O.k., here are the real things from my collection - ammunition from five centuries:
- extreme left, standing upright: a glass with a ball and powder load extracted from a ca. 1470 Nuremberg bronze haquebut barrel; the powder pillar measures about seven ball lengths!
- next from left: ball moulds from ca. 1500-1580
- foreground left: linen patches, 17th-19th centuries, felt plugs (waddings) of the same period; paper cartridges, 16th/17th centuries, and cast lead balls retaining their sprue (German
Gusszapfen) for binding into a paper cartridge
- foreground, right half: two hemp waddings, a length of matchcord, a piece of tinder, French 'blond' gun flints retaining their lead or leather linings, and excavated reddish brown pyrites for wheel-locks retaining their original lead lining (
Bleifutter)!
- background right: earthenware grenades and a small iron hand grenade, Thirty Years War, all retaining their original fillings and fuses!
- a fuse cut sectionally, made from a thick dried grass stem and hollowed out to receive the powder line still present!
These are by far the greatest rarities ever to get your hands on, and not even available in the big museums!
Best,
Michael