I love this topic because for me it's a fun puzzle trying to solve how a hybrid weapon might be practical or even better than it's parent weapons. I write fiction with characters rhat use them, so I love seeing possible ways ro make them work. It seems to me that axe-guns and their variations are the most feasible, so a seperate video on those would be cool too!

[@silasstryder]

What about a revolver dagger? The revolver's cylinder could work as a hilt pretty well and if you use that in the off hand with a rapier you get the best dual wield combo, plus a revolver.

[@t.r.everstone7]

@@silasstryder Sounds pretty cool! Doesnt work for my one character though since he's a "hatchetman" haha I've definitely considered other hybrid weapon types though. Lots of maybe sorta believable possibilities! Like with your idea of dagger/revolver, are you saying that it would be arranged where gun barrel came out where a daggrr pommel would be and act as a counterweight?

[@silasstryder]

@@t.r.everstone7 Nah, just have the barrel end a few inches from the tip of the blade with the end of the barrel cut at an angle to reduce resistance when stabbing. The side of the barrel furthest from the blade shorter than the side attached to the blade like a giant hypodermic needle. Obviously doing that makes accuracy go down a lot, but you wouldn't be using it from very long range anyway. It could either be on the dull side for a single edged dagger or on the flat of the blade for a double edged dagger. Having the barrel in the handle pointing out the pommel would mean you'd have a gun pointed at yourself a whole lot, which is very risky. Perhaps you'd have a safety latch in the handle you have to lift to access the trigger mechanism to prevent accidental discharges during melee.

[@stygiansage2661]

One of the few I saw was at a small museum at Busch Gardens of Williamsburg. It was a double barrel pistol with a hatchet blade under the barrels.

[@VRAS4570]

These are the videos I like the most from you. Informative, interesting and fun 👍🏻

[@geophrie8272]

I really like The Hunt: Show Downs take. The hang the axe like blade on the stock of rifles, Underslung, so you can reverse the weapon to get an axe without adding forward weight, and allowing for melee with the stock r6s style.

[@silasstryder]

Yeah you see that with Brute weapons in Halo too and it makes sense Brute's would add metal blades to their guns because they're massive pseudo-bear people with wrists like tree trunks so doubling or even tripling the guns weight doesn't really affect their aim or comfortability of use for Brute's or Spartans however marines clearly struggle wielding even a spiker two handed. It's like they've got a .500 S&W revolver with two machetes welded to the ends of the barrel with how unwieldy it looks for a normal person to use lol

[@alexh4436]

Two problems with combining a sword with a pistol. First if an opponent knocks your sword off line they knock the pistol off line as well. Second, in the powder in the pan era when you move your sword you scatter your powder.

[@silasstryder]

Yeah it really only works if you're planning on shooting the enemy as they approach, you really can't be mid sword fight and expect the gun part to function correctly

[@royalsoldierofdrangleic4577]

You would not scatter your powder, at least with a flintlock. You would close the pan right after filling it with powder.

[@thiagotaubman5976]

3:06 When you and your friends make each part of a project individually and combine it at the end.

[@arthureaterofworlds5176]

Stan Smith be like: Sword gun, mightier than the pen gun

[@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145]

I have heard that shorter gun-words we're often used as hunting swords. If the beast didn't die in the initial hunt you could use the firearm to kill it and then the sword to help butcher it. I'm not sure if that is true or makes any sense but I have heard it.

[@ngVAT579]

Damn! Some of these are right out of Bloodborne. I'm here for it. Great stuff Skall.

[@Rodrigo-ty2if]

The element of surpise is great as well, pulling your sword to make folks overconfident only to shoot them. The thing is having the strenght and skill to wield it effectvily

[@SimonTheExile]

Eldenring in a gunworld: - I have a gun. - I have a bigger gun. - hahaha, pathetics, I have guns on my gun.

