Initially the fort was equipped with between 26 and 28 artillery pieces, including brass demi-cannons, culverins, demi-culverins and a falconet, and wrought-iron guns, such as portpieces, bases and slings. After 1568, the castle typically held around nine or ten guns for most of the 16th century, including cannons, demi-cannons, culverins and demi-culverins. Brass guns could fire more quickly, up to eight times an hour, and were safer to use than their iron equivalents. It is uncertain how far the castle's guns could have reached; analysis carried out in the 16th and 17th century on the ranges of artillery suggested that a culverin, for example, could hit at a target up to between and away.