(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.)
Around the 1630s, somebody in Europe (I’ve seen it credited to Germans, Austrians, French,…) invented the most widely used ignition system prior to the development of cartridges as we view them now. The flintlock dominated the world of guns from the mid 1600s through the Texas Revolution. This mechanism was what fought in the Seven Years’ War (commonly known as the French and Indian War), won our independence in the Revolution, fought the British again during the War of 1812, was used innumerable times in skirmishes and for feeding families, and stood off Santa Anna at the Alamo. I’ve even seen Civil War portraits of Confederate soldiers holding flintlocks.
After loading, a priming charge (usually 3-to-5 grains of powder) was poured in the flash pan. Note: Don’t over prime that flintlock and singe an eyebrow off. Don’t ask… It was a steep learning curve, and I had complete dork-face with only one eyebrow.
Some of the flintlock’s parts are holdovers from previous generations. The iron frizzen is closed over the pan, and the hammer (containing a piece of flint) is cocked. When the trigger is pulled, the hammer strikes the frizzen, pushing it away and showering the pan with sparks, which causes the priming powder to burn through the touch hole into the main powder charge, leading to BOOM (hopefully; I’ve had a lot of hang fires, pan flashes, and no fires, plus these older generation guns have a lot of quirks, and I’m sure the matchlocks and wheel locks have their own set of issues).
In my less-than-humble opinion, this system is the choice for long term sustainability, as you don’t need anything but powder and balls to keep it shooting. Flint rocks are great for the ignition spark source, but can be replaced with anything that causes spark when struck against steel; obsidian is a rock that springs to mind.Continue reading“A Primitive Tool For Modern Preppers, Part 2, by Rusty M.”