The Flintlock was developed in France around 1612. A key contributor to this development was Marin le Bourgeoys who was assigned to the Louvre gun shops by King Henri IV of France. The Flintlock's manufacture slowly spread throughout Europe, and by the second half of the century it became more popular than the Wheel Lock and Snaphaunce. The main difference between the Flintlock and Snaphaunce is that in the Flintlock the striking surface and flashpan cover are all one piece, where in the Snaphaunce they are separate mechanisms. This made the mechanism even simpler, less expensive, and more reliable than its predecessor. This simplicity allowed for more creative gun designs, such as guns with multiple barrels and miniature pistols which could be concealed easily inside a garment.

By 1664 experiments with rotating-block repeated fire guns were under way (like a revolver which holds a number of shots in a rotating cylinder) but such weapons were dangerous to operate and would have to wait for another century and a half to be made a standard weapon.

The northern Arabs acquired the Snaphaunce and Flintlock in the late 1600s and often designed their long guns with a sharply curving butt so that they could be tucked under an arm and fired single-handed from the back of a camel or horse.

In the early 1700s the Brown Bess Flintlock made its appearance. It probably got its name from the acid-brown treatment of its barrel. By this time, the flintlock was accurate up to about 80 yards but nobody could aim at a man and kill him at 200 yards. A shooter of average experience could load and fire two to three rounds per minute.

(Credit: ABOUT.COM)

Historic Flintlock Pistol Replicas

	George Washington's Flintlock Pistol Code:CA22-1228 Price: $80.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	Classic French Dualing Pistol (Silver) Code:CA22-1084N Price: $90.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	Classic French Flintlock Dualing Pistol (Gold) Code:CA22-1084L Price: $84.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	Italian Flintlock 1825 Dualing Pistol Code:CA22-1013L Price: $49.99 Quantity in Basket: none
	Double Barrel Flintlock Pistol Replica Code:CA22-1026 Price: $99.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	Italian Percussion Dueling Pistol Code:CA45-128 Price: $79.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	Belgian Gold Engraved Flintlock Code:CA47-1102-L Price: $49.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	Kentucky Flintlock Pistol Reproduction Code:CA22-1198 Price: $70.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	Engraved Flintlock Pistol Code:CA47-1005 Price: $55.00 Quantity in Basket: none
	English Flintlock Blunderbuss Code:CA45-101 Price: $50.00 Quantity in Basket: none