Hi Martin,
What my friend Armin, who built this gun for you, told you can be but repeated by me: our own experimentation is the most important thing to exploring such 500- to 600-year-old details that have become outdated long since.
Alas, no real sort of 'owner's manual' to using tinder is known. I am sure though that Johann Heinrich Zedler, in the many volumes of his Universal-Lexikon (1st half to mid-18th century), also included the entries 'Schwamm' and 'Zunder' (German for tinder), giving older sources as well. All the big university libraries have copies of Zedler's Lexikon, so all you have to do is look for the last volume.
I have, in the course of the years, tried to post all early sources showing the use of tinder in gun igniting mechanisms. What I could not find, however, were rules concerning the single steps of the loading procedure for such guns. I trust, though, that the common sense and a combination of sanity and reason will reliably guide you.
Best,
Michael
|