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Firelock
The lock of a firearm is the mechanism used to initiate firing. It is generally used as a historical term, referring to such mechanisms used in muzzle-loading and early breech-loading firearms, as modern firearms uniformly fire by use of a firing pin to strike the rear of a cartridge. Side-lock refers to the type of construction, in which the individual components of the mechanism are mounted either side of a single plate. The assembly is then mounted to the stock on the side of the firearm. In modern firearm designs, the mechanism to initiate firing is generally constructed within the frame or receiver of the firearm and is referred to as the firing or trigger mechanism. Hand cannon Hand cannon, the earliest of firearms, had arrived in Europe by 1338. These cannons were loaded from the muzzle. The propellent charge is lit through a touch hole. A small priming charge over the touch hole is ignited with a lit piece of slow match or similar. These hand cannons were unga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matchlock
A matchlock or firelock is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of flammable cord or twine that is in contact with the gunpowder through a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or Trigger (firearms), trigger with their finger. This firing mechanism was an improvement over the hand cannon, which lacked a trigger and required the musketeer or an assistant to apply a match directly to the gunpowder by hand. The matchlock mechanism allowed the musketeer to apply the match himself without losing his concentration. Description The classic matchlock gun held a burning slow match in a clamp at the end of a small curved lever known as the ''serpentine''. Upon the pull of a lever (or in later models a trigger) protruding from the bottom of the gun and connected to the serpentine, the clamp dropped down, lowering the smoldering match into the flash pan and igniting the priming powder. The flash from the primer traveled throug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wheellock
A wheellock, wheel-lock, or wheel lock is a friction-wheel mechanism which creates a spark that causes a firearm to fire. It was the next major development in firearms technology after the matchlock, and the first self-igniting firearm. Its name is from its rotating steel wheel to provide ignition. Developed in Europe around 1500, it was used alongside the matchlock (), the snaplock (), the snaphance (), and the flintlock (). Design The wheellock works by spinning a spring-loaded steel wheel against a piece of pyrite to generate intense sparks, which ignite gunpowder in a pan, which flashes through a small touchhole to ignite the main charge in the firearm's barrel. The pyrite is clamped in vise jaws on a spring-loaded arm (or 'dog'), which rests on the pan cover. When the trigger is pulled, the pan cover is opened, and the wheel is rotated, with the pyrite pressed into contact. A close modern analogy of the wheellock mechanism is the operation of a lighter, where a toothed ste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flintlock
Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking lock (firearm), ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism itself, also known as the ''flintlock mechanism, true flintlock'', that was introduced in the early 17th century, and gradually replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the matchlock, the wheellock, and the earlier flintlock mechanisms such as the snaplock and snaphaunce. The true flintlock continued to be in common use for over two centuries, replaced by percussion cap and, later, the Cartridge (firearms), cartridge-based systems in the early-to-mid 19th century. Although long superseded by modern firearms, flintlock weapons enjoy continuing popularity with Black powder, black-powder shooting enthusiasts. History French court gunsmith Marin le Bourgeoys made a firearm incorporating a flintlock mechanism for King Louis XIII ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frizzen
The frizzen, historically called the "hammer" or the steel,This may appear anomalous since, in later firearm designs (e.g. percussion locks), the component operating in the same manner as the ''cock'' is called the hammer. is an L-shaped piece of steel hinged at the front used in flintlock firearms. The frizzen is held in one of two positions, opened or closed, by a leaf spring. When closed, it is positioned over the flash pan so as to enclose a small priming charge of black powder next to the flash hole that is drilled through the barrel into which the main charge has been loaded. When the trigger is pulled, the cock, which holds a shaped piece of flint clamped in a set of jaws with a scrap of leather or thin piece of lead, snaps forward causing the flint to scrape downward along the frizzen's face (historically called the 'battery'), throwing it forward into the open position and exposing the priming powder. The flint scraping along the steel causes a shower of sparks to be throw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miquelet Lock
Miquelet lock is a modern term used by collectors and curators for a type of firing mechanism used in muskets and pistols. It is a distinctive form of snaplock, originally as a flint-against-steel ignition form, once prevalent in the Spanish, Portuguese, and Ottoman empires, Italy, Greece, Russia, Ukraine, North Africa, and the Balkans from the late 16th to the mid-19th century. The term ''miquelet lock'' was not recorded until the 19th century, long after the appearance of the mechanism in the 16th century, and is of uncertain origin. One commonly held view is that it was coined by British troops in the Peninsular War to describe the style of musket used by the Miquelet militia that had been assigned to the Peninsular Army of the Duke of Wellington. In most of Spain, it was traditionally called the ''llave de rastrillo'' ("rake lock"), and in Catalonia and Valencia it was called the ''pany de pedrenyal'' ("flint-lock") or simply ''pedrenyal'' ("flint"). There is often c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Half-cock
