the.com/flintlock
the spark that armed empires, dueling gentlemen, and pirates with one chance to not miss
means A type of firearm, common from the 17th to early 19th centuries, that ignites its gunpowder when a piece of flint strikes a steel plate to throw sparks into the priming pan.
from A plain compound of two old, hardworking words: 'flint,' the spark-throwing stone whose name goes back to Old English 'flint,' and 'lock,' the mechanism of a gun — the same 'lock' that means a fastening device, from Old English 'loc.' By the time guns acquired this clever spark-and-steel mechanism, 'lock' had long meant the firing apparatus (hence 'lock, stock, and barrel'). So a flintlock is, literally, the flint-firing-mechanism — named, sensibly, for the stone that did the sparking.
- reload time
- Up to a minute between shots
- reign
- Dominated warfare for over 200 years
- misfire slang
- Origin of 'flash in the pan'
- the spark
- Flint striking steel ignites the powder
- the catch
- Rain easily soaked the priming powder
brown bess musket — british military flintlock used from 1722-1838, fired over 100 million rounds in combat
french charleville musket — standard french flintlock (1777 model) used in american revolution, american soldiers preferred it over brown bess
kentucky rifle — american flintlock rifle with longer barrel, used effectively by colonial riflemen in 1775-1783 revolutionary war