John Brown
mtman_john@ksok.biz
HISTORY OFF BLACKPOWDER AND BLACKPOWDER FIREARMS It apears that Blackpowder was invented in China about 1000 AD. although the first reference to gunpowder dates from the year 1250 by Roger Bacon of England.It was used for fireworks. In the mid 1300's it was used in hand canons which had about as much kick on one end as it did the other. The hand canon was crude tube closed on one end and had a touch hole through which a burning match, wick or a hot wire set of the blackpowder It was used to to project rocks, bit's of metal and other hard objects. Firearms shot from the shoulder were used at least 100 years before Columbus sailed to America. The common used ammunition was lead balls and lead shot, most of the first rifles were smoothbore "even though rifled barrels were use as early as 1550" the smoothbore was in the greatest demand up into the 1800 because it would shoot balls ,shot or just about any hard objects without problem. When the first English and European settlers came to America Blackpowder firearms were important tools for survival. The Pioneers depended on their firearms for both food and defence, good hunters and Marksmen were needed as much as the first crops. Early firearms were called muzzleloaders because the powder and shot was loaded down the front of the muzzle. The Matchlock was the standard firearm of the first settlers in North America. This firearm was named for the match, a wick like piece of material that was lit and lowered into a priming pan of loose gunpowder. Because the priming pan was exposed to the open air good weather was needed for it to work properly The wheel lock was the first firearm to use spark ignition for lighting the primer this firearm divice worked a lot like todays modern cigarette lighter.The primiing pan now had a cover on it and good weather became less important. The flint lock was a major step in the development of firearms.They were fired when a peace of flint,clamped into the hammer, struck a metal plate or frizzer, the sparks from the contact sprayed into the priming pan full of gunpowder causing ignition which flashed into the barrel and fired the gun. In the early 1800's fulminate of mercury began to be used as a primer. A small cap, coated inside with fulminate of mercury, when struck by the hammer shot a flame into the barrel and ignited the gunpowder. It was called a percussion cap. Those firearms using the separate metal encased primer were called percussion arm and led to the development of the self-contained cartrige and the loading from the back of the barrel instead of the front. Even though the Percussion was introduced in the early 1800's, most of the Mt. Men and Pioneers perfered the flintlock because if they used up the flint they could find a hard rock to make a spark but if the lost there caps they were done and could loss there hair. [note] Pistols were made a lot like the Rifles and are thought to come from a town in northern Italy, Pistoia and were being made in the 15th and 16th centuries The Major inprovement came in 1836 when Samuel Colt invented the revolving pistol or revolver It had a revolving cylinder with seperately loading chambers which came into alignment with a single barrel. Black Powder come in four grades 4FFFF which is used for Priming the pan of a muzzle loader=3FFF which is used for pistol's and 45 and smaller cal. Rifles=2FF which is used for 45 and largercal.rifles and shootguns= and 1F which is used for canons