[@VentiVonOsterreich]

Not first Speaking of gun blades, the modern variant is QSB-91, a Chinese knife gun

[@ste887]

theres also the russian NRS-2 which wouldnt surprise me if the chinese version is a copy of

[@ShirotoraGodsbane]

Thinking about these designs, and how the gun barrels are always alongside the sword blades, maybe they served to break an opponent's sword with a parry?

[@ctrlaltdebug]

Why not have the barrel take the place of a quillon? The angle is perpendicular to the handle and the weight distribution is better.

[@ShirotoraGodsbane]

@@ctrlaltdebug If I'm right about the purpose of the gun, that would make it useless in that regard.

[@ctrlaltdebug]

@@ShirotoraGodsbane sure that lead will break tempered steel? I remember seeing videos of a sword blade cutting fired bullets in half.

[@ShirotoraGodsbane]

@@ctrlaltdebug When fired directly head on to the blade, possibly. It depends on the type of sword. But if it's even slightly misaligned, it'll break the blade, easily.

[@Eddythebandkid]

I just gotta say that the costume, background and border really do make this video look nicer and shows that Skall actually does put in effort to make the video better quality for the viewer. Cheers.

[@lianmiguelg.santos2054]

"Or firing blanks to make the blade vibrate on impact" me: hmmmm...... THERE WILL BE BLOOD SHED!

[@frost8077]

I once played around with the idea to see if I could make it any more worthwhile. What I came up with was a pistol where the blade extends out from the top instead of mixing with the barrel. A Japanese sword design works well because of the handle shape.

[@edspace.]

There is an interesting weapon I read about, although not all are convinced of the story and believe it could be misinterpreted photographs. Its from the Vietnam war and was designed for combat engineers and nicknamed 'The Swiss Army Gun' and was comprised of the standard issue M14, the M79 Grenade Launcher, a double barreled shotgun, a petrol powered chainsaw, a spring-loaded shovel and a spring-loaded sledgehammer. Supposedly designed so that an engineer could be doing various jobs (digging and hammering being faster due to the spring-loaded mechanism) and whether they were digging, hammering or cutting thicket, if the Viet Cong attacked their position they could instantly respond to any and all threats (M14 for an individual, e.g. sniper, M79 for a far away group and the shotgun if a group got close) however, so the story goes, the prototypes broke when in Vietnam (springs rusted away in the jungle and so on) and the tools would get blown off when ever the shotgun or Grenade Launcher were used). However there are also those who argue that the weapon is a case of multiple tools being all held together rather than one complete weapon system.

[@thomasfplm]

I just remembered that I saw a gun-buckler in a museum in Malta once. From the front, it was a boucler with a small hole, and you only had one shot.

[@thiccbeaver3132]

great video, lots of possible ideas for future forging.

[@eazy8579]

Never underestimate what people will do to flex; the reason people drive Overpriced German, British, and Italian sports cars that are basically useless for day to day life is the same reason nobles who often didn’t do much fighting chose to have ridiculous gun-swords; they didn’t need them to be the most functional thing, they just wanted to compensate for their tiny peens. I mean, sure, you could just make a really fancy pistol AND a really fancy sword, but you if you don’t really get into a fight very often, why not have something that combines both that’s more elaborate than both separately

[@phillipdennick8509]

I also always think of combination weapons as the old days sports cars. Totally over engineering for the sake of flair.

[@brittakriep2938]

Formerly richer noblemen had a ,curiosity chamber' with unusual, rare things, often from noneuropean countries. This ,curiosity chambers' had been shown to important visitors. In 19th century some of this ,Curiosity Chambers' became the basis for public museums. So i think, this combination weapons hat been mostly expensive showpieces.

[@KonigGustavAdolph]

Ah, yes, the Tactical Edge-Commando-Lord.

[@rileyernst9086]

Falchion-pistol-hammer: I did not want to get caught out in any situation!

[@ATDStudios]

Finally you started showing up in my feed again!

