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A demi-culverin or saker was a 17th Century term for a cannon which fired a 9-pound solid shot (a culverin fired an 18-pound shot). It is first employed by the Flemings in the early 1600s. The tube was about slightly over 3 metres long, and fired a shot 11 cm in diameter and between 4 and 6 kilograms in mass. With a weight of 1640 kg (3600 lb), it had a range of almost 2 km, though its effective range was only about 80 metres. Firing this gun was exceedingly dangerous - many gunners lost their lives to recoiling barrels, and blowback from the touchhole also led to many fatalities.