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Drawing of a Qiang Chong and its ramrod, from 'Wu Bei Ji Yao (《武備集要》)'. |
Qiang Chong (鎗銃, lit. 'Gun spear') was, as its name suggests, a combination of a spear and a gun. It consisted of a two chi long gun barrel mounted on a five chi long spear shaft, with two five cun long spearheads (or possibly one spearhead forged in two halves) mounted near the muzzle, as well as a two cun long butt spike mounted on the rear end of the spear shaft. The gun part of Qiang Chong had a three fen calibre, and was typically loaded with two qian five fen of gunpowder as well as a one qian six fen lead bullet (which was roughly half the weight of a typical Ming arquebus bullet).