Is a Highlander Shield Bulletproof? Targe vs Flintlock Musket & Pistol - Historical Myth Busting 

wonderful bit of practical archaeology. fascinating insights. Even some protection against some battlefield threats is better than none.

40:03 "if only school was like this"... Actually, my 11th-grade history teacher brought our class outside to shoot muskets back in 1992. We started off shooting a 1/4 charge of powder (with no ball). He let every kid in the class shoot it if they wanted to. Then he moved up to a 1/2 charge and only a couple of the guys dared shoot it. Finally he offered a full charge and I was the only one who accepted. I clearly remember the sensation. When it fired off I saw a flash of bright red through my closed eyes. I felt a wave of intense heat roll over my face. When I opened my eyes I saw that the blast from the muzzle had torn the leaves off of the trees in front of me and there was a huge cloud of smoke around me, and it stank like rotten eggs. The blast had singed off half of my eyebrows and for the rest of the day (we did this at 10am) I reeked of sulfer. It was probably the most fun any teacher ever made a school day to be.

Wasn't expecting the shield to stop anything at all so the results are impressive.

Fantastic work! Thanks for doing this chaps.

It's fantastic to see this tested in live conditions! Thanks so much for your time and commitment in making this video. Always sad to see such beautiful pieces damaged- but all in the name of proper science and history! I suppose the ones back in the day would see much more abuse than this. It looks like an awful lot depended on the angle the targe is held up to, so definitely worth examining the historical record to see just how aware the men were of this and to what degree they altered their approach to reflect it. I also wonder how effectively a man would be able to keep that slope when on a charge, or if he was hit by multiple shots in a volley.

With this and the Tod's Workshop Agincourt video it's so nice to see people actually doing things like this. It make me think of all the history documentaries I've seen with someone shooting some historic weapon into some historic armor with nothing beyond an assurance that everything is "authentic," while some excited but clueless host goes on about what a great approximation everything is.

Fantastic! Thoroughly enjoyed watching all three targes being put through their paces. Hopefully my reputation as a targe maker has not been as damaged as much as my targe but I am very satisifed that the targe was fairly effective against the musket and flintlock. Very interesting and surprising to see the results produced from targes made with hardwood and softwood. Well done guys on producing a very well made and informative video!

Oak splinters did massive damage in ship engagements. Interesting that it does something similar at much lower energies. Great video

Fantastic work Tom. I was absolutely so excited when I got to hold that targe with a musket ball stuck... This is an excellent practical history lessons

I'm glad that you took angles into account, and that your rig allowed for flex, as a human arm would have. I was surprised at their effectiveness.

From what I've seen, hardwood shields are more resistant to being damaged in repeated use - so modern re-enactors who usually don't hit them with the full destructive power (weapons are blunt, no firearms or high draw weight bows and crossbows) are better off with them. A good shield isn't cheap, and not having to replace it once or twice a year does help a lot. But for resisting relatively few but powerful hits, soft woods usually work out better because they are a little bouncy and spongy. One additional thing to think about is that this is the test with the best gunpowder and the targes are just on the verge of being musket-proof anyway. If your powder is slightly wet, or the mixture is a bit off, a targe may well stop a musket when angled at 45 degrees.

That is a beautiful targe! A friend of mine with knowledge of creating armored vehicles once told me that the ideal angle for any armor plating is 33 degrees because this creates the highest probability for safely deflecting projectiles up and away from the target. Not surprised at all by how well the targe's did. ^_^ Thank you all for a lovely video!

1. Very interesting that the 2nd targe with the layer of wool was more effective on multiple shots 2. Really nice pistol shot on the center of the targe @23:38 3. I appreciate that you shot it at multiple angles Well done, great video. It looks like the targe did have a significant protective effect against contemporary projectiles / powder charges. There are numerous shots from the video where you see the shot ball penetrating the targe but then just laying on the ground next to the target, or embedded in the post behind it, these would all be not major life threatening penetrations and very superficial so it seems like it definitely does work.

