Tower and Town, June 2018

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Flintlocks And Gunlocks

The earliest personal firearms were matchlocks - the gunpowder was ignited by a length of smouldering slow-match gripped by jaws linked to the trigger - the 'lock.'

During the seventeenth century this and various other developed locks were replaced by the flintlock and the weapon became the musket. Now when the trigger was squeezed a shaped piece of flint gripped in the lock swung forward, simultaneously pushing aside the iron lid to the 'pan' holding a small amount of gunpowder and (from friction against the lid) showered sparks into the pan. This would ignite the powder in the pan which in turn would ignite through a small hole in the barrel the main gunpowder charge and the (musket) ball would go on its way. This left its mark on the language - notably the 'flash in the pan' when the small amount of gunpowder would ignite but not the main charge. And the army still calls normal rifle ammunition 'ball.' The flintlock musket lasted in British service almost 300 years.

From about the 1750s the principle was slowly applied to naval gunnery - but only slowly as it was difficult to adapt existing cannon. Traditionally naval cannon were fired by a sailor with a glowing lintstock on a stick touching the exposed powder in the cannon's vent from one side (he could not be behind the gun because of the recoil). When the gunlock replaced this method the sailor could stand behind the gun, but far enough back to be clear of the recoil, and fire the gun by tugging on a cord attached to the gunlock. As he could see the roll of the ship (and the gun's elevation) and firing was almost instantaneous this greatly increased the effectiveness of the gunfire; fewer cannon balls went over the enemy ship or into the water short of it.

Alexander Kirk-Wilson