The Musket
The muskets in common use during the English Civil Wars were matchlock muskets. These were muzzle loaded and used a length of burning cord or ‘match’ to explode the gunpowder and fire the musket ball, a cheap and simple mechanism. Other types of  gun existed and were used for specialist jobs such as guarding gunpowder where having lengths of burning cord was inadvisable but the cheapness and simplicity of the matchlock meant it was used by the fighting groups or 'divisions’ of musketeers.

The musketeers carried all the gunpowder they would use in a battle in a set of wooden containers, each carrying a measured amount of powder for one shot, hanging from a leather belt around their neck, a short sword and of course the matchlock itself. They had to be carefully trained on how to handle both the ‘gun’ and the burning match that they carried alight all the time so they were safe and did not shoot each other or set off each others powder by mistake. They fought by firing in volleys with single ranks or files firing in turn.

We will provide the musket, the powder and the training needed to make your time in the musket division as exciting and as safe as possible. You will unfortunately be unable to fire in battle until you have acquired a black powder licence and a shotgun licence. These are only available through the police and there is a charge for their issue. You can still be part of the division and be in the battles however without firing.