I want to say that I like that the target was NOT so solidly placed. In principle, that makes the realism more accurate. This was to simulate a person holding a shield. And that person would have been moving with the arm not so rigid. I believe this actually made a more accurate simulation than any “Armour vs projectile” test I’ve ever seen. Also, a shame to abuse those beautiful shields. Great work and so entertaining watching you all.

If they prefered soft-wood for their targes, that means that was for a reason. And when you look at Medieval shields, they used preferably Lime-wood for their shields to make them more lighter, nimbler and sturdier against missiles because of the "softness". Another reason could also have been that soft-wood traps a blade better than a hard-wood.

This is brilliant! Kudos for all the hard work.

Could be interesting to see a combination of softwood in the front, wool core and hardwood on the back - that's more or less how modern tank armour is constructed, with soft steel in front, rubber like layer between and hard steel layer behind. Well... At least in the case of some tanks which armour packets aren't classified. Very cool tests overall! Great to see someone putting some work into it.

Great video. Thanks. As your musket man said, the thing is not to aim at the targe but at the exposed part of the enemy. The more the targe is angled, the more of the enemy is exposed. I wonder how much the prominent central boss and the concentric rings of studs would draw the eye of the shooter, making him more likely to hit the targe in the heat of battle.

Very interesting experiments! From what I've seen, the 10 bore Brown Bess muskets of this period fired ~71 caliber balls and used cartridges with ~200 grains or so of powder. An equivalent of standard modern-made black powder would probably be at least ~150 grains including priming. A formidable opponent indeed! Volleys could start in excess of 200yds, where the ball is starting to impacting at quite an angle. In this case, not angling the shield might actually provide better protection. Musket balls can also skip fiercely when they hit the ground, so I can see a shield being practical even if it only stopped pistol and deflected musket shot.

If I had the energy I'd leave a comment like this on every one of your videos I would, but you've quickly become one of my go-to channels on YT. Really awesome to see how far the quality of your videos has come! You deserve all the success

May I ask which softwoods were used, and if they were green , well-dried, or somewhere in between? In addition to the standard pine species, I wonder if Willow's famous shoch-resistance would be applicable here? Willow is also lightweight. I am assuming that the layers of wood have their grain 'crossed' or perpendicular, to form a primitive plywood. (something the local wheelwright or cooper would be well-attuned to). Are the pegs made using the same wood as the shield-body, or are they fashioned from a low-shrinkage wood? About the brass studs : Do we know if the 17th-18th century Scots temperature-hardened their brass? - I understand heat hardening brass takes a few hours at 580C, or - cold hardening can be done, by applying heavy weight/force to create a case-hardened surface. Sorry for all the questions. I'm just a Yank with a wee bit of MacDonald way back in the ancestry (3 gens back). EDIT : .... and I guess we could get into the time-honor battle between Moreno and proper Shetland wool for the felting, and if it matters if it was collected after the rue. Of course, having raised Shetland's for their wool on my little farm here in Oregon for 20 years does make me a touch biased !! This looks like a GREAT use for all those felted bits we used to skirt off the belly and brisket of the fleece. BTW, we just had to put down our oldest wether, Griffin. He was within a few weeks of turning 19, and he still had a great appetite, right up to the end. Arthritis fused his hips and knees, and I couldn't keep lifting/moving him 2-3 times a day... This old man's back isn't what it used to be.

Loved this! Great experiment. One thing to perhaps consider, regarding the angles the large was held at.. Whilst the angle did indeed see a beneficial effect, in angling it, one actually decreases the amount of the body it is covering, leading to a increased chance that the bullet would miss it entirely and hit the man... Again,.. great project! Thank you.

I fully expected the first two to be effective, more so the second one. I use a Targe with wool insert in full contact fighting. Between the studs, leather, wool and red deer pelt on back, I feel nothing through it. Even if it's hot by a mace or halberd. As Paul says at the end, lots of studs. They deflect balls and blades 😁

Thank you for setting this up lads! Amazing historical content. Shows the older generations weren't stupid bringing shields into a firefight. Now I want to see a historical movie based off of this.

