The guns were fired using linstocks.
These appear to have been the property of individual gunners.
They are wooden poles with a carved hand grip and a head that
is usually carved to resemble an open-mouthed dragon. The slow match was wound around
the body of the linstock with the smouldering end of the match
held between the "jaws" of the dragon.
The calibre of the shot was checked using wooden shot gauges and a copper alloy gunner's rule. This was calibrated on one side for iron shot and on the reverse for lead shot. opper alloy powder scoops were used to load the powder cartridges into the guns, and wooden rams forced the charges and wads home. The charges were pricked with priming wires and the bores sealed with wooden tampions.
Shot gauge, powder scoops, rams and shot
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