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I just bunged them into Google for the translations. I vaguely recall it was about 124 grains, but then I am hard of counting. Loved that musket but it has gone into good hands and it went to pay for an original Baker Rifle so it was all for the best.

The Honourable East India Company standard issue load for percussion 0,75” muskets was 120 grains of a coarse powder. For flintlocks a little more was used to allow for priming the pan but we are safer these days and prime separately after loading. When I was using one of their original 1843...

It may be that he is using a smaller ‘pound’ than the modern Imperial one. There were many types of ‘pounds’ and would differ by locality. Hence one sometimes saw it qualified, such as ‘apothecary’s‘ or ‘Nuremberg’.

I would mention that the bulk of British officers were middle class from comfortably off families rather than wealthy ones. The purchase of a commission being a very substantial investment in their future career and a burden to their families. Commissioning from the ranks was uncommon, but not...

One notes that the French were able to ship large numbers of muskets to the rebels and ship the bulk of the powder they used. The government had several companies and regiments of their German allies come armed with rifles, ordered substantial numbers of the same from German makers, similarly...

The Russians updated their copy Brunswick army rifles from the belted ball to a winged conical getting a much greater range and updated the sights to match. The ‘express’ rifle began as Purdy’s 2 groove conical winged bullets. The belted ball was practical but the winged conical had more...

Can be viewed and downloaded at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=S4gAYMN9RBEC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

These, and a few hundred thousand others, were sold from the USA to the Ottoman government for conversion to breechloaders. Some in Belgium and some in Turkey. Both by the Snider and the very similar Polivache systems. Enfields and Springfields. These were indeed still serving the Ottoman army...

Trivia but this is a picture of a blacksmith at HER forge. Female blacksmiths were not uncommon then. Even in living memory in the Black Country in the English Midlands chain making was done by hand in back street small forges and the smaller chains were forged by the women.

Tangential to the nomenclature issue: when the British, post Mutiny, rearmed their Indian sepoys, they kept the rifled Pattern 1853 for European troops and made a smoothbore version for Indian sepoys. This was termed the Pattern 1859 Enfield Musket. It came with front and rear sights, just...

I believe the Venetians were establishing cotton production in Cyprus around about the start of the 16th century and FWIW Brescia is not so far from Venice itself.

Rick, is that matchcord in your photograph above strands of hemp wrapped in a spiral of some thread? Something for my bucket list…………… john

Very nice Cyten. Do you have any more Bulgarian photographs?

‘ The Deveopment, Technology and Application Mechanised Manufacture to the Enfield Pattern 1853 and the Achievement of Interchagability‘ is a Doctorate thesis of Peter Smithurst publicly available and can be found at: https://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/35383/1/FINAL%20THESIS%20SMITHURST.pdf...

The ‘Khyber’ copies of 0,303” Martinis, Lee Metfords and Lee Enfields were sometimes loaded with reused British 0,303” cartridges. With the primers reused with red match head materials and ground glass. The powder being finely chopped nitrate film stock and the bullets also used and filed smooth...

The British had very little say in their own taxation at the time, hence the Chartist riots and movement later on. The King was a red herring. Parliament reigned supreme. Elected by a the small proportion of property holders. Rebel irregular riflemen doubtless did sterling work for the...

America was a money pit for Britain. It cost large amounts to defend it at the cost of the British exchequer and the inhabitants threw a wobbly when asked to actually pay towards their own defence despite being much more lightly taxed than their British counterparts. When it came to a choice...

Was that Noel Corry? I saw a copy of the guide to his collection a couple of years ago. Fascinating miscellany.

It was commonplace in the Muslim world so doubtless in India. Interference fit and forging would be easier though if you had no large die and tap. Which is the trickier bit to make than the actual use of them.