"Well; we did not qualify what type of whiskey, nor the size of the bottle." 24:24.... I fell off my chair laughing. Great all round on this vid, engaging presenters, solid knowledge base, fascinating subject matter. I just wish I could smell the Scots Pine, heather and black powder smoke. Thank you all. I have entered... I hope that helps you out. m out

With metal armour often pistol proof armour was musket proof at 100+ meters, not too far to run before they reload. The same layering happened with armour, there's a number of duplex armours held together with rivets. I do wonder if a oak backed with soft wood and wool lined would be a good combination.

I was thinking hardwood all the way, as well, Tom. Really surprising! Super video!

There’s a targe with no metal studs at Culloden which has several musket ball holes and no sign of them coming through the back (which can’t be seen as it’s displayed unfortunately). My suspicion is that this was hit at the longer range of musket range by a volley of fire, but we’ll never know.

Excellent shooting from that chap

When a big superior office pushes you with a shield..... its a "large Sarge Targe Barge"

Thanks for seeking out answers to questions I didn't know I wanted to ask!

Absolutely loved this video, excellent mix of education and charm. One of the bits that surprised me the most was how effective the studs were, I knew they weren’t just decoration but I hadn’t imagined how useful they would be.

Great work! The results of this practical demonstration were surprising. The second softwood targe performed better than I expected and as for the hardwood targe - well, hopefully, you live learn. Thank you.

I love your videos. I found you going down a RU-vid rabbit hole on Scottish history. Hope you keep making these wonderful videos. Love from across the pond in America!

Gather a bunch of grown men, armor and weapons and you have a bunch of big kids having a laugh and enjoying the nice weather outside. I love your videos and it just makes me want to go revisit Scotland!

Outstanding video! Your hard work and dedication to detail really shows cheers!

15:37 "that saved his heed" man i love me some scottish accent

Very interesting. Minor point given the results but 90 grains is rather a low charge for a musket. The British land service musket was charged with just under (due to priming allowance) 6 drams, or 164 grains (again, minus a small amount for priming). That would carry it a lot further than 150 yards (accuracy notwithstanding) - out to 600 yards, albeit with very little effect at that distance. The bullet is certainly low at 150 yards, but more like striking the legs than hitting the ground.

Outstanding video! You gentlemen showed the very Scottish way to entertain selves in a countryside. Interesting, authentic, picturesque - all what expected from this great channel. Greetings from Ukraine! 🇺🇦🤝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Fantastic video, seeing how close range the shooting was back then with the powder and shield splinters flying everywhere... they really were a different breed back then.

I predict pistol stopped by all, but only hardwood and felt shield stopping the musket ..... editing in results now...... Putting in extra lines to prevent spoilers for those who haven't watched the video .... And nailed it for the pistol, but off on the musket. That softwood flex advantage surprised me. Conclusions: At longer ranges maybe the targe has some battlefield merit, but given the lacklustre overall protection against muskets (and canister from small cannons) and small coverage, it doesn't really seem worth it. Still super epic that next-level hectic dudes with swords and shields were charging gun formations. I'm all stirred up thinking about it.

This may not be related but I read in "The Comanches, Lords of the South Plains"(I think), that they (and presumably other Plains tribes) used to reinforce their shields with sheets of paper (from a book). So an inch or so of pressed paper between two specially thickened sheets of buffalo rawhide. Just a thought.

I love this video! Such thorough testing! I wasn't expecting them to work THAT well. If I were a musketeer I'd actually be pretty worried about a Targe-Charge, even against a normal amount of studs!

Wonderful test. Truly fascinating results. More of this type of testing please!

I always wondered where the word target came from, perhaps or maybe it derives from the word Targe.

I think this definitely also proves that you don’t need to cover the whole shield in metal. The amount of times that Raymond hit a stud was quite impressive. Well done to all of you, and thanks for the time and effort put in to bringing us a lovely, informative video. Really interesting stuff, cheers!

13:20 I am reminded of tank armor that is often slanted at an angle, so that any projectile has to punch through a slightly thicker piece of armor. The possibility of "bouncing" a shot is higher when they are not a perpendicular hit.

These Lads, had fun making this presentation! Well done, I say!

