Historical Artifacts

https://www.runjeetsingh.com/inventory/130/chinese_musket

The Yongzheng Emperor decreed in 1727 that “The Imperial Army’s standard-issue musket (niaoqiang—literally, ‘bird-spear’) is capable of penetrating armour with sharp projectiles. It is most convenient. On the flat terrains of the interior provinces, the bow and arrow are to be used. In the coastal and border provinces, with their high mountains and dense provinces, the musket is to be used. In the interior provinces, every thousand soldiers are to be given three hundred muskets. In the coastal and border provinces, every thousand soldiers are to be given four hundred muskets.”

Lianming, in his article An Overview of Qing-Dynasty Guns, states that in some strategically important provinces, the numbers of muskets and soldiers even reached parity—evidence of the importance of firearms to Qing rulers.

This example is of typical Qing form, having a slightly curved wooden stock, and a long iron barrel with flared muzzle set with front and rear sights. The stock has two belt rings (one being a later replacement) for attaching a shoulder sling. To fire the gun the barrel was first loaded with gunpowder and a lead ball was rammed tightly on top using a ramrod. The pan was then primed with gunpowder. Next, a match (a thin rope previously soaked with saltpeter, then dried) was placed in the match holder. The end of this match was lit, which then smouldered until it was lowered into the pan by squeezing the trigger. The match then lit the priming charge, which in turn ignited the main charge situated in the breech via the touch hole. As the gunpowder burned instantly (exploded) a huge volume of gas was produced which fired the lead ball from the barrel. The original leather match cover is still attached to the stock, and is testimony to the high state of preservation of this musket, the bright red cinnabar lacquer being a striking feature of this rare survivor from Chinese military history.

This .28-caliber percussion pistol with a distinctive underhammer design was made in Qualla Town, now Cherokee, North Carolina in 1843. Inscriptions in English and Cherokee identify it as the work of Salola, a blacksmith of the Oconaluftee Cherokee.

Underhammer pistols were popular from the mid-1830s until the Civil War. Sometimes called bootleg pistols, underhammers were easily constructed, were easy to carry and draw, offered an unobstructed line of sight for aiming, and provided a measure of safety from exploding percussion caps to the shooter's eyes.

From Smithsonian Institute.

https://www.runjeetsingh.com/inventory/163/arabian_musket

From Library of Congress.

At the National Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, Missouri.

Edit to add more context from the museum site:

The stage coach-style passenger coach of Boston & Providence Railroad was designed and built by John Lightner in Boston & Providence Railroad shops. The Boston & Providence Railroad Coach is the oldest original American railway passenger coach. Built in 1833, resembling an early stagecoach, it has four wheels and is constructed of wood, with an iron frame and leather straps supporting the body. The car was made three years after the first U.S. Steam locomotive was built in 1830. At first horse-drawn, it was later pulled behind the first steam engine that traveled between Boston, MA and Providence, RI. The coach was exhibited with the "Daniel Nason" locomotive at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893) and in New York (1939-1940). In 1982, it was among 8,500 items auctioned from the estate of a wealthy businessman. That year it was contributed to the Museum by the "Friends of the Danbury Collection."

By Nationalmuseet, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90400464

https://www.runjeetsingh.com/inventory/164/lantaka_cannon