In the musket, which followed, the stock was again modified and held against the shoulder. Further the firing mechanism was improved.
The arm had been fired by a lighted match; but with the musket, the arm becoming lighter and more portable, there came the serpentine lock, the match-lock, then the wheel-lock, finally the Spanish lock and the flint-lock.
The adoption of the flint-lock and the bayonet produced the rifle, which Napoleon regarded as the most powerful weapon that man possesses.
But the rifle in its primitive state had defects. Loading was slow; it was inaccurate, and under some circumstances it could not be fired.
How were these defects remedied?
As to the loading weakness, Gustavus Adolphus, understanding the influence on morale of rapid loading and the greater destruction caused by the more rapid fire, invented the cartridge for muskets. Frederick, or some one of his time, the name marks the period, replaced wooden by cylindrical iron ramrods. To prime more quickly a conical funnel allowed the powder to pass from the barrel into the firing-pan. These two last improvements saved time in two ways, in priming and in loading. But it was the adoption of the breech-loader that brought the greatest increase in rapidity of fire.
These successive improvements of the weapon, all tending to increase the rapidity of fire, mark the most remarkable military periods of modern times:
cartridges—Gustavus Adolphus
iron ramrod—Frederick
improved vent (adopted by the soldiers if not prescribed by
competent orders)—wars of the Republic and of the Empire
breech-loading—Sadowa.
Accuracy was sacrificed to rapidity of fire. This will be explained later. Only in our day has the general use of rifling and of elongated projectiles brought accuracy to the highest point. In our times, also, the use of fulminate has assured fire under all conditions.
We have noted briefly the successive improvements in fire arms, from the arquebus to the rifle.