In the North Caucasus, gazyrs (gazyry) was a name for cartridge cases, which were made from hollow wooden, bone or reed tubes. There was a hole in the bottom of each such tube, into which the gun ramrod went freely. With it, they drove felt wadding into the gazyr, then poured inside a charge of gunpowder. From above, such a case was plugged with a bullet wrapped in a piece of cloth.

To load a gun, the bullet from the gazyr was taken out with teeth, and the gunpowder from the cartridge case was poured into the gun barrel. Then, with the ramrod they drove the wadding there through the hole in the bottom and put the bullet together with the fabric: thus, it lay firmer in the barrel.

The word ‘gazyr’ came from the Adyghe khzhyrkher – ‘ready’. They were called so because such ammunition made it possible to quickly prepare weapons for firing and reload them in a few seconds.

The main advantage of gazyrs was their waterproofness. A warrior could be caught in the rain or the snow, lie on a damp soil, cross over a mountain river – but his gunpowder in such a case always remained dry and ready for use. Sometimes not only bullets were stored in gazyrs, but also dry chips that could be used to light a bonfire.

Gazyrs appeared in the North Caucasus in the 16th–17th centuries, along with firearms. At first, they were carried in leather ammunition pouches, which were worn on the shoulder or fastened to the belt. Each tube with a charge was placed in a separate pocket of such a bag. However, the Adyghes wore many other objects on the belt, and this arrangement of the pouch was inconvenient. Therefore, soon they began to sew gazyr cases onto traditional men’s clothing — chokha. They were sewn onto the chest, symmetrically on both sides of the clasp of the robe. Gazyrs were fixed at a special angle so that, if necessary, they protected the chest from being hit by a shashka. In total, on clothing there could be from 16 to 24 such cases.

Gradually, firearms changed and improved. Gazyr cases lost their purpose, but remained a characteristic part of the male Adyghe costume. For ceremonial chokhas, they served as a status decoration: noble Adyghes during solemn occasions wore silver gazyrs with engraving.