Battle of Sluys Slois

The next development was the wheel-lock. This was produced in Germany early in the i6th century and was used first with sporting weapons and pistols. In it, the cock was armed with pyrites, which, when lowered, pressed against the serrated edge of a steel wheel projecting through the bottom of the priming pan. When the trigger was pulled, the wheel revolved and sparks were struck, which ignited the priming in the pan. Thus was eliminated one component, i.e., the match, so subject to the effect of damp.

Like the wheel-lock, rifling (Ger. riffeln, to groove) , of the barrel was introduced early in the i6th century, some attributing the invention to Gaspard Koller, a gunmaker of Vienna, others to August Kotter, an armourer of Nuremberg. The advantages derived from spinning a projectile had been known from early times, but in those days difficulty in applying the principle to fire-arms was appreciable. Spiral grooving would spin a ball if the ball were gripped by it firmly from breech to muzzle. How ever, as the powder was foul and made of impure ingredients, it left a crust in the bore after each shot was fired, which neces sitated the use of a ramrod to drive the next ball home into position against the charge. This was a laborious process and caused delay, so although rifling came into use on the Continent for sporting weapons, and pistols, etc., for target purposes, where accuracy was more important than rapidity of fire, many years passed before any material success attended it.

Not until about 150 years after its invention was the wheel lock superseded by what eventually became the flint-lock. It also had a cock holding pyrites, and when the cock fell this struck against a piece of steel, throwing sparks into the priming pan. Flint was substituted for pyrites, in or about the year 1600, and the flint-lock approached its perfection when it was made so that the cock in falling not only struck the necessary sparks but simultaneously uncovered the priming pan which had up to that moment been protected against accidental dispersion and the weather. Later the flint-lock was adopted by the British army and this was the weapon in the hands of the troops not only dur ing Marlborough's campaigns, but also those of Wellington.

Rifles: Later Developments.

As regards rifled barrels, no considerable use was made of the rifle in France till 1830, when the Chasseurs d'Orleans were armed with it for the invasion of Algiers. The American settlers had learnt to use their hunting rifles with such effect that, during the American War of Inde pendence, the British army learnt that the only effective rejoinder was to pit rifle against rifle. The British Government consequently subsidized Continental Tigers armed with rifles to oppose the American riflemen. After the war these troops were dispersed,

and, though they are represented by the 6oth King's Royal Rifles, the senior rifle corps in the British army is the Rifle Brigade which was raised in 1800 as the 95th Regiment, and armed with a flint-lock weapon known as the "Baker rifle," weighing 92 lb. The barrel was 3o in. long, the bore .625 with seven grooves, making one quarter turn in its length. and sighted for loo and 200 yards. Baker was a gunmaker in Whitechapel. A wooden mallet was at first supplied to force the ball down the barrel, which was loaded with great difficulty.

Percussion Ignition.

Shortly after this a development took place, which, of ter gunpowder, was probably the most important advance in the history of all fire-arms, namely, the invention of the percussion system of ignition by Alexander Forsyth. Had such a development not been made, rapid continuous fire from any type of gun would probably have remained an impossibility. Starting in 1793, Forsyth, after many trials and experiments, sometimes dangerous, eventually perfected a lock which was applied to a fowling-piece in 1805, and which proved successful. His principle was to employ a detonating powder, which, when hit a smart blow by a hammer, flashed through the touch-hole and ignited the powder in the barrel. He perfected the details of his system and mechanism, and in 1807 claimed that "the For syth patent gun-lock is entirely different from the common gun lock. It produces inflammation by means of percussion, and supersedes the use of flints. Its principal advantages are, the rapid and complete inflammation of the whole charge of gun powder in the chamber of the barrel, the prevention of the loss of force through the touch-hole, perfect security against rain or damp in the priming, no flash from the pan and less risk of acci dental discharge of the piece," etc., etc. (See Maj.-Gen. Reid, Alexander John Forsyth.) The percussion cap, which was a natural development of this system came into use about 1820. It was a great improvement. Though Forsyth's system was adopted fairly generally for fowl- ing-pieces, it was viewed with suspicion by the military authori ties, until, in 1834, his invention was officially tested by firing 6,000 rounds from six flint-locks, and a similar number from six percussion muskets in all weathers. The superiority of the percussion system was completely established and led, in 1836, to the arming of a second battalion of the Rifle Brigade with an improved weapon, the -704 Brunswick rifle, in which this percus sion system was embodied.