That is a nice and impressive result👍 How about a test with a brown bess first pattern. That would be more or less the weapon of the oponing red coats. The load is somewere about 120 to 150 grains. The 75cal ball has a diameter 19.2mm and is much more heavy than the 69cal from the charleville musket. The chrlevile is clearly the technical better weapon with a better acuracy but the impact from the brown bess is way stronger. For sure i do not want to hold that targe not against both of them 🤣🤣

Good video, only thing is they would of been using heavier charges in their muskets than 90 grains of powder. The standard charge was 165 grains of powder. 20 grains for priming the rest down the barrel. Tests in 1811 showed they would penetrate 1inch of wood at 300yards. These heavier charges are not that uncomfortable to shoot and probably go along to explain why being shot by a musket resulted in amputations as they really do break up bones. Smoothbore guns are also quite a bit more accurate than they are usually given credit for. Cheers keep up the great videos.

The targe's design and materials made a huge difference in how the firearm's force impacts. Fascinating how the wool and soft wood functioned!

That low kneeling shooting position is perfect! as a former Marine infantryman and rifle instructor I thought I’d let you know Cheers!

This is a fandabi-fabulous piece of practical testing, very well done! An excellent watch that's answered a LOT of questions, great job guys. (Also might be the most Scottish thing I've ever seen between the three of ya's)

Okay, I used to hunt with a black powder muzzle loading rifle, in .50 caliber. When I used round ball, I would have to be very careful with bullet placement. Often the round ball would make the same sized hole going out, as it did going in. Unless it hit bone. More people back in the day of the smooth bore musket died from a wound festering, and getting infected. Then from the ball itself.

Outstanding investigation surprising outcome!!!!!! Thank you.

Putting in another comment ..... the musketeer is an excellent shot, very impressive shooting with sightless smooth bores. And highly enjoyable video, thanks very much

Epic video!!! What wonderful lessons we can learn by getting out and experimenting. Interesting to think that hundreds of years ago men may have done similar experiments as they pushed for better and better equipment.

Scotland genuinely looks like a colder version of where I live in East Tennessee in the United States. Which is appropriate because the area was predominately immigrated to by Scottish people. We still have regular Scottish games here too, including sheep herding, the hammer throw, HEMA events, and of course the caber toss.

Great experiments, great video! The fact that these shields can reliably stop those pistol bullets is already impressive, and while i wouldn't exactly call them bulletproof, they certainly give you a much better chance at survival than not having a neat little shield like this.

Keep up the good work, effort pays of man. Realy enoy your videos.

What is the bore of the firearm, what's the weight of the ball, and what's the charge type and weight? These variables are rather important.

Amazing video and loved a lot of details... but especially the outfits!

Outstanding video! I knew they would be able to deflect the bullets but out right stopping them! 🤩 so glad to see the highland way is still the pinnacle of 18th century volley an charge.

Really interesting experiment! Fascinating stuff!

Really interesting and informative! So I should be smothering my targe in studs!

The Scottish answer to Todd's Workshop's "Arrows VS Armor" tests. I wholeheartedly approve.

I love the way the hair stands on end in that last high speed shot. It’s fascinating.

I missed you so much man!!! As always - AWESOME VIDEO! Thanks for sharing your life with us :)

Surprising results from a brilliant bit of historical reconstruction.

As always, another great video. Keep 'em coming, mate.🧙‍♂

Amazing video! My Grandad used to make Target's but he always said he didn't think they could actually stop bullets. He'll be chuffed to find they can actually have worked.

A very well rounded video. Good work.

Here in the US, during the American Revolution, before he switched sides, some of the most decisive battles for the Colonials were fought and won by none other than Benedict Arnold. One where he was in command was the Battle of Valcour Island, where Arnold was in charge of a makeshift fleet of gunboats and he put his fleet up against the larger and better armed British fleet on Lake Champlain, New York and the majority of the battle took place near Valcour Island. Arnold's gunboats had makeshift armor made of fascines that were hung from the rigging to protect the crews from musket fire from the shoreline from the Mohawk warriors who were aligned with the British. Last year I tested some fascine armor with a .58 roundball and found that the ball was more likely to be deflected. But recently I've seen some more examples of the fascine that were thicker than I made mine so I plan to retest it with a .75 doglock musket, something that would have been likely to be in the hands of a Mohawk in 1777. I recently witnesses a live fire exercise at Fort Ticonderoga where they were shooting at a large single pieces of wooden plank some two inches thick with Brown Bess muskets using paper cartridges and .69 roundballs. It was shocking that some made it through and some didn't.

