Individual Project: A History of Antique Firearm Mechanisms

“War, war never changes.”

–Ron Perlman, Fallout Intro.

            Alas, much like everything else in nature, in the manic quest for power over the eras, conflict has become the heart of every major age. With man’s great intellect constantly evolving, the nature of conflict amongst man evolved with it. The tools of destruction that wrought the battlefields of the day were always on the rise, always on the cutting edge.

And so, over the years, in order to ensure the veritable security of his domain man needed a tool that will aid in times of conflict. One that is able to swing the balance of power to their own favor. In it, man was able to manipulate the very nature of war itself. No armor could protect against it, nothing was fast enough to avoid it, and in its arrival would literally rock the very foundations of the world it was created in. 

The age of the firearm had begun.

The history of the firearm dates back to the conceptualization of one of its prime ingredients, the "magic dust" from which it derives all its power. I speak, of course, of gunpowder. Gunpowder was first developed in China around the 9^th century. However, military applications of this compound would never really be developed until much later on (Klatt). Its original use was more for festive reasons in the making of firecrackers and fireworks.

Around the 14^th century, the knowledge of gunpowder was supposedly spread from China to the Middle East and Europe through the Silk Road (Norris, 2013). This is where the foundation of the firearms we know today had their origin.

The first known iterations of handheld, personal firearms used the Matchlock system of firing. Burning matched/wicks are locked and released into a pan of powder igniting a larger powder charge inside the barrel and propelling the projectile forward (Klatt). Of course, such a design would no doubt be difficult to reload as the main powder charge, priming powder and the projectile had to be manually loaded for each shot.

Taken from: Firearm Examiner Module, National Forensic Science Technology Center

 The next innovation in the firing mechanism came with the onset of the Wheel lock system. Matches were not the most reliable source of ignition, often easily succumbing to the forces of nature. This mechanism involved a spinning steel wheel that created sparks upon grinding against a flint that was held opposite it (Jones). The spark would then ignite a small pan of powder that would then, in turn, ignite the main powder charge inside the gun (Jones). It proved more reliable than the matchlock as it was more resistant to the change in conditions, but its complexity proved to be quite expensive and so it was not so favored in the eyes of military application (Jones).

Taken from: Firearm Examiner Module, National Forensic Science Technology Center

What would reconcile both the problem of environmental reliability and cost of production was creation of the Flintlock design. It combined the inexpensive, simplicity of the matchlock system, whilst keeping the flint ignition of the previous wheel lock (Jones). The great innovation of this system cam with the implementation of the frizzen, which served to both ignite the flint and cover the exposed powder from environmental hazards (Hallowell, 2013). Its evolution was so great that it withstood nearly 200 years without change on the design (2013).

Taken from: HowStuffWorks,"The Flintlock Mechanism"

The final innovation in the antique gun's firing mechanism came at around the 19th century with the Percussion Cap mechanism (Klatt). This mechanism completely redesigned the old flint and steel mechanic with the use of first, a hammer, that was used to strike a cap, that would ignite the powder charge inside the barrel (Klatt). Its design solved the problem of sealing the barrel from any environmental hazards as well as quickened the reloading of the firearm as the percussion cap was easily snapped on and removed for each shot (Jones).

Taken from: United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

 These were the foundations of antique firearm technology for nearly four centuries. The next evolution of the firearm would entail the combination of all the things the previous generations tired to accomplish, in combining the primer, the powder and the projectile in one small casing. This is the birth of ammunition and the start of modern firearm technology as we know it.

Sources:

Brain, M. (2000). How Flintlock Guns Work. HowStuffWorks. Retrieved March 9,

2014, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/flintlock2.htm

Firearms Verification. (n.d.). Firearms - Guides - Importation & Verification of

Firearms, Ammunition - Gun Control Act Definitions - Antique Firearm. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://www.atf.gov/content/firearms/firearms-industry/guides/gun-control-act-definitions-antique-firearm

Hallowell, B. (2013). The History and Evolution of Guns as Told Through

Pictures. The Blaze. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/12/the-history-and-evolution-of-guns-as-told-through-pictures/

Jones, J. A. Propellants, firearms and ammunition development. National Forensic

Science Technology Center. Retrieved from http://projects.nfstc.org/firearms/module03/fir_m03_t05_03.htm

Klatt, E. (n.d.). History of Firearms. Firearms Tutorial. Retrieved March 9,

2014, from http://library.med.utah.edu/WebPath/TUTORIAL/GUNS/GUNHIST.html

Norris, J. (2003). Early gunpowder artillery: 1300-1600. (p. 11). Marlborough: The

Crowood Press. 

Miguel Augusto A. Racadio

2013-59621
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