How many guns did Christopher Columbus take on his expedition?

Answer 1

His journals doesn't list the numbers of weapons, but a good guess would be that each man most likely had one. So, on his ship that would have been 42. He also had 25 cats to keep down the rats.

The SpanishExplorersat the time of 1492 may have had some matchlock rifles with them, but Muskets did not become common place until the 16th Century. Crossbows, Pikes and Swords would have been the go to weapons of Columbus era soldiers. That being said, the Spanish would have still been more then enough for the Natives, as their forged steal and armor was far better then the Native wood and stone weapons.

Answer 2

On the FIRST voyage (Columbus made several) there were between 86 and 89 crew members. Firearms were rather rare, and if there were any, they would have been matchlock muskets, known as an "harquebus". Later vessels were armed with cannon and swivel guns (mounted small cannon fired by one man). However, the first crew members were merchant sailors, not a military force. Arms would have been few, and edged weapons such as knives, swords and pikes more common.