Flintlock mechanism

thumb|A flintlock pistol made by [[Thomas Ketland|Ketland]]

thumb|right|Sparks generated by a flintlock mechanism

The flintlock mechanism is a type of lock used on muskets, rifles, and pistols from the early 17th to the mid-19th century. It is commonly referred to as a "flintlock" (without the word mechanism). The term is also used for the weapons themselves as a whole, and not just the lock mechanism.

The flintlock mechanism, also known as the true flintlock, was developed in France in the early 17th century. It quickly replaced earlier technologies, such as the matchlock, wheellock and earlier flintlocks. It continued to be in common use for over two centuries, until it was finally replaced by the percussion lock.

History

Flintlock firing mechanisms made their appearance in the 16th century in the form of the snaplock, the snaphance, the miquelet, and the doglock. The so-called true flintlock was developed in France in the early 17th century. Though its exact origins are not known, credit for the development of the true flintlock is usually given to Marin le Bourgeoys,

The key element apparently added by Marin le Bourgeoys was the vertically acting sear. The sear is a "catch" or "latch" which holds the mechanism in a position ready to fire; the trigger acts upon, or is part of, the sear, releasing it and allowing a strong spring to act on the mechanism to fire the gun. Previously the sear, located within the lock, had acted through a hole in the lockplate to engage the cock on the outside of the plate. The vertically acting sear acted on a piece called the tumbler, on the inside of the lock which was mounted on the same rotating shaft as the cock. This design proved to be the most efficient in terms of cost and reliability.

Construction and operation

A typical flintlock mechanism has a piece of flint which is held in place in between a set of jaws on the end of a short hammer (sometimes called the "cock" due to its shape resembling a rooster's beak). Before shooting, the hammer is pulled back into a spring-tensioned (or "cocked") position. Pulling the trigger disengages the sear and releases the hammer, which swings forward causing the flint to strike a piece of steel called the "frizzen". At the same time, the motion of the flint and hammer pushes the frizzen back, opening the cover to a concealed flash pan, which contains a small charge of gunpowder.

As the flint strikes the frizzen it creates sparks. The flint is harder than steel so it shaves off the frizzen a shower of tiny steel fragments. These fragments exhibit pyrophoricity (the propensity to ignite spontaneously in air). Due to their minute size, they have an extremely large surface-area to volume ratio. A high proportion of the fragments' iron is in contact with air and it rapidly oxidises, making them extremely hot.

Some fragments will fall into the powder in the pan and will ignite it. Flame from this burning powder travels through a small touch hole into the gun barrel; the main propellant charge is ignited, causing the weapon to fire the projectile.

Most hammers follow Marin le Bourgeoys's design, and have a "half-cocked" position, which is the "safe" position since pulling the trigger from this position does not cause the gun to fire. From this position, the frizzen can be opened, and powder can be placed in the pan. Then the frizzen is closed, and the hammer is pulled back into the "full cocked" position, from which it is fired.

The phrase "don't go off half cocked" originated with these types of weapons, which were not supposed to fire from the half cocked position of the hammer.

Internal flintlock

Weapons using internal flintlock are relatively rare. This variant of the lock does not have an external cock. Its function is similar to striker-fired guns. Instead of the striker there is a rod holding the flint. The pan is located on the upper side of the barrel. The pan has a hinged cover with grooves on the underside. The gunsmith Stanislav Patzelta is considered to be the inventor of this system. According to other sources this lock could have been invented by the Austrian gunsmith Karl Bischof (Carl Pischoff).

Flints

thumb|right|An 1879 illustration showing Brandon gun flint knappers at work

thumb|Making a gun flint by hand, by [[knapping, 2014]]

A gun flint is a piece of flint that has been shaped, or knapped into a wedge-shape that fits in the jaws of a flintlock. The gun flints were wrapped in a small piece of lead or leather (known as a flint pad) to hold them firmly in place and were made in different sizes to suit different weapons. The use of a worn flint could also be continued if it was removed from the gun and replaced the other way up. In 1804, Brandon was supplying over 400,000 flints a month to the British military. It has been claimed this was responsible for the early death of three-quarters of Brandon gun flint makers.

Brandon gun flints were well regarded as they had a lower rate of misfire than flints from other sources. The industry reached its height during and after the Napoleonic Wars, when Brandon flints were exported worldwide with a near global monopoly. It later declined rapidly as flintlocks were replaced by percussion locks. However, Brandon still supplied 11 million flints a year to the Turkish army during the Crimean War Meusnes has a small museum dedicated to the industry. A different colour, and a slightly different method of manufacture can allow archaeologists to distinguish between British-made and French-made flints. France was a globally dominant supplier of gun flints until about 1780. After which the British industry began to eclipse it.

Small scale suppliers of gun flints still exist in the 21st century, supplying historic gun enthusiasts who continue to shoot original and replica flintlock firearms.

The earlier method of firing a cannon was to apply a linstock – a wooden staff holding a length of smoldering match at the end – to the touch hole of the gun, which was filled with loose priming powder. This was dangerous and made accurate shooting from a moving ship impossible as the gun had to be fired while standing to the side to avoid its recoil, and there was a noticeable delay between the application of the linstock and the gun firing.

A flintlock tinder lighter, or tinder pistol, was a device that saw use in wealthy households from the 18th Century until the invention of reliable matches. It somewhat resembled a small flintlock pistol, but without a barrel and with a candle holder and with legs so it could be stood upright. When the trigger was pulled, the sparks from the frizzen lit dry tinder in the pan, from which the candle would be quickly lit. The device provided a quick and reliable source of light, and flame for the lighting of fires.

Alarm clocks exist that, as well as sounding a bell, used a flintlock mechanism to light a candle. German and Austrian-made examples of these, dating from the 18th century, are preserved in the collections of the British Museum and the Hermitage Museum in Russia. An example dating from 1550 is in the

Germanisches Nationalmuseum (National Museum of Germanic Culture) in Nuremberg.

References

Bibliography

The Flintlock: its origin and development by Torsten Lenk, translated by G.A. Urquhart, edited by J.F. Hayward, 1965, published by Bramhall House, New York.
Guns by Dudley Pope, 1969, Hamlyn Publishing Group, Ltd. This is an inexpensive large format book with excellent drawings of various firearm mechanisms.

External links

How the flint lock works