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Diagram of a Springfield Model 1855 Musket's lock mechanism. The small plate with the eagle on it is the cover for the Maynard tape system. Maynard's new system still required the musket's powder and Minié ball to be loaded conventionally into the barrel, but the tape system meant that the percussion cap no longer needed to be manually loaded onto the percussion lock's nipple.
The miquelet lock also has a half-cock mechanism similar in function but differing in operation from the doglock. [13] [2] The flintlock is also referred to as the true flintlock to distinguish it from other flint-sparking mechanisms. It is also known as the French lock. [14] It uses a frizzen similar to the miquelet lock and has a half-cock ...
The wheel-lock enjoyed only a brief period of popularity before being superseded by a simpler, more robust design. The "flintlock", like the wheel-lock, used a flashpan and a spark to ignite the powder. As the name implies, the flintlock used flint rather than iron pyrite. The flint was held in a spring-loaded arm, called the "cock" from the ...
Percussion caps have been manufactured in various sizes to fit snugly over different sized nipples. Nipples for 4.5mm and 6mm percussion caps. The percussion cap, percussion primer, or caplock, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. [1]
The rifles saw use during the American Civil War. Company A of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry carried these rifles, converted to percussion cap. [4] Note the rifle lock; this rifle was converted to percussion cap. The original would have been a flintlock. The percussion-cap lock still has Johnson's name engraved on it.
During this conflict, the flintlock version of the Model 1816 was preferred by U.S. regular forces, due to percussion cap supply concerns. [5] It was also used during the early years of the American Civil War until around 1862. The large majority of Model 1816 muskets had been converted to percussion firing by 1860.
A snaphance or snaphaunce is a type of firearm lock in which a flint struck against a striker plate above a steel pan ignites the priming powder which fires the gun. [1] It is the mechanical progression of the wheellock firing mechanism, and along with the miquelet lock and doglock are predecessors of the flintlock mechanism .
The Model 1842 was the first primary U.S. muskets to be produced with a percussion lock; however, most of the Model 1840 flintlocks ended up being converted to percussion locks before reaching the field. The percussion cap system was vastly superior to the flintlock, being much more reliable and much more resistant to weather.