[@junichiroyamashita]

Forgotten Weapons showed an effective Postman Service Knife Pistol.

[@fsmoura]

Praise Gun Jesus

[@juhopeltola4417]

Postman Service Knife Pistol was my favourite too. Forgotten Weapons also has other videos about other diffent combos like the apache knife, brass knuckle, and revolver combo. The Elgin Cutlass Pistol was mentioned here, he has video about that too.

[@MrGedgeman]

Hearing you say hammer-falchion-pistol never gets old.

[@asterisk606]

The Gun Katar is actually pretty awesome! It's something I've never thought about but would definitely be cool in a fantasy setting. I'm genuinely surprised it hasn't been picked up and done in a video game yet, but then again, it didn't come to my mind either. I can just imagine how over the top they could go with it by also adding in the spinning whirlwind attack trope, but have the character shooting the guns while they do it.

[@hideshisface1886]

There is thing that always baffles me with gun blades... We kind always had them - one of the first ideas with guns was to have an accompanying blade. Early on blade was mounted on a stand - basically a poleaxe turned into a gun's monopod, when early guns were very heavy and clumsy. Later - we've got a bayonet - you have functional detachable knife, a gun, and if you put a knife on a gun, you have a perfectly usable spear. The problem I have with most of these, honestly is the durability and reload. Most of these are old muskets, basically. Barrel loaded, and with blade on side, reloading this would be a mess. This also means they were intended to fire either right before melee or at the start of it, because the fragile early gun parts could be damaged or gun powder could be misplaced. The revolver-saber looks like it would compromise the durability of the blade on the other hand. The pistol with hidden dagger... Redundant, sure, but at least would have no problems with reload, I suppose. There were also some short rifles with axe blades in stock - which is a nice idea, if I'm being honest, but still, it requires you to turn the whole gun around - not good for the "oh shit" moment, when you realise you missed and are about to get charged.

[@lostsoul7345]

fun video Love that the intro is back!

[@ezrafaulk3076]

There's an example of gunblade I've seen in a videogame that, as long as it's not super stylized like it is in the game, would actually be pretty practical; Cervantes' shorter blade in the Soul franchise. It's really just a short flintlock pistol with a knife blade attached to the top, possibly near the firing mechanism; with the barrel as short as it is, it could still be used as a pistol, and after it's fired its shot, it could be used in a handshake grip as a dagger. Doesn't seem like it's making any compromises to me. And I'm glad you showed an example of a gunblade with the barrel serving as the blade's spine, because that validates my idea for doing that with all different kinds of weapons, including the one I wanna detail right here; the rifle greatsword. It's a greatsword with an extra half hand grip shaped like a rifle butt where the trigger resides, and that has a barrel that serves as the blade's cross section, tapering down into a sharp edge, with a small split tip that still allows the sword to stab if it needs to (the barrel can be narrow, but thick); the weapon could still be used as a greatsword, and when they used it as a rifle, they could press the butt shaped part of the hilt into their shoulder, and be able to hold it steady by gripping the part of the cross guard pointing towards the ground in that position; and they could use the false edge as an aiming sight. Whaddya think? And now that I've shared that, I've got another idea for an interesting weapon video for you; in the anime Kill la Kill, there exist two swords called Scissor blades, which can be joined into a weapon called the Rending Scissors, which can cut Life Fibers from both sides, and thus prevent them from regenerating, truly killing them. Since they'd essentially just be a pair of double-edged cutting swords joined together by a big screw or rivet they'd rotate around, and thus could also be wielded separately, I'd think it'd be cool to hear your thoughts on real life Warscissors; how they'd work, what the advantages and disadvantages would be, what kind of fighting styles might develop around them, etc. I think that'd be a *great* subject for your next strange weapons video personally, but what do you think?

[@Coobster432]

I was more focused on your knife than the things you were pointing at. It's such a nice knife.

