I have a Hand Cannon made by a gy from New York that I bought at School of the Musketeer this year. It's considerably larger caliber than the two the Rifle Shoppe makes, just over an inch bore on the gun. It is much shorter in barrel length, at maybe 4 inches. Mine is more of an artillery piece where those are more musket-like. John does not recomend shooting shot out of my gun, due to the short barrel length and large bore size making it difficult to control where the shot goes. It is fun to shoot though, the max charge is about 150 grains, though 120 with a wad makes a nice bang. There is also a guy near Philadelphia that makes them, among other black powder guns, Dominick Carpenter (
http://blackpowder-cannons.com/index.htm), I hear very good things about his guns but do not own one yet. I hear mixed reviews of Rifle Shoppe, just as a way of warning. In any case, if you do get a hand-gonne, I'd be interested in hearing what you think of them. I enjoy mine and can't wait till my matchlock musket is finished, which should be sometime in October.