Half-cock is when the position of the hammer of a firearm is partially—but not completely—cocked. Many firearms, particularly older firearms, had a notch cut into the hammer allowing half-cock, as this position would neither allow the gun to fire nor permit the hammer-mounted firing pin to rest on a live percussion cap or cartridge. The purpose of the half-cock position has variously been used either for loading a firearm, as a safety mechanism, or for both reasons. The still commonly used English expression of " going off half-cocked" derives from failing to complete the cocking action, leading to the weapon being unable to fire. This is often used to describe someone acting prematurely, as in the case of one preparing to shoot their weapon without having set the firearm into "full-cock" position. Early examples Early flintlocks had required a half-cock position to prime the pan, in preparation for firing the firearm, after loading the main chamber. Some other early typ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dog (engineering)
In engineering, a dog is a tool or part of a tool, such as a pawl, that prevents or imparts movement through physical engagement. It may hold another object in place by blocking it, clamping it, or otherwise obstructing its movement. Or it may couple various parts together so that they move in unison – the primary example of this being a flexible drive to mate two shafts in order to transmit torque. Some devices use dog clutches to lock together two spinning components. In a manual transmission, the dog clutches, or "dogs" lock the selected gear to the shaft it rotates on. Unless the dog is engaged, the gear will simply freewheel on the shaft. This word usage is a metaphor derived from the idea of a dog (animal) biting and holding on, the "dog" name derived from the basic idea of how a dog jaw locks on, by the movement of the jaw, or by the presence of many teeth. In engineering the "dog" device has some special engineering work when making it – it is not a simple part to make ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doglock
A doglock is a type of lock (firearm), lock for firearms that preceded the 'true' flintlock mechanism, flintlock in rifles, muskets, and pistols in the 17th century. Commonly used throughout Europe in the late seventeenth century, it gained popular favor in the British and Dutch military. A doglock carbine was the principal weapon of the harquebusier, the most numerous type of cavalry in the armies of the Thirty Years' War and English Civil War era. Like the snaphance, it was largely supplanted by the flintlock. Much like the later flintlock devices, it contained the flint, frizzen, and Flash pan, pan, yet had an external catch as a half-cock safety, known as the dog (engineering), "dog". This type of lock had no internal, half-cock loading position as the later flintlock mechanism contained. To load a firearm with a dog lock, the cock was secured with the external dog, preventing it from moving forward to strike the frizzen and begin the firing sequence. The user could the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snaphance
Swedish snaphance guns from the mid 17th century A snaphance or snaphaunce is a type of firearm lock in which a flint struck against a striker plate above a steel pan ignites the priming powder which fires the gun. It is the mechanical progression of the wheellock firing mechanism, and along with the miquelet lock and doglock are predecessors of the flintlock mechanism. The name is Dutch in origin but the mechanism cannot be attributed to the Netherlands with certainty. Examples of this firearm can be found in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Design Like the earlier snaplock and later flintlock, the snaphance drives flint onto steel to create a shower of sparks to ignite the priming powder in the pan, the flash partly passing through the touch hole into the barrel where it ignites the main charge (propellant). The flint is held in a clamp at the end of a bent lever called the cock. Upon pulling the trigger, this moves forward under the pressure of a stron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trigger (firearms)
A trigger is a mechanism (engineering), mechanism that Actuator, actuates the function of a ranged weapon such as a firearm, airgun, crossbow, or speargun. The word may also be used to describe a switch that initiates the operation of other non-shooting devices such as a animal trap, trap, a power tool, or a quick release. A small amount of energy applied to the trigger leads to the release of much more energy. Most triggers use a small flat or slightly curved lever (called the ''trigger blade'') depressed by the index finger, but some weapons such as the M2 Browning machine gun or the Iron Horse TOR ("thumb-operated receiver") use a push-button-like thumb-actuated trigger design, and others like the Springfield Armory M6 Scout use a squeeze-bar trigger similar to the "ticklers" on crossbow#Medieval Europe, medieval European crossbows. Although the word "trigger" technically implies the entire mechanism (known as the ''trigger group''), colloquially it is usually used to refer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start fires. Flint occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones.''The Flints from Portsdown Hill'' Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey or black, green, white, or brown in colour, and has a glassy or waxy appearance. A thin, oxidised layer on the outside of the nodules is usually different in colour, typically white and rough in texture. The nodules can often be found along s and [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
