The Transbaikal Regional Museum of Local Lore houses a matchlock gun made at the end of the 18th century. There is a special hole on its body to which a burning rod was brought in order to ignite the powder and make a shot.

Another type of gun was called a flintlock gun, which had a piece of flint inside. When the trigger was pulled, the flint struck a steel plate and the sparks ignited the gunpowder.

In the European part of Russia, matchlock muskets were most common. The first Russian explorers of Siberia used both types. It was not always possible to find the match cord in cold and damp climates, so the locals and the military installed flintlock mechanisms into the matchlock guns which were sent to them.

In 1658, the Siberian Cossacks took part in the battle with Manchurian and Korean armies. General Shin Ryu in his diary described the captured trophies — Russian weapons — and marveled at the flintlock mechanisms in the rifles:

The rifles were sent to the first Russian explorers from the central regions of the country. Towns and ostrogs (small fortresses) tried to always have spare ones. In case of shortage, voivodes (local military governors) had to “write about it to the tsar in Moscow… and from Moscow they would send them arquebuses, as many as possible.”

In practice, however, it was not possible to build up stocks: almost all guns were distributed to servicemen, and the ones left in storage were usually in poor condition. In 1682, the Nerchinsk voivode Fyodor Voyeikov wrote to Moscow that “in the town of Nerchinsk… all guns are rusty, and some other weapons are damaged and broken. These guns are useless for shooting … and in Albazinsk… the arquebuses are bad and unreliable. They blow up during shooting and hurt people”. In addition, most Siberian towns and islands did not have gunsmiths who could repair old and broken guns.

Each serviceman was financially responsible for his gun. Thus, they always handled their weapons with extra care.