You could always tell a marsh/fens punt gunner,,,he was normally the really ugly guy in the corner of the pub.
Looked like the lashings for the gun came loose and he stopped the recoil with his face.
(Honestly, this used to happen.)
What do you think would happen when about 25lbs of gun, propelled by 3/4lb of B/P, trying to shift the equivalent weight of shot, came loose???
"Splat",,,ooh, that smarts!

UKshooter