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Originally Posted by ward
The only similarities are that they all are containers.
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Well Ward.......you're right. LOL
Kubur: Yes, I agree with what you are saying ref different styles for different Regions. We do have historical evidence that many of these small containers were in fact utilized to carry a Koran. But I've never seen any real evidence that the Ottoman/Greek style of Palaska, as shown above, was actually used to carry pre-formed cartridges for the pistols. But most of the reference material I have read refer to this paticular style as bullet containers. Maybe one of our Forum members as seen more conclusive evidence ?
One day a while back, curiosity had me try an experiment. I went to the shooting range to test my theory. I made up 10 pre-formed paper cartidges. 5 will fit inside each container very neatly in a vertical fashion. I fastened the belt around my waist and a Suma Rod suspended around my neck, and holding the pistol in my left hand. Using my right hand thumb, it was very quick and easy to open the lid of the container, grab a cartridge, and close the lid. Then tear off the powder end of the cartridge, prime the pan, then use the rest of the powder, ball and paper (as wadding) in the barrel with one push of the Suma Rod. (Today you would want to prime the pan last for safety reasons. But that was the procedure back in the period to increase the speed of loading). It was actually much faster retrieving the cartridge from these little containers than a leather pouch with a flap. I can't seem to envision priming the pan of a flintlock pistol while the horse is at a gallop. LOL But once the horse is still, I can see this would be a quick and convenient way to reload.
At least from a shooter's perspective, the theory seems to hold up. But again, it is still just my theory. I still have no historical evidence. It just may be a coincidence. Anyway, it was a fun experiment.
Rick