Visually  inspect during assembly, the gun barrel and carriage components and ensure they are in sound condition and correctly assembled.

Black powder preparation

This is to be carried out in a tidy area, well away from any sources of ignition. The black powder charges are pr-measured into cartridges made from paper, only the amount of cartridges required for a given display will be made and all cartridges a stored in a wooden box with a fasten able lid.

A master gunner is identified for the display, this person may have any position within the gun crew, but it is normal for this person to be the gun captain. This person must hold a valid shotgun and explosives acquire certificate. Under normal circumstances the gun crew will consist of three members, the gun captain who will load the charges and oversee the operation of the gun crew for the duration of the display the first crew member will use the ramrod and the wet swab, the second crew member will use the screw and the dry swab.

All members of the gun crew must be trained prior to any operation of the gun, they must be familiar with all the tools and fully understand the reasons for there various operations. At all times the gun crew must wear leather gloves.

Prior to any display all gun tools will be checked any found to be defective will be discarded and replaced. The gun captain will keep his priming powder in a measured powder flask, he will use only a non- ferrous cartridge pricker and use only a linstock and match for gun ignition.

The piece will always be positioned in such a way that it is never aimed at any persons and with the barrel of the gun at maximum elevation. The box containing the powder charges will be placed to the rear of the gun at a distance of no less than six feet. The tools will be placed on the appropriate side of the piece. The piece will always be cleaned prior to any discharge at the beginning of any display, at no time is any member of the gun crew to position themselves in front of the gun barrel during its operation in any display.

At no time will any crew member place his, her hands over the end of any gun tools, all tools must be used only with hands wrapped around the tool shaft, in the case of the ramrod and screw they have been made with extra long shafts as these are the only tools put into the barrel when it is charged.

The gun captain will open the powder box, remove a single cartridge and close the powder box. The gun captain will place the cartridge in the end of the gun barrel and indicates to a crew- member they may ram home the charge. The crew- member will then using the ramrod gently slide the charge to the base of the barrel and ram it home firmly. The crew- member will then remove the ramrod and place it ready for the next operation.

The gun captain will then pierce the paper cartridge using a non- ferrous pricker through the touch- hole. The gun captain will use his powder flask to fill the touch- hole with fine powder to prime the piece.

A crew-member is then nominated to fire the piece and handed the linstock with the burning slow match in place, any build up of ash on the slow match will be removed as this may prevent ignition of the priming powder.

A final check is made to ensure that the field of fire is clear, at no time will the piece be fired if there is any doubt as to the safety of others and or the gun-crew.

After the piece has been fired scraps of paper and powder residue will remain inside the barrel. It is essential that this material is removed / extinguished to ensure no pr-ignition of a charge occurs during the loading operation.

The screw is used to remove any paper remaining in the barrel. It is possible to identify whether there is any paper remaining by the sound the tool makes while rotating against the bottom of the barrel.

The wet swab is then slid to the end of the barrel and rotated, the gun captain then places a finger over the touch-hole and the swab is removed in a single motion. This process creates a vacuum which, together with the water from the wet swab, helps to extinguish any remaining embers.

The dry swab is then slid to the end of the barrel and rotated to dry the barrel after the wet swab has been used. The gun captain again places his finger over the touch-hole during the removal of the dry swab.

The piece is now ready for loading and firing.

 On occasions the may fail to fire the main charge when the priming charge is ignited.

In the case of a misfire the gun captain will always clear the touch–hole using the pricker and check that the paper cartridge has been pricked, the piece can then be primed again and fired as normal.

The above process may be repeated, but if it becomes clear that the charge will not fire then the charge must be removed using the screw. Extreme care must be exercised while carrying out this operation to ensure that the charge is not ignited accidentally.

Procedures written by A. Horsefield  Buckinghams Retinue Gun Captain.