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I flippantly mentioned in this thread : https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=372649 The idea of Genghis Khans descendants developing carbines and cannons, and using them to conquer the world.

This is why I thought I'd ask, what is the earliest a flintlock musket (and therefore theoretically a flintlock carbine, if primitive and simply rifled) could be developed?

The three (four) biggest problems I can see are

1) Metallurgy -> most primitive cannons and hand-cannons were heavy, because of the sheer amount of metal involved. Who would have the best metallurgy, or be on the cusp of developing it, that a small PoD could take advantage of.

2) Loading -> You can't load a musket on a horse. You can with levies, and I imagine a Mongol army could use ammunition-controlled levy-musketmen very well. Horsemen however, not so easy because it is difficult to load. Is there some other horse-mounted method that could be used?

3) Firing -> Honestly, I can't see this working without Flintlocks, a matchlock carbine is an interesting idea, but I don't it being reliable.

4) Gunpowder -> Actually developing gunpowder to be used this way
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