Arquebuse (kukača)

The forerunner of modern-day rifles is most certainly the arquebuse (kukača). This rifle had a hook on the barrel’s bottom side, and for this reason it was called a hook gun or an arquebus, which is derived from the German word hakenbüchse.

This hook was used for bracing against a solid object or for hooking into it to absorb recoil caused by gunpowder discharge. The hook after which the rifle was named has long since lost its practical function. However, in spite of the fact that more advanced rifles no longer had hooks, they were stilled called arquebuses. In Dubrovnik’s historical records there is mention of a bombarda cum crochis in the second half of the 14th century.