Hello Rick and the others,
I didn't pay attention to this before but, in deed, we can see the cords on the pictures close to most of the guns, at least the ones with the pistol grip handle, except the more modern ones with a wider butt (3rd pic). I think mine is not flintlock but matchlock, like the one we see on the photos.
The opening at the end of the barrel is 1,8 cm and the length of the barrel is 120 cm (total length with the wooden butt : 135 cm )
On all the old pics I have seen, I have never noticed a ramrod. How come ?
I join here two other pics of the barrel and two of the gunpowder flask and horn that these people were using. The gunpowder tubes and leather case are in the collections of the Rev. MacKay that stayed in Taiwan from 1871 till his death in 1901. The shell inlaid powder horn was made by the Puyuma tribe (south of Taiwan) (I'm the happy owner).
Unfortunately, I have to say that the barrel of the gun has been filled with something. I guess this is a reminiscence from the Martial Law time in Taiwan (1949-1987) when all the weapons here were forbidden or neutralised by fear that they could be used by the communists to take over the island.
Concerning the initial location where the barrel was made (Europe?), or when it was made, do you have any idea ?
Thanks a lot for your answers
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