The gunsmith's manual

by J. Parish Stelle; Wm. B. Harrison

The powder employed with the old arquebus was of two grades as to size of grain; a coarse grade for the charge, and a fine grade for the priming. Its chemical composition does not seem to have differed materially from that of our modern gunpowder.

The serpent match, so called because the upper end holding the fuse was often shaped to represent the head of a serpent, was the first actual step taken towards a gun-lock. It was thought to be perfection itself, especially after the returning spring had been added, and so strong a hold did it take upon all nations that only a few years has elapsed since it was wholly abandoned in some of the most benighted regions, as in China, for instance, where it is known to have been used in the army at a date as late as 1860.

Musket-Petronel.—Next in order to the arquebus came the musket, a Spanish invention. It was heavier than its predecessor, and carried a charge twice as large. Almost simultaneously with this appeared the first cavalry fire-arm, which was called the petronel. It was shorter than the musket and larger in bore; the horseman rested its breech against his breast and communicated the fire by means of the serpent match.

The Wheel-Lock.—In 1517 the Germans astonished the world by inventing and bringing into use the “wheel-lock,” which was a regular gun-lock, entirely doing away with the lighted match. It consisted of a small disk of steel fluted on the edges, set in close contact with the priming pan, and made to revolve with great rapidity by means of a spiral spring arranged somewhat on the plan of the spring of a spring-clock. In contact with its fluted edge, and held there by a spring, was arranged a sharp flint; hence when the steel disk was set in motion a train of sparks was thrown off as it revolved over the edge of flint. These sparks fell into the priming pan and ignited the powder, discharging the piece. The spring was wound up like winding a clock or watch, and a slight pressure upon a trigger under the breech set the wheel in motion. The pressure was continued until the gun was discharged, when it was discontinued, the result of which was an immediate stopping of the wheel. A single winding would usually discharge the gun about half a dozen times.

The Pistol.—The wheel-lock went into quite general use, finally leading to the invention of the pistol, about 1544. The first pistols were single barrel, and very short. The stock was heavy, and the breech or handle, instead of leaving the barrel with a curve, as in later days, dropped at right angles to the iron. It was put into use as a cavalry arm, first by the Germans and afterwards by the people of many other nations. In 1607 the German horse soldiers were all regularly armed with double-barrel wheel-lock pistols.

The Snaphaunce.—After the date just mentioned modifications and improvements in fire-arms were rapid and constant. The wheel-lock was finally followed by the “snaphaunce,” which was a straight piece of furrowed steel brought to bear upon the flint instead of the disk. It was more simple in its construction than the wheel-lock, and hence less liable to get out of order. Of course it worked in obedience to the action of a spring, but the spring was not a spiral—it was more on the plan of the mainspring in modern gun-locks.

The Flint-Lock.—About 1630 Spain again popped to the surface; this time with the regular flint-lock, embracing precisely the same mechanism as the flint-lock used in our Revolutionary war, and familiar to very many of the older people of the present day. Its advantages over the wheel-lock and the snaphaunce were so marked that France at once adopted it for use in her armies, but England held back, contending that the wheel-lock was the better invention, till 1690, when she gave up the contest, and adopted the flint-lock.

Important Improvements.—Rapidly following the invention of the flint-lock came important improvements in the musket. The stock was lightened and put into better shape, and sights were invented and placed upon the barrels. Up to this time the soldier had been forced to carry his ammunition in bulk, but now cartridges were brought into use, carried in convenient and neatly made cartridge-boxes. Steel bayonets to set over the muzzle of the gun also appeared, the first in 1693. Prior to this time a rude kind of bayonet had been more or less in use—it was a sort of dagger set into a wooden handle, the latter to be thrust into the muzzle of the gun in case of a hand-to-hand charge, where loading and firing could not be attended to. Iron ramrods took the place of the inconvenient and unsafe wooden ones formerly in use, which was regarded as a long stride in the efficiency of the musket. With the old wooden ramrods, clumsy and easily broken, the loading of a musket was a slow and laborious task, but the iron rod secured comparative ease and rapidity.

Advance of the Rifle.—With the general improvement of fire-arms the rifle had worked gradually into favor and use. Its main drawback, as an army gun, laid in the difficulty experienced in loading it. But it was admirably adapted to the wants of the people settling the wilds of the American continent, hence they adopted it almost to the entire exclusion of any other kind of fire-arm. In the armies its use was limited to a few corps of sharp-shooters, usually on the frontiers where it was advantageous to harass the enemy by picking off his men at long range. England seems to have been rather prejudiced against the rifle until after our war with her for Independence. In that war she appears to have had so striking a demonstration of its efficiency that she soon after adopted it as a military arm; and other nations, having faith in her superior judgment, finally followed her example, bringing the rifle rapidly upward in rank as an effectual implement of war.