Hands on Tauranga offers students stimulating and original learning opportunities with real museum objects that support the New Zealand curriculum at primary and secondary school level.
A round lead musket ball and musket cap also know as a percussion cap.
Invented in the 16th Century to be fired from a musket and widely used by the 1700s it changed warfare forever. Balls are loaded into the barrel of the musket loosely wrapped in a paper patch and backed with gun powder. The musket cap was used to ignite the powder charge behind the ball.
To learn about the Musket Wars of the early 1800's in Aotearoa click here > https://teara.govt.nz/en/musket-wars
Click here to see an image showing the varying cost of a musket in the early 1800's
https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/38078/musket-costs
Click here to see an image of māori warriors performing a haka with muskets along with traditional māori weapons - mere pounamu (greenstone club) and taiaha (fighting staff)
https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/38079/haka-with-muskets
date: 16th century replica
max dimension: 17mm
subject area: Social Science
specific themes: War, Military, Conflict
handling collection number: HC68
