Texan Scott
Member
I understand (have handled) percussion cap BP firearms. I've never even held a flintlock. I don't understand the firing mechanism.
I get that the flint strikes the steel thing (frizzen?) and makes a spark... there's a little tray under the sparkler (does that hold flash powder, or very very finely ground BP?) and the spark travels through a flash hole (like the nipple of a caplock?) in the side of the barrel, detonating the main powder charge?
Am I missing something? If there's an open hole at the back of the barrel, how do you keep the powder in (or humidity out)? Can it be loaded and then carried afield somehow (say, for turkey) without spilling? You would have to carry a separate bottle of primer powder for priming immediately before firing, as it was being held level, or have I got it wrong? How would I effectively *USE* a flintlock? Watching "Pirates of the Caribbean" has not cleared this up at all.
I get that the flint strikes the steel thing (frizzen?) and makes a spark... there's a little tray under the sparkler (does that hold flash powder, or very very finely ground BP?) and the spark travels through a flash hole (like the nipple of a caplock?) in the side of the barrel, detonating the main powder charge?
Am I missing something? If there's an open hole at the back of the barrel, how do you keep the powder in (or humidity out)? Can it be loaded and then carried afield somehow (say, for turkey) without spilling? You would have to carry a separate bottle of primer powder for priming immediately before firing, as it was being held level, or have I got it wrong? How would I effectively *USE* a flintlock? Watching "Pirates of the Caribbean" has not cleared this up at all.