[@jurtheorc8117]

I'm quite impressed to hear that my country (the Netherlands) also dipped in the wacky combi weapon stuff like this, and with such an elaborate design at that. Yet something else to pose as potential inspiration for my gothic fantasy story with Netherlands-inspired setting! We're pretty poor when it comes to cool gothic stuff like original ghost stories or folklore. At least compared to England, LA FRANCE, Germany etc.

[@SchizoidMastermind]

the last one can double up as a pipe bomb when you forget to remove the sword head

[@au1317]

You'd make a great weatherman with those greenscreen pointing skills

[@trikepilot101]

I really like the pistols with knuckle bows because they can be used in the off hand for parrying.

[@James-ep2bx]

Interesting note on the gun katar in video games idea, it would actually fit the lore of the diablo series' assassin as they used both katars and alchemical tools including explosives

[@robertoaguiar6230]

I like to imagine two swordsman binding swords and at some point where the wielder can point it to the enemy chest firing the weapon.

[@DargorShepard]

Did not expect the hammer-pistol-sword.

[@jasonrogers8360]

A large amount of integrated pistol weapons were built for hunting more than as weapons of war. A lot of hunting was still done from horseback with swords or from foot with spears with a short, heavy sword as a back up if something impedes your spear. There are also a lot of spears with pistols intergrated in museums in germany where they were popular for boar hunting.

[@whisped8145]

5:00 I like the ornamentation of this one, and the one before.

[@Diyel]

Imagine a bullpup rifle with a katar-like bayonet extension in-front. Now THAT would be amazing.

[@HeadCannonPrime]

Hammer/falcion/pistol looks like the first project from someone who just learned how to use a welder.

[@BaldwinVonDresden]

Oh dang I caught this one real early. Nice vid!

[@rafaelcafonso]

Cool, now do a video about the historical wrist-mounted dog launchers

[@nonamed9613]

The big ,,parry this, you filthy casual!" video

[@Serahpin]

19:40 "The plug would get stuck in the body and good luck getting that back out." Jokes on you, I have a pocket just full of plugs!

[@darthplagueis13]

As far as gun combination weapons are concerned, I imagine some kind of polearm, maybe a poleaxe wouldn't be too bad. Like, you have a long hollow pipe as the barrel, with the actual point being threaded in and all of the mechanical bits below the hand protection. That would be more of an arquebuse than a pistol based design. The issue is of course that poleaxe fighting normally involves a lot of striking with the butt of the weapon which wouldn't be a good idea...

[@communications23]

The "heavily decorated" hunting knife is decorated with a calendar of saints. Which moves it ever more slightly towards vampire hunter area.

[@haselnutcracker9447]

in the french war museum in paris are some great looking gun-helbards and gun-spears aswell as some 20 gun swords.

[@cej3940]

Damnit Skal, you making me act up with these beautiful blades

[@occultnightingale1106]

okay, Gun-Katar is now one of my favorite things in the world, thank you so much for introducing me to this.

[@bobbobbington6245]

The Cat Master is pleased.

[@WhatIfBrigade]

As a kid I was fascinated by combo weapons & appliances but as an adult just get a good sword in one hand and a good pistol in the other. You can even use the pistol to parry and as a club after you fire!

[@harrykouwen1426]

That dutch gunsword has a trigger not to be pulled with the obvious modern triggerfinger, but a smaller finger. The guns of the time had grips that made the pistol also usefull as a club or mace; the barrels and construction was more then adequate to use as such; it could only fire 1 shot, in wartimes and battles, the gun was used as the dagger with the sword; for defensive use besides the sword.

[@dalemoss4684]

I think more practical were the three and four barreled hand cannons that doubled as clubs. There is one from the 1400s in a museum somewhere that actually has four 'friction rings' (one per barrel) that you pull out to fire; they draw a rasp against a flint.

[@Harshhaze]

Shout out to Slipstream Sam from Metal Gear Revengence. Managed to incorporate a gun into how he used his sword