After the wheel-lock came the flint-lock. This style of arm possessed a hammer which was provided with a "flint-cock." When released, the flint and the steel came into violent contact, and produced sparks which flew into the touch-powder.
The flint-lock was commonly used in the Netherlands, and was brought to England by William of Orange, remaining in use until 1840.[13] Specimens are obtainable for private collections, but early patterns are of some rarity and fairly expensive.
The later history of the hand firearm used in the Army is interesting. "In 1635 a patent was taken out for making rifles in England. In the first half of the next century Benjamin Robins, a gunsmith, who died in 1751, made an alteration in the centre of gravity in the rifle by placing it nearer the forepart, and he also made the bullets oval instead of round. He discovered the true theory of the rifle: 'That the spinning of a rifle ball, like the rotation of an arrow, kept the axis of either in the same direction throughout their flight, and, to a great extent, prevented the irregularities caused by the inequalities in the substance of the bullet when driven from a shot-gun or musket.' But strangely enough Robins, though by far the ablest writer on projectiles of his own and many succeeding generations, exercised but a slight influence on his contemporaries. The Government of his day was not moved by his representations, or convinced by his theory. The Ministers of that day were slow in adopting improvements, a common failing of Ministers as a body, and riflemen were unknown among English troops until the necessity for them was made evident in the American War. The rifle was necessary to the existence of the backwoodsmen. Practice made them excellent shots, and when the Colonial irregulars were able to obtain suitable cover, regular troops could not stand before them. After a time foreign aid was resorted to. Hessian, Hanoverian, and Danish riflemen were engaged to serve against the revolted colonists; and it was not until upwards of ten years after the independence of America was recognized that the first English rifle regiment was formed."[14]
[13] See article on "Firearms" in Chambers's Encyclopædia.
[14] W. G. Clifford, "Peeps at the British Army," p. 68.
During the first half of the nineteenth century all infantry regiments, with the exception of the Rifle Corps, were served with smooth-bored muskets, but after 1851 the Minié rifle was universally used. This weapon showed a distinct advance, but it had one serious drawback—it was heavy, as many of the men who fought in the Crimea learned by bitter experience. In 1853 the long Enfield rifle, a much lighter implement, was given to our soldiers. This was followed in 1860 by the short pattern Enfield; in 1864 by the Snider; in 1871 by the Martini-Henri; in 1886 by the Enfield-Martini; in 1887 by the Lee-Metford, Mark I, and the Mark II in 1898; whilst to-day the Service pattern is the Lee-Enfield, Mark III.
Swords are interesting weapons from the collector's point of view. As the antique specimens were stoutly made, of material that did not easily perish, it is quite possible to buy them, two or three hundred years old, at no very great cost.
It is not an easy matter to detect the date of a sword, but the armed figures on old prints, drawings, coins, etc., often hint at the period of construction. The Bayeux tapestry, for instance, enables us to see that the Norman pattern was of simple design, being straight, rather short, tapering and double-edged, whilst the handle was merely a grip with but little protection. This shape of sword, it may be said, was used for some three or four hundred years, and even in 1400 the majority of the specimens were much the same. It is true that by this time the quillons were becoming curved towards the blade, probably so that a slash would be arrested before it reached the knuckle of the soldier who received the blow. Of the sword of this period Ashdown writes: "The sword was attached to the belt at the uppermost part of the scabbard, and hung perpendicularly at the left side. It generally had a wheel pommel and a swelling grip, with quillons either straight or drooping slightly towards the blade. The latter was about an inch and a half broad at the hilt, thirty inches in length, and tapered to the point, while the section was either of a flattened or a lozenge shape. It was double-edged, and had a grip of varying dimensions, ranging from four inches in length to an extent which, in some examples, almost suggests a two-handed weapon, or the hand-and-a-half or bastard sword of a later period. The pommel, grip, and scabbard were at times elaborately enriched with a profusion of ornament. A new weapon was introduced at this period, the misericorde or dagger of mercy, used for dispatching a fallen foe whose wounds were beyond all surgical aid. It was a straight dagger, with no guard as a rule, and having both the hilt and scabbard curiously ornamented; the blade had but one edge, the section being triangular."[15]