Old Guns Mod Wiki

The Old Guns Mod introduces a variety of historical black powder firearms and heavy artillery to Minecraft, focusing on the era of Matchlocks, Flintlocks, and Percussion Caps. Unlike modern weapon mods, Old Guns emphasizes a slow, methodical combat style where every shot counts. Players must manage individual components like gunpowder, projectiles, and ramrods to maintain their arsenal. The mod is designed for 'Base Defense,' providing powerful stationary cannons and high-damage muskets that are devastating against mobs but require significant time to reload.

The Loading Process

Firearms in this mod do not use a simple 'right-click to fire' mechanic. Instead, they follow a multi-stage loading sequence:

1. Powder: Apply Gunpowder or a Paper Cartridge to the empty firearm.
2. Projectile: Load a Lead Ball, Iron Ball, or Grapeshot.
3. Ramming: Use a Ramrod to seat the bullet (required for certain tiers).
4. Priming: Ensure the ignition source (Match, Flint, or Cap) is ready.

Weather and Environment

Black powder is highly sensitive to moisture.

• Matchlocks: These weapons will almost never fire in the rain as the glowing match is extinguished.
• Flintlocks: These have a high chance of misfiring (failing to shoot) during rain or while submerged in water.
• Percussion Caps: These are the most reliable and can function in damp conditions, though they are more expensive to produce.

Misfires and Recoil

Every time a weapon is fired, there is a small statistical chance of a misfire based on the weapon's quality and the current weather. Additionally, heavy weapons like the Blunderbuss and Musket produce significant recoil, pushing the player back and briefly affecting aim.

Firearms are divided into three technological tiers: Matchlock, Flintlock, and Percussion Cap.

Matchlocks

The earliest tier of firearms. They are slow to load and require a lit match. They are the most affordable but suffer the most in poor weather.

Flintlocks

A significant upgrade over matchlocks. They use a flint-and-steel mechanism for ignition, removing the need for a constant lit match. They feature the Blunderbuss, which acts as a shotgun, firing multiple pellets at once.

Percussion Caps (Caplocks)

The pinnacle of black powder technology in the mod. These weapons use chemical primers (caps) to ensure near-instant ignition and high reliability in all weather conditions.

For defending structures, the mod provides heavy stationary weaponry.

The Cannon

The Cannon is a block-based entity that must be placed on a solid surface. It cannot be moved easily once deployed.

• Loading: Requires a large amount of gunpowder and a Cannonball.
• Firing: Must be ignited with a Flint and Steel or a Redstone signal.
• Damage: Direct hits can destroy blocks (if configured) and deal massive area-of-effect damage to mobs.

Mortars

Smaller than cannons, mortars fire projectiles in a high arc, allowing players to hit targets behind walls or cover. They are ideal for clearing out sieging hordes from the safety of a courtyard.

Projectiles

• Lead Balls: The standard ammunition. Requires lead ingots (or iron if lead is unavailable).
• Iron Balls: Slightly less accurate than lead but cheaper to produce in vanilla environments.
• Grapeshot: Used in Blunderbusses and Cannons to create a wide spray of lethal metal shards.
• Cannonballs: Heavy iron spheres used exclusively for artillery.

Components

• Gun Barrel: Crafted using iron ingots in a linear pattern. Higher-tier barrels require steel or reinforced iron.
• Wooden Stock: The base for all handheld firearms, crafted from planks and logs.
• Ignition Mechanisms:
  • Matchlock: String and iron.
  • Flintlock: Flint and iron springs.
  • Percussion Lock: Gold and iron.

While recipes may vary slightly based on installed compatibility mods, the standard patterns are as follows:

Musket Barrel

• [Iron Ingot] [Iron Ingot] [Iron Ingot]
• [Empty] [Empty] [Empty]
• [Empty] [Empty] [Empty]

Wooden Stock

• [Planks] [Planks] [Empty]
• [Empty] [Planks] [Planks]
• [Empty] [Empty] [Planks]

Matchlock Musket

• [Musket Barrel]
• [Matchlock Mechanism]
• [Wooden Stock]

Gunpowder Barrel

• Crafted by surrounding a bucket with gunpowder. These blocks are highly volatile and will explode if hit by a projectile or fire.

The mod provides several configuration options to balance gameplay:

• allowGriefing: Determines if cannons and explosions destroy blocks.
• misfireChance: A multiplier for how often guns fail to fire.
• reloadSpeed: Adjusts the time required for each loading stage.

Commands:

• /oldguns reload: Reloads the mod configuration file.
• /oldguns clear_jam: Clears the 'jammed' status of the weapon currently held in the player's hand.