In firearms, what’s the difference between flint lock, cap lock and percussion?
In: Technology
The difference is in how they ignite the gunpowder in the chamber. A flintlock use a piece of flint that they strike against a piece of steel creating sparks. This then ignites some gunpowder in a pan, still on the outside of the gun. There is a small hole from the pan into the chamber. As the gunpowder in the pan burns it heats up the gunpowder in the chamber through this hole igniting it. A cap lock is a later invention where they use a special percussion cap which is filled with a primer powder that detonates when you hit it with a hammer. So instead of a pan you have a nib to place the percussion cap on with the hole through to the chamber and instead of a flint there is a hammer head.
When cartridges came out the percussion cap were placed at the base of the cartridge instead of outside the chamber. In order to hit the percussion cap inside the chamber a fireing pin were installed, either mounted in the hole using springs or mounted to the hammer.
In addition to flint lock and cap lock there were also match lock that used a slow burning fuse that they would ignite the gunpowder in the pan and wheel lock where they would use a spinning wheel touching a flint to generate the spark.
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