The caliver allowed troops to load bullets faster since they fit their guns more easily, whereas before soldiers often had to modify their bullets into suitable fits, or were even forced to make their own prior to battle. The name 'caliver' is derived from the English corruption of calibre, which is a reference to the gun's standardized bore. ДЄ standardized arquebus, the caliver, was introduced in the latter half of the 16th century. These carried a lead ball of about 3.5 ounces (100В g). Heavy arquebuses mounted on wagons were called arquebus Г croc. The heavy arquebus, which was then called a musket, was developed to better penetrate plate armor and appeared in Europe around 1521. It could have appeared in the Ottoman Empire as early as 1465 and in Europe a little before 1475. The exact dating of the matchlock's appearance is disputed. The addition of a shoulder stock, priming pan, and matchlock mechanism in the late 15th century turned the arquebus into a handheld firearm and also the first firearm equipped with a trigger. These 'hook guns' were in their earliest forms of defensive weapons mounted on German city walls in the early 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier.ДЄlthough the term arquebus, derived from the Dutch word Haakbus ('hook gun'), was applied to many different forms of firearms from the 15th to 17th centuries, it originally referred to 'a hand-gun with a hook-like projection or lug on its under surface, useful for steadying it against battlements or other objects when firing'. 17th-century arquebus at the ChГўteau de Foix museum, FranceДЄn arquebus ( / Л€ Й‘Лђr k( w) ЙЄ b Й™ s/ AR-k(w)ib-Й™s) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century.

Light crossbow