WEATHER PROOFING THE FLINTLOCK

ONE of the biggest drawbacks of using a flintlock gun on the sporting field was weather proofing.

- MARK MURRAY FLUTTER

As readers will well know, you cannot guarantee the weather will be benign when out on a shoot. Modern sporting guns can easily deal with such inclement weather but for the flintlock of the 18th and 19th century it was a different story. The biggest drawback was having to use loose priming powder; priming powder could easily get damp and not work, or be blown away by a gust of wind as you are about to shoot. Solutions to this dilemma were eagerly sought and several innovative designs were offered by the gunmaker.

One of the solutions for weatherproofing was to enclose the mechanism, either inside the gun or by providing some sort of cover. In the collections of the Royal Armouries are examples of both, but this article is about the latter technique.