Flintlock

A Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism.

• Flintlocks are considered archaic and were one of the earliest firearms.
• They are a slug thrower based upon gunpowder technology.

Description / Specifications

The flintlock mechanism produces sparks when a piece of flint, held in the jaws of a spring-loaded hammer or "cock" strikes the hardened steel face of the "frizzen", knocking the frizzen forward to uncover a small pan of gunpowder beneath the frizzen. The resulting spark ignites the powder in the pan and this flame is transferred through a small hole to ignite the main powder charge inside the barrel. Under damp or rainy conditions, the gunpowder in the pan could get wet and the gun would be unable to fire.

Because of the time needed to reload (the fastest experts could reload a smooth-bore muzzle-loading musket in about fifteen seconds), these weapons were sometimes produced with two, three, four or more barrels; however, multiple-barreled weapons were never very popular. The designs tended to be expensive to make and failure-prone. It was frequently cost-effective and more reliable to simply carry multiple single-shot weapons instead.

History & Background / Dossier

Introduced about TL-3, the flintlock rapidly replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the matchlock and wheel lock mechanisms. It continues to be in common use for over until mid TL-4 replaced by percussion cap and, later, cartridge-based systems. While technologically obsolete, flintlock firearms have enjoyed a renaissance among black powder shooting enthusiasts and many fine flintlock rifles and pistols are still being made today.

References & Contributors / Sources

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Flintlock. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. The text of Wikipedia is available under the Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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