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Wheellock, Wheel-Lock or Wheel lock, is a mechanism for firing a firearm. It was the next major development in firearms technology after the matchlock and the first self-igniting firearm. The mechanism is so-called because it uses a rotating steel wheel to provide ignition. Developed around 1500, it was used alongside the matchlock and was later superseded by the snaphance (1560s) and the flintlock (c. 1600). The Matchlock was the first firearm to have a trigger mechanism for firing. ...
An assortment of modern handheld firearms using fixed ammunition, including military assault rifles, a sporting shotgun (fourth from bottom), and a tactical shotgun (third from bottom). ...
Snaphance or Snaphaunce refers to a mechanism for igniting a firearms propellant usually in a muzzleloading gun. ...
Two flintlock pistols Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. ...
Design
The design of the wheellock is comparable to that of a modern-day cigarette lighter. A sparking material, usually a small piece of iron pyrite, was held tightly in a clamp that was pressed against a spring-loaded metal wheel. When the trigger was pulled, the wheel was released and would spin rapidly, scraping against the pyrite. This removed white-hot particles from the pyrites that fell into the flash pan, igniting its powder and then the main charge. Each firing of the gun required the main spring to be tensioned using a special lever. This was called 'spanning the lock'. The sparking material would usually give about a dozen shots before it needed replacing. The wheellock took around a minute to load, prepare and fire. A metal naphtha lighter A lighter is a device used to create fire with the intent to ignite another substance such as a cigarette, smoking pipe, bong, hookah or charcoal in a grill. ...
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is iron disulfide, FeS2. ...
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is iron disulfide, FeS2. ...
Flash pan or Priming pan is a small receptacle for priming powder, found next to the touch hole on muzzleloading guns. ...
History The invention of the wheellock is sometimes credited to the German Johann Kiefuss of Nuremburg in 1517. However, this is impossible as Kiefuss lived about 100 years later, and there are many references to wheellocks existing before 1517. There is a vocal group of scholars that believe Leonardo da Vinci was the inventor. Drawings made by da Vinci of a wheellock mechanism date (depending on the authority) from either the mid-1490s or the first decade of the 1500s. However, a drawing from a book of German inventions (dated 1505) and a reference to the purchase of a wheellock in Austria in 1507 may indicate the inventor was an unknown German mechanic instead. We know for certain that in 1517, and 1518, the first gun control laws banning the wheellock were proclaimed by the Emperor Maximilian I, first in Austria and then throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Several Italian states followed suit in the 1520s and 1530s - another argument used by the pro-German camp. Johann Kiefuss was a German inventor. ...
This article is about the city in Germany. ...
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Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was a talented Italian Renaissance Roman Catholic[1] polymath: architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor, geometer, scientist, mathematician, musician, and painter. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Gun politics. ...
Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria Maximilian I of Bavaria This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
The Holy Roman Empire and from the 16th century on also The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. ...
Features Among the advantages of the wheellock was a better resistance to rain or damp conditions than the matchlock, and the absence of a tell-tale glow, or smell from the burning match. Sparks could be generated in any weather, and the priming pan was fitted with a cover that was not opened until the instant the gun was fired. The high production cost and complexity of the mechanism hindered the wheellock's widespread adoption. A highly skilled gunsmith was required to build the mechanism and the variety of parts and complex design made it liable to malfunction if not carefully maintained. This was made difficult without the right tools so sending it back to the maker was often done. Early models also had trouble with reliable springs, though this problem was quickly solved.
The wheellock was used along with the matchlock until both were replaced by the faster, simpler, and less costly flintlock of the 1600s. However, the ability of the wheellock to fire reliably in wet conditions meant that well-made guns of this design would continue to see use until the 18th century. Two flintlock pistols Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. ...
See also An assortment of modern handheld firearms using fixed ammunition, including military assault rifles, a sporting shotgun (fourth from bottom), and a tactical shotgun (third from bottom). ...
Two flintlock pistols Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. ...
The Matchlock was the first firearm to have a trigger mechanism for firing. ...
Miquelet (miguelet) is a modern term applied to a distinctive form of flint-against-steel ignition mechanism (lock) prevalent in the Mediterrean lands in the late 16th to early 19th centuries. ...
The percussion cap or primer was the crucial invention needed to make fire-arms that could fire in any weather. ...
Snaplock refers to a mechanism for igniting a firearms propellant usually in a muzzleloading gun. ...
Snaphance or Snaphaunce refers to a mechanism for igniting a firearms propellant usually in a muzzleloading gun. ...
External links - Wheel Lock from Guns, Firearms and Ammunition History, with an animated demonstration of the mechanism.
- The Wheel-Lock Gun by Thomas F. Arnold.
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