Thanks for a fascinating and well-done video! As another commenter has already said, I wonder about the virtues of mixing woods when building a targe.

This was brilliant! If you had asked me a few days ago about the effectiveness of wooden shields against bullets I would have been dismissive of them... It seems I was wrong. The tests seemed to be competently executed and I liked the explanations and theory crafting between. These really gave it a lot of extra value. Also, is there anyone with an explanation for the amount of times it hid a stud? I would have assumed that the odds of hitting a stud were very small. Lucky strikes so to speak. Instead it seemed like the bullets were almost drawn to them. I am willing to assume that the angle might have made them into a bigger target (percentwise) than they otherwise would have been, but even then that's a large amount of times those studs were shot.

He'll never fire three rounds a minute in any weather loading at that speed

thats really cool. fresh breath of air between the binge youtube stuff. good job!

Little bit of context for people that might not have familiarity with blackpowder firearm loads. Round balls from a smoothbore barrel have significantly less range and accuracy than modern bullets, and they lose energy faster due to the sub-optimal aerodynamics, but I want to talk about the powder charge. The 50 grain charge in the pistol is basically a medium game load. The .38-55 (.38 caliber bullet with 55 grain powder charge) is still in production today for whitetail deer. 90 grains in the musket is a large game load. Sharps developed the .50-90 back in the 19th century to hunt buffalo.

Very interesting testing. I wonder how an oak over softwood with a felt core would work targe would work. The hard oak face to deform the ball and the softwood as splinter protection.

Absolutely loved this video ballistic shields of the 1700's and that's probably why in days gone past even with leather armour and plenty of layers and padding you were able to move fairly freely but still somewhat protected. I think way more damage was done by artillery and bayonet even as a military veteran who with modern body armour close up hand to hand combat was the most scary thing. Thanks a million for doing this video. It was truly fandabbydozy

Genuinely fascinating! Great work! 👏

It would be very interesting to see what effect a mixture of soft and hard wood would achieve. Great video.

Throughly enjoyable video, great content

Really enjoyed this video, thank you

Fantastic to all who were evolved in this, keep them coming.

Great video. Very interesting and it looks like you all had a great time filming it.

Thanks guys, what a great experiment, seems there's a fairly high chance of hitting those studs.

This was quite fascinating. Great research source

Amazing video as always

Absolutely brilliant guys!

These results is a good information for my own Display as a Highland Gentleman. Thanks for That!

i love to see historic science like this. Great work everyone

Those are beautiful Targes! And basket hilt! I made my own Targe, sort if a copy from Stones Glossary. I couldnt make the "Umbro or Umbo" quite right - just a flat round piece of brass, and no removable center spike.

Your poor old Figure 12 'witness plate' copped a hammering for the cause. ;) Great video from three people I'm very lucky to call friend. : ) It was absolutely fascinating to see how the different materials/construction fared.

I expected the tilted targe to have some success, absorbing most of the muskets energy and maybe stopping the pistol. I very much did not expect the targes to be pretty much pistol proof.

Very interesting video, it would be interesting to hear more about any techniques one might use when carrying a pistol alongside other weapons, be that targe and sword or perhaps maybe carrying a pistol alongside a Lochaber axe or some other polearm.

I say, the Chap under that blue cap is a damn good shot..! Now who would have EVER thought, that the those rather quaint little targes, "shields" that look more fitting in the ancient world. Than the enlighten times of the 17th 18th Centuries. With Firelocks that punch VERY hard and heavy, large chunks of flying lead. But yet the increased chances of survival for the combatant holding one is greatly increased.. A very smart design...

Excellent!! Very interesting experiments. At those calibers, I'm surprised they stopped anything. Great video work to show what happened also. Thanks for this.

It was just like a day out with the lads . Cracking vlog , great company : )

Cool! I was surprised that the angle made such a difference.