Matchlock\Flintlock Musket
Yesterday, I received a Musket built by John Buck based on a late 17th Century French design. She is 61" overall with a 44" barrel. The wood is Walnut.
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https://www.milsurps.com/images/imported/deleted.gif
At the range I used a .690RB with .015 patch with 85grs of GOEX Fg.
The first shot was as a Matchlock and she went 2" from the bullseye at 7 O'Clock. The next shot was as a Flintlock and it was a BULLSEYE touching the 10 ring at 12 O'Clock!
That put me in a good mood and I got down to seeing which was more accurate, A Matchlock or a Flintlock?
As a Matchlock the average was 2"-3" groups at 25 yards.
As a Flintlock, she shot 1"-2" groups at 25 yards.
Overall, I am very satisfied with her! I'm calling this one Wilma.:D
Wish I could try a matchlock!
But then, I never turn down an offer to shoot a gun.
How'd you get intertested in technology that old?
Vauban was the inventor of this dual lock
According to an article in the American Rifleman (Dec 1974, p.32) by Elliot Minor, the French military actually forbade the use of flintlocks by their troops during the reign of Louis XIV. S. Vauban, the great military engineer, designer and destroyer of fortresses, hated the matchlock, and invented the dual lock to get the improved flintlock into the hands of troops while at the same time appeasing the retrograde boffins. Louis approved the dual lock in 1688, and it served until Louis banned the matchlock entirely from military service in 1699. By the way, the main objections to the flintlock by Louis XIV's generals were "too much ammunition consumption" and "unreliability." Vauban had a special objection to the matchlock himself - lit matches caused many accidental fires in the fortress establishment he built and maintained for the king.
Vauban's geometric system of fortifications lasted in use until the smokeless age, and you can find him mentioned frequently by Mahan and H. Halleck in their pre-US CW texts on fortifications.