(TFT) Firearms and platearmor

["grabowski" <grabowski@erols.com>]

Jim states and thanks for the support,

This is very true. In Graz, Austria I once went into the 16th century armory
there. The place is three stories of plate armor, pikes, arquebuses, swords,
and cannon! They had a lot of plate armor there with the telltale "bullet
dent". Not knowing at the time what it was I asked an attendant. He told me
that it was the test dent that Justin mentions>>>>>

The staff at the Jamestown Settlement Museum over one winter went out and
tested a breastplate against a matchlock muskets penetrating ability.  If
you see the breastplate in the Court of Guard in the fort, you can see the
dents made by the musket's projectiles.  The musket fire at the breastplate
was done at various ranges, I believe between 10 to 40 yards.  The deeper
the dent in the breastplate the closer the shooter.  Although there were
cracks in the armor from the close range shots not one projectile actually
went through the breastplate.  Although a bullet did not penetrate the
armor, I still, of course, would not want to be in the armor, as more than
likely the person inside sustained broken ribs  and back then if the broken
ribcage didn't kill you the infection would.  But broken ribs has a better
chance of recovery and less chance for infection than a bullet that
penetrates the body cavity.

One reason firearms came to the fore is that it required less training to
operate this missile weapon than a bow.  Unless you are impaired, within an
hour I could teach most of you to be generally proficient with a Brown Bess
(18th century) musket; whereas, teaching bow would require more time.
Firearms are only a minor reason for the general disappearance of armor.
The main reason, as far as I am concerned as well as many historians, is
cost of the armor and the fatigue (heat and the weight over time) of wearing
the armor.  An example of this is Edward Brooke, a almost Jamestown settler,
who on hunting on an island in the Caribbean "boiled within his own fat"
(their words) within his suit of armor.
The members of the expedition feared the Spanish and so all the
 while wore their armor any time they were off the ships.  Edward from the
description more than likely died from heat prostration.  Hence, as the
centuries pass the heavy metal armor generally disappears.  Although it has
still not passed away because we have kevlar now.

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