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Possibly the most important item of equipment the Voortrekkers took with them was their gun,
or rather guns, as they invariably possessed two and very often, more.
The gun was the clumsy “ou Sanna” with a barrel length of from 114 to 166 cms (45 or 60
inches) which could take a round lead ball of either 12 or 10 balls to the pound which indicates
that the bore varied in size.. The barrels were lightly rifled -also in various degrees. Some
would have a straight rifling and others up to three riflings with varying spiralling. These were
the more sophisticated and accurate weapons. In Cape Town Botha en Zoon, P J Botha &
Levick were noted gun makers. There is the record that Louis Trichardt paid 37 riksdaalers (at
15c per riksdaaler in the 1830’s would be R5,55) for a gun by Botha and considered it very
expensive. Of course the trader dealing with the native inhabitants would have guns for which
he paid only a fraction of that amount. This trade was illegal and profits high. The risks to
the trader were considerable should he be caught with guns, powder or lead for sale. The best
overseas guns came from Belgium and Flanders
The Voortrekkers grew up with this unwieldy gun and looked down on the more modern
percussion cap type as used and inspected by Cornwallis Harris who spent some time with the
Voortrekkers in the Free State. They felt his gun was inferior in spite of him shooting a buck
at 400 paces!
The “Ou Sanna” was primed with 4 to 6 grammes of gunpowder which worked out at from 40 to
60 shots to be fired from a pound of gunpowder. The method of loading was important. The
trigger is placed in the safety position; the gun is held in the left hand with the butt resting on
the ground; the barrel to face forward with the gun held on the slant; The powder-horn is
picked up with the right hand and the stopper removed with the thumb; the estimated amount
of powder is poured into the palm of the left hand while the gun rests in the crook of the left
arm; holding the gun upright the powder, or most of it, is poured into the end of the barrel
and the small amount left goes into the pan; now with the right hand withdraw the ram-rod
and tamp the powder down also tapping the butt of the gun on the ground. The powder must
reach the “touch-hole”. Next insert the ‘gad and tamp this down. Now comes the ball, which
is also tapped into position with the ram-rod. In times of haste and tension the wad was
omitted. The protective covering to the priming receptacle is now closed after more
tapping. Should the powder in the receptacle not flow down the touch-hole and make
contact with the powder in the barrel there will be no firing of the gun (hence the expression
“to hang fire” or if the shot misfires “a flash in the pan” The touch hole had to be cleaned
regularly
Supposing all has gone according to plan: The cocking-piece is now pulled back and the trigger
squeezed, this releases the cocking-piece whose flint scrapes against the steel, sparks fly, the
powder in the pan lights, the fire travels down the touch-hole and ignites the charge which
then explodes shooting the bullet and, of course, expels a vast amount of white smoke. During
the battle of Blood River it was fortunate that the enemy retreated fairly frequently to just
beyond rifle range before charging once more. These brief intervals allowed the powdersmoke to clear and allow the defenders to see once more.
Incidentally, at this battle the powder and balls were poured into basins for greater ease of
handling. The balls, slugs or small balls (buck-shot) was sewn in bags by the women – this
speeded up the reloading process. At some battles the women and girls loaded the guns some
of which got so hot that the powder ignited when poured into the barrel. Cleaning of the
barrels had to be done frequently due to the gunpowder fouling the barrels.
The range of the Ou Sanna was roughly 100 paces, but the Voortrekkers invariably allowed the
enemy to approach to within 30 paces. Not only would one shot then kill more than one person
but 30 paces was the range of the assegai.
GUNPOWDER
This was the old black type with little power but a lot of smoke. Not only used in guns but
Andrew Geddes Bain and Thomas Bain used it as an explosive; this was all they had.
Gunpowder came in 600 pound casks and of course, had to be dry or it would not ignite; casks
wrapped in skins did the job well. The Trekkers took as much powder as possible; where they
were going there would be no opportunity to replenish supplies and it was needed for
protection against wild animals, unfriendly people and to shoot game for the pot. When the
British put an embargo on taking powder and lead out of the Colony ways had to be found to get
it across the Orange River. Naturally they succeeded, they just had to!
That there were not more accidents is quite remarkable. There is an account of a wagon
catching alight which set the gunpowder off killing nine persons and injuring a further 12
THE BULLETS
These, in the main, were cast of lead and made in the field as and when they were needed.
But, like powder, lead was a scarce commodity. The lead was heated in pots and the melted
lead then ladled into the bullet-moulds then plunged into a bucket of cold water for cooling.
The pincers – resembling small ice cream spoons, had a cutting edge to nip off the small
extrusion of lead from the pouring spout. The round balls could either be used as they were
or have a x cut into them. On firing this ball would divide into 4 pieces. Smaller pellets, sewn
in bags, would have the same effect
So scarce was lead that on shooting a buck every effort was made to retrieve the bullet.