A 'bang', and the bullet would be shot out.
The convenience of his gun is even less than the most primitive flintlock gun.
The accuracy doesn't seem any stronger either.
But it's indeed less troublesome to shoot.
He used flax soaked in sodium nitrate for the flint. Tried it out and it worked okay.
The barrel was made from steel rods. First, he used a manual lathe to drill a meter-deep hole, then shaved the outside round using a hand lathe to reduce weight.
Although his lathe wasn't precise enough, it was barely adequate for this kind of work.
He made bullets with wrought iron and also used a lathe for cutting and drilling holes.
He was eager to quickly improve the precision of his homemade lathe.
The chamber at the back of the barrel was crafted from wrought iron, with a seam on the side allowing some gunpowder to leak out.
The chamber had a lid that could be lifted to load bullets.
The bullet had to be manually inserted into the barrel.
