Other Definitions
flintlock (dict)

Flintlock

• The operator loads the gun, usually from the barrel end, with black powder followed by shot or a bullet wrapped in a paper patch, all rammed down with a special rod;
• A cock or striker tightly holding a shaped bit of flint is rotated to half-cock;
• The flash pan is primed with a small amount of very finely ground powder and the hammer (or variously steel or frizzen) is closed;

• The cock or striker is moved from half-cock to full-cock;
• The gun is aimed and the trigger pulled, releasing the cock or striker holding the flint;
• The flint strikes the frizzen, a piece of steel or iron on the flashpan lid, opening the lid;
• The contact between flint and frizzen produces a spark that is directed into the flashpan;
• The powder ignites, and the flame passes through a small hole in the barrel (called a vent) that leads to the firing chamber, igniting the powder there; and
• The gun discharges.

• Lock, stock and barrel: The three parts of a flintlock, this phrase means "the whole thing".
• Going off half cocked: The half-cock position is the safety on a flintlock. Going off from a half-cocked state means someone has done something prematurely.
• Flash in the pan: If the flint ignites the priming powder in the flashpan but does not ignite the main charge in the barrel, that is a flash in the pan. It indicates an event that has a large, dramatic buildup, but fizzles out before significant result.

See also

• Flintlock mechanism
• Snaphance
• Brown Bess
• Miquelet

External links

• Flintlocks in Wet Weather

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