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The very first firearms were invented in China in the Twelth century, and quickly swept west to europe. These deices were Wooden or metal pipes that shot projectels by igniting black powder. IT was lit witha slowly burnign match.
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After the age of Handgonnes came the Matchlocks in the 1400s. The weapon had a lit fuse attached to a trigger mechanism on the weapon. Pulling the trigger droped the burning match into the flash pan and the powder charge was ignited.
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This weapon uses a trigger to release a spring-loaded rotating steel wheel against a lowered piece of pyrite which strikes sparks to ignite the powder. They were expensive to produce. With the expense of creating the striking mechanism, the overall quality of the gun was often improved as well. The weapon could be pre-loaded and then fired later without a lit match which made it good for cavalry and assassination.
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The snaplock was an early flintlock that used a trigger to release spring loaded flint onto steel to create sparks, and ifnite the gunpowder
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Cartridges made Firearms simple, reliable and dafe. The primer, powder, and round were all in one safe container. Cartridges also introduced smokless gun powder, and made breech loading alot easier The first know paper cartridges are said to date back to napolean.
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The flintlock was the next major changed in forearms. It arrived in the early 1600's. The flintlock uses a simplified version of the snaplocks triggering mechanisms which struck a flint against the steel frizzen to drop sparks into the flash pan and ignite the charge.
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The Percussion cap firearm was created in the 1830's and was crucial for muzzle loaded guns firing in the weather. A Percussion cap is a little coper cylinder with a shock sensitive explosive on the inside.
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The repeater revolutionized eveythign er knew about guns. IT mad eit so we could fire multiple shots after reloading, and it introduced semi- and Full automatic guns. We still use these today