Snaphance
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A snaphance or snaphaunce is a type of firearm lock in which a flint struck against a striker plate above a steel pan ignites the priming powder which fires the gun. It is the mechanical progression o
Swedish snaphance guns from the mid 17th century
Wheellock
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A wheellock, wheel-lock, or wheel lock is a friction-wheel mechanism which creates a spark that causes a firearm to fire. It was the next major development in firearms technology after the matchlock,
Snaphance
…which a flint struck against a striker plate above a steel pan ignites the priming powder which fires the gun. It is the mechanical progression of the wheellock firing mechanism, and along with the miquelet lock and doglock are predecessors of the flintlock mechanism. The name is Dutch in origin but the mechanism…
A wheellock pistol or puffer, Augsburg, c. 1580
Disassembled wheellock pistol of the 16th century
Detail of the mechanism, with the wheel visible under the dog
The exterior of a wheellock mechanism from a "puffer" or pistol made in Augsburg in about 1580. The photo has been reversed in order to facilitate comparison with the interior view below.